from her maker, so you and I have a role to play.”
“Aye.” The whiskey slid down Christian’s throat and warmed his belly like fire. “We like to have a go at each other every now and then, but that was torturous.”
“But necessary.” Niko moved his hand across the table until he found his napkin. “She’s intelligent enough not to take it to heart. Raven isn’t impulsive, but she’s reactive. I’ve watched her light, and most things don’t bother her the way they would others. But everyone has a weak spot, and you need to root that out of her.”
Christian stared into his glass. He’d certainly learned Raven’s faults. While she brushed off insults left and right, she was fiercely protective of her father. She also didn’t like anyone treating her differently because of her gender, so Christian had used those weaknesses to push her buttons. He could have gone deeper by bringing up Fletcher and attacking her mother’s memory, which would have been unequivocal trigger points, but he couldn’t bring himself to stoop that low.
While a Vampire could keep their fangs from punching out, it sometimes happened involuntarily for a number of reasons. Sexual stimulation, anger, excitement—it was unique to each individual. Raven had a tendency to show her fangs whenever she felt like she was losing the upper hand in a fight. She’d spent the morning learning new moves and brushing up on old ones, but they also subjected her to a different level of training. Raven needed to fight like a Mage and ignore her Vampire nature, something Christian had always discouraged. But now that lack of control could—at the very least—put the mission in jeopardy. Worst-case scenario, it might cost Raven her life.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. Raven had not only endured Lenore’s recent visit, but the next morning she got berated by the man who loved her. It was a wonder she hadn’t gone on a killing spree by now.
“I can’t sense your energy,” Niko said, “but I can see it. Your emotions light up the darkness at times. Something has been troubling you this morning, even before the meeting.”
“Just old ghosts who need to stay in the fecking graveyard.”
“I know the burden of secrets. Can you discuss it with Viktor?”
“Afraid not.” Christian sighed and sat back. This whole situation felt like a blister on his soul. “Just someone I’d rather forget, but I can’t.”
“An old flame?” Niko quipped. But then he did that thing where he looked at Christian’s skull as if flames were shooting out.
Christian grabbed his drink. “I’ll thank you kindly to quit peeping at my light.”
“I can’t help it any more than you can help noticing facial expressions.” Niko bound his nape, using a leather tie from his pocket. “I don’t know who this is about, but your emotional energy reveals a lot. I can relate to the struggle of moving on.”
“And how’s that?”
“My Creator wronged me, but I wound up in an even worse situation after I escaped with Cyrus. Believe it or not, I spent years wondering if I’d made the right decision. Had my Creator been so unfair? A few centuries of slavery and I could have become a strong ally in his army. I could have been someone at the expense of my dignity. I hated him and I loved him. He made me.” Niko folded his arms and shifted his gaze toward Christian’s chest. “You can still have residual feelings for someone even if they’ve wronged you. It’s hard to let go of the life you imagined with them. It’s irrational, and I think it illustrates the complicated dynamic between Raven and her Vampire maker.”
Christian couldn’t argue. Raven’s relationship with Houdini vexed him. But he had to be careful about how often he brought up the subject as it would only drive a wedge between them. She had to learn for herself how toxic a man like that really was, and though Houdini professed to have her best interest at heart, a manipulative person had the gift of convincing others that they could do no wrong.
Niko reached for his water and savored a long drink until the glass was empty. “But your situation is different than mine, isn’t it? Old flames are hard to put out because they’ve burned the longest. I’ve seen it destroy men, and that is love’s most dangerous side effect.”
“Who said anything about love?”
Niko impassively touched his lower lip but didn’t reply.
Christian shifted his gaze into the gathering room. Despite everything, Christian