A Search for Death (A Shade of Vampire #73) - Bella Forrest Page 0,5

forthcoming as he was, had I not poked and prodded him.

The Lamia princess, daughter of Tamara and future Lady of the Lamias, was pretty much a distant memory for me. I wasn’t that person anymore. I was infinitely stronger. My self-confidence was booming. I was out of my silk cocoon and blossoming into a creature I looked forward to getting to know better. If only my mother could set her pride aside and see me now…

I hadn’t spoken to her since I’d joined the mission for Cerix. I missed her, even that version of her that made me want to scream and run away—yet she hadn’t even sent word to me. Nothing. It was as if I’d stopped existing all of a sudden. I wondered about her, but I didn’t want to be the one to reach out. That would’ve meant playing into her hands, and my mother was an expert in manipulation. I had firsthand experience with her machinations. She meant well, but her mind belonged to another era, another culture.

“You seem different,” Varga said, pulling me out of my musings. His eyes were fixed on me, gold flakes dancing around his pupils.

We were in Phoenix’s telescope room, patiently waiting while he scoured the astral maps, using details he’d gotten from Amelia’s sky readings. Riza and Herakles were settled at the other end of the table, and Fallon was half asleep in a chair next to Phoenix. We were on our own here, while the rest of GASP was assigned to multiple field missions and administrative tasks. Roles had been shifted, priorities had been changed. After Mount Agrith came down, that had struck me as the reasonable thing to do.

We were stretched thin, anyway. My crew was in limbo, waiting, much like Taeral and the others. I looked forward to being reunited with them, because I felt a bit safer with a swamp witch like Lumi around. I also liked Eira a lot. She was my kind of girl—kind and decent, but ruthless when push came to shove.

But I did enjoy these few moments I had with Varga. I could feel his eyes on me, even when I wasn’t looking. I didn’t need his abilities to sense his interest in me. My heart skipped a beat whenever I had his attention. “What do you mean?” I asked, giving him a weak smile.

“I don’t know… Your aura’s brighter since we got back from Nevertide,” Varga replied.

“Is that a good thing?”

“I think so. I think our meeting with Kabbah made you stronger, in a sense. Though that doesn’t come as a surprise, given the verbal beating you gave him,” he laughed lightly.

My cheeks were on fire. “I had to say those things. I had to make him see…”

“Oh, I completely agree. Honestly, I don’t think he would’ve told us otherwise,” Varga said. “Your contributions to this mission are priceless, Eva. I hope you know that.”

And now, I was melting, all gooey on the inside. No one had ever made me feel this way before, and I couldn’t help but feel a little ridiculous. He’d basically just told me I’d done a good job, and I was fawning over him like he was the brightest star in my universe. My mother had taught me to seek my interest above anyone else’s, even in a relationship—much like she’d done with Azazel. After all, she’d only gotten with him so she could have a child. Me. However, I wasn’t like that.

I wouldn’t have dared use Varga, or anyone else, for that matter, like my mother had used Azazel. That move had backfired on her, anyway. Had it not been for Draven and Serena and their friends, Azazel would’ve found us, eventually. And I sure as hell had never wanted to be an heir to his empire of pain and misery. He would’ve killed Mom.

I sighed deeply. “Thank you,” I said to Varga. “I try to do my best.”

“You’re a badass.” Riza giggled.

“Now you’re exaggerating.” I scoffed, crossing my arms.

“Anything new, Phoenix?” Herakles asked, leaning back in his chair.

Phoenix shook his head, eyes glued to the screens, analyzing a gigantic star map and checking his notes every other minute. “Not yet. I feel like I’m close. Amelia described a few constellations, but I’m not there yet.”

“What about Mortis?” Varga replied.

“Oh, I’m still waiting on the result for that,” Phoenix replied, pointing at another screen, on which numbers and strings of code flickered, page after page, as he’d linked the telescope to the computer in order