Page 84 of All the Devils are Here

“Vlad told me what he sensed and what he assumes, yes. I want to know whatyoufeel.”

“Uh, okay.” I slip through the beaded curtain and stand before the bodyguard. He’s definitely out. I mean, he certainly looks that way with his head slumped forward and eyes closed, but I can sense it, too.

And I can sense all that power in him. Too much, like trying to stuff something into a box when it clearly won’t fit. It’s leaking out around the edges, bulging his death magic out into something dangerous, I think.

Dangerous forhim.

“What do you feel?”

“Too much… She gave him too much of her blessing. It’s doing something to his death magic. Feels like it’s stretching it.”

“Interesting. And he’s out?”

“Yeah. I can’t feel any of our magic on him now, but he’s still unconscious.”

“Good. Get a feel for his death magic again, would you?”

I do. It slips through my grasp but doesn’t push back the way I’ve sensed that kind of magic do before. It feels like it’s stretched too thin, and when I tell Maurice that, he makes a sound of agreement.

“No doubt. She’s pushed too much inside him, and it’s likely to tear him apart.”

“But he’s alive now.”

“Yes, and if she’d given him more, he wouldn’t be. It’s a delicate balance, giving someone who is not fae a usable blessing. But from what Vlad just told me about her, I do not think this was unintentional.”

“What do you mean?”

“She wants a partner for when she rules the Otherworld. Seems like she might have decided she doesn’t want all the hassle of going after you but could make a vampire hybrid of her own.”

“But the Huntsman didn’t give me a blessing.”

“Yes. I think this is just step one.”

I wonder about Rook and Saide for a moment. They were fae first; they must have been. Their power never felt like the other vampires’. But then I don’t understand how the death magic managed to change them at all because it doesn’t seem like it should have.

“Did you need me for anything else?”

“No, except… He’s treating you all right, isn’t he?” He pitches his voice lower, and with the beaded curtain between me and the others, there’s every chance that none of them can hear.

“Uh. Yeah. Of course, yeah.” My cheeks heat. I’m happy for them all to know about us, obviously. I just don’t want to have that conversation over the phone.

“I know you were at odds before you left. And he didn’t want you to go. He’s not being as overprotective as usual, is he?”

“No, he’s been…” I glance at the curtain again, fancying I can see Vlad’s outline on the other side. I try and fail to smother a grin. “He’s fine. I mean, I’m—It’s, everything is fine.”

Maurice is silent again. This silence makes me squirm. “Grant.”

“Yes?”

“What happened?”

He doesn’t sound worried now. No, he soundsintriguedbecause he’s much better at reading people than the rest of them think; he just doesn’t care to.

“Nothing!” I say quickly. Too quickly. Fuck. “Look, it’s—You’ll see when we get back.”

“See?”

“Maurice,” I hiss, and now Vlad does push through the curtain. He reaches to pluck the phone from my grip, then hesitates, hand hovering in mid-air. The bodyguard is still unconscious, so I reach out and take it, grinning when he frowns at me. “Look, everything is fine here, except for the fae and the souped-up vampires, so do you wanna help with that?”