I couldn’t begin to process what I was hearing. Yes, I’d siphoned electricity before, but only when I was touching a power outlet. Plus, it had only amped up my right hand, not my entire body. Had my abilities grown to where my hand wasn’t my only deadly weapon anymore? To hear Ian tell it, yes.
I wasn’t ready to deal with the ramifications of that, so I started with the last bit. “A reality spell? That’s an actual thing?”
Ian huffed. “Yes, and it’s something they should regularly cast in schools, but the vampire world isn’t the only place where magic is forbidden.”
Sprinkler water continued to soak the three of us. I ran a hand through my sopping hair to push it out of my face.
“Kid?” Marty said in a hesitant way. “You okay?”
I couldn’t stop my disbelieving laugh. “You mean aside from my husband running off to murder his good friend in order to save me? Or are you talking about my newfound ability to go nuclear on an electrical level if a bad case of PTSD sets in?”
“Both,” Marty said cautiously.
The sun had just come up; I could feel it in the sudden exhaustion that swept over me. But I sank to my knees from more than new-vampire-at-dawn weariness. Despite having enough power to short-circuit an entire hotel, I was helpless when it came to saving Vlad from doing something he would forever regret.
“I’m not nearly okay,” I mumbled.
“You need to be.” Maximus’s deep voice jerked my attention back to him. He stared at me, dark gray gaze penetrating. “I’m sorry my presence and this situation triggered such an episode, but you have to rise above the worst of your memories because we don’t have much time.”
“For what?” I asked, unable to stop the bitterness that crept into my tone. Vlad was probably on his private jet already, flying toward an innocent man who had no idea that the prince he’d served for almost five hundred years was coming to kill him. If this was tearing me up inside, it had to be killing Vlad. But he’d still do it because of me.
Maximus had once warned me that everything Vlad loved, he destroyed. If you asked me, Maximus had had it wrong. Before this was over, I might end up destroying Vlad.
“To stop whatever it is that Mircea’s captors are truly after,” Maximus said, his soft voice managing to land with the weight of a thousand bricks. “In blackmail, your first demand is usually a test. Once you know you can get the person to comply, you move forward with what you really want. If something as brutal as killing Samir is Vlad’s compliance test, you don’t want to find out what they’ll demand once they know they have Vlad the Impaler as their willing instrument.”
“Not willing,” I said instantly. “Forced.”
More guilt mixed with the stress, anger, and awful old memories that still simmered inside me. If not for me, Vlad could tell whoever this was to fuck off. Instead, he was about to betray not only a dear friend, but also his entire way of life. Vlad might be brutal to others, but he did whatever was necessary to keep his people safe. Everyone knew that. His line and his reputation had been built on it.
“I understand why you had a meltdown,” Maximus said in that same soft tone. “Becoming a vampire doesn’t mean you have superhuman emotional strength. Only superhuman physical strength, and sometimes, that isn’t the real power. But you are strong, Leila. And you’re right, Vlad is being forced. That’s why we need to find out everything we can about this supposed magic heritage of yours so we can get one step closer to freeing both of you.”
Several months ago, I’d promised Vlad that I would never again let myself be crippled by guilt, fear, or hesitation, yet here I was, beating myself up for circumstances that were beyond my control. All of this might be because of me but it wasn’t my fault, no matter if it felt that way. I had to stop punishing myself for the consequences of Mircea’s spell. He’d cast it, not me. Against all odds, I’d survived it, and I would survive this, too. So would Vlad. I’d make sure of that.
I rose, pushing off my tiredness with all the willpower I had left in me. I’d start with trying to save Samir. Vlad might have left me here, but that didn’t mean I was helpless.
“Who’s got a cell phone?”
Ian disappeared into the room next door before returning with a cell. “Here,” he said, and I grabbed one of my gloves and put it on before accepting it.
Maximus shot a censuring look at Ian. “Vlad won’t like you doing that.”
Ian snorted. “If her calling him will make him stop, then Vlad didn’t truly want to kill this bloke to begin with.”
From the flash of power I’d caught from Vlad’s aura, I didn’t question his determination. Him having my friends physically stop me from coming after him also didn’t smack of any indecisiveness. Extreme dickishness, yes, and we’d have words over that when I saw him again, but first things first.
“I’m not calling Vlad,” I said, dialing.
Marty cocked his head. “Who are you calling?”
“It won’t matter who,” Maximus said, his gaze almost pitying. “Vlad has nearly six hundred years’ experience in these matters. Whatever you’re planning, Leila, he has a contingency.”
I gave Maximus a level look. “We’ll see about that.”
Chapter 20
Three hours later, I was seething with frustration. I’d called and texted Samir repeatedly, yet he hadn’t answered. That could have been coincidence, so I then called and texted every single person in Vlad’s line whose number I remembered. None of them answered. For all of Vlad’s people to suddenly ignore dozens of my calls and texts was no coincidence. He must have ordered them not to respond to me.