Blood Lust - Alexandra Ivy Page 0,109
woman, as if she could actually detect any warriors.
“There’s not one Sentinel with her,” the Mave’s voice floated through the intercom. “I swear.”
Stella stiffened her spine. She’d already decided that this was her last chance. There was no point in trying to pretend she had a choice.
“You’ll be very sorry if you’re lying to me,” she warned, reaching forward to press the button, shutting off the monitor. Then, before her nerves could get the better of her, she grabbed Molly’s arm and headed out of the storage room. “I’m going to enjoy watching that woman die,” she muttered, trying to soothe her wounded pride. “As slowly and painfully as possible.”
“Bad woman,” Molly said, stumbling over her feet in an effort to keep up with Stella’s brisk stride.
“Keep your mouth shut and stay close,” she told the brat, half dragging her down the hallway. “Got it?”
A mutinous expression settled on the tiny face, but Molly was smart enough not to argue.
“Yes.”
The odd pentagon shape of the building meant that it was impossible to see more than a few feet ahead of her. Which explained why Stella was so startled when she rounded a corner to discover that the woman on the camera was already standing just inside the doorway.
“I’m Myst,” the female said as Stella came to a startled halt.
Stella frowned, studying the woman. In person she looked even younger. Barely old enough to have a child.
“Christ, you look like a pixie doll,” she muttered, her gaze resting on the large pair of sunglasses that covered her eyes. “Why are you wearing sunglasses?”
The female held out a slender hand. “Molly, come to me.”
The child hesitated, as if confused by the sight of her mother.
“But—”
“No.” Stella tightened her grip on the girl’s arm.
The high-blood female made a sound of impatience. “That was the deal.”
Stella was desperate, but she wasn’t stupid. Just having the clairvoyant wouldn’t be enough.
“Not until I’m sure you can produce the weapon,” she told the female.
Myst shrugged. “I’m here, aren’t I?”
“And empty-handed.”
There was a pause, as if Myst was caught off guard by the demand for proof that she could produce what the vision had promised. Then slowly she lifted her hands.
“The weapon isn’t a human device.”
Stella frowned in confusion. “Then what . . .” Her breath was jerked from her lungs as she caught sight of the dazzling display of colors that abruptly rose from the clairvoyant’s fingers. “Magic?”
“I am a high-blood,” Myst pointed out.
Stella felt a burst of anger, unconsciously releasing Molly’s arm as she scratched at her neck. The burning was spreading.
“That’s impossible,” she rasped. “I can’t use that.”
“Of course you can,” the clairvoyant promised. Slowly the colors coalesced into a ball of seething energy. “Hold out your hands.”
Stella started to reach forward, only to realize her arms were now covered by a red, angry rash. What the hell?
“This is a trick,” she rasped.
“Okay.” Calmly pulling back her hands, Myst gave a small shrug. “If you don’t want it.”
“Wait.” Stella bit her bottom lip, trying to think through the growing fuzz in her mind. She didn’t know what was wrong with her, but she was certain that once she managed to escape, everything would be fine. “What does it do?”
“Once it’s released it will spread through Valhalla like wildfire.”
Stella sent the clairvoyant a suspicious glare. “And you’re just going to give it to me?”
Myst turned her head toward the little girl. “I’ll do anything to protect my daughter.”
“Fine,” Stella muttered. She held out an impatient hand. “Give it to me.”
Myst took a step backward. “First, I want Molly.”
Stella reached to press her hand against the girl’s shoulder, wondering why the stupid brat was hesitating.
“Go to your mother,” she ordered.
The little girl clutched her stuffed hippo. “She’s not—”
“Molly, get out of here right now,” her mother interrupted in firm tones, pointing toward the door.
Warily inching away, the little girl abruptly scampered forward, pulling open the door that had refused Stella’s every effort to unlock. Within seconds she was gone, the door firmly closed behind her.
Dismissing the child from her mind, Stella returned her attention to the clairvoyant. It was time she was given what she’d been promised.
A weapon that would allow her to rule the world.
Okay, maybe not the world, she conceded, her thoughts threatening to dissolve before she could hold on to them. But her own special corner.
For now that would be enough.
Before she could speak, however, there was a strange shimmer around the woman.
Stella made a sound of shock as Myst seemed to swell larger