I nod.
She taps her fingers on her chin and asks, “Have they have all fed from you recently?”
Again, I nod. She clicks her fingers as the realization hits her. “Your blood. They have it coursing through them and it is amplifying their own abilities. They become a part of you for a short while. It makes perfect sense.”
It does? I blink at her and look at Xane and say, “That makes you able as well. Probably more so after the ritual.”
He tilts his head at me and clicks his fingers. He has brought to his hand my necklace of Hellfire that I took off yesterday. “Interesting,” he murmurs as he clasps it back on me. “Why did you take it off?” he asks absently.
“It hurts my Vampires,” I tell him as if he is a bit dim.
“It’s only a little heat. Won’t kill them,” he says offhandedly.
“Not the point,” I say through gritted teeth. He shrugs, unconcerned. “Corinne, may I have a word with you, alone?” I ask.
She bobs her head and I excuse us, taking her into the other room. I’m sure that they are all eavesdropping, but I need to know. “Sebastian spelled me yesterday. How did he manage to do that?” I ask her quietly. “It can’t be because of my blood because my own magick doesn’t affect me.”
“Vincentius is a rare creature,” she says carefully. “I would pay extra attention when you are around him.”
“Okay, noted. But that doesn’t answer my question,” I say, irritated.
“You should ask your sire. It is not for me to gossip,” she says warily.
“I am asking you. You know he won’t tell me anything,” I implore her.
She raises her perfect eyebrows in agreement. “Who I am to disobey a direct order from my Queen?” she asks with meaning.
“Corinne,” I smile at her, “I order you to tell me about Sebastian.”
She sighs and says, “He wasn’t human. He has never been human. Before Constantine turned him, he was Faerie.”
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED THIRTY-EIGHT
C ome again?
“Faerie? As in…” I hold up my left thumb and wiggle it to indicate my protection ring.
“Yes.”
Whoa. That’s intense. It makes perfect sense now. His ability in the first place is remarkable and not something that humans should possess.
“But how was he able?” I press for an answer.
“Faeries are extremely powerful, and his abilities have been magnified by his turning, as well as by drinking your blood... it is a very formidable combination.”
Oh. My thoughts are racing. Now that I think about it, Sebastian doesn’t have a ring. At least not one made from Faerie Silver, that is, and, doing a quick mental check, he doesn’t have any other adornment (that is visible on the parts of him that I have seen, at any rate) that is made from Faerie Silver – because he doesn’t need it. If he is Faerie, even though he is now a Vampire, he doesn’t need it.
“That’s how it was figured out, wasn’t it?” I ask her, my voice so low she has to lean forward to hear me. “He discovered he could walk in the sunlight and that is how your ancestor figured it out.”
“Yes,” she says, not really wanting to admit it.
Fuck me. Talk about a revelation. “The spell. The spell used to enchant the Silver. It uses Faerie blood, doesn’t it? It’s not the Silver, it’s the blood. That’s why they are so hard to procure. The tests so stringent. Why we must be deemed worthy. The sacrifice has to be worth it,” I say, more to myself. Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me.
She is looking not too pleased that I’m figuring all of this out and especially within earshot of my little group. We have spoken in very hushed tones and I don’t think anyone has overheard us, but we can’t be sure. I lower my voice even more, “How was I allowed to get more? For charges that already had been given the gift. How was I allowed to get more?”
“You are Queen,” she says simply.
I have to admit that is the first actual perk I have come across since getting my Powers and title.