Page 53 of A Shade Too Far
“Zev gave you his word that he wouldn’t harm them,” Tatiana said. “He’ll stand by that.”
“BatKian told you about this?” I asked her.
“Yes.”
I stood up, pacing the small room. “Zev’s promises are like laws. If he wanted something in direct opposition badly enough, he’d stick to the letter but not the spirit.”
Naveen scratched his stubbled chin. “What’s the big deal? Give the golem the vial.”
“No!” I moderated my tone at everyone’s surprised looks. “His Ohrist magic will be suppressed while he’s getting answers. Don’t you know what that means to a golem?”
Laurent shrugged. “I still vote yes. It’s useful.”
“Me too.” Naveen nodded.
“Me three,” Emmett said. “I wouldn’t have done it for the vampire, but I like Tatiana.”
“I like you too, Emmett,” she said with a sweet smile.
“And if it’s permanent?” I smacked the table. “Should the Ohrist magic not come back on its own, that’s it. Jude can’t fix you this time. You still want to take it?”
Emmett hugged himself. “No,” he mumbled, looking away from Tatiana.
“It’s okay, tattele,” she assured him.
Laurent opened his mouth, then wisely shut it at my scowl.
“Now what?” Naveen said.
I was missing something. Zev considered himself honorable, so given his promise about not harming my people, he wouldn’t force Emmett to take the liquid and learn how to get into the vault. But he wouldn’t risk his opportunity to procure those gloves either. Not after searching for them for so long.
I stopped in front of Tatiana. “What was his Plan B?”
“Sorry?” she said.
“You heard me. You claim you don’t know why Zev is so attached to the gloves, and I believe you, but he did want them. Badly. You saw his reaction when I handed them over, so what would have happened if Emmett and I weren’t successful? Emmett hadn’t drunk the liquid in the vial, so he hadn’t divined the way in. How would Zev have gotten hold of the gloves if we’d failed?”
Tatiana blew on her glasses lenses before wiping them with a corner of the sweatshirt. “How would I know?”
To my shock, Laurent’s hands shifted to claws and Naveen summoned his light staff, resting it carelessly across his lap.
“Answer her,” Laurent said softly.
Emmett shielded Tatiana from them with his thick clay body and she patted his shoulder.
“This is getting gonzo,” I said. “No one is hurting anyone. Just tell me what Plan B was.”
Tatiana wagged a finger at her nephew. “You know, Lolo, one of these days you constantly thinking the worst of me is going to hurt my feelings.” She put her glasses on. “I was Plan B,” she said loftily. “If for any reason you failed to get the gloves, I agreed that I would…force Santiago to hand them over.”
“Can you compel people?” I said. “Holy shit.”
“Last time you forced someone to do something?” Laurent’s fingers morphed back to human. “You had a stroke.”
“A mild stroke. I’m well aware of what happened,” Tatiana said in a steely voice. “And I can’t compel anyone.”
“How badass are you?” Emmett asked with wide eyes.
“Extremely.” She winked at him. “If absolutely necessary, I can control someone’s body like they are my marionette, but it’s very taxing and I am a woman of some years, so I don’t.”
