Marked (10 page)

I
could tell based on the lungful of air that she sucked in that she
was about to reply with something hasty, so I beat her to the punch.

"I'm
the one who has been sitting in on Alec's conferences for the last
two months, Ms. Marks. Unlike you, I know what's really going on and
if you cause me even a single moment more unpleasantness you're going
to find yourself very, very alone in the middle of a world that is
much, much more dangerous than you've been led to believe."

A
tiny part of me wondered what Daphne would have thought of my
performance. I wasn't any better at misdirecting people than I had
been earlier in the day, but this time I was the one calling the
shots and that was surprisingly liberating. I didn't have to dance
around the truth because as long as Vik and the rest of our people
were willing to obey me, in a very real sense I could create my own
reality and the reality I could see for Tiffany Marks could become
very bleak indeed.

"You're
much more than I was told to expect."

"That's
the funny thing about rumors, Ms. Marks. They rarely turn out to be
accurate. I'd suggest you spend some time pondering that little gem
of wisdom over the next few days. I suspect there will be some very
wild rumors spawned because of today's events. Now what do
you need? And be quick about it. I have a number of other pressing
things that still need to be done."

"Graves
steamrolled me into helping, which means that everyone else in my
pack who didn't fly here on the plane with me is currently in cars
headed north with no destination in mind and very little cash. It
took everything we could scrape together on short notice to charter a
jet that had any hope of making the deadline we were given."

"It
will be some time, a few hours at the very least, before I can give
you a solid idea of where your people should be headed, but I'll see
to it that you are all taken care of. I'm going to transfer you back
to Vik and he will see to it that a reasonable amount of money is
made available to you. Tell him I told you to ask for two hundred
thousand dollars."

I
heard a soft inhalation and wondered how Tiffany had ended up running
the Del Rio pack. Even I could tell that she was much too transparent
to last long in the position. It was a useful piece of information,
as was the knowledge of just how impoverished her fellow pack mates
were. Money couldn't buy loyalty, but it could buy obedience and I
was more than happy to settle for that for now.

"The
money is for
all
of your people, Tiffany. If you try to run off with it, things will
not go well for you."

"You're
not afraid of throwing your weight around, are you?"

"I'm
simply doing what needs to be done, Tiffany. It's not always
pleasant, but right now there is more to be done than Alec could
possibly get to."

"I
guess there are a whole lot of people who've underestimated you."

I
started to say goodbye, but Donovan's words about needing allies were
still ringing in my ears. I was pretty sure that I'd taken things as
far as I could with Tiffany for now, but that was okay. She wasn't
any more or less powerful than any other hybrid. In fact, the only
reason that I was talking to her was because Alec had made promises
to her and the only reason that Alec had called her in the first
place was because she was the one currently holding Lori's leash.

The
real question was whether she understood that, and if she did whether
she actually wanted to be responsible for keeping Lori from doing
something even worse than what she'd already done.

"Tiffany,
what have you done with Lori?"

"She's
sitting in a rental car with two of my people who are ready to cut
her throat if she so much as twitches. I would have drugged her up
already, but we left home in such a hurry that we forgot to grab the
tranquilizers. Now that you're sending me some cash I'll go make a
quick trip to a veterinary supply store and buy something strong
enough to put an elephant under."

"I
want to talk to her."

"Why
on earth would you want to do that?"

"Because
I'm a relatively neutral third party and you're currently sitting on
the back of a tiger and praying it doesn't realize that your arms are
getting tired. There's a small possibility that I can work this
situation around to one that benefits both of us."

She
wasn't happy about giving Lori the phone, that much was obvious from
the way that she stomped over to the car where Lori was being held,
but she went and for now that was all I could ask.

"Someone
wants to talk to you."

"H-hello?"

"Lori,
you and I haven't ever met, but my name is Adriana Paige. Do you know
who I am?"

"Alec
Graves' girlfriend?"

"More
precisely, I'm Alec's fiancé and future wife. I'm the one you
tried to screw over by using your powers to manipulate him into being
your sockpuppet."

"I
didn't want anyone to get hurt. You don't know what it's like to be
part of a small pack that's besieged on all sides by enemies. All
I've ever done is try to protect my father and keep our pack from
getting caught up in your little war."

"Actually,
I know exactly what that feels like. We've had a knife to our throat
for the entire time I've been part of Alec's pack. The difference is
that we've never taken away people's ability to choose their own
path."

"Whatever
helps you sleep. I've heard enough stories to know that isn't true.
Alec isn't any different than any of the rest of the pack alphas.
He's used force and intimidation to get nearly everything he's ever
wanted."

"It's
logic like that, Lori, that made me think I was probably wasting my
time talking to you. Threats and intimidation are part of the world
we live in. I don't like them, but sometimes that's the only way to
get someone to see the situation they are actually facing. At the end
of the day though, they still have a choice. That's why your ability
is such a deviant thing. Someone under your influence doesn't have
the ability to choose anymore."

She
took a breath, probably to respond with righteous indignation, but I
beat her to the punch.

"How
did it feel to take control of all those people and then order the
enforcers to kill themselves?"

Based
on how long it took her to answer me, I'd caught her completely off
guard. "It…it was scary. It was the first time I've ever
taken out all the stops on my gift like that. Before Alec outed me, I
always took a lot of effort to make sure that I used my gift in
subtle ways. My father always told me never to push anyone so hard
that afterwards they would question a decision they'd made in our
presence."

"Maybe
I was wrong about you, Lori. A lot depends on where you choose to go
from here."

