Heart of Vengeance (Alice Worth #6) - Lisa Edmonds Page 0,134
stand beside him. Lucy did the same. Despite the edict against the use of weapons, her hand strayed toward her hidden sword. Esme hissed. Daisy showed her teeth, her eyes golden.
“Whatever rules Ronan might have broken, that doesn’t change yours,” I said. “I didn’t come all this way to get my head taken off by a fireball before we even got a chance to argue our case.”
Malcolm had told me once there was a better than fifty-fifty chance my last words in this life would be back-talk to someone or something much more powerful than me. I couldn’t say he was wrong.
I looked across the table at three sets of glowing storm-cloud-gray eyes and identical glares. That quickly, they’d gone from arguing among themselves to uniting in their anger at me. If they didn’t decide to smite me into atoms, that might be a step in the right direction.
I was sick, exhausted, worried about Malcolm, and haunted by the memory of the slaughter in Walliston. And damn it, I missed Sean, I had a score to settle with Valas, and I wanted to go home.
“With all due respect, can we get to the reason we’re here?” I asked.
Tis’s sharp gaze raked me from head to toe. “I sense little respect, mage who calls herself Alice.”
“I respect you plenty,” I assured her. It would be stupid not to.
“You fear us. That is not the same.” Aira shifted position in her chair and re-crossed her ankles, her boot heels leaving marks on the demon’s back. “It’s smart to fear us. We will hear you.”
I took a deep breath and exhaled. “So, did we get here before her?”
“No.” Tis gestured at a door to our right, hidden in an alcove. The door swung open.
A woman in clothing much like ours emerged from the shadows, her hood thrown back. She appeared older and leaner than in the photo provided by the Vampire Court. Her hair was short and cut raggedly, as if she’d done it herself. She wore a leather bag on her back. I wondered if the scroll was in the bag. My fingers itched to grab it and find out.
I had no reason to think the Court had given me an outdated photo. Her change in appearance could be the result of many things, but the simplest explanation was that she’d been down here a lot longer than three months. I thought of the strange time-warping we’d seen in the valley when we arrived. Did time pass differently here? No point worrying about that now.
“Hello, Mariela,” I said. “We’ve been looking for you.”
27
“I knew Valas would send one of her pet mages.” Mariela’s voice was scratchy, either from dehydration or disuse. “I figured someone would try to cut me down outside Edis, but I got here before you could poison them against me.”
I opened my mouth to tell her I was no one’s pet, but Tis indicated the empty chairs around their table. “Have a seat. You must be tired and thirsty.”
“But you—” Mariela began.
Aira flicked her finger. A chair skidded back from the table and hit Mariela in the stomach. “Sit.” It was not a request.
We sat.
I took the seat directly across from Tis, my backpack on the floor beside me. Lucy sat on my left and Ronan to my right. Daisy stood between Ronan and I, her sharp golden gaze on Mariela. Esme stayed on my shoulder, watching our hosts.
With bad grace, Mariela pulled out a chair and sat. Daisy curled her lip and growled at her.
Tis gestured at the table. “We offer you water, wine, and bread.”
All the lore I knew indicated eating or drinking anything in other realms rarely ended well. When I reached for my water bottle, however, Tis said, “We have offered you hospitality, Alice. Our food and drink is quite safe for you.” Her tone had a distinct edge. She pushed one of the jugs in my direction.
I poured a cup of water and took a slice of bread. The water was cool and the bread was warm and slightly sweet. “Thank you,” I said.
Lucy followed suit and thanked our hosts. Mariela took a cup of water and downed it.
“We welcome Alice, guardian wolf and dragon, and the warrior Lucy,” Tis said formally.
Ronan didn’t respond to the obvious snub. He brought out his flask and took a long swallow.
I cleared my throat and folded my hands on the table. “We’ve come to present another point of view on this case.”