He opened his eyes, looking at me with his usual enigmatic expression. ‘Tell me about these memories that the Morrígan has given you.’
Okay, so he didn’t want to talk about himself … yet. Determination settled in me; he would later. For now, I told him about the first sad, sad memory belonging to one of the Moth-girls, and the dreadful memory from Darius’ childhood. ‘But I don’t think they’re connected to what the Morrígan wants me to know about the missing faelings,’ I said thoughtfully. ‘It feels more like her spell was all-encompassing than specific.’ Then I described Mad Max’s memory of the child on the slide. ‘I’m pretty sure that that one is connected, just not how.’
Malik frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. ‘What makes you think that?’
‘Not sure.’ I tapped my glass. ‘Instinct, or a prod from the Morrígan, maybe. I got the impression the boy was Maxim’s son, but I couldn’t pinpoint any clue in the memory as to when it had been. Do you know how long ago Maxim took the Gift?’
‘He has not yet reached his first century.’
So, not that long ago, but not very specific either, which wasn’t because Malik didn’t know: he’d answered way too quick. ‘Do you know if Maxim had a son, either when he was human or since he’s taken the Gift?’
‘I have not heard him talk of a son, but that does not mean he does not have one. Many who took the Gift in the past isolated themselves from their human families.’ A fleeting bleakness in his eyes made me wonder for a moment if Malik himself had done just that.
‘Don’t suppose you know when they first invented children’s slides, do you?’ I smiled hopefully.
Amusement flickered on his face. ‘I am sorry, Genevieve, no. It is always possible that Google will be able to answer your question.’
I grinned. ‘So you’re not the font of all knowledge then?’
He sat up, resting his forearm on his bent knee. ‘Is that all the memories?’
‘No, I got one from Francine too. Hers is much more informative,’ I said, and told him about the hysterical blonde girl Mad Max had been dragging away. And that I’d finally remembered where I’d seen her before.
‘She’s a faeling called Ana,’ I said, thinking that it really couldn’t be a coincidence that Ana kept popping up, ‘and she’s also the great-granddaughter of Clíona.’ I filled him in on the whole story, from Ana’s loss of her fae mother, her two years in a blood-house in Sucker Town—it didn’t take a genius to work out it must have been Francine’s—and her ‘escape’ and marriage to Victoria Harrier’s wizard son. ‘Ana and her family have been victims of the curse more than once, but I’m not sure how she fits in now. But I am sure there’s a vamp hanging round her. Maxim.’
‘I can see why you think that Maxim might be intimate with this family’—he brushed a hand over his buzz-cut head—‘but I do not know this is the situation. If he is, then it would be something almost impossible to hide from his master. But I will investigate the matter and if the situation is as you suspect, then I will see that it ends.’
I narrowed my gaze at him. Like fae, vamps don’t lie. It’s not that they magically can’t, unlike us fae, but the old ones in particular are all about their honour. Malik was both old and honourable. If he said he didn’t know, then he didn’t. Although as he was London’s Head Fang, he shouldknow … ‘That was a very careful answer,’ I said, ‘so what is it you’re not telling me?’
‘There are some things that it is safer that you do not know, Genevieve. One is what Maxim wants from me. I have refused him, but he is persistent, and so when the opportunity presented itself to him in the shape of Darius, he set a trap for you. It is what he does. He prefers to put himself in a position of strength before any possible negotiation. He planned to use your concern for Darius’ welfare as a leverage point with me.’
‘Yeah, I worked that out.’ I sipped my drink, thinking Malik was still being much too careful about what he said. ‘What about what he did to the Moths?’
‘Maxim has a penchant for playing games, and he does not worry overmuch if he has to sacrifice someone whom he considers a pawn. Although I understand that their part in his ill-conceived plan was an unfortunate error, which Maxim then decided to use to his advantage.’
‘Okay, so why did Mad Max stake Fyodor, his Dear Old Dad?’
‘You would have to ask Maxim, Genevieve. I do not want to guess at his motives where his father is concerned.’
Another evasion. ‘Okay, then I’ll guess. Let’s say Mad Max staked Fyodor to shut him up, or keep him out of the way, so he didn’t spoil Mad Max’s blackmail plot to get you to agree to whatever it is he wants. So there’s a fifty/fifty chance Fyodor knows what it’s all about,’ I said pointedly. See, oh, uninformative one, there are other ways of getting information.‘But is what Mad Max wants just to do with your usual vamp stuff, or is it to do with the curse and the missing faelings? With everything else, I’m leaning towards the latter. Especially with Francine’s memory connecting Mad Max to Ana, and Ana connecting to the curse, and the missing faelings. That whole degrees-of-separation thing. So, if I take a leap here, Mad Max could connect to the missing faelings’—I stopped and gave the beautiful, and still annoyingly closed-mouthed vamp reclining on my bed an enquiring look—‘unless of course you can tell me something different?’
‘I am sorry, Genevieve, but I cannot tell you anything about the missing faelings.’ He turned the platinum ring on his thumb—the ring he’d given me, then taken back in the dreamscape. ‘If I do discover anything about their plight, then I would as a matter of urgency inform the police and do whatever was in my power to help them.’
Damn. Whatever Mad Max wanted, Malik didn’t think it was anything to do with the missing faelings. Or he didn’t know if it was. But I still wanted the information so I could judge for myself.
I tilted my head at Malik. ‘Did you know Mad Max and Fyodor are my relatives?’
‘Yes.’
Finally a straight answer, even if it was monosyllabic, and didn’t give me any sort of clue. Maybe if I tried another hook? ‘Maxim’s been taking my blood from Darius as some sort of tithe,’ I said, ‘but I don’t think that’s the only reason. But I couldn’t prise the info out of Darius’ head, because he’s promised to keep it a secret. And Mad Max wanted me to think he was the one drinking my blood, but he isn’t, is he?’
‘I do not have an answer for you, Genevieve.’
Definite stonewalling now. ‘Darius was thinking about a name,’ I said, not giving up. ‘He tried to hide it from me, but I’m pretty sure it was Andy. Does that ring any bells with you?’
Malik tensed in interest, so maybe he really wasn’t the font of all knowledge, and I’d hit on something he didn’t know. ‘Did you receive any impression of who Andy might be?’ he asked.
‘Another vampire, maybe?’
‘It is possible.’ A frown lined his forehead. ‘But if he has been giving your blood to this “Andy”, I would like to know who he is—if only to ensure neither Maxim nor he are a threat to you any longer.’
‘Can’t you just order him to tell you who Andy is?’ I said, shifting uncomfortably. My aches and pains were heading for the major complaints department, even with the pillows at my back.
‘I have no way of forcing Maxim’s obedience, Genevieve,’ he said. ‘He owes his Oath to the Autarch.’
My instinctive terror at the Autarch’s name threatened to surface; I swallowed it back. Time to dig in a different direction. ‘So now we’re on the subject of the Autarch and Oaths,’ I said, the calm sound of my own voice surprising me, ‘want to tell me what that means for me?’
‘You need not be concerned about the Autarch, Genevieve.’
‘Easy enough for you to say,’ I said, keeping my tone reasonable, ‘but I don’t know what’s going on. And if the general consensus is that I’m your property, and you owe the Autarch your Oath again, then he can demand you give me to him. So I was wondering what my options are if the Autarch comes calling.’