Part 16 (1/2)

Tristan narrowed his hazel eyes at me. ”And break your promise to Char?”

My shoulders sagged as my puffed up manner deflated. That was the kicker. I sincerely didn't want to break my promise to Charlotte, not again. I wanted her to trust me, but at this rate, she never would. I wanted Mom and Rina to trust me, too, to know they could count on me to do the right thing.

But ... wasn't serving my purpose the right thing? Owen was certainly right about that-I couldn't refuse Vanessa. If she honestly wanted to convert, I had to do this for her. And sooner rather than later. Although part of me enjoyed it a little bit, I knew keeping her chained up like that for long wasn't the ”right thing.” How much longer until Charlotte could finally get here? Six months had already pa.s.sed since her last visit.

I wished I had my dagger on me. I wanted to talk to Ca.s.sandra.

”Well, while you sit there and contemplate the future of the world, I need to go check on the subject at hand,” Owen said as he once again headed for the door. ”Don't take too long to make up your mind, unless you want either a dried up corpse on your hands or a dead were-tiger.”

My head snapped up. ”What?”

He stopped one more time, but barely turned. ”I brought her to you weakened on purpose. I haven't given her blood yet-on purpose. But she's starving, and we can't leave her like this forever. I won't leave her like this for long at all. Understood?”

He didn't wait for an answer, but strode down the hallway and around the corner to the wing where Vanessa probably still screamed b.l.o.o.d.y murder. I looked at Tristan.

He leaned against the wall and explained. ”If he feeds her, he'll not only strengthen her, but since he'll be giving her his own blood, he'll be giving her magic, too. Powerful magic. She'll be able to do things we probably don't want her to do.”

”But we have animal blood-oh. Sheree will notice.”

Tristan nodded. ”But if we wait too long to feed Vanessa, she won't make it through the conversion. She'll either die or dry up, and it'll take our whole supply of blood to refill her. But it's Vanessa we're talking about. She has too much self-preservation to simply let herself die.”

c.r.a.p. I understood now and knew that we really didn't have much time. Because Vanessa wouldn't simply lie back and take the conversion if she was starving. She was still evil. She'd attack. I had the best blood for her and probably Tristan did, too. But if she was too scared or weak to fight us, she'd go for Owen or, worse, Sheree. And from Owen's comment, he seemed pretty confident she wouldn't attack him. Once she drank, she'd be a lot more difficult to contain for the conversion. Worse yet, if this was a trick and she attacked and strengthened herself, the whole village, the whole island and Sanibel, too, would be at risk.

I cursed Owen for putting me in this situation, but, at the same time, I understood the lengths he'd gone through. He'd carefully planned this to ensure I'd say yes and to force me to move quickly and on their terms, but he'd also done what he could to make it as safe as possible for me. Right? Well ... unless this was all part of the set-up ... unless he was part of the set-up and they were reviewing their plan of attack right this very minute.

I turned to Tristan and he opened his arms. I walked into his embrace, and drew on his love and strength.

”You knew the best solution all along,” I mumbled against his chest. He didn't answer, but he didn't need to. ”So why did you insist on arguing?”

”Just because I know the best answer doesn't mean I like it,” he said. He paused for a long moment, then added, ”Besides, this is a decision you need to make. You deserve a choice in the matter.”

I sighed. ”I don't really have a choice. As much as I want to hate her, as much as I have in the past, I'm Amadis and can't turn her away. I won't let her suffer any longer than she already has. This really is the best time for all of us.”

”If they're even telling the truth. You know what you need to do.”

I hated invading people's private thoughts, and Rina had taught me to use my gift responsibly, which meant only when necessary. But I had to know, and, really, this was necessary, not simple curiosity. So I found Owen's mind signature in the next wing and took a quick peek into his thoughts.

Get out of my head, Alexis, he silently growled at me. I cringed as I immediately let go of his mind.

”Owen's telling the truth,” I said to Tristan. If Vanessa was tricking us, Owen was completely unaware. I gathered that much before he kicked me out.

”And Vanessa?”

