The rest of the day was spent discussing business propositions with Jardin, sparring an hour with Evangeline where she almost ripped out my throat on two different occasions (not that that was anything new), and helping Ramon with a few of his new electronic gadgets.
“Jammers?” I asked as he cackled delightedly over a mound of black plastic and metal sprawled out on his dented worktable.
“Yeah, man.” He slapped a hand on my shoulder. The man didn’t have the strength of a vampire, but it still packed a wallop. “Woo, boy, is Jardin going to love what I can do with these babies!”
As he started to spout words that I could scarcely follow, like signal-to-noise ratio and receiver saturation, I sidled out of the room before he could go full steam and then I’d never be able to escape.
Besides, it was time to pick up Eloise.
I dressed quickly for the evening, the leather outfit hugging my body more intimately than any lover could, and called for my car.
One of the perks of working for Jardin; anything and everything manual was done by one of the numerous staff, and that included manning the dozens of cars parked in the underground parking garage.
Halfway to the Hart’s residence, my phone started buzzing.
It was connected via Bluetooth to the car’s top-of-the-line stereo system, and I pressed the Receive button on the steering wheel.
It was a number I knew well.
I wondered if Jardin had any more advice before I picked up my quarry.
“Yes, sir.”
“Sir? I like the sound of that.”
Evangeline’s husky voice whispered through the speakers.
Goosebumps popped up along my arms, but not in a good way. “Jardin letting you make calls in his office now?”
She gave a throaty chuckle that made my insides quiver.
Again, not in a good way.
“What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, will it?”
Goddamn it.
Ten seconds ago, I was relaxed, ready to show a normal girl how normal vampires, not the stuffy ones her mother knew, liked to party.
Now, I was wound up tighter than a top, already on the defensive despite what little Evangeline had said. “What the hell do you want? Wasn’t almost killing me twice enough for you? Care to have another go?”
I could picture her in my mind, stretched out like a cat on top of Jardin’s massive desk, lying on her back, the old-fashioned phone cord wrapped around her index finger.
“Oh, you.” She laughed again. “You do know how to drive a girl crazy, don’t you?”
I didn’t like her choice of phrase, nor her emphasis on the word girl.
As though she knew all about tonight’s plans…
“Cut the crap,” I snapped. “The hell do you want?”
She sighed. “You can be so square sometimes.” Then her voice changed. More clipped, abrupt. “I heard Jardin gave you the job of bringing Madame Leona’s little infant daughter to task.”
“Yes.”
“What are you going to do? Charm her to rat on her mother?”
“Better than torturing her.”
Evangeline clicked her tongue. “My methods would have been far more effective.”
I shuddered. “Perhaps. Or perhaps it would’ve only further shut her up.”
“That’s because you don’t know the finer points of interrogation, my stupid, naïve friend.”
I didn’t want to spend a single millisecond contemplating exactly what Evangeline wanted to do to a delicate flower like Eloise. “Jardin entrusted this task to me. He trusts me.” I paused for effect. “Or are you calling his judgment into question?”
Not even Evangeline is stupid enough to show anything less than complete obedience when it comes to our master.
Evangeline might be able to make mincemeat out of me, but Jardin could rip her into pieces with both hands tied behind his back.
“Don’t be stupid, of course not. I trust Jardin’s judgment implicitly. As for you…” Her sentence ended on a light-hearted chuckle. “Do try your best with our little princess, won’t you? Otherwise, Jardin might send me.”
My hands tightened on the steering wheel and I fought to stay focused on the road.
“Are you threatening me?”
She giggled. “My dear, you’ll know it when I’m threatening you.”
“I’m not your goddamned dea—”
“Bye then!”
Forever dedicated to getting the last word in, she hung up then, leaving me to hear the buzz tone of a dead connection.
I stabbed at the Receive button, cutting off that incessant, annoying sound.
“Bitch,” I muttered, wishing I had the gall to say it to her face.
But I didn’t, and she knew it.
I fought hard to dispel the ugly emotions Evangeline invoked within me, but Eloise must have sensed that all was not well as I rolled to a stop at her front doors.
Looking like an absolute dream in a lush, dark blue dress that rose a few inches above her shapely knees, she slipped into the low-slung passenger seat of the Audi, a concerned look coming upon her face as she got a good look at mine.
“Is everything okay?” she asked, cocking her head to one side.
I gave her an easy smile, my trademark get-the-panties-off look. “Of course, no problem at all.”
She eyed my outfit and then back to her outfit.
We looked so very different, me in my black clubbing leather and her in a classy ensemble that would not have looked out of place at any posh vampire ball.
Problem was, we weren’t going to any kind of posh vampire ball.
“Um.” She ran a hand down the velvety skirt and laughed somewhat awkwardly.
“Why do I get the feeling that I might be overdressed?”
“Perhaps just a little bit,” I said, and then quickly accelerated away before she could hop back out. “But who cares what other people think? Are you comfortable in that?”
“Of course!”
I smiled. “Then that’s the only thing that matters.”
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going?”
“You seemed to enjoy dancing. I thought we could do something a little less stuffy than the soirees your mother seems so fond of hosting.”
