“I had no idea.” No wonder the vampire population is far less than the human one. Procreating is a huge risk for them.
“But back to you.” She studies me, drumming her fingers on the railing. “Since your arrival, you’ve donated to three vampires exactly three times each. Every single one has offered to buy you outright. They’ve all made me offers. Did you know that?”
Ren did tell me as much, but I shake my head. I want to hear her version of it.
“When I told him you were too valuable to sell, Commander Marcel paid a premium to book a regular spot with you until the end of the year. He’s a handsome vampire. Usually chooses a donor who allows sex or goes topside to enchant a human into getting it for free. You seem to be his catnip, Eloise.”
I shrug. “I told you Cassius said my blood was special.”
“Everald is the very definition of suave and sophisticated. He’s been around a long, long time, Eloise. I’ve never seen him shaken the way he was when he left your room the first time.”
“I wouldn’t know,” I say, playing dumb.
“Even George was a bit flustered. George, who has been in love with me for years, barely remembers to flirt with me after visiting your room.”
“George is in love with you?”
“I feed him myself sometimes for free.” She quirks a smile. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for a kind heart.”
I laugh. “He feeds from the wrist if it makes you feel any better.”
She tips her face toward the light. “Interesting though, every vampire who has visited your room mentions you asking about the palace and the queen. That’s a strange obsession for a new donor. Some would say a deadly one.”
A chill runs through me. Does she suspect my true intentions? How much does she know about Damien?
I brace my hands on the railing, concentrating on the koi while I formulate a lie. “I am obsessed. With all royalty if you must know, even the human variety. It would be a dream to see an actual queen in person.”
Her eyes narrow slightly. She’s not buying it. “Why did you become a donor, Eloise?”
“I told you. Cassius said my blood was special.”
She sniffs. “Yet you decided to come here and not stay with him. He’d have been a fine patron.”
“I wanted to see Night Haven. I’d heard about it and it seemed adventurous.”
She nods once. “I believe that’s a partial truth. But I’m going to have to ask you to stop the bullshit. No one leaves their family and friends topside to live among vampires unless they have a death wish. And absolutely no human with half a brain cell wants an audience with a vampire queen unless they wish for death. So, maybe I need to be more direct about it. Why do you want to die, Eloise?”
What does she want from me? I scrutinize her, her dress so different than the night I first met her. Everything about her screams shrewd and cunning. Cutthroat businesswoman. A woman who understands how to spot a lie.
She knows I am lying and wants the truth.
So I give it to her. “The man I love went missing,” I start. “And I have reason to believe he might be living as a vampire within the palace walls, working for the queen.”
She inhales sharply. “Turned?”
I nod, afraid my voice might betray my lie.
She frowns and looks back toward the creek. “You are too valuable. I won’t sell you to the palace.”
My blood heats with anger. “I never asked you to sell me. I only want access to the palace to find my lover.”
“If you get within sniffing distance of the queen, she’ll demand you. She’ll want to taste you, and once she does, I’ll never have you back.”
I slide my hands into the back pockets of my jeans. “I can pay my debt. I’ll buy my freedom and go myself.”
Her expression morphs into a sneer, and I can almost see her brain calculating the money she’s going to lose if I go. When she speaks again, her voice is low and placating. “I’ll make you a deal, Eloise. I will get you safely into the palace to look for your turned boyfriend if, and only if?—”
“Yes?”
