A Kiss of Blood (Vamp City #2)(39)

Quinn watched them, her mind awhirl. Magic and curses and sorcerers. Her heritage. Her life. She wanted to shake her head, to deny any of it could possibly be real. And yet, she knew better, now. The whole thing made her stomach ache.

If she was cursed . . .

Her blood pressure began to rise. “Does this mean that there’s no hope for my magic? That there’s no way for me to renew the magic of Vamp City?” Heaven help her, Zack would die. She slammed Arturo with her gaze. “Why is this affecting Zack?”

He looked at Tarellia. “What effect, if any, might the crumbling of Vamp City be having on her power?”

A thoughtful looked entered the fae’s eyes. “Vamp City was created with Blackstone magic, which her Blackstone blood no doubt responds to. But . . .” She turned and peered at Quinn hard. “Two or three years ago . . . what did you do?”

Quinn frowned. “What do you mean?”

“You may have been the trigger. Did you come into your magic then? Attempt a spell?”

“A spell?” Quinn shook her head. “Three years ago . . .” She blinked. “I moved to D.C.” She’d lived in Bethesda, Maryland, until Zack started college at GW.

“Within the Boundary Circle?” Tarellia demanded.

“Yes.”

The fae nodded. “That’s it. The trigger. She is the reason the magic began to crumble after all these years.”

Quinn gaped at her. The trapped vampires, the sunbeams breaking through, the humans disappearing right and left—Lily. Zack.

“I did this?” Her gaze swung to Arturo, and she found him watching her with surprised, troubled eyes.

“Not you, per se,” Tarellia said. “But your battling magics. Blackstone blood called to Blackstone magic, but the curse somehow infected Vamp City’s magic and slowly began to trigger the demise.”

“If I leave—move away from D.C.—will the magic stop crumbling?”

“Nothing will stop or reverse the disintegration but the Renewal ceremony, which you will complete using your Blackstone magic.”

“But I can’t reach it. The curse . . .”

Tarellia held up a hand. “Free the magics, one from the other, and you will have access to your Blackstone power.”

“Can you help her with that?” Arturo demanded.

A sad look crossed the fae’s face. “No. I haven’t the gift, and the only fae this side of the Atlantic who does is aging.”

“Tell me, woman,” Arturo demanded.

“Vintry. He’s been Fabian Neptune’s sage for nearly two hundred years.”

“How much time does he have?” Arturo asked.

“Days. Perhaps only hours, now. I will know when he dies, and I’ve not felt his death, but I know it’s near.”

Quinn looked pointedly at Arturo. “Zack?”

The vampire nodded at her unspoken question. “Is it possible the sorceress could have somehow entangled another in the magic? Someone who accompanied her into Vamp City on a sunbeam.”

The fae cocked her head, her mouth pursing. “When it comes to battling magics, anything is possible. Renewing the magic should solve all problems.”

Arturo rose. He turned to the fae, his expression grim. “Secrets, Martine. If anyone asks, I sought only your aid in locating the missing sorceress, which you were unable to give me.”

The fae nodded, her expression once more tight. “Of course.”

“Thank you, Tarellia,” Quinn said.

As Arturo ushered Quinn out of the room and house, the sad-eyed fae followed them to their horses, grinning happily. While Quinn mounted, Arturo pulled the two DVD sets and a pack of AA batteries out of one of his saddlebags, along with a large package of Oreo cookies.

The woman’s joy knew no bounds. “Oh, this is a fine day, a fine day.” As she bounded back into the tiny log cabin, Arturo mounted.

“Are we going to find Vintry?” Quinn asked when they were out of earshot of the small settlement. She was still reeling from the revelation that she was suffering from some kind of curse.

“We? No. I will take Micah. The Gonzaga kovena has diplomatic relations with Fabian’s, but the two are not friends. Cristoff has been . . . aggressive . . . in recent years. The other vamp masters do not appreciate it.”

“I can imagine.” Cristoff’s brutality knew no bounds. “If there’s not much time, I should go with you.”

“No.”

“Vampire . . .”

His expression turned obstinate. “Do not demand this of me, cara. I cannot keep you safe there.”

“Is he another pain-feeder?”

“He is a pleasure-feeder. And you are not going near him.”

His determination to keep her out of harm’s way was admirable. And appreciated. But from what Tarellia said, Vintry was nearly out of time. Which meant Zack was, too.

Micah would see her side, she was almost certain. She’d save her arguments for Neo’s. Besides, other questions crowded her mind.

“Tell me about the curse.”

Arturo frowned, his eyes scanning the horizon in every direction before he finally began to speak. “Legend has it, the Levenach Curse is centuries old, perhaps millennia, placed by the Black Wizard, from whom all Blackstones are descended, on his arch enemy, the wizard Levenach.”