Gently… just gently bring up her mother…
Don’t be too obvious.
I glanced at her as we turned onto the main road headed into glitzy, bright downtown.
She was staring out the window, softly rounded chin resting on her elbow. “I’m not sure if she enjoys hosting those get-togethers. I think it’s more for the sake of reaching out to her customers and acquiring new ones. You know, her work can be pretty cutthroat at times.”
“Oh? How so?”
Good.
This was turning out to be quite fruitful.
Or so I thought.
Unfortunately, by the time we pulled up to The Crimson Room, I learned absolutely diddly squat.
Everything Eloise had told me was either so inconsequential it didn’t matter, or something we already knew.
Normally, this would’ve pissed the living crap out of me.
After all, I’d just wasted a half hour of delicately attempting to pump information, which is a lot harder than most people think.
But for some reason, with Eloise’s exuberant, joyful attitude, it wasn’t as much of a chore as I thought.
Mostly, I enjoyed the canter of her voice, the lilt of her syllables.
I’d die before admitting as much, though.
After tossing the valet my keys, I led Eloise to the front of the line.
“Um,” she whispered as I exchanged a wink with Reynholm, the bouncer of the evening, and he undid the velvet rope to let us pass. “Everyone’s giving us rather nasty looks.”
“Screw ’em.” I guided her into the dark, steamy, crowded interior, stuffed to the brim with dancing, jumping bodies.
The DJ was playing something bass-heavy, the thrumming so deep I coul
d practically feel it in my bones, and as I drew Eloise close to me, I had a moment of misgiving.
Was I going too fast?
Would I push her away?
What if she was into the emotionally cold, proper kind of vampire?
Like that Ferguson Redhead or whatever.
She looked around the large circular dance floor, her eyes round as dinner plates.
“I don’t know if I can do this!” she screamed over the music. “What if I mess up?”
“This isn’t like dancing the waltz or following some kind of step.” I took the opportunity to lean forward and whisper directly into her ear.
Women loved that, the breath of a man on that oh-so-sensitive part of their body.
And Eloise was no different.
She quivered against me, her fingers clenching tightly into my shoulders.
“All you gotta do is let the music dictate how to move,” I continued, letting my hot breath run over her ear and exposed neck.
She shook like a rabbit before a ravenous wolf.
If I let her go, at that very instant, would she be able to stand on her own volition?
The fact that I didn’t give a crap… I kind of liked it.
It’d been a long time since I’d wanted to make a woman melt like Eloise.
And damn it all, if I wasn’t having the time of my life.
Eloise started to sway to the deep bass thrum. She was stiff at first, nervous and unsure of herself. But soon enough, she was just as much of a fevered dancer as the others; her head thrown back in wild abandon, hands up in the air, just as in thrall as everyone else to the music, the DJ spun on his turntable.
I let the music guide my movements too, dancing being one of the few ways, aside from fighting, where I felt like I could completely lose myself and not give a damn what anyone else thought.
But all too soon, the lights were thrown on and the DJ waved goodbye from his podium, the King bidding farewell to his subjects, and everyone filtered out of the club.
It didn’t take long for the valet to get my car, and it was almost three in the morning when I drove Eloise back home.
“Well, that was quite an experience,” she said, laughing giddily as she pushed the straggling hair away from her sweat-sheened forehead.
“Did you enjoy yourself?”
I don’t know why I cared.
It shouldn’t have mattered.
All I had to do was pretend I was infatuated with Madame Leona’s daughter and make her fall so hard for me that she slipped all of her mother’s secrets into my lap.
But this pretending thing… something that had come so easily for me in the last two centuries…
“You know something?” A small smile tweaked her cherry red lips. “When I was a child, I loved fairy tales. Anything, everything to do with fairy tales. And to be honest, I still do.”
In anyone else, her naivety would’ve been teeth-grindingly annoying.
But on her, it was charming.
Jesus.
I found myself returning her smile with an insipid one of my own. “Fairy tales are nice.”
She laughed ruefully. “And absolutely childish, I know. I used to read stories of these handsome, valiant princes who would take princesses to royal balls and tea parties to woo them. I grew up thinking that was normal. And when I saw that’s how my sister’s husband courted her, of course, that only further cemented the idea in my head that this whole going-out thing was supposed to be elegant and beautiful.” She plucked at her still-damp shoulder straps. “And clean. There’s not a lot of sweating in fairy tales. At least, not for the princesses.”
“So what did you think about tonight?”
She was quiet for a moment, chin tilted to the side in a contemplative manner. “It was certainly no fairy tale. But… I think I’m okay with that. Life’s not a fairy tale, or so I’ve put together the past few days.”
She put a hand on my arm. “Tonight was a lot of fun. Thank you for taking me.”
The warmth from her hand seeped through my leather jacket and onto my skin, making the spot tingle.
“Would you do it again?” I asked, genuinely curious as to how she’d respond.
She pushed a hunk of hair from her eyes and giggled. “Of course, but I’d appreciate a warning next time so I can wear something a little more comfortable. My feet are killing me!”
