Stephan eyed him curiously. Raoul’s tone was matter-of-fact. “She’s your real aunt?”
“I have that tremendous bad luck.” Raoul held his glass up to the light and examined it with one narrowed eye. “She’s also a great supporter of the library. Some of those old books are quite expensive.”
“Well, what does she want with me?” Why was the man being so open? They were hardly friends. Perhaps whatever he had heard from the Dawning representatives at the restaurant had shaken Raoul enough to move him away from Felix’s influence.
“I assume she wants to hear more about the lithu,” said Raoul. “She sees you as a way to get information.”
“Because I’m a big dumb masquerada?”
“It’s like you know her. If it helps, she considers me an effete and useless scholar.”
Not really. “I don’t know anything about Estelle’s deputy. You’re the one who told me it was a big secret.”
Raoul laughed. “I wish I’d know how big. I could’ve made a mint from the bookies. Anyway, people don’t say no to Lady Nadia. It may even be a useful contact for you as an ambassador.”
“What happened to her eyes?”
“People usually don’t ask.”
“Probably because the ‘people’ are all vampires and they already know.”
Raoul raised an eyebrow. “True. Tell me when you ask her for the story so I can get a front-row seat.”
With that he walked away. Stephan stared after him. He was right—Stephan did want to know more about Lady Nadia, and he wanted to know more about what those Dawning traitors had told Raoul. He always had the option of telling Lady Bitch to shove it.
Not very ambassadorial, Stephan. With a heavy sigh he followed Raoul through the crowd.
* * * *
This was going well. Or at least not as bad as it could have been. Wavena’s announcement had overshadowed any doubts people had about Estelle, and although she felt bad for Agata, she was selfishly grateful it decreased the number of passive-aggressive digs she herself had to face.
Estelle bestowed a few more wide smiles as she searched for Stephan. Dammit. The last she’d seen him had been in the western corner of the ballroom and she’d deliberately made her way there. Now he was gone and she was face-to-face with her mother.
“Estelle, my love. Why didn’t you tell us?” Helene fanned herself frantically, the tip of her nose and her ears bright red. “It’s so embarrassing when people ask us, it makes us look like we weren’t even in the know.”
“Hello, Maman,” Estelle said stiffly. There was no point reminding Helene that Estelle hadn’t known herself. The queen’s pithy warning before the ceremony had left much to be desired. “You look lovely in your new dress,” she added dutifully.
“More important, I don’t know where your brother is,” Helene said, her tone peevish. “This is the perfect occasion for him to be looking for a position at court.”
Could her mother not go a single day without making it clear Felix was her primary concern? Not even today? Estelle extracted herself from the conversation without screaming like a child and moved through the middle of the crowd, covering her face with a gracious expression even as tears pricked at her eyes. Stupid. She poked her tongue into her fang and welcomed the brief pain that dried her tears.
A quick look confirmed she had connected with every person in her area, which meant she had done her job and could now enjoy herself.
Yeah, right. Today was only the first part of the ceremony. Tomorrow, she would take Agata to see the Ancients. Even the thought of having to be in their presence was enough to make ants crawl up her spine.
She looked over to the right and saw Agata working her part of the crowd. She was primed to feel sorry for Agata—vampires could be real bitches when they wanted—but Agata had the situation well under control. Although the vampires regarded Agata with either outright horror or sneering indifference, they weren’t mocking when she moved away. What was she doing?
No matter how Estelle personally felt about working with a lithu—and she had a lot of feelings she needed to process—Agata was the seneschal minor and she would be treated with the respect due to her. Estelle had to find out what was going on. It took a few minutes for her to work her way through the crowd. Before she made it to Agata’s side, one of her friends pulled her over, eyes wide. “Did you hear what she said to me?” she whispered. “She told me she was here to keep us in line.”
“You must have misheard,” soothed Estelle. “It’s loud in here.”
The vampire snorted. “Not that loud. Do you think she means war? You know what the lithu are like. Evil.”
“I don’t think—”
“Did you see she’s in the light? Everyone knows lithu can’t stand light. Maybe she’s not one after all.” The woman seemed faintly cheered.
Estelle shook herself loose and the queen appeared a second later. Agata didn’t even bother to acknowledge the two of them and continued on her path.
“Your majesty.” Estelle wasn’t usually that formal with Wavena but she was…yes. Hurt. She should have been told.
Wavena touched her shoulder. “Tomorrow morning we’ll talk.”
Estelle nodded. With so many ears around, this was no time to discuss what the hell her queen had been thinking. They both turned to where more dumbfounded vampires had been left with mouths agape in Agata’s wake.
“I’ve got this,” Wavena murmured. “Go save our masquerada ambassador from Lady Nadia.”
Jesus. Quite the celebration night this was turning out to be.
Estelle had seen Lady Nadia during the ceremony, her wizened face malicious. Despite the respect she garnered because of her old age and the horrible experiences she had lived through, Estelle considered Nadia vile. She hid her nastiness under the guise of an honest old woman wedded to tradition, but she hated everyone who was not a vampire and despised those vampires not in her clan. She merely disliked those not directly related to her. That she had even shown up to the ceremony was surprising, and Estelle assumed it was because she wanted to put a damper on the proceedings by her spiteful sotto voce commentary.
