The Nightwillow

Chapter 11

She stood there, staring at her father. Her knuckles white as her fists clenched and words escaped her.

"This is what we've been practicing for," he explained, not daring to turn away from her wrath, even as sparks flew up her fisted hands onto her forearms.

"With wood nymphs and hags. With brownies and minor demons," she whispered, struggling to contain the energy that threatened to overtake her. She was sure it wouldn't do permanent damage to humans, but she wasn't ready to take the chance. Not on her father, no matter how irritated she was with him in that moment. "We never even got to the medium ones."

That wasn't quite true. The meeting with the hag and nymph weeks ago wasn't quite what they expected. There were sparks, but somehow they didn't trigger anything more than a couple jumps of energy. Maybe it's because they posed her little real harm. Then there was the pixie. That stupid pixie who thought it hilarious to nip at her fingertips every time they sparked. His tinkling little laugh was cut short when one of those sparks turned hot and singed off half his head of silvery hair. His blue skin took on a purple sheen, he was so spitting mad.

But she hadn't met any truly dangerous creatures. A couple curious kitsune, an odiferous bal bal that had been banned from his home country, and a karzelek who posed no real danger at all. The greyskinned karzelek had wanted no more than to talk with her father about their mutual interest in gemstones and precious metals, his eyes glittering at the rubies embedded in an ancient dagger her father had recently acquired.

No more than mischief makers, really.

But now...now he was asking her to jump to the top of the food chain, and she worried she'd get eaten alive.

Her father pulled her into a bear hug in spite of the aggressive energy coming off of her. "Stop thinking about it, Sophie. You're letting the energy have control. Remember what we learned," he soothed. "You have the control. He does not. The energy does not. You do. Concentrate on you. Concentrate on the real threat. Is it here? Does it exist?" His words tuning out as she focused on her breathing. Her eyes traveled away from her father's and toward the man standing at the other end of the room.

A stranger.

A vampire.

She jumped out of her father's arms and pulled him back.

A deadly vampire stood there, his bright blue eyes darkening. She knew those eyes.

Crackles of energy bit across her fingertips.

Why was he not attacking?

Why was he backing off into the corner, taking a submissive stance? Vampires felt no fear. They were at the top of the underworld. Their canny nature and stoic strength put them there. They were notorious for not backing down in a fight, but relishing the bloodshed that would ensue...including their own.

The energy surge warmed her as she reached her hand toward the creature that stood before her. She had to know.

"Sophie!" her father cried out, but she could no longer hear him. There was nothing but a desire to know. To hear it from his mouth. The energy pulsed in her ears, drowning out anything but what she needed to hear.

###

Michael was backed against the wall. He had watched everything about her change when he stepped into the room. The air began to churn, and sparks nipped at her fingertips. She had control with the others, he'd seen it with his own eyes, even if she hadn't known he was there. So he knew she could hold back.