Free Vamped by Lucienne Diver Page A

to sidle around him. “What I know about you would get you killed. And I will expose it, expose you , to save myself. Unless you help me.”
    That stumped me. “What do you know about me?”
    I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to decide what would get him further, buying my goodwill with the info or stringing me along. I crossed my arms.
    “Spill,” I ordered.
    He sighed. “You’ve inherited one of Mellisande’s very rare powers. For some reason it seems to have skipped a generation. I’ve been watching, but none of her direct descendants have her resistance to mesmerism. I tried it on you that first day, and you shook me off.” Well, that explained the hot toddies. “Mellisande only knows that she can’t effortlessly reach you the way she can her children. She has not yet dug deeper. Once she learns she can’t control you, you’re of no use to her. She doesn’t trust anyone she can’t control.”
    “Like she controls you?”
    His face contorted, and I could tell he was pissed that I’d put my finger on it. “Like she controls me,” he growled. “When she focuses. Luckily, our lady has a lot on her plate just now.”
    “So, how does my power”—and sure, I couldn’t get a cool one like invisibility or mind-reading or anything—“help you?”
    “I’m still working on that. When the time comes, I will let you know. For now, we can start with what you’ve overheard.”
    “What, you don’t have the place wired?” I asked.
    “Mellisande does sweeps against listening devices,” he explained. “Any I set would be discovered.”
    If she was that paranoid, she probably left her office door unguarded so the guards couldn’t eavesdrop, figuring no one would be stupid … er, brave … enough to stand in an exposed hallway and listen in. Little did she know.
    This felt like a moment of truth. If Connor was testing me on Melli’s orders to see if I could be trusted with her secrets, I would fail the moment I opened my mouth. If, on the other hand, he truly was in this for himself and thinking of staging some kind of coupe—no, wait, a coupe was a car, right?—well, anyway, some kind of power grab, then he was going to crush me if I didn’t climb on board.
    I thought about those resentful looks he’d thrown at the dragon lady when she wasn’t looking. I was pretty sure he wasn’t playing me out of loyalty to her , but would throwing my lot in with him be any better than cozying up to Melli? I mean, trying to control me at first sight with thoughts of grody bearskin rugs didn’t exactly give him a gold star in my little black book. Maybe I could set myself up as some kind of double agent, at least until I could figure out what was what.
    I shrugged. “Okay, then. What I overheard— CliffsNotes version: the council is on to Melli. They suspect she’s been collecting kids and, for some reason, they want Bobby.”
    “Why?”
    “I was kind of hoping you’d tell me. That glowy gemstone thing—”
    “Medallion,” he corrected. “It glows in the presence of power. Our undead state may come with parlor tricks like mesmerism and the like, but you’d be surprised how little true power goes along with that. Magic is rare. Magic is power. I’m not surprised Mellisande sought Bobby out, if someone pointed her in his direction.”
    “But—”
    “Shh!” he hissed. Footsteps approached, and I wondered if I was going to have to hustle again for those curtains, but the steps kept right on going. I wasn’t about to spill about Bobby being “the key” and all that, in case Connor decided the way to one-up Melli would be to turn Bobby over to the council himself. This way, maybe he’d spend more time trying to figure out how he could use Bobby closer to home, like he was planning to use me. I just hoped he didn’t view Bobby as a rival for the power he clearly wanted for himself.
    “You should go now,” Connor said, once the footsteps had faded away. “I’ve got