“Envy covets,” Drago rumbled, looking at Natalya. “Be it knowledge, memories, or life itself. They crave it. I suspect shewanted to steal as much as possible from your Evie before taking her life.”
Natalya’s eyes grew distant. “You’re probably right.”
Something was wrong. Natalya wasn’t at ease, which was understandable enough given what had just happened. But there was more to it. Her expression was taut with confusion and frustration, like she was working over an unsolvable riddle.
“She said she was here for weeks,” Natalya said, her brows furrowing.
“That doesn’t make sense,” Aleksander said. The vampires had turned back towards the couch. “If her purpose was to kill an escaped slave, there would be better ways and times to go about it.”
“Maybe her purpose was broader,” Hasan said. “Weeks of watching. Listening. She’s probably the one who told Stefano that Natalya would be leaving the high-rise, so he knew to be ready for her.”
Aleksander ran a hand through his hair. “It would also mean she knows we plan to move against Varro. If this Dominic Fane is cowed enough to let Varro utilize his fiend, the King is more powerful than any of us thought.”
“You cannot make a warlock like that cower. Not one who has bound a greater fiend.” Natalya tensed a little, her brows furrowing. “Fane is at the estate of his own volition. And he seemed more than comfortable talking to Varro when I met him. Whatever relationship they have is symbiotic.”
She went silent, her face still wrought in a frustrated grimace. Though the others didn’t notice, Evie caught the hidden worry in what Natalya had said.
It was obvious what Varro got out of working with the warlock. Information. A spy and assassin. But what did Dominic get out of it other than the risk of losing a bound fiend?
“I want Evie out of the high-rise,” Natalya said to Aleksander. “Tonight. You should consider sending Lily too.”
Evie and Lily both straightened at the words, but Evie was the only one who spoke.
“No… Please, Natalya. Don’t make me go. Don’t send me away.”
Natalya held her tighter. “I know you don’t want to, darling. I don’t want it either. But right now is the only time I can be sure no one’s listening. The only time I know this Lady of Envy can’t overhear where you’re going. She may return. I cannot take that chance.”
“How do you know she isn’t just going to come back immediately?” Aleksander said.
“I believe she’s at Varro’s estate.” Natalya turned to Evie. “Fane was at Varro’s for a while before I showed up. Isn’t that right?”
Evie nodded. “He lived in the east wing. No one other than Dominic, Varro, and Stefano could go in there.”
Natalya looked back at Aleksander. “Any warlock worth their sacred salt wouldn’t set up in a new location without taking certain precautions. One such precaution is making fresh binding circles for their fiend. The Lady of Envy said black eyes watch her circle. That black eyes watched Evie. Regal ones. Wherever this demon returned to, it’s a place with a royal vampire who has a keen interest in something that’s mine. The fiend is at Varro’s.”
That information set Aleksander and Hasan off again, the two men returning to a tense, muttering conversation filled with frustrated hypotheticals. Evie didn’t listen. She was busy watching Natalya.
She was uneasy. Tense and anxious. Like she was slowly coming to a horrible realization.
There was something off about everything that happened after Vex had shown herself. It infuriated Natalya that she didn’t know what it was.
Vex had been foolish. No, outrightstupid. She’d shown herself and hadn’t fought as ruthlessly as she could have, going for slowing or incapacitating injuries rather than lethal ones. Had she been a lesser fiend, Natalya would have blamed her foolhardy approach on that, but a greater fiend of Envy was cunning incarnate. Vex’s mistakes were so obvious and manifold that they appeared intentional.
“I don’t like this.” Hasan was doing a worse job staying composed than Aleksander. The man was pacing. “Our forces are already in place. They were to begin drawing out Varro’s people in just five days. If they know we’re coming, it’ll be a bloodbath for us. So why be so obvious? Why let us know she was here and give us time to withdraw?”
The comment made Natalya more uneasy. Hasan was right. Evie had been alone several times in the past few weeks, at least alone enough that Vex could have easily killed her. Even during the attack, she’d shown herself rather than remain in the shadows. When she’d attacked Natalya, she’d torn at her clothes more than her flesh.
And she’d left. When Natalya was barely standing, and no help was coming, she had vanished. Not just in the shadows but entirely, returning to her summoning circle willingly. With a warning no less, and information. Information she didn’t have to share. That Natalya hadn’t even asked for.
Bound fiends were constrained by their orders. They couldn’t refuse them. If Vex had been told to kill Evie, she wouldn’t havefled until her task was done or her life was in danger. Neither had happened. She’d just left.
What was her purpose then? What orders had Dominic given her? The motivations of a witch or warlock were easily reflected by the company they chose to keep. By the coven they joined or, in this case, the fiend they had bound.
A warlock who sought out Envy was one who coveted. Who craved. A jealous man who wanted more than he had. Or who just wanted something specific. Whatever Varro had promised Dominic must be valuable if he was willing to part with a greater fiend for any period of time, let alone the months Vex had apparently spent in the high-rise.
And Vex had been purposefully foolish. Purposefully restrained. As though her intention hadn’t been violence or death but instead something else. Maybe she had never planned to kill Evie. Maybe she had a different target.
Maybe the sudden burning pain Natalya felt along her hips and waist wasn’t from her injuries at all.
