My mentor doesn’t answer. Instead, he slowly rises from his seat and walks over to the yoga-studio door. He turns the lock, then heads over to a small radio sitting by the mats, cranking up the volume to eleven. My ears are suddenly assaulted by Justin Bieber.
“Um, Teif?” I try to shout over the noise. “Though I truly, completely respect the fact that you’re secure enough in your masculinity to rock out to the Biebs, I really don’t think it’s the time or place to—”
“Lower your voice!” he admonishes, returning to his seat.
I reluctantly clamp my mouth shut, staring at him expectantly.
He glances around the room with nervous eyes, as if to make sure it’s empty save the two of us. Then he turns back to me. “Pyrus has spies everywhere,” he informs me in a hushed voice. “You need to be completely careful of what you say from this point out.”
Right. I swallow hard, nodding my head, now taking my own inadvertent glance around the room. I knew the vamp was bad news. I just had no idea he had such a far reach.
But at least Teifert seems to be aware of it. “So you know then,” I whisper back, once satisfied the room is empty. “You know what a tyrant he is. And what he’s reduced the Consortium to.”
Teifert nods. “We’ve been investigating his leadership for some time now. We know that under his command the Consortium is more dictatorship than democracy. We have reports of the other coven masters living in fear, only going along with the leader’s mandates in order to protect their own covens.”
“’Cause if they speak up, they’ll end up like Magnus,” I add eagerly. “Facing their own so-called trial for treason.”
“Normally we at Slayer Inc. don’t get involved in vampire politics,” Teifert admits, “unless we come to believe their policies may cause harm to humanity. We now feel Pyrus’s lust for power may have reached that point. And we are considering the need to step in.”
“Perfect!” I cry. “Can I be the one to take him out then?” Man, it would be so satisfying to stake that jerk through the heart once and for all. And then my sister and Magnus could come home and we could all live happily ever after and—
“Not so fast,” Teifert says. “We need to build a case first. And solicit support from the other coven leaders without Pyrus knowing it. If we act too soon and without support from the organization, it could be seen as act of war.”
“Right,” I say, a little disappointed. “I guess that makes sense. But where does that leave me? Even if I did know where Sunny was I couldn’t hand her over to them. After all, she did what she did to save my life. And I’m so not going to enable Pyrus to end hers because of it.”
Teifert gives me a sympathetic look. “I know it’s a tough position to be in. But unfortunately, you don’t have much of a choice. Pyrus knows about the nanocapsules in your bloodstream. If he feels you are not doing your duty, he can petition that we activate them and… terminate your employment.”
I scowl. Terminate my employment indeed. That’s just the fancy way of saying they can stake me from the inside out, thanks to that stupid virus they injected into my bloodstream at birth. It used to be something they did to all potential slayers, back in the day, to keep them in line. A barbaric practice now completely abolished by the kinder and gentler Slayer Inc. of today. Not that it does me any good…
“But why does he want me?” I ask. “I mean, hello conflict of interest! It’s my sister we’re talking about here. Why would I turn her in?”
“Because of all the slayers in the organization, you have the strongest connection to her and the rest of the Blood Coven,” Teifert reminds me. “Pyrus sees you as in insider. Someone who could find out things that he can’t.” He shrugs. “And he believes that like the other coven masters, you will do what he says—in order to save your own skin.” He throws me a wry smile.
“Yeah, well, he’s got another thing coming,” I mutter. “Even if I did have some kind of freaking connection with my sister—which I don’t. That whole ‘Wonder Twin Powers Activate’ crap is just for Saturday-morning cartoons. Sunny and I never had a secret twin language or any hint of ESP. Hell, the guy behind the counter at Burger King has as much chance of knowing where she is right now as I do.”
“And that’s the way we’d like to keep it,” Teifert concludes.
I stare at him for a moment before the admittedly slow lightbulb goes off over my head. So that’s what he’s getting at. “So you want me to pretend to look for Sunny…”
“…but have no luck in finding her.” He nods. “Exactly. After all, it’s not your fault, right? You’ve been doing your slayer duty—scouring the globe, racking up the frequent flier miles, following up on every lead under the sun. It’s not your fault your evil sister and her boyfriend are so elusive!”
“And by the time he starts getting suspicious of my loyalties,” I conclude, “you and your team at Slayer Inc. will have gathered enough evidence to bring the bastard down!”
“Now you’re thinking like a true slayer,” Teifert says with a grin. Then his expression turns serious. “But you can’t mess around with this, Rayne. It’s too dangerous. If Pyrus discovers you’ve been stalling before we can build the case, we will not be able to protect you. If he demands we terminate your employment, we must oblige.”