Quinn winced. "I'm sorry."
Amanda's gaze met hers. "I'm not. Kassius kept me away from the house and, upon learning that I was a doctor, had me brought here." She looked back at Zack. "I'd like to do a brief examination of you, Zack, if you'll allow it."
Zack eyed her warily. "What kind of exam?"
Amanda's voice warmed. "I just want to check your temperature and take a quick look at your eyes."
Quinn's gaze sharpened. "Why are his eyes silver like that? He's not . . . ?" The thought made her stomach clench. "He's not turning Slava already, is he?"
"Not Slava, no. Only the hair glows once we turn Slava." She held up her hand, her expression kind. "Let me grab my things. I'd like to do my examination before I offer a prognosis."
As the doctor hurried off, Neo ushered them forward. "Have a seat and help yourselves to the food. We have much to discuss."
"What is this place?" Quinn asked.
Arturo pulled out a chair for her. "Sit, cara."
She did, and the others took their seats around the table, Arturo on one side of her, Zack on the other.
"I do not easily give up my secrets, sorceress." Neo shrugged. "But perhaps if we trust you with our secrets, you will find it easier to trust our motives in return." He glanced at Mukdalla.
The Trader female nodded and turned to Quinn, clasping her hands on the table in front of her. "Most vampires and Traders capture humans and bring them into Vamp City. Neo and I have made it our life's work to funnel as many of them back out again as we can."
Quinn stared at her, then at Neo. In their eyes, she saw a passion, a crusader's zeal for a cause they believed in. She turned to Arturo. "Weren't you the one who told me a vampire might play with his food but he never sets it free?"
His brows flicked upward and down again. "I told you many things that I did not necessarily believe."
"So you set people free?"
"I help where I can. As you can imagine, there are many who would destroy Neo's operation were they to learn of it. We must be very careful not to draw attention to the work done here."
She stared at him, feeling as if she were seeing him for the first time. So many untruths and half-truths hiding facets of the male. Facets that her instincts had recognized. She'd trusted him too many times because of that, because despite his glibness, she'd sensed honor in him. And maybe she hadn't been entirely wrong after all.
"At one time," Neo told her, "our work was far less than it is now. Before the magic began to fail, many of the humans brought into Vamp City against their will were the miscreants-the murderers and rapists and wife-beaters. The drug addicts and gangbangers. Those we will never free back into D.C. society. The humans would not thank us if we did. But now, with the magic failing, those who trolled for the human dregs are trapped here and can no longer hunt for them. As the city crumbles, the demand for blood grows, and the consciences of the vampires who need it disintegrate. The Traders grab whomever they can, and many of the vampires who once cared do no longer."
"Neo and I run an underground railroad to free as many of the innocents as we can," Mukdalla continued. "Amanda treats the injuries many of the fresh slaves arrive with. We feed them, heal them both physically and mentally, stealing their memories of this place, then smuggle them out in Traders' carts."
"Those who've not yet turned Slava. Those who can still escape," Quinn clarified.
"Yes."
Quinn glanced at Arturo, and she found him watching her, his eyes dark and deep.
Amanda returned, claiming her attention as Zack swiveled in his chair to face her. The doctor pulled a thermometer out of her doctor's bag and slid the nodule into his ear. When it beeped, she removed it, then grabbed her penlight and flicked it into first one eye, then the other.
"How are you feeling, Zack?" she asked, putting the light back in her bag.
"Fine."
"Only for the last few hours," Quinn qualified. "He had no energy or appetite until we brought him back to V.C."
"How long have you been ill?"
"I don't know. A week."
"He was fine when we left Vamp City ten days ago. At least I think he was. But he spent several days in Pennsylvania and started feeling dead tired almost immediately."
Amanda listened, nodding. "His temperature is over 101."
Quinn frowned. "I thought he was better."
"He's feeling better, from what you describe. Which is not unusual with magic poisoning."
Her stomach sank. He wasn't well. Not yet.
"I feel fine," Zack repeated.
