Rain drums against the window as if reflecting my mood. After a couple of hours of tossing, turning, and scrolling mindlessly on my phone, I jump at the sound of a knock on the door. I expect Benjamin with news of the offers I received, but instead I open it to find Lissa on the other side, wearing a Cheshire grin.
“What?” I ask, eyeing her. “Why do you look like you’re up to no good?”
She cups a hand around her mouth and whispers, “I don’t think I’m supposed to be telling you, but you have a visitor.”
My heart leaps. I shove it back down. “What kind of visitor?” Probably one of the two offering vampires here to negotiate in person.
“The kind of visitor who wanders in from the rain with a sopping-wet coat and big blue eyes, asking about you.”
Chapter Ten
Iconsider getting dressed and ready but quickly discard the thought. The last thing I want is to look like I was waiting for Claude to arrive… even though a part of me was, if only to get an explanation about why he didn’t offer. So I walk down to the parlor in my pajamas and a messy bun, shooing away Lissa as she tries to follow to eavesdrop.
My heart is pounding as I enter the room. Lissa’s description was more than enough for me to know who to expect, but still, it’s a shock to see the reality of it.
Lord Claude sits at the table, his hands clasped on his lap. Wet curls are plastered to his forehead, and his once-white shirt is now almost entirely see-through as it clings to his pale skin. Every hard line of his lean body is laid out in a way that makes me have to look away before I start blushing. Did he walk through the rain to get here? Surely not. But I can picture him standing in it, staring at the door to Benjamin’s house, rain soaking him to the bone before he lifted one slender hand to knock.
When his pale eyes rise to find mine, I realize that I’m smiling. I tamp it down and drop into a perfectly polite curtsy, despite the fact I’m in sweatpants and slippers. “Lord Claude.”
“Nora,” he murmurs, and pushes wet hair out of his face, running his fingers through it as if suddenly realizing what amess he is. It makes me want to laugh, thinking thathe’sself-conscious when I’m here in my bare face and pajamas. Yet the way his eyes rake over me feels no less intense than it did when I was in a ballgown.
Benjamin looks between us, his expression world-weary and deeply unamused. “I don’t recall sending for you, Nora.”
I blink at him innocently. “I was just coming to ask if there was any update. What’s this about?”
Benjamin shakes his head. It’s obvious from his expression that he doesn’t believe me. “I’m not sure. Lord Claude was just about to explain why he showed up on my doorstep unannounced.” He waves a hand. “You might as well sit, I suppose.”
I cross the room slowly, feeling as though my knees may give out at any moment. My thoughts are a mess as I take a seat beside Benjamin, not daring to sit too close to Claude. “Well, let’s hear it, then.”
“Yes. Well.” Claude glances down at his hands, idly spinning one of the several rings he’s wearing. “I shall be up front. I’m here to make an offer of patronage.”
My heart skips a beat. I try not to let my face betray any of the emotions coursing through me. There’s no reason I should be excited about this, I tell myself. I was very clear with him, with Benjamin, with everyone aboutnotwanting a vampire from the Vulpe Court. And also aboutnotwanting to sign with Claude, specifically. Yet…
“You’re aware there are proper channels for delivering such offers, which do not involve showing up at my house in the middle of the night,” Benjamin says.
“Well, yes, but—”
“And that a written contract is required to formally make an offer,” he continues, as if Claude hadn’t spoken. “Do you have one prepared?”
Claude hesitates. “That’s… No, but—”
“Because someone coming to me in such a way, unannounced and unprepared, might tempt me to think that said person was acting upon a whim rather than careful consideration for what an agreement might mean,” Benjamin says. “Or, worse, that said person has something to hide.”
Benjamin is, as ever, almost aggressively polite. His tone is measured and calm. Yet it’s impossible to miss the bite in his words.
Claude looks just as taken aback as I feel. After a moment of sputtering, he holds up his hands as if in surrender.
“I merely wanted a chance to explain in person.”
“So Lord Ambrose is aware you are making an offer?”
Claude opens his mouth, shuts it, meets Benjamin’s weighted gaze. “That… is beside the point.”
“I’m not certain I believe that, Lord Claude. You may think that being courtless makes me oblivious to the inner workings of court politics, but I am not a fool, and I refuse to allow a valentine under my protection to be dragged unwillingly into a dangerous conflict. So I must ask that you—”
Claude slaps one of his hands down on the table hard enough that it shakes. I jump in my seat. Benjamin goes still halfway through the act of lifting his teacup to his mouth.
Claude shuts his eyes for a moment, jaw working, and then opens them and levels his gaze on Benjamin. For a moment, the two vampires stare at each other down the length of the table. Then Claude says, softly, “Please allow me a chance to explain myself.”
