Catalyst Page 0,7

dark ringlet fell over her shoulder. She touched it gently, twisting it between her fingers. "Reggie, dear. What did we do before?"

He glanced up at her not following her meaning. "Pardon?" He straightened in his seat, leaning forward slightly and feigning interest.

Sophia sighed. Why did he pretend to be a fool? She knew he was far from it. Sophia resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Before, when we were powerful and had no reflection at all...how did we dress? How did we know what we looked like? It was so long ago."

It was long ago, but Reginald recognized this as another snub from his sister. She remembered. "Servants. Slaves. Tell them to make you pretty. If they fail, kill them, and then choose another." He uncrossed his legs and sat forward in his chair. "You act like it was so long ago that you can't remember."

"I'm not sure I do remember everything," she said, still primping, while she could make out her fading image in the mirror.

"Come now, sister. Good blood should draw memories back, not exile them completely." When Sophia didn't answer he looked over at her. She continued to fuss with the curl, trying to drape it over her shoulder with the other cascading dark locks.

Reggie wondered if she really couldn't remember, if it wasn't an act. As he watched his sister primp and fuss, he wondered why. Was there a reason she hadn't obtained her former power? Was the girl too defiant to be fed from? Something was wrong with her, otherwise his sister would have devoured more blood by now. Those who don't grab power while it's within their grasp don't live to see the sunrise, and yet, Sophia was sitting like she had all the time in the world. There was only one explanation for it in his mind - something was wrong with Kahli.

A grin spread across Reggie's lips, slowly stretching from one corner of his mouth to the other. He didn't realize it, but now that he saw, he didn't know how he missed it. "Tell me, how is her blood? Perhaps it's not as pure as we thought? I mean, look at the mirror. Your face is still there when you should be reflectionless by now."

Sophia was always easy to goad. She stopped and turned toward him slowly. Reginald knew he plucked the right strings. "Be careful, brother. You do not want to fight me today."

"I have no wish to fight with you, either," Reginald said. Sophia's eyes bore into him. If she could make him burst into flames, she would have. "I was merely pointing out that your prized-possession seems to be rather lackluster," he pressed his hand to his chest, "which is dreadfully embarrassing with how she was flaunted at the All Hallow's Eve party. Every Regent saw and heard you brag about her, the dirty wild thing." He shivered as he thought about it. Kahli was disgusting, dripping with filth and savage beyond comprehension. She acted more like a beast, than a girl.

Sophia's gaze narrowed, her hands tightening their grip on the dais. "She is what I thought she was. What you told me she was - wild - pure. Do you think we should just tap her and drink goblets of her blood? Are you a fool? Do you know how potent pure blood is? What it does compared to the anemic spawn we've been breeding?" The only reason she offered this information was to prove she was right, that pure blood was hers and not his. That the blood was restoring her former power and he wouldn't have a drop.

Reginald hadn't realized what was wrong with the girl. He figured that young William had issues restraining her, or something ridiculous. But this, this was much better. "How dreadful," he said with pity in his voice. "To have something that could change everything so easily and yet, not be able to take that power. It must be awful." He clucked his tongue and shook his head, barely hiding the satisfied smile that kept breaking across his lips. "I had no idea."

"You never have any idea," she snapped. Motioning for her servant, Sophia said to her, "Fetch the wild girl for a tasting. Promptly." After the servant left, Sophia turned toward her brother with a wicked gleam in her eye. "Never say that I was unkind to you, Reginald. I'll let you taste a drop and you can see how strong a stomach is needed to drink from