Bethisa miracle worker.
Maybe I should have my own standing appointment.
Luminita and Alyra flitter off to speak with Dalton La Rue, leaving me and Eleanor together.
“I’m interested in hearing more about your cause.” I lift my blood cocktail to my lips.
“The courts give us so many rules. They tell us they are for our safety, but are they not really about control? ‘Vampires and humans must never copulate’, except that we know contraception can eliminate the risk of Dhampir. ‘We must never drink from our kin, because of the sacredness of a vampire’s blood’, but we know that drinking from a vampire grants the drinker some of their power, so is thismost sacred lawreally about ensuring no one of us becomes too powerful? And what happens if a vampire chooses not to obey? Your friends Winnie and Alaric are prime examples of flouting our sacred laws,” Eleanor sniffs.
I jump to my friends’ defence. “Winnie and Alaric shouldn’t be punished because the Conclave is too slow to keep up with contraceptive innovations.”
I worry for my friends. At the moment, people are too afraid of Alaric’s mother, the Lady of Agony, to openly condemn theirrelationship, but Alaric’s friendship with Gideon is turning their betrothal into another Sanctus Estate controversy. It would make their lives easier if Winnie agreed to become one of us, but she’s not ready, and Alaric respects that. Even in the Upyr world, consent is sexy as fuck.
And I worry for me, too. Alaric isn’t the only vampire who hasn’t obeyed our laws. Too many women have woken up with bite marks on their necks and an insatiable hunger, bound to the very monster who Kissed them. Lord John Astor made it clear to me that he knew he’d never be punished. If anyone ever found out what I did to him…
“Gideon built Sanctus so we could be safe,” Eleanor continues. “But how many Upyr view that as their licence to act out their darkest, most depraved fantasies? You know all about these horrible husking murders in the village! How can we stop siring abuse when we allow things like that to happen to innocent humans? Or like this!” Eleanor frowns as she indicates a vampire leading one of the servers behind a bush, his hand pressing against her neck.
“The Sanctus staff have all agreed to be Thralls.” My heart pounds in my ears.
She sniffs. “That may be so, but if your employer can Thrall you, isn’t that an abuse of power?”
A fair point.
Eleanor smiles sadly. “I apologise for bringing down the mood with my passions. If you’d like to discuss it further, you can come to our meeting—”
She’s interrupted by a familiar, smooth, deep, annoying voice.
“Arabella,” Gideon breathes as his eyes devour me. I nod, satisfied that my outfit choice has had the desired effect, especially considering he’s wearing a suit that’s an impeccably tailored existential crisis.
“Gideon, just the man I wanted to see. Take a walk with me.” I grab his arm, nod farewell to Eleanor, and lead him away from the crowd. I hiss in his ear. “You have a problem.”
“I do. I think my heart’s stopped.” He places his hand over his chest. “That dress is the reason warning labels were invented.”
“I need you to be serious. Someone is stealing from you.”
He laughs, a curl of golden hair flopping over his face. “That’s absurd. No one woulddare.”
How easily a man with power and notoriety assumes he is safe.
“Oh, they dared.” I struggle to hide the glee in my voice as his face freezes mid-laugh. “That vault of yours has been decimated. Most of those sacks of coins are stuffed with packing peanuts. The chests are empty, although they left behind most of the ugly old furniture. Whoever did this has gone to great pains to only smuggle out small items and leave the vault looking exactly as you left it. If you hadn’t hired me, no one would have ever noticed.”
For a moment, Gideon’s mask of easy confidence collapses, and the full force of his rage burns across his features. He glances around, and I realise that the fear darkening his cobalt eyes isn’t for himself – it’s forthem. For every vampire who trusts him to keep them safe within Sanctus’ walls.
I feel a flicker of unease at what I’m doing, but I stamp it down. I’m not going to destroy Sanctus. I know better than most how needed it is. I’m making certain Gideon Blake doesn’t get a second chance to fuck it up.
Gideon whips out his phone. “I’ll need to brief the security team. Every one of them worked for me when I was Gideon Vega. They know what to do with traitors.”
The unease flickers higher this time. “I’m afraid you have bigger problems than catching the thief. I can sell the furniture and what coins we have left, but that will give you only a fraction of the money you need. You don’t have enough left in the vault to keep Sanctus open.”
Gideon swallows. His phone drops through his fingers and clatters on the cobbles before landing in the stream with aplop.
“I… I…” He swallows again. “Do I have any options?”
Oh, Iamenjoying this. “There’s only one thing that will save Sanctus now. A new investor.”
He shakes his head. “There’s no one else. Not since the Conclave put a target on my back—”
“You have me.”
