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Vi
She might still be scared shitless, but she wasn't about to let on to her fledglings or us.
And for that, I had to admire her.
I stopped several feet in front of her, with Qui
"I told you once before never to mess with the Directorate, Vi
She glared balefully at me for several seconds, then pointed with her chin at the man behind me. "He's not Directorate. "
"He's an advisor, so that makes him one of us." I hesitated, then added, "One fledgling dead is better than the whole nest. And trust me, that is currently an option if the Melbourne council is informed of your recent activities."
"I have no idea what you mean."
She was lying. I could taste it, even if I couldn't see it in her expression. And while there was little to be seen in her face, the toga clad teenagers behind her rustled nervously. Pale fingers reached out and began to caress Vi
I wondered if they were reassuring themselves or Vi
"I'm talking about your association with the man calling himself Carlos Martez."
"I have no idea who—"
"Vi
"He was merely here paying his respects. There is nothing sinister in that, guardian."
She changed tact as swiftly as a tiger snake, and was probably just as deadly. Or would have been, if Qui
"Except for the fact that Martez has just tried to kill a Directorate employee."
"He wouldn't do that. You're mistaken."
"I was there, Vi
Amusement flared briefly in her eyes. "If you were there, you should have stopped him."
"It's hard to stop someone when they can escape through mirrors."
"If you've come to me for information about how to destroy such a person, I'm afraid you're out of luck. I have no idea."
Qui
"Do tell your people not to try and sneak up behind us," Qui
Vi
"Vi
"I don't—"
I shook her again, hard enough to rattle her teeth. "One of your fledglings was a witness, so you knew Martez was dead. Who did you deal that information to?"
"I can't," she said, fury mixing with fear in her eyes. "He'll kill me."
"And the Directorate will kill you if you don't," I commented. "So chose which side of the bed you want to lie on, Vi
Something flickered through her eyes. The snake was twisting yet again. "He is my creator. I had no choice in doing what he said."
Is that true? I asked, without turning to look at Qui
To a degree, yes. The power of the creator over the fledgling lessens with time, but Vi
"Give me a name, Vi
She hesitated, then said, "Ammon Nasser."
The man the council had all but destroyed. He obviously had to be similar in looks to Martez to be able to maintain the fraud for so long. "And why did he come here?"
"Because this is my territory. It is considered polite to state one's aims when entering the territory of another."
Also true, up to a point, Qui
I knew you guys were territorial, but I didn't think it actually meant having defined territories.
Why do you think there is such a wide spread of vampires? Unlike werewolves, we can not easily live in each other's shadow.
Which had to make life in a nest interesting. Obviously, though, emo vamps had no such problems. To Vi
Yeah, they totally wouldn't, Qui
"I did warn him of that danger," Vi
"Then why did he wait six months to begin his revenge?"
She snorted softly. "Why do you think? If he'd begun straight away, the culprit would have been obvious. He is many things, but a fool isn't one of them."
"So what was he doing in the six months since the council wiped out his nest?"
She shrugged, pulling against my grip. "I didn't ask and didn't care to ask. He keeps out of my way—mostly, anyway—and I keep out of his."
"But you know where he's currently residing?"
"No. As I said, Nasser isn't a fool." Her brief smile was amused. "Apparently, he doesn't trust me."
Obviously, Nasser was well aware that he'd raised a snake. "Is he a mirror wraith as well as well as an emo vamp ?"
She smiled. It set my nerves on edge. "Yes, he is. I'm surprised you discovered it, because not even the council would have known that."
"Why not?" I asked, more out of curiosity than any real need to know.
"Because he came into this country illegally, and therefore would not be listed on the council's books."
Wouldn't have mattered if he was, Qui
The council are rather large pains in the butt. To Vi
"Because he supplements his feeding by feeding off of us."
I raised my eyebrows. "And you let him?"
"I have no choice." She almost spat the words. "He is an old and hungry soul who ca
Maybe that's why Vi
She's using him as an excuse. She wants her own empire, and would be growing as fast as she could anyway. To Vi
"Yes." Something flickered in her eyes. Amusement, perhaps. Or cu
"And is he capable of killing?"
The cu