Shattered Circle by Linda Robertson

being present for the inquiry as to why my commands were not followed—”
    The pager on the desk phone buzzed. Goliath pressed it. “Yes?”
    “The missing shabbubitum just came through the front entrance,” the voice on the other end of the line said quickly.
    Both Goliath and Mero were instantly on their feet. They headed for the door.
    “I must create a binding for her,” Mero said. “Please do not allow her to leave.”
    “I’ll do my best,” Goliath snapped.
    “I was not rebuking you.” Mero stopped with his palms out toward Goliath. “Both females, I’m sure, are equally difficult to contain.”
    Goliath acquiesced with a single nod. “How much time do you need?”
    “This will have to be powerful . . . as much as you can give me.”
    •  •  •
    From the darkness inside the haven, a voice that Liyliy recognized as Goliath’s addressed her. “You’ve returned.”
    It was a simple statement. The slimmest possible acknowledgment. It asked nothing, yet it was full of inquiry. “Was I not supposed to?” She laughed. “Did the witch tell you I was dead?”
    “No.”
    Which question was he answering? she wondered snidely and started forward, not bothering to disguise her limp. “I must see my sisters.”
    She searched the darkness, and forced her one remaining eye to make the owlish transformation. Like this, the depth perception remained inferior, but the larger pupil could open wide and allow her to function better in the dark. They were clustered in small groups, fifteen vampires in all, scattered across the entry.
    For an instant, she felt sick. She felt like crumbling, succumbing to the fear that had been eating at her ever since she glimpsed her new, hideous face. Attack. Give them cause to slaughter me and end this disgusting existence.
    But that notion passed.
    She wanted to see her sisters and repair this damage. She wanted to extract a gruesome revenge upon thewitch. She wanted to see all that Menessos had built and cherished burnt to ash.
    “I am injured.” She clung to a thread of hope that perhaps, with her sisters, the three of them together could reverse some of the damage.
    Still Goliath did not answer. By his thoughtful pose it seemed he was considering her request, but the fact that he did not answer gnawed at her impatience.
    “I have come back. My actions must speak for themselves. Let me see my sisters, that we might try to heal my disfigurement.” She held her breath. It was a risk coming here, but she was betting that they had not anticipated the action, and therefore had not created an alternate means of restraining her. She needed to not linger and give them time to do so. She needed to get to her sisters, heal herself, deliver the phones in secret, and get back out.
    She ground her teeth slightly, then she added, “Please. I beg you. I’ve lost an eye, my arm will not completely change, my leg is twisted—”
    “Very well,” Goliath said. “I will allow you to see your sisters and endeavor a healing. Then we have to discuss the terms of your remaining here. Am I clear?”
    “Yes.” She did not believe he would let her remain here unbound, but she followed him to the elevator as quickly as she was able. She didn’t know if he avoided the stairs out of consideration for her condition, but she was grateful whatever his motive. Upon reaching the lower floor, she was escorted along the hall to a conference room with a large cherry table and dark brown décor. It was mostly leather and wood, with a few accents of deep hunter green.
    She recognized the room. When she had clasped Giovanni’s wrists and licked away the blood from his hands, she had read him. Not a full mind scan like she did with the aid of her sisters, but a gentle search into the recent past. After she’d departed the haven in pursuit of the witch, he’d interrogated her sisters here.
    Moments later, her sisters scurried in and rushed toward her. “I knew you would not forsake us!” Talto