The rest of the drive was relatively quiet, as the night had seemed to tire Eloise and I had to rouse her from her sleep as I braked in front of her home.
She blinked blearily as I undid her seatbelt for her. “Oh my, I’m so sorry I fell asleep. I guess the nightclub wore me out.”
“You should get a good night’s sleep.” I reached forward to open her car door. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
Suddenly, her arms wrapped around my neck, and her lips were on mine.
I didn’t know how to react.
Barely remembered how to breathe.
She tasted warm and like the small cups of liquor they served at the nightclub.
She tasted like life.
Just as suddenly, she let go and was out of the car in a flash, almost closing the door into my face.
With a quick wave goodbye and a wide smile, she was up the front stairs and out of sight as the front doors closed behind her.
After a second or two to compose myself, I started the long drive back home to Jardin’s.
Did you enjoy yourself?
I had asked that of her.
And with the taste of her lips still heavy on my tongue, I found myself smiling.
Yes.
Yes, I did.
Nine
Eloise
As if things could not get better. I woke up the next morning to the sound of knocking on my bedroom door. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and stretched before hurrying to open the door. Jewel gave a quick bow of her head and reached out her arm, an envelope in her grasp. It was a small envelope with a red wax seal on it.
"You've received a letter, Miss Eloise. It's from your sister."
I don't think I've ever grabbed anything that quickly in my life. I snatched the letter and excused Jewel with a hurried thank you. I shut the door behind me and nearly jumped onto my bed, landing on the fluffy pillows. I wanted to rip open the envelope, but at the same time, I wanted to preserve it. So I gently slid my fingers under the flap and opened it without breaking the ornate seal. It must have been the seal of her new husband.
The paper crinkled in my shaking hands and I read:
"Eloise,
I've heard from my husband that you've been making quite the stir in the vampire community. You just couldn't stay in your room, could you? But I guess I admire your courage, and I honestly should have expected it to happen after I left and couldn't watch over you anymore. I hope the world of the balls has exceeded your expectations.
I'm writing you this letter to finally invite you to come to visit me. I live not far from the mansion, so you can come over whenever best suits your schedule. Hopefully, you're not too busy with all of those handsome suitors. You'll find my address at the bottom of this page for you to give to your driver. I await eagerly to see you!
Your Loving Big Sister,
Madge"
I squealed in excitement as I hugged the letter to my chest. It was short and sweet, as Madge seemed to be in everything. But it meant the world to me to hear from her. Growing up in this large, old house, we relied on each other for company and advice. Thankfully, the balls had distracted me from the lack of her presence, but the second I saw her name I missed her sorely.
"Jewel! Jewel! Get the driver ready and notify mother that I will be out of the house this afternoon!"
I threw the letter onto my vanity and rummaged through my closet. I found a floor-length navy blue skirt and a white blouse and put them on in a flurried tangle of fabric. I ran a brush through my hair and decided there was no time to do anything special with it. Madge wouldn't care, anyway. I grabbed a purse to match my en
semble and bolted down the staircase. Jewel was at the bottom of the staircase and I could tell she had been as fast as I was because her cheeks were flushed and she was struggling for breath. I gave her a hug, which was admittedly unusual for us, but my excitement was too much to keep bottled up.
I left her confused in the entryway as I hurried out the door and down to the driveway area. It was a large circle of pavement to accommodate large streams of cars. And if you walked too far past it in a drunken stupor, you'd wind up in the pond. The driver was there holding my door open for me at the car and I thanked him as I took my seat on the cool leather. He went around the opposite side of the car and got into the driver's seat before turning to look back at me.
"Where are we off to today, Miss?" His accent was thick and his beard was white with age. Our driver, Daringly, had been with the family for as long as I could remember and he never quite followed the protocol of how to address the members of the household. But no one ever said anything. He was like the goofy, loving uncle that everyone let get away with everything. I read him the address, and he winked at me. Double-checking my seat belt was securely in place, he sped off onto the busy roadway.
We drove past the downtown area and I peered out my windows at the marvel of it all. It didn't matter how many times I'd seen it, it still left me in awe. Large skyscrapers reached to the skies as man and vampire alike strode down the sidewalks, either to get to work or to visit one of the stores. Our world was an odd blend of modern human inventions and the vampires who wanted to preserve the world from before their loss in the war. You could tell which shops catered to which race and, if you looked closely enough, you could tell which humans were still very much wary of their blood-drinking counterparts as they passed them in the streets. There would be a sideways glance or an attempt to avoid them by taking a detour. In my head, I wondered if maybe it was deserved after how a few of the vampires had behaved around me.
But Arden was different.
I sighed and tried not to resort to being the bubbly schoolgirl type. I could keep calm and collected around him. The butterflies in my stomach could not, however. Luckily, we were soon pulling into the driveway of a mansion that looked similar to my mother's but was double the size. Madge's husband was one of my mother's clients who had expensive tastes and the wallet to back it up. He only purchased when she stole blood from specific regions of the planet, but he paid triple for her troubles. I didn't understand how the taste could be different. Blood is blood, isn't it? But my mother entertained his antics and somewhere along the way Madge was promised to him.
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