I sought out for her mind signature, but it was distorted and I couldn't hear her thoughts. Only muted screams. The s.h.i.+eld Owen put up to block out the noise apparently m.u.f.fled her thoughts, as well. Either that or her mind was completely focused on yelling her head off.

I shook my head. ”Won't know until I get in there with her. But first, I want to see Dorian. Just in case ... you know.”

”You can't think that way, my love.”

My shoulders lifted in a shrug. ”I can't help it.”

”You're running out of sunlight.”

”I only need a few minutes. An hour. Then ... we'll do this.”

We found Dorian in the family room at home, sitting on the floor and playing some kind of war video game with Heather. Sasha sat between them, closely watching the screen and growling every time Dorian groaned when his character died, as if he himself had been hit. Tristan slipped away to his man-cave to check on a few financial things before we ”disappeared” for the next day or so, but I stayed in the family room and watched the kids for a few minutes, basking in their normalcy after this morning's surreal events, until Blossom sauntered out of the kitchen.

”What are you doing here?” I asked with surprise, and my nose twitched with the sweet smell of a cake baking.

She wiped her hands on a dishcloth before giving me her usual h.e.l.lo hug. ”I was kind of lonely, and we were supposed to hang out this weekend, so I came over a little early.” I sagged in her embrace. ”You have something going on, don't you?”

Guilt curled its fingers around my heart. ”A, um, mission, yes.”

”No worries. We'll do it another time.”

I hugged her tighter before pulling back and giving her an appreciative smile. ”What kind are you baking today?”

”Your favorite,” she said with a teasing grin.

”Chocolate and raspberry?” I licked my lips. ”Is it done yet?”

She laughed. ”You'll have to wait until after you eat your dinner tonight, young lady.” When I made a face, she said, ”You won't even be home for dinner?”

I led her into the kitchen so we wouldn't be overheard. ”Something's come up. Owen's back-”

She let out a squeal, but I held my hand up.

”Shh. I don't want Dorian to know yet. I don't know how long he's staying.” I waited for Blossom to nod her understanding. ”Anyway, Owen brought us, um, some information that we need to check out. If all goes well, we should be home tomorrow night, but it might not be until the next day. Can you-?”

”Of course I'll take care of Dorian.”

She watched me as I began pulling out sandwich makings for an early lunch. I wasn't really hungry myself, but having lunch together gave me a reason to pull Dorian away from the game and spend time with me. And if I could manage to get anything down, it'd probably be good-I'd need the energy.

”There's something I've been wanting to talk to you about,” Blossom said, and I didn't miss the careful way she spoke. I looked up from the bread I'd been smearing with mustard. ”Dorian's been talking about his ability to fly a lot lately, and I had an idea. Actually, part of it was his.”

”Uh-oh,” I muttered as I went back to my task.

”Wait. It's a good one, actually. He said he thought you were unfair to not let him practice-these are his words, not mine-because if the bad guys ever tried to get him, he'd be able to get away.”

I nearly dropped the knife with shock. We'd warned him once that bad men might want to take him, but I didn't know we'd actually scared him this much-enough that he'd been thinking about how to defend himself. c.r.a.p. Had I gone too far? Well, a little fear was good. You couldn't have courage without it. No fear, especially for the Daemoni, was just plain stupid.

”So you think it's a good idea?” Blossom asked, and she saw on my face that I'd missed something she said. ”A cloak. I'm able to cloak him-I've done it before, remember? Then he could practice right outside. I know you're teaching him Aikido and other ways to defend himself, but if he could fly away, no one could even get him in the first place.”

”Um ... I don't know,” I said as I tried to consider the possibility. My mind was too distracted, though. ”I'll talk to Tristan about it.”

”I'm strong enough to cloak and even s.h.i.+eld him, if that's your concern. I mean, mine aren't a level five like Owen's, and I can't leave a permanent s.h.i.+eld or cloak, even if there are other mages around to keep it up, I have to be close by for my temporary ones to stay in effect, but they aren't bad at all. Good enough to where I've done a level-”