Maxwell straightened, more attentive now. “Who told you this?”
“A servant.” I shrugged. “This was before I knew he would be a guest tonight.”
“Well, as you’ve likely gleaned from tonight’s dinner, Lord Boulliard is a renowned scholar of the supernatural. His teachings usually revolve around how to keep a town safe from supernatural threats. Hale’s Corner likely put some of his practices to use with the vampire in the neighborhood. I don’t know what Emmett would find interesting about that.”
I frowned. Stuart had said he’d visited here often before the duke became ill. Was that merely due to the duke’s interest in the occult? “Did Hale’s Corner have a problem with supernatural beings?” Was that why hunters had organized around here?
Maxwell waved my concern away, although he looked uncomfortable with my line of questioning. “Oh, no. Not since the incident at Gramercy House decades back. The town is too prepared for another such fiasco now. I’m frankly surprised the vampire in the neighborhood hasn’t been destroyed yet, but it’s probably moved on.”
“Prepared?” I echoed, shaking my head. “What do—”
“Young man.”
I turned to find Lady Luna standing before me.
“I’ll see you in the game room,” Maxwell told me, patting my shoulder and making a hasty retreat.
I nodded before raising an eyebrow to the woman. “What can I do for you?”
She reached out and grasped my hand. “Your aura is utterly fascin …” She cocked her head, frowning at me, before dropping my hand like it had burned her. She looked up into my eyes, surprised. “Your parents’ death wasn’t an accident.”
I blinked, then swallowed hard, unable to tear my eyes from her. “I …” I didn’t know what to say in response.
“You had a sister.”
I continued to stare at her as she frowned, as if trying to puzzle me out. “Death is all around you,” she whispered. “He is drawn to you like a scavenger, living off scraps. He hungers for more, he thirsts for …” She shook her head, putting a hand to her brow. “I … apologize. I must be tired.”
“It’s quite alright,” I said quickly as Flora breezed over. “Thank you for … tonight.”
Lady Luna listened to Flora gush beside her as I made to leave and join Ambrose and Maxwell in the game room. As I slipped out the door, I glanced back to find the medium staring after me, concern etched on her brow. Or perhaps she’d been haunted by the souls of all the people I’d destroyed throughout the years, their ghosts crowding in to watch me fall from grace. They must have been joyously celebrating my circumstances, witness to the once-proud vampire now bumbling through life, vying for the hand of a mortal man, desperate for the power I’d lost. I must have seemed pathetic. I imagined them jeering me from all sides, cursing my name, and hoping for me to fail at my quest so that I would join them after a painful, miserable human death.
I shuddered, imagining them weighing me down, their hands pulling at me so that I could barely move beneath their crushing bodies.
I stumbled out of the room with a gasp, feeling as if those invisible eyes were all around me, and I wondered if the psychic had perhaps summoned them from the other side. Or if my conscience was just growing heavier with each day I passed as a mortal man.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Ileaned against the shut door of the dining room for a minute, calming myself. I needed to get to the bottom of what I’d been speaking about with Maxwell before Lady Luna had interrupted. Why was Emmett so interested in this occult scholar? Lord Boulliard must have been involved with the robed men who’d been after me when I’d been a vampire. Had Emmett stumbled upon knowledge that had made him a threat to them? Had he overheard something in that dining room? If so, it was knowledge that Flora was also privy to.
I took a step toward the game room, but hesitated as my eyes fell on the closet with the spy post behind it. Perhaps Emmett had left some clue behind. Ensuring no one was around, I threw open the closet, my gaze alighting on an oil lamp and flint that I quickly made use of. I found the stone that triggered the back panel to slide aside and stepped into the cramped room beyond. Now that I had a light, I could see it was a perfectly ordinary space. It was dirty, with cobwebs thick in the corners, but aside from the peepholes, nothing stood out to me. I didn’t know what I’d expected—perhaps a hidden message or a dropped paper. I would have to leave disappointed.
I took a moment to align my eyes with the spy holes as voices from beyond drifted to me.
“You say he’s related to Lady Grafton?” Lady Luna asked Flora, face pinched. “Lady Grafton never mentioned him to me before.”
“They seem on very good terms,” Flora shrugged. “She dotes on him like he was her own son, if you ask me.”
“I know that look,” Zachariah said, wagging a finger at Luna. “When I first met him, I thought he was hiding something too. But I think he’s just a naughty boy. Can hardly blame him with a face like that.”
“He is an interesting young man,” Lord Boulliard professed, scratching his beard. “Very exact. He could be an asset to the family, if you want my opinion. You say he fared well at the hunt?”
“Well enough to demonstrate his competence,” Flora confirmed. “He’s performed well at every challenge. In fact, his performance at the ball was nothing short of spectacular.”
I frowned. I didn’t like hearing people scrutinizing me, but I was thankful I could count on Zachariah to defend my good name.
“And anyway,” Flora said, turning back to Lady Luna, “the boys seem very taken with him, and I think he’s a good influence on them. The three never spent much time together before. I think Emmett dominated Maxwell’s attentions. Meanwhile, Ambrose is always so busy.” She shrugged. “They find time to spend with Lucian, however.”
The conversation turned to other matters, and I gathered myself to leave the room before I was caught spying.
