Cassandra Palmer 1(93)
«You mean he's a ghost?» I shook my head. «Not possible. I'd have known. He'd have come to me—I was right there in Tony's house for years. It's not like I'd have been hard to find.»
Mircea stopped near the bed, a little too close for comfort, and continued as if I hadn't interrupted. «Roger was an employee of Antonio's, one of his favorite humans, in fact. Which made his betrayal all the more bitter. That was how Antonio viewed his refusal to give you up when ordered to do so. He could not leave Roger alive and save face, but he did not want his death to deprive him of your father's gift. You received your connection to the spirit world from him—he, too, was reportedly able to make ghosts his servants.»
«That isn't what I do.»
He brushed it aside. «Call it what you will. Suffice it to say that Antonio found it useful from time to time. You were clever to hide it from him, dulceata. I asked him if you had that gift as well as the Sight, and he said no.»
«Eugenie told me not to tell.» Only now did I understand why. Of course, ghosts could be useful, especially in dealing with other families. Since vamps can't detect them, they'd make perfect spies. Hell, he could even have sent them to let him know what the Senate was doing. A pretty big advantage, that. «What happened?»
«Your parents fled when they realized you had inherited their gifts, knowing that Tony would take you. He sent his best operatives to track them down and paid some dark mages to devise a trap for your father while he waited. It was designed to capture his spirit as it left his body after death, and it worked perfectly. When I heard what had been done to Roger, I commanded Antonio to release him, but he demurred. He preferred to keep him confined as a perpetual punishment and a warning to others, even though he had discovered that Roger could not command ghosts now that he was one.»
«But he released him on your order, right?» I didn't like where this was going.
«He swore that it was impossible, and invited me to have a mage of my choosing examine the trap. I did so.» He looked at me with pity. «I hired the best, Cassie, for I liked your father. But the mage, a member of the Circle itself who owed me a favor, told me that he had never seen one like it, and that all his power was not sufficient to break it. As a result, your father's ghost resides with Antonio still.»
My lips felt numb. I wanted to disbelieve him, but it was exactly the sort of thing Tony would do. «There must be a way to break the spell.»
«The Silver Circle should have enough power to manage it. My associate intimated as much at the time. Even if it was the Black Circle itself that wrought the trap, the Silver is stronger. But they would not willingly take on such a task. They despise your father, as they do any human working for us, and blame him for seducing your mother away from them. They would not help even were the Consul herself to petition, but if the new Pythia were to ask…»
«They couldn't refuse?»
Mircea sat down on the bed beside me. I resolutely kept my eyes on his. «They could, certainly, but I doubt they would. If the power goes to you, Cassandra, they will swallow their pride and try to woo you. If they thought they could buy your favor with such a task, they would likely fall over themselves to do it.»
Suddenly, I was on my back and Mircea was on his hands and knees, looming over me. «And now, dulceata, I believe there is a little something you owe me.»
I had a lot of other questions, but they temporarily fled, along with my ability to form coherent sentences. Mircea sat me up and stripped off the robe, which he threw against the wall as if it offended him. His hands returned to slide slowly down my arms, from shoulders to wrists. He lay me back carefully and let his eyes roam over me as I had done him. He surprised me by taking his time, and the weight of his gaze was enough to make my nipples contract and my whole body tense.
His hands soon followed the path his eyes had blazed. He started at my ankles, then ran them slowly up my body, stroking and teasing the flesh as he went. I was writhing by the time he was up to my knees, moaning when he paused to massage my lower stomach, and completely breathless when he captured my breasts again. He continued, however, running his fingers over my neck and face, lingering slightly on my lips, then moving up through my hair. I felt like my body was on fire by the time he stopped, and judging by the flush that stained his usual mother-of-pearl complexion, he wasn't completely unmoved, either. He swallowed several times before finding his voice. «If you have a question, Cassie, I suggest you ask it quickly.»