Page 134 of Dhampira

Heat blossomed low in my body. Seated between them, with one of their thighs pressing against each of mine, the implications of our conversation were clear.

They cared for each other. And they each cared for me. I couldn’t deny that I cared for them. That left us with one option.

We almost always have a choice. Was I ready to make it?

Standing, I faced them. “You would have killed Delphine. Both of you.”

“Yes,” Lorcan said. He remained seated, his stare unwavering. “Because refusal would have undone centuries of work. Living another day means another day to possibly free Nocta. We all make sacrifices. Delphine understood that better than anyone.”

Guilt was a bitter taste in my mouth. “Is sez—” My throat closed, cutting off my air. Lorcan and Vander were on their feet in an instant, but I waved them off. “I lost the vor,” I said when I could speak again.

Lorcan’s expression turned solemn. “That’s the danger of revealing it to Rasimir. If he realizes you no longer possess it, he’ll eventually discover the vials.”

Perfect. Another complication to tiptoe around. But at least I was alive. Delphine was a statue.

“But we can reverse the petrification, right?” I asked.

Lorcan’s face didn’t change. “Rix will reverse it. But one of us would have to possess the vor for petrification first.”

And we didn’t. Vander had said as much when I turned the bush to stone after I drank the vial.

“I’ll claim the vor for real,” I said. “I’ll save Delphine and make things right.”

A hint of skepticism moved through Lorcan’s eyes. Just a hint, but enough for me to see it. “You’re prepared to drain a witch and take the gift?” he asked. “Last I knew, Princess, you were opposed to killing.”

He’d allowed me to see the skepticism. Lorcan was too disciplined to let it slip. He wanted me to know he doubted me.

Well, hopefully, he saw the resolve I was probably incapable of hiding. “That was before Marrigan and seemingly every witch and werewolf in Nocta wanted to kill me.”

Vander drifted close, his own resolve shining in his eyes. “I’ll siphon you whenever I can. I won’t let you turn to madness.”

A knot of fear formed in my throat. So much was uncertain, and not just his ability to pull dead blood from my veins before it corrupted my mind. We still didn’t know if I could keep the magic I stole. If I couldn’t, Marrigan was the least of my problems.

But Vander and Lorcan knew it as well as I did, so I swallowed the knot and said, “Thank you.”

Vander looked at the sky. “We should get back.” He turned his gaze to the roses I still held. “And you should leave those here. Gifts from elves are never free.”

“We’ll split up,” Lorcan said, taking the roses from me and placing them on the ground. “Rasimir still has patrols searching the forest for wolves.”

We agreed I’d return with Lorcan. Just before we entered the forest, the talk of reversing vors sparked a memory, and I stopped Lorcan with a hand on his arm.

“When you and Vander first told me about vors, you said three can never be reversed.”

Just behind him, Vander stilled, alertness in his posture.

Lorcan’s face was unreadable as he said, “That’s right.”

“You named one,” I said. “Does that mean you don’t possess the others?”

For a moment, Lorcan seemed like he wouldn’t answer, and I almost took back the question. Maybe he was embarrassed by his lack of power.

“I can only speak two,” he said at last. “As you know, uci means ‘death.’ I also possess dismenti, which is the vor for forgetfulness. Once you’ve commanded someone to forget, nothing will persuade them to remember. You can strip someone of their name. Their entire identity. Or you can make them forget how to breathe.”

A shiver passed through me. “And the third?”

“It’s the vor for ‘truth,’ but ‘confession’ is probably more accurate. I’ve never encountered a witch who can force others to spill their secrets. Overriding someone’s will requires unique power.”

In my mind, Marrigan stared at me with dozens of eyes. “Would I know if Marrigan forced a confession from me?”