"Yes, just like that."
"Does it matter which finger?" Iliaria shook her head.
I slid the ring onto the middle finger of my left hand. I expected to feel some spark of magic, to feel some charge of power, and was taken aback when I felt nothing.
"I don"t feel anything," I said.
"A Stone of Shadows does not work that way, Epiphany," Renata spoke from her seat. "You wil sense the magic at work once the sun rises. As it is, it lies dormant until you need it."
"You have used one of the stones before?" Iliaria asked.
"No," Renata said, "I merely know of them."
I held up my hand. "Why give me this, Iliaria? How wil this help us catch the traitor that summoned you?"
Renata answered before Iliaria could. "She means you to use the stone to stay awake and catch the traitor. No doubt, he wil try again?"
"I think so, yes," Iliaria said, "and I plan on staying with Epiphany."
"You said you offered your aid," Renata said.
"Couldn"t Cuinn keep me awake?" I asked.
I cannot keep ye awake, he said, I can only wake ye if there be danger. "Tis not the same type of magic that the Stone bestows upon its wearer.
Distantly, I heard Iliaria ask who Cuinn was and Renata"s smooth reply explaining that Cuinn was the spirit in the fox blade.
I blinked final y, coming back to myself.
"What did he say?" Vasco propped his chin on his fist. I didn"t doubt that he"d known I"d been listening to Cuinn"s voice inside my head. I stil wasn"t used to it and would need to work on control ing my facial expressions.
"He can only wake me if there"s danger. It"s not the same thing as the ring, apparently."
"Of course it isn"t," Iliaria said. "Why am I under the impression that you don"t want my gift?"
"It"s not that I don"t want your gift, Iliaria."
"It"s that she feels bad you went out of your way to give her something." Vasco grinned and I directed a disapproving look at him.
"You do not like gifts?" she asked, blinking at me as if she real y didn"t understand.
I wasn"t sure how to answer her. I didn"t mind the gift, but the fact that she had gone out of her way to create something as powerful as the Stones of Shadows did catch me a little off-guard. I wasn"t exactly sure what it required for her to make it. Though, obviously, it required a bit of blood.
Then again, as she"d fed Renata and me earlier, she didn"t seem to mind sharing that.
"It is a wondrous gift, Iliaria, and I do appreciate it, but Vasco is right about me. I do not know what it took for you to make this."
"Do you think there are strings attached to this gift?" she asked.
I lifted my shoulders.
"There are," she said and the corner of her mouth curled slyly.
"And what strings are those?"
"It is to aid us in finding your traitor," she said. "However, that is not al . If we succeed in finding your traitor, I expect you to use the ring for me."
"What do you mean use it for you?"
"You bear my mark, Epiphany. We have a bargain. I wil give you your nights with your Queen. I wil share kindly, but there wil be days when I do not want to share you."
A tremble of desire shuddered down my spine.
"I"m fairly certain I can live with that," I said in a voice that was almost a whisper.
She sat back, smiling and looking pleased. "Good. I"d hoped that would be your answer."
"Does my opinion not matter?" Renata asked and her voice was low yet strangely commanding.
"Do you not agree?" Iliaria asked. "Would you prefer to share her bed with me every night?"
Renata"s face was a blank porcelain mask. "Not every night, no."
"Some nights?" Iliaria asked.
"Some nights, yes," Renata said, "but not every."
"Then," Iliaria said, "those nights which you do not feel like sharing I wil spend my time with Epiphany during the day."
Renata"s eyes sparkled with amus.e.m.e.nt. "I did not say I disagreed, Dracule. I was merely asking if my opinion mattered or not."
"You know it matters," I said, glancing at her.
Renata addressed Iliaria. "I agree, as we have more important matters to discuss, such as your plans for catching this traitor. I imagine you"ve some idea?"
"I do," Iliaria said.
"And?"
"I wil stay with Epiphany and help her find the traitor."
Renata gave a slow shake of her head. "No."
