Manipulation. I was being manipulated. There was no question or doubt in my mind. But he wasn't playing those mind games with me.
"That's what you think." As if I'd automatically gone into hard-to-get mode. I didn't even think about what I said until I said it. And my impudence made him smile at me again, though without that damndable aura this time. I withdrew a cigarette, fully intentioned on demanding a light, when he interrupted me.
"Charlene, I am afraid you do not have a choice." He raised his hand, all the while holding my gaze. "See for yourself," he whispered, turning his eyes to a candlestick that was on the end table between us.
I looked at it after a moment, and my heart stopped when I saw the wick ignite.
I laughed.
"Do you do this with all your prisoners? Try to impress them with some cheap trick?"
"You said you needed a light."
So cheeky. But I was more than slightly perturbed by this so-called cheap trick as I leaned forward to light my cigarette. I glared at him as I did this, watching him watching me. And what he said as I inhaled only irritated me more.
"I would have brought that to you."
"No thank you," I exhaled toward him. "I wouldn't want you to exert yourself for my sake." It was biting, but I wasn't prepared for what he did next.
The moment my smoke cleared, which didn't bother him in the least, he smiled at me and opened his hand. And to my horror that I bit my lip to hide, the candelabra, candle, flame, and all, suddenly arose and glided smoothly into his open palm.
I was speechless. No. Another cheap trick. Though I couldn't comprehend how. There were a lot of things in life I couldn't comprehend, why not this one?
"You still doubt?"
"I've seen better." Total bluff. Sometimes it got me in trouble.
He merely smiled, then let go of the candelabra, setting his hands into his lap. Yet, the candelabra remained, hovering in front of him, the flame flickering calmly.
"Am I supposed to be impressed?"
"I want you to believe."
"Then use your mental tricks then."
"Was it not enough to watch your friend die at the hands of a most uncouth... being?"
I didn't have an explanation for that one, either, sick as it seemed.
"You said he was crazy?"
"A weirdo," I replied. "He's dead now, right?" Somehow, his death didn't feel... justified.
"Hm. No doubt he is clanless. Just another shadow," he paused, completely disregarding the floating candelabra not even half a foot from his face. I watched a bead of wax trace its way down the candle stem. The silence was deafening, so when he broke it, I jumped a little. "He has been found. Tonight, perhaps, you may come to understand my true nature."
"What, that you're a bunch of vampires? Like from the movies and books?"
He waved his hand, suddenly mindful of the floating flame in front of him. He glared at it, then waved his hand again. "Mind that you put that down?"
I looked on with rapt curiosity as the candelabra floated toward me and stopped within my reach. So I took it by its little handle and set it firmly down on the end table with a little clang. The wax spilled over, the red streak hardening onto the golden stand before it reached the table. I looked up at him, noting that he was watching me with intent.
"Movies and books? Romance and theatre! Their writers wouldn't believe us even if they saw us."
I frowned, not so sure. "As do I."
"Just so. Would you like to see us play?"
"I don't think it would be anything fun, actually. Convince me."
"I would have you come to know on your own without my help." He suddenly smiled at me, but it was grim. "After all, one cannot truly change unless they do it themselves."
Ain't that the truth. But I wouldn't give him that satisfaction of my agreement. I don't think he cared, anyway. "You found Green?"
"Yes."
"What are you going to do to him?"
"Why, punish him, of course."
"What for? What were you planning to do to Brooke, anyway?" I felt numb and disconnected. This was my friend!
"Her fate was Gabriel's to decide."
"I thought you were the boss around here."
He raised an eyebrow. "She belonged to Gabriel. Not some thin-blooded scum."
I pursed my lips. "Strange vocabulary."
"You will learn. Now come, they are waiting for us."
"They?"
"My brood. As well as your new friends."
My mind immediately went to Donna. There was no friend there. In fact, however, it did give me pleasure that her mockery of my position with Jann was the truth. Or so it seemed, anyway. I wasn't exactly comfortable enough with him to ask him what he wanted from me. And all the answers he'd given to my roundabout questions hardly made any sense to me. But I couldn't help but say, "With friends like that, who needs enemies?"
He chuckled. "She cannot harm you."
This statement angered me and I lowered my brows at him. "Who do you mean, 'she'?"
The smile lingered on his face. "The one who thinks to scorn your position with me."
My retort was caught in my throat. Was it fear, was it ire at his intuition? How the hell had he known? Maybe she'd discussed me with him. Or he'd heard it through the grapevine. Or he had told her to talk to me. Did he know where I was? How…
He interrupted my thoughts. "Or maybe it's because I'm a vampire."