The doctor nodded. "And you'll probably continue to. Once the magic of V.C. is renewed, I'm sure you'll be fine." She moved around the table, taking a seat beside Mukdalla. But her gaze flicked to Zack, the small creases between her eyebrows telling Quinn there was more she wasn't saying. And it wasn't good.
Her stomach tightened.
"Let's get started," Neo said. "We have much to discuss."
Clenching her jaw against the need to question the doctor further, Quinn forced her attention on Arturo as he began to fill the others in on the situation-that she was the only sorcerer the vampires had found who might be able to renew the magic. That he believed she had power but that she could not access most of it and could not control what she could. He told them what he'd told her, that his plan was for her to renew the magic without Cristoff's being the wiser. That her life and theirs depended upon it.
"The Blackstone brothers will have to be involved," Arturo told them. "They were there when their father renewed the magic the first time after attempting to spring the trap and destroy us all. Sheridan is the only one who remembers the ritual."
"Can they be trusted?" Neo asked, his expression making it clear he doubted it.
"I do not know," Arturo admitted. "They have no love for Cristoff, but the hold he has over them is prodigious. It is impossible to know whether they will help Quinn without being forced." He lifted a brow. "But I am happy to force."
"It may be a moot point if we can't free the sorceress's magic," Neo countered. "And we have little time. The equinox is only a few days away, and it's unlikely Vamp City's magic will last until the winter solstice. The next strong power day," he added for Quinn's benefit. He glanced at her. "I would read your magic for myself, sorceress."
"What do you mean ‘read'?"
Arturo's hand covered her arm, squeezing lightly. "Where I taste magic, Neo feels it through touch."
"I'll barely touch you, Quinn," Neo assured her. "And only your face."
God, she was tired of having to trust vampires. But when Neo reached her chair and motioned her to stand, she complied, turning to face him. He was a tall man, a couple of inches taller than Arturo, and smelled pleasantly of Mediterranean spices and warm climates. As he reached for her face, she instinctively tensed, then forced herself to relax. The last thing she wanted to do was call up her power in this place filled with humans. Zack wasn't the only one she might injure.
Taking a deep breath, she eyed Neo. "Tell me what you're going to do."
His blue eyes were kind. "I will touch your face, Quinn. Just that. Through my fingertips, I'll be able to read your magic. Yes?"
She'd never been comfortable with strangers touching her. Or friends, for that matter. It wasn't in her nature. And there was no telling what a powerful vampire could do with a touch. Micah had changed her entire appearance. But she needed to understand her magic.
"Yes. Do it."
Neo watched her a moment longer, as if he were as cautious about touching a sorceress as she was about being touched. Finally, he lifted his hands again and pressed his fingers lightly against her cheekbones, his thumbs resting on her chin. Dark lashes dropped, hiding those incongruously blue eyes. After a moment, his lashes rose again.
Releasing her, he stepped back, his brows drawing together. "You have power, sorceress. And yet . . . I don't know. There's something odd about it. As if it's been caged."
"Kassius said the same," Arturo told him.
"I know of someone who may be able to tell you more," Mukdalla said. "A fae by the name of Tarellia. Do you know her?" she asked Arturo.
"We've met, but I've not seen her in decades. Tell me where she lives, and I'll fetch her."
Mukdalla shook her head. "She'll not leave her house-you'll have to take the sorceress to her-but she lives in the Nod, not far from here. It's a safe enough journey."
"There are no safe journeys, my friend. You know that. Quinn will remain here. I'll bring the fae to her."
"You will go to the fae, Arturo," Neo said, his tone brooking no argument.
Arturo smiled a smile that didn't reach his eyes as his voice turned Obi-Wan. "It will be fine, Neo."
But Neo only shook his head. "You'll not sway me, Arturo. You bring too many to my home. You'll compromise all our safety. No more. You must go to the fae. There is too much at stake."
Arturo's jaw hardened, but to Quinn's surprise, he didn't argue further or attempt any more mind control. "We'll go tomorrow. I do not wish to run across York's vampires again. Not with Quinn."
Neo nodded. "We are in agreement, then." He motioned to the platters of food. "Eat. Enjoy. Now that the sorceress is here, we have a chance. This is cause for celebration. If you'll excuse me, I have work to do upstairs."