Iliaria narrowed her eyes. "I have gone out of my way for you and yours, and yet you trust me so little?"
"It is not a matter of distrust, Dracule. It is a matter of Epiphany"s safety."
"You do not trust me to keep her safe."
"That is not what I said," Renata said in a voice that was dangerously slow.
"It is what you implied," Iliaria continued to glare at my Queen, my lover.
Before Renata could open her mouth and say whatever she was going to say, I interceded. "Then what is the reason, Renata?"
"If this traitor is working with another Dracule and perhaps more than one vampire, you and the Dracule alone wil not be enough."
"I wouldn"t be so quick to jump to conclusions, Iliaria," I said gently, not wanting to offend her.
Iliaria did not apologize, but she stopped glaring. "Ah," she said. "If we are outnumbered it is true that I wil not be enough to protect her," she said. "I cannot make another Stone of Shadows."
"I know," Renata said, watching me.
"But," I said, "I could use the sword."
"That might work," Vasco said. "Cuinn told you he cannot keep you awake? You used the sword today to wake the Queen."
"And you could use it again to wake the others," Renata said.
"The question is," I said, "which others would we wake?"
"Wel , to start," she said, crossing her long legs and tilting her head, "Vasco and I."
"That"s a given." I smiled softly.
"Who would you wake?" she asked.
I almost responded without thinking it through, but decided that thinking very careful y about whom I would wake was a good idea.
"Not Rosabel a," I said.
Renata offered an encouraging nod. "And?"
"I would not wake Lorrenzo or Alessandra."
"Why? Alessandra fears me."
"That fear can turn against you," I said. "I wouldn"t give her the opportunity of having my back in a fight, just for caution"s sake. Lorrenzo didn"t believe what we told him. I don"t trust him for the reason that he doesn"t seem to take this seriously."
"What about Severiano?"
"He"s secure in his power," I said. "That"s a point for him. I don"t think he"d hesitate to use it. I am uncertain as to whether he would use it for the right reasons, though."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"Would he use it for his advantage, his gain?"
"Many of us use our powers for advantage and gain, colombina," Vasco said.
"But is it for the right reasons? Would Severiano use his power to help his people or himself?"
"You do not think much like a vampire," Iliaria noted.
"How not?" I asked.
"Oh, she thinks like a vampire," Renata said with a tendril of amus.e.m.e.nt. "She simply does not think like most vampires."
"She does not think like a majority of the Elders," Vasco said.
"It has never seemed to me like you think like the other Elders either, Vasco."
"I have my moments, bel ezza. You wil too. As you are learning, in order to survive you have to secure and defend."
"It is so with the Dracule," Iliaria said. "We have that much in common."
Renata steered the conversation back to the previous topic. "Who else would you wake, Epiphany? Would you wake Severiano?"
I turned to Vasco and asked, "Would you?"
Vasco raised his hands, indicating his retreat in answering. "This is your question to answer, colombina, not mine."
I licked my lips, thinking. "Fair enough," I said. "No, I would not wake him."
"Why?" Renata asked, searching my face.
"I have my doubts. If I have doubts about him, then he is not someone I want to offer trust. There is no proof that I should trust him, so I wil not."
"The others have not offered you proof of their trust," she added.
"No," I said, "they haven"t, but I have more doubts about Severiano"s motives than most."
"Then who would you wake? Would you wake Vittoria and Vito?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"They believed," I said. "Vittoria herself said that if it is true, then we are al in grave danger. They seem to care about the Rosso Lussuria as a whole and not just themselves."
She nodded and seemed pleased with my answer. I was beginning to think the line of questions was a test of sorts.
"What about Nirena?"
"Yes," I said, remembering the look of understanding and the knowledge that Nirena had when she"d realized I"d bargained with the Dracule. "Yes, because she is knowledgeable. She too is secure in her power, but she does not have that dangerous curiosity I"ve seen present in others."
"Out of twelve Elders, you would wake four, Epiphany?"
"Dante and Dominique. I would wake them."