Chapter 123 Treason
❀ Maeve ❀
As soon as I’d dressed, I teleported to Vladis’s office.
I only had to recall the milky bowl of teeth on his ornate table, and my form flickered from my chambers to the dreary space.
The corner I’d traced to was as dark as the last time, but with full view. Vladis sat at the table, a quill glinting in his busy, slim fingers.
Lilith shadowed him on one side, and sitting on the edge of the table, carefree—
My heart slammed in my chest.
Tammy.
Immediately, I stepped out of the shadows toward them. “Tammy, get away from them.”
Vladis didn’t even look up from his writing, and Lilith raised an amused brow at my advance.
Tammy swung her head, eyes widening when she saw me.
“Maeve! I mean… Y-your Grace!” She hopped from the table and lunged at me, grabbing me in a tight hug.
I looked over her shoulder at the other two crimson vampires, my arm wrapped around her.
“What are you doing here?” I demanded. “Have they hurt you?”
At the same time, Tammy had been speaking in a worried tone. “I heard what happened in town! Are you alright?”
“I’m fine. Tammy, what are they telling you?” I eyed my uncle and his evil assistant, who’d apparently had Tammy under their clutches without my knowledge.
“Tell me?” Tammy sounded confused. “Well, I can barely get Master Vladis to tell me anything, and Lady Lilith guards her secrets close. It’ll take me decades to get through one training as it is!”
“Training?” I repeated, suspicious.
Vladis turned his attention to us then. He smiled graciously. “Yes. Dear Tammy here was released from the Thirst Hall and had no one to guide her. Your queenly obligations spared no room for a fledgling, so I took her in.”
“Much like you ‘took’ Lilith in?” I asked.
Lilith scowled at that. But I didn’t need anyone to tell me she’d run to Vladis’s side to escape Nikolai, and had gotten trapped by one of his sticky deals.
Lilith wasn’t the sort to play henchwoman. Sired by Drusilla, I couldn’t figure out why she’d allow Vladis to control her at all.
I turned to Tammy, my voice ringing clear. “Are you well? Is anyone making you do anything you’d rather not do?”
“No,” she answered easily. “The Lady and Master have been a great help to me. I appreciate your effort and patience, but I know you have bigger things to handle now. You’re our queen.” Tammy’s eyes gleamed with respect and awe as she spoke.
I squirmed.
Looking closely, I could see changes in her. Her skin was paler, hair still mousy but healthier now. The red eyes looked timid on her, lacking the innate predatory glint characterizing others. Like mine.
I squeezed her shoulders. “Can you trace now?”
I’d appreciate it if she had a way out, freedom whenever she wished. Even though being a vampire had been her wish from the very beginning, I felt responsible for her.
“Not yet, but Lady Lilith promised to get me there—”
“Ah-ah, I did no such thing.” Lilith interrupted with a drawl. “She hounds me like a stray with mommy issues.”
I was surprised not to detect any hint of malice in Lilith’s tone.
“Leave us,” Vladis finally said, his voice deep and serious.
Lilith nodded once, then walked toward me and Tammy, her gaze locked on me. I couldn’t decipher the look, so I returned a sharp one.
When Lilith grabbed Tammy’s arm a little too roughly, I glared. Lilith rolled her eyes, and without further acknowledgment, traced away as Tammy was trying to say goodbye.
After they left, the silence was heavy as a steel cloud.
I walked toward Vladis’s table. “You hinted at a solution to the curse of wrath. Now you summon me, claiming to have information about my wolf mate.”
“Yes, on both counts.”
I stood, waiting for him to spill whatever crazy ideas he had and, of course, the price.
When he didn’t continue, I scowled.
“I’m done playing games with you, Uncle. I mean it. If your help is conditional, then it’s not in my favor.”
He dropped the pen, his face unreadable. “You called me uncle.”
“Would you prefer I didn’t? It doesn’t matter to me either way.”
He stood up, instantly towering over me despite standing on the opposite side of the table. “I believe we should use such titles to breed trust.”
“Trust doesn’t come from titles and imaginary familiarity. I know you have a hidden agenda. You know I won’t be a pawn. So are you giving me the information or not?”
He pressed a hand to his chest, faking hurt. “You vilify me for presenting you with a healthy challenge?”
“My life is hard enough as it is,” I forced through gritted teeth.
His expression morphed into one of disgust. “Stop whining and take account of your privilege. You are a queen.” He spread his arms wide. “You preside over an entire region of a strong, vicious species.”
“They hate me. And I’m sure you know something about what happened to me in town.” I slitted my eyes.
He froze, then tilted his head. His lips twitched, but his eyes steeled with affront.
When he took a menacing step forward, my stomach dropped.
“Are you accusing me of treason?”