Page 45 of Fanged Secrets
My fangs were still extended, unable to retract despite regaining control. I pushed a finger under my top lip and lifted it to show her. Amara shivered in response, but she was not radiating terror in waves like she had the first time she’d glimpsed them.
Her eyes trailed to the coffee table and I followed her gaze. An unfamiliar satin box sat open there, an ornate bottle of what looked like perfume standing beside it. Before I could ask, Amara’s eyes widened and she quickly snatched up the bottle, shoving it into the satin box and stuffing it between the sofa cushions. Almost immediately, the cloying scent abated slightly and my eyes snapped back to Amara.
She was one step ahead of me, signing with urgency. "It must be the perfume!”
“Where the hell did it come from?!” I signed and spoke the words, lifting another cushion and pressing it into the sofa to stifle the scent that still permeated the air.
When that didn’t work, I settled for flattening my palm over my nose and mouth, and holding my breath when I needed my hands to sign. As the bloodlust receded, my mind cleared completely, racing to find the missing pieces of the puzzle.
The scent stuck to Amara, but with my head cleared it was obvious that it wasn’therscent. Amara smelled like a morning after rainfall, fresh air, and flowering blossoms. The intoxicating mist surrounding her must have come from the perfume bottle, clinging to her pores and marking her as living prey.
Amara stilled suddenly, her expression flattening as she stiltedly signed back. “My father gave it to me. He told me to wear it at the ceremony."
And just like that, a piece of the puzzle clicked into place, leaving me reeling. My arms dropped to my sides and I voiced my thoughts aloud. "He wanted me to attack you."
My mind raced, and a memory surfaced – the night River and I were attacked, the way River went rogue out of nowhere. The same overwhelming scent had filled the air then. I recalled River's frenzied state, how uncontrollable she’d been.
“It was the same perfume,” I realized, my voice trembling. “Don must have sprayed River with it too. He was testing it on her, driving her into a frenzy. That’s why he wanted you to spy on me, to learn my movements.”
The implications were staggering. It would mean that Don knew what we were. Vampires. He’d tailored the perfume to drive us into a bloodlust. And then he’d given it to his daughter, knowing what it would do.
My stomach dropped, and I felt a cold wave of dread wash over me, “He knew,” I said, my voice hollow. “He knows what I am. And he wanted me to kill you.”
My lips had probably moved in a blur too fast to make sense of, but Amara came to the same realization I did. Her expression shifted from shock to something that looked painfully close to heartbreak, and then to furious anger. Tears welled up in her eyes again.
I took a deep breath, trying to steady my nerves before speaking and roughly signing at the same time. “Amara, if we're going to figure out what's going on, we need to be honest with each other.”
I held her gaze, trying to convey my sincerity. “I don’t care how ugly the truth is. I just want to protect you.”
For a moment, Amara looked like she was going to close up or scream. I could see the epiphany overwhelming her. The fact that her own father was ready to throw her life away to further his own schemes. But then she took a deep breath, steadying herself, and began to sign.
When it was clear I couldn't quite keep up, she uttered a muffled word or two, spoken language unpracticed on her tongue. She looked ashamed at each utterance, but I titled my head, offering a reassuring smile and urging her to continue.
“Don sent me into this marriage with no intention of sticking to the proposed peace,” she told me, her hands trembling slightly. “I don’t know what his end goal is, but he wanted me to spy on you.”
She hesitated, her eyes searching mine for understanding. “And I have been. I’ve been reporting everything back to him. I was only biding my time with this marriage. I had a book deal… I’ve been waiting for the payout. I was… I was going to leave the moment I got it. I was going to run from my father… and from you.”
My eyes widened at her words, but I held my tongue, gesturing for her to continue.
“But now… I don’t know if I can leave. I don’t want to run from you. And it’s clear I can’t trust my father at all anymore.” She paused, her eyes reflecting the turmoil within. “I was already suspicious when I saw the white-haired lady – ” She corrected herself quickly, signing, “Dragon shifter” instead.
“But now, with the perfume and Don wanting to harm me… there’s no doubt that Don will go to any lengths to achieve his goals. I don’t know what that means for you, or for your people.”
I listened in silence, absorbing her words. Amara looked afraid, like she expected me to turn her out immediately. Instead, I gently took her hands, my fingers brushing over her knuckles. “It’s okay,” I said softly.
Taking a deep breath, I let go of her hands and lifted them up to sign my own admission, mouthing the words slowly to make up for my unpracticed gestures. “I haven’t been completely honest with you either. I suspected you were a spy from the very beginning. We knew the marriage was a ruse and Jordan had me sweeping Don's territory to keep an eye on him and his activities.”
I paused before continuing, choosing my words carefully. “I’m also not the only vampire in New York City.”
Amara looked confused, then a little alarmed but remained attentive. I explained. “The Leyore Syndicate is not a gang at all. We're a coven. There are vampires all over the city, and they all answer to Jordan, the leader of our coven…”
I explained why we were really having problems with Don, detailing how he was stealing our weapons and interrupting our supply of fresh blood for all coven members.
Amara’s eyes grew bigger and bigger as I went on, and I could see her struggling to process everything.
“Even River?” she signed, hands moving in a wavy motion.
I nodded. “Yes, even River.”
