68 The Worse End Of The Deal

After a week of staying here, Ruby had only managed to summon jewels three times and the most valuable piece was worth a mere $12,500. This was not the wealth he had anticipated after speaking to Flint Gardner and proposing the original bargain.

He hadn't known entirely what to expect but it was certainly more than this. How disappointing.

Would he truly have to turn his coven upside down to keep two fairies captive for the next century without a worthwhile payout? The very thought annoyed him.

Ruby was always very cool with him on the rare occasions they spoke. Dorian couldn't help but wonder if that idiot Ash Mayhew had said something about him to her beforehand. And what exactly their relationship was.

He might be weak and narrow-minded but he wasn't enough of a pushover to take in a stray fairy for free. She may have offered him the use of her jewel-summoning services in exchange for shelter while hiding from her uncle.

Ash likely wouldn't care about anything beyond some pitiful form of revenge but there was no way a single vampire could take on the Cromwells and live. If she offered to help fund his revenge…

That shouldn't be too much of a problem; they had been together for slightly less than two months. During that time it was highly unlikely she managed to get him more than a few hundred thousand dollars tops.

He wouldn't be able to cause any real trouble with such a paltry sum. He would need much more than that to even attempt going against such a large coven.

Dorian couldn't imagine their association going any further than that. Their sleep schedules were completely different; if he had to guess, they hardly interacted. Yet he was uneasy about whatever association they did have.

Ruby had accepted defeat, knowing she couldn't save her cousin without cooperating but it was obviously done unwillingly. He had no intention of letting her go permanently once the hundred years were up.

According to the magical contract he did have to let them both go but there was nothing mentioned about not reclaiming them a few years later. Her powers might not be all he had hoped for but they were still rather useful.

He made more in a week with her help than he normally did in months being forced to associate with the humans. As if he would ever let a talent like that go!

Forcing a third of his vampires to work as night guards in human establishments was so degrading but it was the only way they could keep up with the cost of blood pills. With Ruby here, they would be able to quit those pathetic jobs and focus on what really mattered: blood magic research.

The intelligence team was taking turns babysitting the fairies while still getting their work done. If all of those doing human drudgework were able to move to the research team they might make headway in the next few decades.

It helped a little that they had stolen all of the research left behind at the Mayhew castle when they attacked. There weren't many of them focused on the properties of blood magic because of their small numbers but what they did manage to find was useful.

Dorian wanted to live in a world where he didn't have to depend on witches or humans to thrive. If they could just find the right facet of blood magic…

"Ivan!" he called sharply. "Status report!"

Normally his second-in-command showed up the moment he called but not this time. Strange. He should be within the castle right now; there was no reason for a delay.

It was so hard to find reliable help these days. With a sigh, Dorian realized he would need to rely on someone else who knew what was going on around here. Most of the intelligence agents were out right now. He needed to talk to someone who wasn't currently guarding the sleeping fairies.

He called for Daciana and she answered immediately. "What is it, Lord Dorian?"

Finally. "Where is Ivan? I need to speak to him."

A small frown crossed her normally blank face. "I have not seen him tonight. Yesterday he told me that three of our agents did not return over the past two days. He may be investigating the cause at the moment."

Something was off here. Dorian's agents were like a well-oiled machine; they never got delayed. Was it possible that someone was monitoring them now preventing them from nearing the castle? Or worse?

The Cromwells had no enemies to speak of unless you counted a lone worthless vampire that should have died alongside his kin. Ash might be fast but he wouldn't pose a threat to multiple agents.

Unless he had help. That didn't seem possible considering he had no allies to speak of and had left his castle without a single cent to his name. No one was altruistic enough to take on a suicide mission for a stranger. Money would have to be involved.

Dorian's eyes narrowed. Perhaps the fairy had not been honest with him about the extent of her powers. If Ash did tell her what he did to the Mayhew coven she may hold a grudge beyond that of losing her aunt and uncle.

Why would she care though? That would imply a much closer relationship than she let on.

He didn't like this. He couldn't be positive of anything right now…they would have to send out a stealth agent who could find out if there truly were any enemies staking out the woods before he confronted Ruby.

Magical contracts were binding; he couldn't confront her without cause and even then he would have to tread carefully so the magic didn't backfire on him. It stipulated that he had to let her leave without any physical harm coming to her or the baby fairy but there were more ways than that to torture a fae.