I side-eye Claude, unsure what to make of his sudden interest.
“I thought he hardly ever emerged from his estate.”
Amelia smiles. “Slightlymore often, these days.”
“Could you introduce us, perhaps?” he asks.
“Oh, um, sure? I don’t see why not. It looks like he’s having a terrible time over there right now, so I was looking for an excuse to pull him away…”
Claude pulls free from me and offers his arm. “Happy to be of service.”
As she leads Claude away, I hear Amelia saying, “If he seems like he hates you, don’t worry, that’s just how his face is most of the time.”
She returns a couple of minutes later, sans Claude.
“Sebastian probably isn’t thrilled about me setting him up on a playdate like that,” she says, chuckling. “But truth be told, I wanted an excuse to talk to you alone. Can we sit?”
I blink, taken aback. “Sure.” We sit at a table tucked away in the corner, away from the other conversations. “You wanted to talk to me? Why?”
“Well…” She hesitates. “Not to be weird, but I’ve heard about your, um, situation. I wanted to see if you were okay, and if there was anything I could do to help.”
“My situation,” I repeat, confused. Does she know about the problem with the contract, somehow? But how could she possibly help with that?
“Yeah,” she says. “I mean, I can’t imagine it’s easy being with an artist like Claude, and all that pressure to be his muse…”
“Oh. Right.” In light of everything that’s happened, I had almost forgotten about that particular aspect of our relationship. “It is difficult, yes. I never really wanted a public-facing situation, so…”
“Right,” she says, nodding. “Yeah. I’m sure. And I’m sure you don’t want to be seen asjusta muse, either. You probably want to be more than that to him.”
“Mm-hmm.” Something about that phrasing twinges something in my memory. I shift in my seat, taking a closer look at her. “Wait a second,” I say slowly. “You’re… are you…?”
She stares at me, wide-eyed. “What?”
I lean in, lowering my voice. “Anonymous Life of a Valentine, huh?”
“What! I’m… not… shit.” She sighs, shoulders slumping. “I’m really bad at this whole anonymity thing. Sorry if it was weird to approach you like this, I just… I know what it’s like to feel alone as a valentine. I wanted to help.”
“No, I’m glad you did.” I smile. “Seriously. Though I’m not sure there’s anything you could do for me. Things have gotten complicated since I wrote to you.”
“Complicated how?”
I take a deep breath. “Well…”
* * *
When I’m done explaining it all, about the contract and the court and Claude’s sire, I lean back in my chair and let out a long breath. It feels like a weight off my chest, but saying it all aloud—to Amelia’s gasps and sympathetic murmurs—also makes me realize just how crazy this is.
“It feels like I’m caught in this tangled web,” I say. “And I can’t evenseeit all, let alone know how to escape it. And I can’t tell anyone in my life, because I don’t want them freaking out. My old roommates would probably drag me out of Claude’s house in the middle of the night if they thought I was in danger.”
“Do you feel like you’re in danger?” Amelia asks.
After a moment, I shake my head. “Not really. But Claude is, and I don’t want to leave him to deal with it alone.”
Amelia nods. “Right.” She looks off into the distance, nibbling her thumbnail. I follow her gaze to see Sebastian and Claude still embroiled in conversation. Claude is having a conversation, at least, his slender hands gesticulating wildly as he speaks, while Sebastian listens with a furrowed brow.
“I’m not sure how much I can help,” Amelia says, drawing my attention back to her. “But I can ask Sebastian. He’s in a different court, obviously, but maybe he knows something that could help.”
“I wonder if that’s why Claude wanted to talk to him in the first place,” I murmur, still watching them. They make an odd duo, and I can’t imagine what else they might be discussing. But as Amelia pointed out, Sebastian is in Celeste; how could he do anything about a situation with Vulpe? He probably doesn’t want to touch the political issues of another court with a ten-foot pole.
