To my surprise, they sank through my skin without any resistance. I squeaked as the pain hit, but I managed not to pull my wrist away. She pressed her lips into the wound, forming a seal as my blood spurted into her mouth. I realized dimly that her teeth had looked odd because they were scary sharp—they were roughly rectangular, like any other human’s, but razor-edged.
She held out her free hand to Itachi, and he leaned forward, lifting a clean white handkerchief out of his pocket and handing it to her. I looked away. After a few seconds, Maven deftly pulled my wrist away from her mouth, pressing the handkerchief to it at the same time. She tied the handkerchief around my wrist and released me. When she raised her head, there was a luminous smile on her face. “Well,” she marveled, shaking her head a little. There was still enough blood in her mouth to stain her teeth red, and I fought the impulse to flinch. “You are just full of surprises, aren’t you?”
“What is it?” Itachi asked, suddenly curious.
Maven raised a small hand and dabbed at her lips with one finger. “She certainly has active witchblood,” she told him, without taking her eyes off me. Though Itachi looked like he had more questions, he said nothing. I couldn’t figure out the distribution of power between the two vampires, but I decided I didn’t really need to know until I understood my own situation a little better. Maven could taste the magic in my blood?
With everything that was going on, I’d nearly forgotten about Darcy’s comment that I had “weird blood.” Now it made more sense. I didn’t know whether to be intrigued or grossed out by that, so I just pressed the handkerchief into my wrist. It hurt, but although I was pretty sure she’d nicked a vein, the blood wasn’t seeping through the delicate white cloth.
“Don’t worry, vampire bites clot very quickly,” Maven promised. “It won’t scar, either.”
I nodded. I wasn’t really worried about bleeding out. Both vampires were watching me carefully, probably waiting to see if I would freak out. “This is officially the weirdest job interview I’ve ever had,” I muttered.
Maven smiled.
“So?” I asked. “Do we have a deal?”
Itachi’s eyes narrowed. “Not so fast,” he chided. “There’s nothing for you to—”
Ever so gently, Maven laid a hand on Itachi’s arm. She leaned over and whispered something into his ear, too softly for me to hear. Itachi’s expression didn’t change, except for the slightest tightening of his lips. When she was done, he leaned back and nodded.
Maven peered at me through the thick glasses she undoubtedly didn’t need. “A probationary period is in order, I think,” she said at last. “We want you to help Quinn find out who came after your niece in Itachi’s enclave.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, startled. “We know it was Victor and Darcy.”
“And Darcy is still out there,” Itachi countered, his voice sour.
“At any rate,” Maven added, “I am inclined to believe someone else sent them to collect your niece. Trying to take Charlotte behind Itachi’s back, before he was aware of her—they might have gotten away with that on a technicality, as they say.” She smiled without mirth. “But to go after her again, once he was aware of her existence, was a very brazen move.”
“And those two were never known for being brazen,” Itachi broke in, as though he just wanted to edge his way into the conversation.
Maven nodded her head slightly, agreeing with him. “I’m afraid someone may have . . . motivated them.”
“That’s it?” I asked, trying not to sound as incredulous as I felt. “You just want me to find out who’s after Charlie?” Hell, I was going to do that anyway.
But Maven held up a hand. “In addition to that, we’d like for you to seek counsel from Clan Pellar on how to use your magic.”
“My magic?” I echoed dumbly. In my concern over keeping Charlie safe, I had nearly forgotten that I could theoretically do . . . something. Magic, I guess.
Maven arched an eyebrow in a way that suggested this was a deal breaker. “If you are to become our ‘daytime Quinn,’” she said, “we want all the use we can get out of you.”
I nodded slowly. I didn’t want to fuck around with witch powers, but I could learn a couple of spells, or whatever the witches called them, to pacify Maven and Itachi. Maybe I could learn something that would help me protect Charlie. “And then we’ve got a deal?” I persisted, working to keep my voice light and respectful. I wasn’t sure I succeeded.
“These two tasks should determine whether you truly are who and what I suspect,” she told me. “If you swear loyalty to us and can prove your value, then we have a deal. We will make sure the Old World stays away from your niece until she turns eighteen, or until you terminate your service, whichever comes first. No one in our enclave will touch her.”
I opened my mouth to ask for more time for Charlie, but before I could speak, Itachi said firmly, “That is our only offer.”
I closed my mouth and nodded tightly. Seventeen years of service, and no guarantee that Charlie would be safe once she was no longer a minor. It wasn’t the greatest bargain I’d ever made, but I didn’t see a lot of alternatives, short of moving into Charlie’s bedroom or trying to convince John to move to Belize. Neither seemed very viable. If I worked for Itachi, at least I could ensure that Charlie got to have a childhood.