Free The Fiery Heart by Richelle Mead Page B

knew better than to waste this chance. “I heard that you were attacked by Strigoi, ma’am—that they tried to drink from you but couldn’t. How? What happened?”
    â€œOh, there was no ‘try’ about it,” Inez said. She touched the side of her throat. “Right there that monster bit me—but you’re right. He didn’t get very much before the taste got to him. When he realized he couldn’t eat me, he got enraged and tried to snap my neck—but then I got a fireball out on him.” There was a gleam in her eye as she spoke, as though she were seeing the battle play out in front of her. “Odd things, vampire bites. In some ways, they’re exquisite. Exquisite, but lethal.”
    â€œYes, I know,” I told her, once more surprising her. “A Strigoi tried to drink from me too but couldn’t.”
    Inez nodded. “It’s our magic. It leaves a residue on the blood when you use it. Hasn’t Jaclyn taught you that?”
    â€œEr, yes . . .” I began. “But how would that matter to a Strigoi?”
    â€œMagic is life. Strigoi have none, so when they’re struck with it—like with a Moroi charmed stake—it goes against their essence. A stake through the heart kills them. A witch’s blood is simply unpleasant.”
    â€œBut I hadn’t—” I stopped, realizing that even though I hadn’t been working great spells before that Strigoi attack, I’d begun the preparation of some at Ms. Terwilliger’s behest. They’d required low-level, unconscious magic—apparently enough to leave a mark that had saved my life. Accepting this, I moved on. “But if magic blood can harm them, how come they can drink from the Moroi? Seems like Moroi would be even more potent because their magic is already within them, not like us.”
    Inez seemed pleased by my questions. “Exactly because the magic is intrinsic. It’s woven into the blood and doesn’t have the same shock to a Strigoi system. Our magic . . .” She groped for the words. “It coats our blood because we pull it from the outside world into us. A similar thing occurs with a charmed stake. Magic is forced into it, becoming a more tangible weapon against the undead.”
    I could just barely follow along. “A lot of nuances here, dealing with internal and external magic.”
    â€œTo say the least.” Inez almost gave me a genuine smile. “And it gets more complicated when you compare Moroi and human magic. Sometimes they behave similarly, sometimes completely differently. And of course, there’s the whole other issue of them contradicting each other.”
    â€œContradicting each other?” Something in those words pricked my inner alarms.
    Inez put her hands into fists and slammed them together. “External, internal. Two sides of the magical coin. Sometimes they clash. Your tattoo there. The Alchemists get vampire blood to infuse it with compulsion, right?”
    I nodded slowly. “Yes. To stop us from discussing supernatural matters with outsiders.” And to stop us from doing other things.
    â€œWell, not for you. I guarantee your tattoo stopped working when you first dabbled in magic.”
    The world came to a halt as the full impact of her words hit me. “No . . . that’s not possible. I mean, I guess it is, but I swear, there wasn’t any difference in me. Not then.” Things had certainly progressed afterward.
    Inez’s gaze pinned me to the floor. “Did you ever try to do anything? Try to talk about vampires to ordinary people?”
    â€œNo . . .”
    â€œThen how do you know?”
    â€œI don’t, but I figured the tattoo’s magic was still going strong until—”
    â€œUntil what?” she asked. Even Ms. Terwilliger was looking at me now.
    Last month, I’d run into a former Alchemist named Marcus Finch