even though I was close to screaming at this cruel twist of fate.
“Yonah,” I said in an admirably controlled tone. “We need to talk.”
Chapter 28
Yonah, Ereshki, Ian, and I stood on opposite corners of the elegant drawing room on the third floor of the mansion, one full level away from the festivities. Of course, things were less festive now that the ball’s guest of honor had been hustled upstairs by Yonah’s guards. Yonah had summoned them because he hadn’t trusted me or Ian to secure her.
Wise of him. Despite her memory loss, a part of me still very much wanted to kill Ereshki. From the glares Ian shot her way, so did he. The only reason Ian probably hadn’t slaughtered Ereshki himself was because he wanted to watch me do it.
“We appear to be in a quagmire,” Yonah said, starting with the obvious. “Ereshki was brought to me three weeks ago by a loyal ally who’d found her in an Iraqi marketplace, screaming in terror at the planes overhead and the vehicles around her.”
A harsh snort left me before I could stuff it back. I suppose that would be terrifying, if the last thing Ereshki remembered before that was camels for transportation.
“This ally quickly realized Ereshki was suffering from more than normal mental health ailments,” Yonah went on. “Her last memories were from ancient Mesopotamia. Ereshki also exhibited mild supernatural abilities as well as having altered blood. All the above put her in danger from Law Guardians, demons, and Red Dragon dealers. Thus, this ally sent her to me, and she has been nothing but gracious and grateful—”
“Oh, she’s good at that act,” I interrupted, bitterness sliding like venom through my veins. “I fell for it, too, even when I was being repeatedly tortured and murdered.”
Yonah stared at me for a long moment. Then he sighed. “Many refugees over the centuries came to me with the same story: a beautiful vampire-witch named Ariel with silver eyes and white-blonde hair streaked with gold and blue saved them. As if there was any doubt that this was you, no fewer than six of them recognized you at the ball tonight. For all that you have done on behalf of those who are now my people, Ariel, I thank you. But”—now his tone hardened—“my gratitude does not include giving you Ereshki as a sacrifice for your vengeance. Whoever she was when she wronged you, she is not that person any longer.”
The rational part of me agreed with his logic. The rest was screaming, That’s for ME to decide! I’d bought that right with my blood, and I was all that was left of Ereshki’s other victims, too. They also deserved long-denied justice being served to her.
That’s why I couldn’t trust myself to speak at Yonah’s arrogant declaration that I had no say in Ereshki’s fate. Worse, I could feel my other half stirring, drawn by my rage. It wouldn’t take much for that half to assume control again. She looked for weaknesses to exploit all the time now.
Ian glanced at me, then settled into his high-backed antique chair as if he had nothing more important to do than make himself comfortable. “You’re being shockingly naïve,” he said to Yonah in a companionable tone. “No wonder you couldn’t stand living in your former world. Must have been hell.”
With how Yonah’s face darkened, he didn’t appreciate the quip. “I know who you are, too, boy,” he replied coldly. “Unlike Ariel, nothing I’ve heard commends you.”
Ian grinned. “Then you heard exactly what I wanted you to hear. No one suspects a scoundrel of allying with righteous causes, so I’m not on any of the wrong radars. Let me tell you what you don’t know—Dagon is coming for this girl, so you endanger everyone on your island every moment that she is here.”
Yonah gave a diffident wave. “Someone is always coming after my residents. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t need to be here.”
“Not like Dagon.” The grin never left Ian’s face despite his gaze hardening into turquoise-colored diamonds. “He absorbs souls to burn through them as power sources when needed. Ask Ereshki if she has nightmares of being drowned in darkness. That’s from being one of Dagon’s former soul batteries.”
Ereshki’s hand flew to her mouth. “I do,” she gasped.
“’Course you do,” Ian said, showing his teeth the way a tiger did before a kill. “I, too, was trapped inside Dagon that way. Then Ariel arranged for all of us to be yanked out of him and resurrected—”