“It was private!” I snap.
“Aefre,” CK says gently. “The content of your conversation might help us figure out more pieces to this puzzle.”
“It’s private!” I say again through gritted teeth.
“If you must know, I swore my love and loyalty to my sire,” Cole says quietly. I look at him sharply and he shrugs. “If it helps you, Liv, that’s all that matters.”
“Hm, interesting. A strengthening of your bond, perhaps,” Gregor muses out loud and then he says to Cole, “And your marking? Anything?”
Cole shakes his head and replies, “No.”
“And the second time? What were you doing then?” he asks.
I think back. “Cole and Devon were joking with each other; we were laughing together.”
“Another tightening of your bonds. Not just yours, but theirs. It is most unusual for siblings to bond,” he says, almost to himself. Eloise and CK nod in agreement, to my surprise. I don’t know much about sibling Vampires. I’ve not been allowed much contact with mine, apart from…well, we won’t talk about that right now. Rest assured though, there was no bond there.
“Then you appear to do magick. It seems to me the stronger your bonds grow, the stronger you get,” Gregor deduces. “Try to make something else appear.”
I’m surprised at not only his deductions, but also his apparent acceptance of this, of me. I glance at CK who is staring at me thoughtfully.
“He’s right. Your Power, whatever it is, is growing as those bound to you grow stronger. Stand up and try to bring something to you,” he orders.
I stand up, and with everyone watching me expectantly, I falter. “Oh, for fuck's sake, I am not some performing monkey. I can’t just do magick on demand. Even if it was me that did it,” I add, practically yelling in frustration.
“See, she’s not that special after all,” Eloise goads and I glare at her.
Bitch.
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath. I’ll show her.
Err, but show her what exactly?
Sighing, I sag my shoulders and open my eyes. This is pointless. “I need a drink,” I declare and before I can step towards the bar, a glass of wine appears in my hand in a swirl of black, glowing fog.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Everyone stares dumbfounded, especially me, at the glass in my hand.
“What the fuck?” I ask.
“Err…” is the general response.
“How did you do that?” Gregor asks, intrigued.
“I really don’t know. I wanted a drink and well, here it is,” I reply stupidly. I walk over to the bar and place it down carefully as if it might blow up. I notice a wine glass missing from the shelf, and that interests me. Walking around, I peer at the spot.
CK comes up behind me and asks, “What is it?”
“This shelf was full before. I’m sure of it.” Trying something, I grab the wine bottle out of the fridge and place it on the bar. Even Eloise is watching me with interest now. Making a note of the level of wine in the bottle, I hold out my hand and think about a glass of wine in it. Another swirl of black, glowing fog, and voilà: it appears in my hand. Handing the glass to CK, I check the level of the bottle: it’s a glass less than before and turning to the shelf, one more glass is missing.
“Huh, displacement,” I say as if it’s obvious.
“What?” comes from several voices in the room.
Blinking, I explain, “Displacement. Seems to work on the same principle as Teleporting. The older Vampires can move themselves through the three dimensions of space. I can move things. I’m not conjuring, I’m moving.” I hold out my empty hand, and in the next second, Devon’s phone is in my palm.
“Holy Shit!” he exclaims, patting his empty pocket, looking totally impressed. Cole is looking totally at a loss, Gregor is staring at me in awe (which is really creepy and weird), Eloise is trying her damndest not to look fascinated, and CK is looking at me with such love and pride, I almost blush.