“Király!”
I turn to see Nandór Mészáros, head of the dragon mafia from Miskolc, heading in my direction.
The scaly hothead is the last creature I want to deal with tonight, but he’s been mooting some sort of alliance for a while, and I can’t avoid him any longer.
“Mészáros.” I dip my head briefly, but he reaches out and grasps my hand in his burning hot one.
“Impressive party,” he says, snatching a platter of canapés from a passing waitress. “All your doing, I presume?”
“This is my consort, Lucy,” I say motioning to Lucy with some reluctance because the fact he hasn’t paid her any attention hasn’t set my fangs aching, but now, of course, they are. “She is from England and has little Hungarian.”
Nandór licks his clawed fingers and holds his hand out to Lucy.
“Pleased to meet you, Lucy,” he says in perfect English which is as much a surprise to me as to Lucy, I expect. “I am Nandór Mészáros, head of the Tüzvihar clan.”
He shifts out his wings, smacking a couple of passing vampires in the process. They hiss at him, and I see that he’s just about to flame.
“Nandór.” I get the feral creature’s attention. “Some of my progeny have mentioned you wish to discuss some business?”
“That’s right.” He finishes up the canapés and slaps the empty tray back in the hands of a waiter. “I am only in town for a few days. We should talk,” he says.
“I agree.” I spot Attila across the room, and he seems agitated. “But later. Contact my office, and they can arrange it.”
Nandór shrugs his huge shoulders, his wings going up too as another tray of food passes him by and he hurries after it.
Thankfully, no one else approaches as I steer Lucy through the crowd to where Attila is waiting.
“Boss, we have a problem,” he says. “He has been spotted.”
“What’s going on?” Lucy asks me.
“It’s Damek,” I say quietly. “It seems he has not stuck to our agreement as he should have.”
“Will wonders never cease,” she says with a downturn of her mouth. “A vampire who can’t keep his word.”
“My apologies, mistress,” Attila says as we reach him. “I didn’t want to interrupt your evening.”
I growl at my second in command, and he sensibly keeps his eyes averted from Lucy.
“Is my consort in danger?”
“He has been seen in Szentendre, but I have not had word he has travelled any further into the city,” Attila says.
“I thought you said he’d gone to…Eger, to terrorize the population there.” Lucy sighs. “You should have just let me go stake him.” She huffs.
Attila flinches.
“Sorry,” she says to him. “I didn’t mean to bring up a difficult subject.”
I snarl at my second, making him back off. “Go and find out exactly what’s happening,” I say. “Report back to me.”
“Here?” Attila asks, looking at the crowd.
I lift my lip. I’d much rather be in my nest, where I know every nook and cranny, than out in the open, but there’s no choice.
“Here,” I say, taking Lucy’s hand. “But as soon as you know anything, we need to leave. The last thing I want is Damek putting in an appearance.”
“Why?” she asks me, a picture of innocence.
