Bloodrage - Helen Harper Page 0,96
that thing with you.”
Aubrey completely ignored the Dean, keeping his gaze fixed on mine. “It was you, wasn’t it?”
I took a step forward until I was scant inches away from him. It was hard not to recoil away in natural disgust, but I held my ground and forced myself to maintain eye contact with him. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I stated evenly.
“You broke into our trophy room. You swapped the original Palladium for,” he flicked his fingers downward, “that thing. So it is your fault and your fault alone that thirteen of our number have now been massacred by that wraith. I am holding you personally responsible.”
I felt the Dean move away from me and glanced over at him. He jabbed a finger in my direction. “You! I knew we couldn’t trust you. What have you done?” The venom he managed into his voice was rather impressive.
Oh, for fuck’s sake. I struggled to keep a hold of my temper. Why couldn’t the Dean let us sort out the vampires first before he came after me? That guy had no sense of priority. I returned my gaze to Aubrey.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Yes, I was in your house. You had a party there, maybe you remember it? I think,” I paused, putting my finger on my lips in mock concentration, “yes, I think I helped rid you of a wraith then.”
Aubrey licked his lips. “Do you have any idea what I am?”
“Why, Mr. Aubrey, sir,” I said sarcastically, “you’re a vampire. An undead bloodsucking affront to nature. Or so I believe anyway.”
“You are in some sense correct. I am indeed a vampire. And I do definitely suck blood.” He shrugged. “Perhaps that’s a personal failing, but there is little to be done about it now. It does mean, however, that I’m actually very sensitive to blood. More so even than other vampires. I can scent a drop of blood from a hundred metres away.”
I had a horrible feeling I knew where this was going. It didn’t matter, however, I had to project confidence and bravado. “Well, bully for you. As for me, I have a similar ability in that I can sense bullshit from a hundred metres away.” I smiled pleasantly at the vampire. “It comes in handy sometimes.”
Aubrey’s face suddenly twisted with an ugly snarl. “You were in our trophy room because you left your blood there. I know you thought you cleaned it up, but it takes more than a bit of spit and polish to hide blood from me.”
Alex spoke up. “That’s ridiculous,” he said, swallowing. “Even if she was in your trophy room, what I found for you was the Palladium. What is there on the ground right now is the Palladium. You know it and we know it. So pick it right back up and take it home with you.”
Thomas moved up from among the crowd, and stood next to Alex, balls of burning blue flame in his palms. “We are not without our own power, as you well know.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” sneered Aubrey.
“Well, actually, there’s a simple solution to all this,” the Dean interrupted. He motioned towards me. “You taste Initiate Smith’s blood here to see if she really was the person who broke into your trophy room and swapped your statue with another one. If she wasn’t, then you take your little Palladium back to London with you and don’t bother us again. If she was, then she can deal it and the wraith. And we will deal with her.”
Oh, you absolute fucking wanker. It appeared that the Dean had just worked out how he could get rid of me without requiring some complicated trap in the library. What hadn’t occurred to him was what might happen if Tryyl decided to show up here to reclaim his property. I wanted to scream at him that it was the vampires who’d created this problem in the first place by taking the Palladium from Tryyl and then torturing the poor creature. I was not the problem here and most definitely did not appreciate being made the sodding scapegoat.
“Dean Michaels, I don’t think that’s a very good idea,” said Alex nervously. “We shouldn’t give in to the vampires’ ridiculous demands.” I knew that Alex would naturally still be worried about what tasting my blood might mean, given that he thought I was still a Draco Wyr.
“I agree,” joined in Thomas. “We should not be held hostage by