61 You Would Do Well Not To Cross Me (1/2)
”You—!” She couldn't even come up with anything horrible enough to say to this monster.
”Now, now. I would advise against saying anything that would anger me,” Dorian chided. ”I do hold the life of the sweet sleeping child on the bed in my hands. And yours, to be perfectly honest though it would be a tragic waste to kill someone with such interesting powers.
”I imagine that worthless excuse for a vampire Ash Mayhew told you about the fate of his pathetic little coven for you to have such a reaction. You already know what I am capable of so you would do well not to cross me.”
Ruby seethed silently. He had a point. Doing anything to piss him off would be asking for instant death. She would have to go along with what he wanted but there had to be some room for negotiation here.
”What do you want from me?” she demanded. ”I'll have you know that I won't cooperate unless you accept my terms.”
The vampire let out a dry laugh. ”You think you have any bargaining power here at all? You are sorely mistaken.”
”I don't want much. All I ask is that I am allowed to raise Flora in as normal an environment as possible and that you adhere to the original hundred years of the contract you proposed with my uncle.”
Dorian raised an eyebrow. ”Oh, is that all? What do you constitute as 'normal' to raise a child?”
Was he actually listening to her? This might be Ruby's only chance to get any leeway; she couldn't say the wrong thing here and lose the opportunity to have any degree of control over the situation.
”As similar to her home as possible,” she said calmly. ”She would need toys, books, children's television programming, and be allowed to go outside in nature so she can practice her powers.”
The vampire scowled. ”Asking for her to go outside is too much. What if she escapes?”
”Have guards and use ankle weights so she can't fly away! Earth fairies have to be able to access nature or they wither away. She's just a baby; if you hinder her growth I won't cooperate with you.”
Ruby was quick to add, ”But if you do as I request I will summon all the jewels you want in the next hundred years without a single complaint. Your coven will be able to live off those riches for decades after you let us go.”
”I never said anything about allowing you to leave after a hundred years. That deal was with your traitorous snake of an uncle who thought he could steal money from me, breach a promise, and run away,” Dorian said sharply. ”I have not extended the same courtesy to you.”
She wanted to scream. She should have expected as much from someone who would kill an entire coven out of the blue.