hearing a question.”
“The Antares Coven summoned it for power. Why did you summon it?”
“I’m part of the Antares Coven,” she answered simply. The problem was that I got the impression this was anything but simple.
I rocked back on my heels, letting my butt hit the floor, but still holding the gun extended. I rested my arm on my bent knee. “Why did you join the Antares Coven?”
She smiled, and it was bitter. “It was expected of me.”
“Expected?” I repeated, sensing her vulnerability.
“I come from a strong line. A pure line,” she said, her voice acidic, yet soft. “It was expected of me.”
“Which family?” I asked.
“What?” she blinked, as if realizing what she’d said.
“Which family do you come from?” There were over a dozen families of witches and warlocks that came from old magic. They were pious fools, but not toward some unknown god. They held themselves and their blood to a standard above us all. They believed themselves the closest thing we had to gods on this earth. They were only loyal to their own power-hungry lust.
The witch laughed once more, shaking her head. “You won’t get a ransom for me,” she said. I had no intention of ransoming the girl, not that she knew that.
“Why is that?”
Her lips pressed together. “I’m the youngest of three daughters. The least gifted. I’m not married, and my coven attempted a summoning and failed. If you know half as much as you claim, you know that my family won’t pay. Not for a failure.”
Ah. I understood it easily then.
“You’re a Le Fay.”
She blinked slowly. “How’d you know that?”
“I make it my business to know things. It’s not easy surviving this world as a human. Knowledge is power.”
“You’re not human.” She said it as a statement, but it implied a question. One corner of my mouth curled upward.
“No,” I said softly. “I suppose I’m not.”
“I thought you were a vampire,” she started, hesitant. “But you’re not. You’re something else.” Her eyes squinted. She was trying to figure me out. Turn the tables and glean any little bit of information I gave her.
“How do you know I’m not a vampire?”
“Your lip,” she answered. I lifted my free hand to my face and remembered that before the crash, she’d headbutted me and split my lip. I chuckled under my breath.
“You’re young to be in a coven already. Especially one as ambitious as Antares. Did you choose them? Or did your parents?” I asked her, redirecting the conversation. She let out a raspy breath that I’m pretty sure was her attempt at a sigh, were she not so congested.
“My parents,” she said. “They knew the Antares were planning a summoning. If it succeeded, I could become one of the most powerful witches of the age. Redeem myself in their eyes. If it didn’t . . .” she trailed off, lifting her eyes to meet mine.
“You died, and they didn’t have a disappointment for a daughter anymore,” I surmised.
Harsh, but true for witches and warlocks.
“What do you want from me?” she repeated.
“I already told you. Answers. Tell me what you know about Claude Lewis.”
“Claude Lewis?” she asked, the name clearly not ringing a bell.
“The leader. The one trying to command the demon,” I supplied.
“Kenneth du Lac,” she spat. “He’s a bastard.”
I’d never heard of Kenneth du Lac, though I knew the last name. That explained a lot about how I’d never been able to find him, even after all these years. Claude Lewis was simply an alias. One that I’d believed back then and didn’t realize I should have known better until now.
“How so?”
She narrowed her eyes again. “You can piece together that I’m a Le Fay, but you don’t know of Kenneth du Lac?” She sounded disbelieving.
“I want to hear it from you,” I said, though it grated me because she was right. I did know a great deal about a great many things. I hadn’t seen this, though, just as I hadn’t realized he’d be there last night.
“He doesn’t give a damn about his coven. All he cares about is power, and he’ll manipulate anyone he can to get it.”
I nodded along as she spoke. “According to you, that’s all anyone from Antares cared about.”
“He’s . . .” she searched for an ending. “Different. Worse than the others. While power was all the coven cared for, there were still rules in place. Precautions to shield from the darker costs of magic. Lines we didn’t cross. If Kenneth thought it would get him more power, he’d sacrifice