“You mean, like these?”
I smile. My fangs slide down, their sharpened points digging into my lip.
CRASH.
Mike falls off his chair. He hits the floor hard, crying out as his tailbone crunches on the tiles. He backs away from me, sobbing loudly. “You—”
“Yes.” I stand. There is nothing more I can do here that Arabella hasn’t already achieved. “I trust you’ll think about what I’ve said. I’m watching you, Mike. And so is Arabella. Have a pleasant evening. I’ll put the kettle on for you. I think you could do with a calming cup of tea.”
I flick on the gas hob on my way out. As I step into Dora’s fragrant garden, a tall, dark shape emerges from behind an old oak tree.
“You didn’t need to do that.” Arabella plucks the knife from my hand and admires the silver inlay along the blade.
“I did. It may surprise you to learn that I’ve come to care about the Nevermore Coven as much as you do. I don’t like to see my friends hurt.”
“Funny, it’s never bothered you in the past.” She twirls the knife in her long fingers. “I already took care of Mike. And I didn’t need a blade to do it.”
“What did you do?” I chuckle. “He’s terrified.”
Arabella smiles, her fangs sliding down. They’re long and curved and elegant, like everything else about her. I grow hard at the sight of them. “Keep annoying me, Gideon Blake, and you’ll find out.”
“Can I ask you one thing?” I shift position, hiding my crotch behind a planter of geraniums so she can’t see what her presence has done to me. “Why areyouhere? I thought Arabella Lestrange was only out for herself.”
She blinks.
I press my advantage. “You send a scary fellow to cut my head off—”
“I did no such thing.”
“—and then disappear from Paris, the only remnant of you a torn scrap of fabric in a burning theatre. And then you show up a hundred and fifty years later, a vampire with a successful finance business, only no one knows a thing about you after you left the City of Light. You have no court affiliation. And you’re the same Arabella you were back then. Aloof. Distant. Independent. Except that you’re not. Winnie says that you never miss a Nevermore Coven meeting. You agree to dance in Beth’s pole studio opening, even though you think it’s silly. Even though it risks exposing you. And tonight you show up here to terrify Mike so that he’ll treat Dora better.”
She huffs. “You’ve been pestering Alaric and Winnie for information about me.”
“Well… yes. But only because I’m curious. I ask again, why are you here tonight?”
Arabella reaches down and uses my knife to slice off the largest geranium from the pot. She smirks as she crushes it in her fingers, while I try to force my body to behave and my not-inconsiderable appendage to stay hidden behind the remaining flowers.
“The problem with curiosity is that some people don’t realise that they’re the cat,” she simpers.
“Fine. But I get to ask another question.” Something brilliant has occurred to me.
Why didn’t I think of this sooner?
“You are a masochist.” The knife flashes in the moonlight.
“Maybe I’m just desperate.” I close my eyes. “I need your expertise. As you may have seen on Sepulchrr, Sanctus Estate just lost our biggest investor. I need to raise money, fast, or we’ll have to stop construction.”
“What do you need me for? In case you’ve forgotten, you stole the one thing I owned of great value, and you’re certainly not getting your mitts on my art collection.”
There it is, that upward tick of her eyebrow. Sheisinterested.
Arabella believes in Sanctus. If she didn’t, she never would have bought a house.
“I wouldn’t dare.” I hold up my hands in mock surrender. “Lots of our members paid for their homes with items. Antiques. Rare coins. Bags of gold. One of them gave me an unused first-class ticket for theTitanic. I let them do it because it’s the only way some of them can afford to buy in. I could afford it while I had Hamish Aeturnus’s money, but—”
“Oh, Gideon.” She clicks her tongue in disdain. “So you have a room full of useless vampire crap you want me to turn into fast cash?”
“Got it in one. I’ll make it worth your while.”
