Page 38 of Discovery of the Vampire
"If I fail again, it won't only be my life that's in danger, but Alex and Alice's…andRyan's. Sheishis daughter, after all. Or have you forgotten that fact, vampire?" Marcus had allowed our mother to hide her from him once, but if he knew the untapped power she possessed, he wouldn't allow her out of his sight again.
Ryan stepped between us, her hands raised in a placating gesture. "Stop it, both of you. This isn't helping." She turned to face me, her turquoise eyes pleading. "Jesse, I want to help. I do. I want nothing to do with that…thing that impregnated our mother and if there’s a way to make him disappear, even better. But I don't see how my being there will help anything. I don't even know what magic I'm capable of yet. And the little I do know, I can barely control."
I softened my expression, reaching out to grasp her shoulders. "As I said, you won't need to do anything. If you share your power with me, I can join it with mine to make myself stronger. And it will give me the advantage."
Christian's gaze darted between us. He'd finally stopped fighting. "I don't fucking like this. There has to be another way."
I shook my head. "There isn't. Trust me, I've tried. I'm the only one who has anything near the power of our father, other than my sister." My eyes found hers again. "This is our best chance to remove him from our lives.”
Ryan studied me for a long time. "I'll think about it. If you release Christian before he breaks the windows and falls nine floors to the sidewalk."
"Ryan, no," Christian protested, his voice strained.
I agreed to her terms. "We leave in three days. As soon as Luukas ties up some things here. Unless something happens before then and we need to go sooner."
She nodded, her expression troubled.
"What is it?" I asked her.
After a pause, she asked, "Do you really think you'll fail again?"
"He'll kill me next time," I told her honestly. "Without you, Ryan, he'll kill me. He won't let me take him by surprise again."
My sister stared up at me, only the darkening of her eyes telling me that she wouldn't be happy about that. "I'll be ready in three days," she whispered.
The weight I'd been carrying around since I last confronted Marcus suddenly lifted, leaving me feeling lighter than I had since the day Shea told me she loved me. Ryan may not know what she was capable of, but I did. I felt the darkness inside of her every time we trained together. I felt it now.
"Thank you," I told her sincerely. And to her mate, I said, "I swear to you on my life I won't let anything happen to her. Our father won't even know she's there."
"I know he won't," he growled. "Because I'm coming with you."
Of course he was. And I understood his need, so I didn’t bother to try to talk him out of it. Nodding goodbye to my sister, I let myself out of their apartment, ordering Christian to be released.
17
ESME
Ilocked the door to Ancient Magicks with trembling hands and flipped the sign to "Closed" before I turned to face Lizzy.
She gave me an encouraging smile. "They're all here in the back room," she said gently, placing a hand on my shoulder. "It'll be okay. My aunt has agreed to hear what you have to say."
I took a deep breath, bracing myself. Lizzy had dropped the bombshell about her coven on me mere minutes before closing time, leaving me reeling. To be honest, I'd felt ambushed in a way, blindsided by this shocking revelation from the closest thing I had to a true friend in this city, and the betrayal stung. She should have confided in me about this the instant she discovered what I truly was. Instead, she'd kept me in the dark, letting me believe she was just one of many people with slight magical abilities scattered throughout New Orleans. I’d trusted her. Now, disappointment bloomed inside of me until hot tears pricked the backs of my eyes.
But then I realized I was angrier at myself than at her. I'd been so caught up in my own drama that I’d never thought to do my own research and make sure I wasn’t treading on someone else's ground. It was an unforgivablefaux pas,as the French would say.
I only felt slightly better when she told me they all lived in the Garden District, except for her and two of her cousins who were also mated to vampires and lived at the main house the vampires owned. Being that I'd stuck to the French Quarter, and exploring had been the last thing on my mind, I hadn't sensed their wards.
My mouth twisted into a nervous smile. "And what if they don't like what they hear?"
Her brown eyes were full of sympathy when they caught mine, but she set her mouth in a determined line. "It'll be okay," she repeated.
I could only nod, for what else could I say? If I refused to go before her coven, it would only prove to them that I had something to hide or I meant them harm. Lizzy gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze before she led me behind the curtain into the storage room. In the back left corner, one of the shelves had been moved aside, revealing a hidden door.
When I stepped inside with Lizzy and the door closed behind us, it took my eyes a few seconds to adjust to the dim light.
"This room is spelled," she told me. "We could have a dance party with bullhorns in here and no one would know, even if they were right outside the door." She passed her hand over the locks and they clicked into place. If I were to guess, they were also spelled not to unlock from the outside.
"Or scream," I said out loud.