"What
do you mean? I don't have any choices. Tiffany is going to drug me
again so I'm safely unconscious until the next time somebody needs me
to wipe out an enemy army for them. Even if that wasn't the case,
nobody is ever going to trust me now that everyone knows about my
ability."

"That's
the funny thing about trust, Lori. We all trust people who could hurt
us, but we trust them because of their past actions. Spend some time
thinking about that, and while you're at it try to figure out which
side of this war you want to be on."

"What
if I don't want to pick a side?"

"That's
not going to be an option and you know it—at least your dad
knows it. That's the only reason for the two of you to have come to
Sanctuary in the first place. Now hand the phone back to Tiffany, I
have other people I need to talk to."

There
was a pause, almost like Lori was having a hard time wrapping her
mind around what I'd just said, and then I heard her pass the phone
over.

"You
get enough do-gooder points to salve your conscience after running
roughshod over me?"

"Think
what you will, Tiffany, but that was a very necessary conversation. I
want you to leave Lori awake. Make sure that she's well-fed, that
she's got clothes and is otherwise treated like a human being—her
dad too, wherever he is."

"Are
you out of your mind? Lori is one of the most dangerous hybrids in
the entire world. I'm not going to just let her run around and build
up some kind of army."

"I
didn't say anything about letting her go. I want you to keep her
under guard, I just want you to show some humanity in the process."

"I
can't keep her under guard. The only way this has worked up to this
point is because we've been able to keep her under sedation. I don't
have enough people to keep her under a twenty-four-hour guard and
fight off every male if she decides to make them attack us like she
did a little while ago with the Coun'hij."

"I'm
aware of the unique challenges involved in what I'm requesting. I'm
authorizing you to recruit from the rest of Alec's people to fill out
your rotation of female guards and I'll furthermore provide a salary
of two thousand dollars per day to each of your guards to recompense
them for the long hours they are going to be putting in."

"I
don't think that you're listening to me. It isn't possible to hire
enough guards to stop every male in the state—shape shifter,
human or vampire—if she sends them all at us at once."

"I
heard you just fine the first time, but you're failing to register
the most important fact of all. Lori could have done that already and
she hasn't."

"Only
because we've had our claws at her throat the entire time."

"Maybe,
or maybe she's just not as far gone as all of us assumed. Make this
happen for me, Tiffany. Hire however many guards within reason that
you think you need, prohibit any of our men from approaching closer
than fifty feet, take whatever precautions a prudent person would
take in your situation, but make sure that Lori is conscious and well
taken care of. An awful lot may depend on it."

"Fine,
but if this all goes wrong and she goes off the rails then I'm coming
for you personally. And not even your boyfriend can protect you while
he's sleeping."

"
If
Lori 'goes off the rails' then I rather doubt either of us will be
around to worry about anything, but your threat has been noted."

I
hung up on Tiffany and pulled up the call queue, but Donovan cleared
his throat before I could patch the next call through.

"What
are your plans with regards to the Del Rio girl, Mistress Paige?"

"I'm
not honestly sure, Donovan, but it's like you said, if things go
badly I'm going to need someone higher up the food chain to back my
play. Lori may or may not be that person, but it feels right to start
positioning myself as her white knight."

"And
if she 'goes off the rails' as it were?"

"Then
we'd better hope that Alec survives this, because he may be the only
person in the world capable of stopping her again."

"Part
of me wishes I could attribute that statement to the kind of
hyperbole your generation seems so fond of, Mistress Paige, but I'm
afraid you may be all too correct there."

"Yeah,
I know. Here's to hoping that I read her correctly."

"What
are your other plans?"

"I'm
not sure; so far I've just been fighting fires."

Donovan
paused, needle held only inches from Alec's chest. I looked down at
Alec's bloody skin for only the briefest of moments and then looked
away again. You would think that spending so long in the same room
while Donovan operated on Alec would have inured me to all of the
blood, but it hadn't. Maybe it would have been different if it had
been someone else lying there on the bed, but it wasn't someone else.
It was Alec and not only did I love him, the survival of a lot of
other people who were important to me depended on Donovan saving him.

"Given
everything that has happened in the last day, it is entirely
understandable for you to be in crisis mode still, Mistress Paige,
but that is a dangerous mindset for a leader to be in. You need to be
thinking further ahead than that or you'll find yourself boxed in and
unhappy with the options that remain open to you."

"I'm
open to ideas, Donovan."

"Call
James and ask him to come back here. You need a bodyguard you can
trust. I saw Vik's response when Master Alec was shot. Vik is a
passable fighter, but you need someone who will interpose themselves
between you and danger rather than ducking for cover themselves."

"You
don't think that will cause more problems? Vik isn't going to like
being demoted and James isn't always a prime example of dependability
and restraint. If he knows that Alec is injured then isn't there a
chance that he'll try to take over? Besides, if I bring James and
Dominic back here that means I'll be putting Addison, Andrew and
Alec's mom in danger with us."

"It's
a possibility that having James here will cause more problems than he
will solve, but I think he's started maturing enough that he
understands the real stakes for everyone involved. As far as your
other concern goes, the truth is that our entire pack is already in
an incredible amount of danger regardless of where they happen to be
right now. Telling ourselves anything else is nothing more than
wishful thinking."

"Even
Rachel?"

"Especially
Rachel. I don't understand what has happened to her, but I certainly
hope that you're right and she can see the future. She's out there
all alone in a world full of people who would prey on her simply
because of her link to Master Alec. Her odds are not very good."

The
thought of Rachel brought back memories of the last night that any of
us had heard anything from her. That was the night that the Coun'hij
had razed the mansion to the ground…the night that Dominic had
healed Donovan's leg.