She caught sight of Stephan through the crowd, following Raoul. The drinks flowed heavily now, and a few of the vampires were flushed and teetering on their high heels. The noise in the room echoed and Estelle wished she could cover her ears with her hands. That, however, was not the action of a strong and controlled seneschal.
Fake it until you make it. She pasted on a regal smile.
“Estelle, how good of you to join us,” said Raoul when she approached them. Stephan cast her a pained glance from his position beside Lady Nadia.
“What was Wavena thinking?” demanded Nadia. “A lithu. They’re dirty. Conniving. How can you trust them? They’re almost as bad as the masquerada.”
Stephan sighed and Estelle realized this was not the first time he’d heard this today.
“You have big shoes to fill, girl,” added Lady Nadia. “Cressida’s loss was a blow.”
“I think Agata will make an excellent deputy,” Estelle said calmly, ignoring Nadia’s comment. “She’s intelligent and that’s what we need right now.”
“Intelligent?” Raoul said. “How can you tell? You’ve hardly spoken to her.”
“I trust the queen,” said Estelle. She left it at that and it was enough. Raoul clamped his lips together and glanced worriedly at Lady Nadia. Estelle wasn’t surprised. Lady Nadia might be old, she demanded respect, but she was still subordinate to Wavena.
“I’m tired,” said Lady Nadia abruptly. She’d understood the rebuke. “Raoul, you will take me home now.” With that she swept away without another glance, leaving Raoul to chase after her.
“I thought the old woman was blind,” said Stephan.
“She is.” Estelle started to yawn then snapped her jaw shut and straight
ened her shoulders. She had to be careful about demonstrating any weakness in this crowd. “You can tell because she has no eyes.”
“How does she navigate through the crowd so well?” Stephan asked. “Does she use echolocation? Bats are a vampire thing, right?”
“Funny. She’s very skilled.” Estelle looked over to see that Raoul had caught up to his aunt; Nadia had managed the extended length of the crowded ballroom without pause. Well, Nadia’s extraordinary spatial abilities were a low priority. “How did you get stuck with Nadia?” Estelle asked. “She doesn’t like masquerada.”
“I know,” Stephan said glumly. He grabbed two glasses of wine from a passing waiter and handed one to Estelle. She drank deeply, grateful she had done her duty in greeting the attendees and could indulge in a drink. When she finished it, she grabbed a second one.
“Was she very bad?” Estelle asked. Lady Nadia had no filter at the best of times so she could imagine what the old woman would be like with a captive audience. Of course Stephan would be polite, even if he wasn’t the ambassador.
An ambassador who looked very good dressed up in a tuxedo. A few of the other vampires passed by to get a better look at him, and Estelle did her best to not glare at them. They may be friends, and Stephan wasn’t her property, but she didn’t like the idea of someone picking him up right under her nose.
That was plain rude.
“She was bad,” Stephan said. “I want to know more about her.”
“Anything in particular?”
“The eyes, for one. Raoul wouldn’t tell me.”
Not surprising. “Nadia used to be a soldier. Not the best, but good enough. She was taken prisoner by a group of lithu and they did that to her as revenge.”
He lowered his brow. “That’s terrible.”
“That’s war, and before you get all choked up about Nadia, let me assure you that she would have done the exact same.” Cressida had told her Nadia reveled in delivering pain. “How was Raoul?”
“He was politer than I expected.” Stephan rubbed his chin and Estelle heard the rough texture of his stubble against his fingers.
“Maybe he’s better without Felix around.” Her mother’s complaint came back to her. “By the way, you haven’t seen my brother?”
Stephan shook his head. “Perhaps he wouldn’t want to come to see you take on your new role?”
Maybe, but Felix’s need to be in the center was strong. She frowned. “Felix would give his right arm to be here at court. No matter how he feels about me, an invocation is a once-in-a-lifetime event.”
“Estelle!” Her mother bustled up, face now completely pale. “I was so worried about your brother that I called the house. He’s not there. Oh, ambassador. Hello.”
“Maman, because he’s not in the house doesn’t mean there’s a problem.” Figures her brother would find a way to wreck even her invocation without being here. The man was almost magical that way.
“You don’t understand,” her mother said. “I spoke to Marianne. All his things are there, it’s him. He’s disappeared.”
Chapter 14
Stephan took one look at Estelle’s face and knew she was about to explode. He didn’t blame her. Although arcana had gone missing over the past few months without explanation, he could imagine Estelle’s brother doing it for attention. Nicely played, he thought, seeing Helene’s friends fluttering around with gleefully concerned faces. It managed to take the attention right off Estelle’s triumph. He had a brief moment of wanting to shout at them to put their minds on Estelle, where they belonged.
Instead, he touched Helene’s arm. “We’ll look into it,” he said in his most calming voice. “You leave it to us.”
“I knew you would help us, ambassador.” Helene looked up at him gratefully. “At least you know the duty to family.”
