Page 97 of Stubborn as a Shadow

Maybe markets like that weren’t actually illegal? The SC had known about it, at least that’s that Nelson had said, and they hadn’t raided the place either.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” the vampire huffed. “I knew the little unicorn wanted the crystal, and I found a way to get it to him. End of story. Then he wouldn’t need to attend any more markets.”

“How did you know?” Nelson glared at the vampire.

The vampire didn’t say anything for a long moment, and I wondered if he would answer. Eventually he said, “I knew he was a unicorn as soon as I saw him.” He rolled his shoulder. “And from there, it took very little to find out what he was looking for. Then it was just a matter of getting it into his hands.”

“Why not just give it to him directly?” Nelson asked. “Why all the games?”

Keenan looked at me. “Would you have trusted it if I just came up and gave it to you? I think not. It was better to have it go through the market stalls instead.”

“A stall at a black market.” Teague narrowed his eyes. “One that you organized.”

Keenan lifted his shoulders in a little shrug, as if to say, “So what if I did?”.

“He isn’t lying,” Van said. Then he looked to Gage for his assessment.

Gage didn’t say anything, and I was curious about what he’d seen of the vampire’s wants.

Teague gritted his teeth. “I still want to look at it.”

The vampire suddenly leaned forward. He moved with vampiric speed—which was faster than I could follow with my eyes. He placed his hands on the table and stared at the death mage. “But you will not confiscate it. I know how you like to collect your little magical trinkets. You hoard them like a dragon. But this isn’t meant for you. It is for the unicorn.”

“It’s dangerous, and you know it.”

“It is for the unicorn,” Keenan repeated, narrowing his eyes.

“And don’t act like you know me,” Teague said.

“I know a great deal about you and your merry band of supes.”

“Oh, that’s a fun one. Shit, my pen ran out of ink,” Jeremy said. I glanced over my shoulder and didn’t see him. Was he hiding around the corner eavesdropping?

“I highly doubt that,” Teague said. Apparently, we were all ignoring Jeremy.

“I know about that feral wolf pack that used to live up in the hills. If you hadn’t dealt with them, I would have.” His face contorted as his emotions rose. The angles of his face grewsharper. His complexion paled. His teeth, though, with their deadly points, those were the real showstopper. Was this how vampires shifted? How interesting. I’d never seen anything like it.

“What do you know of the wolf pack?” Teague’s magic stirred. It was as dark as Nelson’s, but very, very different. Nelson’s magic felt like home to me. Teague’s made me shiver.

The whites and irises of Teague’s eyes turned black. The vampire, obviously seeing the change as a threat, dropped his fangs and hissed menacingly at the mage.

Uh oh.

“Stop!” I jumped from my seat and put my hands out to stop anyone else from moving.

Unicorns weren’t supposed to cry, but we didn’t usually lose our cool either. An angry unicorn wasn’t quite as devastating as a sad one, but it still made people pay attention.

“Please,” I said. “I have been looking for this crystal for so long. Please. I just need to use it once. I don’t care what history you have between you. I’m sorry, but I just don’t. Nelson said he wanted you to look it over, Teague, just in case it’s been tampered with. But now that I’ve heard Keenan, I’m convinced it’s okay. He is telling the truth.”

Everyone stared at me.

“You can sense lies like a hellhound?” Van asked.

“Sort of? I guess. I mean, they make me itchy.”

“Adrian, go get me another pen! Hurry!” Jeremy whisper-shouted from somewhere in the other room.

“I think we have much to discuss with the vampire,” Gage said. “But I agree with Morgan. I do not believe the vampire means us harm.”