Horrible possibilities flashed through my head. Charlie being hurt, being brainwashed. Charlie being taught to hate and kill. “I thought . . . I thought it was a human-trafficking thing,” I whispered numbly, fear sending a burst of cold electricity down my spine. Now I felt so much worse than stupid—I felt helpless. Charlie was basically the equivalent of free bacon at a dog show, and I was as useless as I was outnumbered. This changed everything.
Maven’s eyes narrowed suddenly, and I saw her nostrils flare. A second later, Itachi shifted restlessly. Oh, God. Could they smell my panic? I was suddenly very aware of the fact that I was trapped in a tiny room with two deadly predators, and I worked to push the fear aside. I squared my shoulders and met each of their gazes in turn.
“I want protection for my niece,” I said to Itachi. “If you really are in charge of the supernatural world in Colorado, I want you to make sure Charlie is left alone.”
Maven tilted her head in thought, an oddly birdlike gesture that reminded me of how Victor had looked at me when he’d been unable to press my mind.
“That is an extremely large request,” Itachi said tartly.
“But within your power?”
“Of course.” A hint of disdain had crept into his tone.
“You misunderstand,” Maven said, acting as Itachi’s spokesperson. “It is not a large request because the task is too difficult. Now that Itachi is aware of Charlotte, he can make it clear that she is under his protection. But she is within his enclave, which means she is already his.” She lifted a shoulder carelessly. “Why should he care about your wishes in respect to something that is already his?”
That shocked me. It hadn’t occurred to me that the vampire in charge might already think he owned my niece. Everything in me wanted to scream that Charlie wasn’t theirs, that my niece would never belong to anyone but herself. That I would kill every vampire in the state before I let one of them touch her. And if Itachi had said those words to me, I might have done exactly that.
But there was something magnetic about this woman. I couldn’t explain it, even to myself, but she had a force to her, strong as gravity.
“I suppose the question, Lex,” Maven continued, crossing her legs under the burlap-looking skirt, “is, what are you offering?”
“Myself,” I said, firmly and immediately.
Chapter 12
Itachi raised a single scoffing eyebrow. “Do you have any experience in making lattes?” he asked sarcastically. I just stared at him levelly. He added in a more subdued tone, “Witches don’t work for vampires, any more than foxes work for bears.”
Maven glanced at him. “That is historically true, but then again, we don’t have the most traditional structure here in Colorado,” she pointed out. To me she said, “What do you suggest you could do for us, Lex?”
I swallowed, focusing on my wording. I didn’t know much about vampires, but it had occurred to me, of course, that they might be involved in some nasty stuff. Illegal stuff. I needed to set my limits clearly without making myself unattractive as an employee. “Security. On call, part time, however you want to do it. The army taught me how to drive a truck, gather intelligence, and look for weapons and for lies. I won’t kill anyone or hurt the innocent,” I added, “but I could be your daytime Quinn. I’m very motivated, reasonably intelligent, and apparently no one can press my mind.”
Itachi stayed silent, waiting for his next cue. Maven was looking at me very speculatively, her fingers now tapping on the file of information Itachi had been reading. “You just got out of one army,” she said finally. “What makes you so willing to join another one?”
That took me aback for a moment. Was that really what this was? Another army? There were similarities, I supposed, but the comparison was too strange to really wrap my head around. Then again, I knew that I would do a hell of a lot more than rejoin an army for Charlie.
I started to say just that, but stopped myself. That wasn’t what she was really asking me. She didn’t care why I wanted to join, she wanted to know why I would stay. Why I wouldn’t just sell them out to the first person who promised to protect Charlie instead.
“Because I’ve been part of an army before,” I finally said, “I understand concepts like taking orders, chain of command, and working for the greater good. I also know,” I went on, “that sometimes protecting the greater good means being the lesser evil.”
Maven’s eyebrows raised just a fraction, and I knew I’d managed to say the right thing. “Give me your wrist,” she commanded.
I started to reach out before I even knew I’d moved, but I caught myself and asked, “Why?”
“We are vampires, Lex,” Maven said, not unkindly. “I want to taste your blood. If you work for Mr. Itachi, you’ll be expected to make the occasional donation.”
I weighed my options, then reluctantly held out my hand. I had no problem with giving blood, and so far we were still well within the “small price to pay for Charlie’s safety” arena.
Maven took my hand, turning my wrist to expose the veins. Her fingers were very cool, but not ice-cold like the grave or anything. “I can’t press your mind properly,” she warned, “but I’m strong enough to press it a little, to help with the pain. Do you want me to do that?”
I shook my head. I’d take pain over mind control any day. Maven nodded and bared her teeth without another word. Her canines looked a little bit sharper than normal, but there was something else off about her teeth, too. Before I could figure out what it was, she was pressing them into my wrist.