Stephan took Estelle by the elbow to move her away, and then took her outside. The Florida night was humid, but the wind had picked up as if presaging a storm, rustling the palm leaves that lined the formal gardens. He led the way down one of the paths, deeper into the night. There were a few vampires around, most wandering in pairs, and he headed to a place they could speak in solitude.
Once they’d reached a small bench beside a hibiscus shrub, Estelle pulled out her phone. “My heart says he’s being a little ass, but I have to check,” she said quietly.
He understood.
The call to Marianne was short and Estelle mostly listened. Part of the way through, she stood and began to pace, her long black gown whispering around her legs as she moved. A faint light shone from the moon and glinted on the diamonds she wore in her hair.
“I’ll look into it.” A pause. “Yeah, all true. I don’t know, but we have to assume Wavena knows what she’s doing.”
She disconnected the call and stared out into the glowing gardens, illuminated with lanterns, with a grim expression.
“What does Marianne think?”
She motioned him deeper into the woods. “There’s a lit path back here,” she said. “It’s private.”
Thoughts of alligators only briefly passed through Stephan’s mind before he followed. “Marianne?” he repeated.
The light was only bright enough to help walkers pick out the path, so Estelle’s voice came out at him through the darkness. “She thinks he left involuntarily or very quickly. Maman exaggerated. His wallet, phone, and keys are gone.”
“Not his car?”
“No and even stranger, nothing on the security camera. They’ve been tampered with.”
“By Felix?”
Estelle paused. “I want to say yes, because that would make this much easier, but we can’t tell. Part of me can’t believe Felix has the ability to do something that involves some technical expertise. He may be a big shot in business, but he usually leaves the real work to others.”
“How well do you know your brother?” Stephan phrased it as gently as he could but saw her shoulders hunch in.
“Not…very well.”
“We should speak to Raoul. He should know something.”
“Yes.” Her voice wrapped around him; combined with the wine and her closeness, he felt almost dizzy. How could a woman affect him so much that even now, when discussing topics so serious, all he could think about was the softness of her lips?
“You can get your deputy to help,” he said.
“Not you too.”
“Not me too what?”
“Agata.”
He wondered if this prickly Estelle was going to be the new normal. Not that he blamed her—he wouldn’t want her responsibilities, but it would be easier if he didn’t have to pick each word so carefully. “I don’t even know Agata,” he said. “Nor do I know much about the lithu.”
She sighed. “Sorry. I’m being sensitive and it’s not your fault.”
“I assume it’s not common to have a lithu as a deputy?”
“You can say that. I don’t want to say that we’re open enemies, but there’s not a lot to admire about them. They’re violent and amoral.”
“How do you know?”
“Everybody knows that.”
“She wasn’t so monstrous in that reception.” Agata had looked as if she was grimly enduring. He hesitated, wanting Estelle to hear for herself what she said. How many times had he been the lithu in this situation?
It was unreasonable to expect the world to put away its prejudice for long enough to judge a person on their own merits.
He’d didn’t think it was unreasonable to ask it from Estelle.
Estelle sniffed. “We’re raised to fear the lithu. They’re our monsters in the dark.”
Stephan didn’t say anything. Finally, she stopped. “Well?” she snapped.
“Well what?”
“Aren’t you going to give me some platitude about not making assumptions? That Agata was chose
n for a reason and she’s probably a lovely person?”
“Agata wasn’t looking happy herself,” he said. “Have you thought maybe you’re her monster? That she’s alone and surrounded by her own enemies?”
“No, damn it. I haven’t.” Estelle stomped away and then stomped back. “Fuck you for being right, Stephan.”
“Part of the curse of being me.” Selene’s voice again in his head. Don’t push. You planted the seed. Let her find her way.
Estelle tugged on a branch and a heady smell came from the white, pinwheel-shaped flowers. “I’m spending tomorrow with Agata. I hadn’t been looking forward to it.”
“Now?”
She laughed. “Now I feel bad about not looking forward to it.”
“Really?”
“A bit. It’s enough for now.” She sounded thoughtful and a small warmth bloomed in him. “I don’t know anything about her. She’s my deputy. We need to trust each other.”
“Got a plan?”
“Yes.” Estelle paused. “First we have a task to do together.”
“Sounds ominous.”
She ignored that. “Then I’ll think of something.”
“Sounds good.” Her unique way of approaching problems was one of the things he appreciated about her. She’d think of a good plan.
They’d wandered through to a small clearing that held a few chairs collected on a wooden platform and covered with netting. “I wish I’d brought another drink,” Stephan said.
* * * *
Luckily, knowing what kind of night it was going to be, Estelle had planned ahead. She reached under her skirt for the flask she’d hidden in her garter. Stephan’s jaw dropped.
“You’re incredible,” he breathed.
She grinned and unscrewed the top, taking a swig before handing it over. Bourbon gave such a lovely burn going down.
He drank. “It’s warm,” he said.
“It was against my skin. Excuse me for not having thighs of ice.”
Even as the words came out, she was aware they were moving into a dangerous zone.
“I can’t do this, Estelle.”
Masked Longing Page 10