My stomach clenched. He walked over and stood on his hind paws. His bald little front paws landed on my knees and he pleaded silently with wide eyes. His batlike ears fell back as he switched to meowing at me.
“Stop it. That sad little kitty thing isn’t going to work on me.”
“Come on, Sabina,” Vinca said. “Look at him. He’s shivering, the poor thing.”
I looked at her with disbelief. “I thought you hated him.”
She shrugged. “That was before you turned him into the ugliest cat on the planet. Besides, I’m a sucker for stuff like this.”
Great, I now had a pitiful cat and a bleeding-heart nymph on my case. I considered lying to them. I could just tell them I didn’t have a way to contact Adam. The truth was his business card was sitting in the pocket of the pants I’d worn the other night. I decided to take the middle road.
“Look, I’ve got a lot going on right now. If you’ll give me a couple of days, I promise I’ll try to get in touch with the mancy. But I’m not—” Their cheers cut off my words. I was going to tell them I couldn’t promise any miracles, but it was obvious they wouldn’t listen anyway. My only hope was to hold them off with excuses while I tried to find some other way to help Giguhl. The other option—asking Adam for help—was the last thing I wanted to do.
17
The next night, I left Vinca to deal with Giguhl. To make him feel better, she’d run out and bought him a trunkload of stuff from the pet store. He’d protested, but by the time I left, Vinca had bribed him with catnip into trying on a little red sweater. He looked ridiculous, but seemed to be basking in Vinca’s attention. I left them around nine to go face Clovis.
When I arrived at the Temple, Clovis leaned in for a kiss, but I shied away. He noticed the move and backed off with a knowing smile.
“I trust you’re not suffering any ill effects?”
I’d really hoped to pretend last night hadn’t occurred. Obviously, Clovis had other plans. I simply nodded and took a seat, ready to get down to business.
“You said that once I passed my initiation you’d tell me about my role in your organization?”
He hesitated at my abrupt change of subject, but quickly recovered. As he switched into business mode, I surreptitiously wiped my palms on the legs of my jeans.
“How familiar are you with the Dominae’s business dealings?”
The question took me off guard. Frowning, I said, “A little. Honestly, if it didn’t involve killing someone, I wasn’t privy to much.”
“So you’re not aware of their recent foray into winemaking?”
I nodded, recalling the wine they’d given me. “Actually, I did know about that. The last time I met with them, they let me try their blood-wine. It was excellent.”
He leaned forward. “What did they tell you about it?”
I shrugged, figuring it was safe to tell him what little I knew. “Not a lot. Just that they were expanding their business interests. They said they were also marketing real wine to the humans to earn more income. The blood-wine would be marketed to the vamp population. Why?”
“They didn’t mention anything about mages?”
I shook my head, wondering where he was going with this.
He pulled a manila folder from one of the drawers. Placing a hand on it, he said, “We’ve had several reports recently about mancies disappearing—friends of Temple congregants and the like. I had my team check out the cases to see if I could help in any way. What they discovered is shocking.”
I sat patiently, trusting he’d connect the two seemingly unrelated subjects together when he was ready.
“Tell me, Sabina, what happens when vampires ingest the blood of mancies?”
My whole body jerked, realizing where he was going with this. “The vamp absorbs some of the mage’s powers,” I said slowly. “Are you insinuating the Dominae are kidnapping these mancies?”
“I’m not insinuating anything. The Dominae are kidnapping the mancies and harvesting their blood.”
It couldn’t be possible, I thought. Any fool knew if the Hekate Council found out the shit would hit the fan. The centuries-old truce between the races would be broken. The result would be another war.
“But …” I began. “Why would the Dominae want to antagonize the mancies that way?”
“It’s simple: power. The Dominae have recognized their dwindling control over the vampire population. Do you realize over the last six months alone, I have recruited hundreds of vamps to my cause?”
I knew he spoke the truth. After all, hadn’t the Dominae sent me to kill him because he was threatening their power?
“But why antagonize the mancies? They have to know it will lead to war.”
He crossed his arms and regarded me levelly. “What better way to rally the support of the vampire community than to create a common enemy?”
Holy shit, he was right. I wasn’t buying it completely, but there was a certain twisted logic to his thinking.
“And think about it, Sabina,” he said. “If the Dominae can arm their vamp army with blood filled with mancy magic they’ll be almost unstoppable.”
My stomach sank. In centuries past, when the vampires and mancies fought, the mancies always had the advantage. A vampire had to be close to attack—hand-to-hand or fang-to-vein. But mancies could use their powers from miles away. If vamps had the power of magic combined with their superior fighting skills behind them, they could wipe out mage-kind. This certainly put a new spin on things. But if the Dominae wanted me to kill Clovis to prevent a war, why would they feel the need to have a secret weapon? Unless they were just being proactive. That had to be it. Still, if the Hekate Council found out the Dominae was behind the mancies’ disappearances, they’d be forced to declare war first. If I didn’t know better, I’d think the Dominae wanted a war. But why?
Wait a second, I thought. Clovis is full of shit. The Dominae wouldn’t do something so foolish. And even if they did, why should I care?
“Okay, so if what you’re saying is true, why does it matter to me? I am a vampire, after all.”
“Correction, you’re only half-vampire. Doesn’t it bother you that your own kin could be eradicated from this planet?”
“Considering I’ve never met any of my family on that side? No.”
“Then how about this? How long do you think the human race would last if vampires didn’t have their truce with mancies keeping them in check? It would be a bloodbath—literally. When the dust settled, there would be no humans left from which to feed. How long until the vamp population turned against itself?”