can take out whatever you feel is so dangerous, give me the counterspell for the geis and then we turn the rest over to the king.”
He looked at me as if I were speaking Martian. "Do you not realize what you did? You gave the Fey your word-they will hold you to it.”
"I said I'd give them the book. I didn't make any promises about the contents.”
"And you think that specious argument will hold up?”
"Yeah." I really wondered what world Pritkin had been living in, because it sure wasn't the supernatural one. "Anything not specifically spelled out in a contract is open to interpretation. If the king didn't want me gutting the book, he should have said so.”
Pritkin looked at me for a long minute. "One of the functions of the war mages is to protect the Pythia at all costs," he finally said. "Mac believed in you, or he wouldn't have died for you. But you were brought up by a vampire, by a creature with no moral compass at all, and have received no training. Why should I fight for you? What kind of Pythia will you be?”
It was the big question, the same one I'd been asking myself. I'd taken the power hoping to break the geis, or at least give me an edge over Myra. So far, it had done neither. The truth was, I didn't know what kind of Pythia I'd be. But I did know one thing without any doubt at all. "A better one than Myra.”
"So I am being given the choice of the lesser of two evils? You do not make much of a case for yourself.”
"Maybe I'm not trying too hard," I said truthfully. I needed Pritkin. I knew next to nothing about magic on the grand scale, and had no idea where to even start looking for the book. But I didn't think I could stand another Mac on my conscience. "If you're smart, you'll lay low until this is over. Let me fight my own battles. You might get lucky and Myra and I will kill each other off.”
"And why should I not kill both of you myself, and hope the next in line will be better?”
Billy's eyes got big, and I realized that while I was relatively safe in Augusta 's body, he was still vulnerable in mine. I stepped in front of him. "There is no next in line," I told Pritkin flatly. "If there were another contender who could do a decent job, I'd have given her the damn power already! But the initiates are all under the control of your Circle, who I don't trust any more than the Black. I'm not going to hand world-shattering power to someone who can be manipulated, controlled or corrupted!”
Pritkin regarded me narrowly. "You expect me to believe you would give up the power, just like that, if there was a fit receptacle to receive it? You dragged us into Faerie to complete the ritual. Of course you want it.”
"I didn't drag you anywhere! You volunteered to go.”
"To find the rogue!”
I took a deep breath. Augusta didn't need it, but I did. "I went into Faerie to get Myra before she could get me. Picking up Tomas was a fluke, and completing the ritual was a bid to stay alive.”
"You told Mac you went after your father.”
"I did. Tony has him, or what's left of him, and I want him back. But the main goal was always Myra. I had reason to believe that she was with Tony." It had seemed like killing two birds with one stone, but I should have known better. When was my life ever that simple? "But now she's here, trying to kill Mircea. If she succeeds, he won't be around to protect me while I grow up, and I doubt I'll make it long enough to be a pain in your side, or anyone else's. If you want to get rid of me, here's your big chance.”
"Why are you telling me this? I could help Myra destroy you, and your vampire.”
"I know." And, frankly, it wouldn't surprise me. I was gambling a lot on Mac's faith in his buddy, a faith that could very well have been misplaced. But then, is it a gamble if you don't have a choice? I had Myra and half the European Senate against me. And the only one on my side was a very stressed-out ghost in an all-too-vulnerable body. What was one more enemy?