There was, of course, nothing that could be done except watch the place burn to the ground.
Dimitri and Eddersley discovered Lerina’s body the next day. She was burned so badly it was only a remnant of her gown that identified her.
Shortly after that, Dimitri left Vienna and returned to England. Glad for an excuse to leave, sickened by the loss of life and property, disgusted by the actions of his fellow Dracule, and by his own foolish acceptance of Lucifer’s bargain, he decided he was through with it all.
He wanted out.
He wanted his mortal life back.
5
IN WHICH OUR HERO MAKES A REVELATION
Maia awoke with a start.
She hadn’t realized she’d finally fallen asleep, worried as she was about Angelica and Chas, but she must have done, for the world had become dark and silvered blue with moonlight.
Her heart was racing, and her skin was warm and damp. Sitting bolt upright, she reached to touch her shoulder, the side of her neck, her throat. Her pulse pounded furiously as she looked at her reflection in the mirror across the room.
Nothing. There was nothing there.
Nothing and no one.
Her shoulder and neck reflected back at her, pale and almost ghostly, shadowed where her clavicle rose, but unblemished. The long braid of her hair hung over one side, making a darker stripe down over her pale pink night rail. Maia’s eyes looked like wide, dark circles and her mouth a paler one.
It had seemed so real. The burn of his mouth, sliding over her lips, tasting and sucking on them…the heat had been intense, undulating through her so the nightgown clung to her damp skin. His lips moved to her jaw, to her ear, down to the soft, hidden curve of her neck…and then the flash of pleasure-pain when his fangs penetrated her skin and released the blood pulsing in its channel. She remembered the dream, remembered arching, sighing, feeling the shimmering warmth draining from her veins as his hot mouth closed over her skin, and sipped. Licked. Nuzzled.
She touched the side of her neck again, and pulled away, looking at her hand for the blood that wasn’t there. Her fingers brushed over her lips in an echo of the kiss. Her heart still pounded and her chest felt flushed and full. And down low, an insistent throbbing, a hot reminder of the intensity of her dream.
It put her in mind of that shocking interlude with the Knave of Diamonds…so warm and liquid-like. Intense.
Maia didn’t need to throw back her covers; she must have kicked them off during the dream. She dropped her feet to the ground, relieved to feel the relative cool of polished wood beneath them. During the summer, she had no need of a rug to warm the floor. Her night rail fell in a light cloud to just over her feet, loosening and allowing a bit of air to relieve her heated skin.
She couldn’t banish the dream; in fact, Maia realized she clung to the memories that were now sliding into mere wisps. She’d never seen his face, the shadowy man who came to her, whose weight she’d sworn had been pressing her into the mattress only moments before. She still felt his imprint on her body. Heavy. Hot.
But she was clearly alone. Clearly the victim—or perhapsrecipientwas a better term—of a mere dream. A most realistic one, but a dream nevertheless.
And why she was dreaming about phantom vampires visiting in her chamber when she’d received such happy news today, Maia couldn’t understand. At last she’d gotten word Alexander was coming home and should arrive within a week. Perhaps sooner.
Before she opened the letter from him, she’d been overcome by apprehension. She’d nearly put it aside to open later, at night, when, if the news was bad—if he’d changed his mind or wasn’t coming back—she’d be able to stay in her chamber alone with it for a bit. The last thing she wanted was for Corvindale to see her humiliation or grief.
She’d held it, looked at the crinkled envelope, folded and a bit dusty and stained from its long journey, and considered how she would react if it wasn’t good news. What she would do to hide her pain.
And then Maia had to wonder why she was so worried about it. Alexander had never given her any indication that he didn’t hold her in high esteem. Certainly there’d been the faintest whiff of scandal attached to her after The Incident with Mr. Virgil, but she’d been so careful and had acted the epitome of propriety since. Alexander had come on the scene more than a year later and if he’d heard whisperings about it, the incident hadn’t seemed to bother him.
But if he were to call off the engagement…Maia’s stomach twisted. She’d lost her parents, too, and although this would be nothing like the pain she’d experienced then, it would be devastating. The announcement had already been made. It would be a scandal if her engagement was broken, for whatever reason. A terrible scandal.
When she opened the letter and read his brief note, her fears had ebbed.Ishall be home within the week. At long last.
That made it sound as if he’d missed her, didn’t it?
Just then, she heard a new sound on the moonlit street below. It sounded like a carriage door opening, and Maia rushed to the open window when she heard voices. Had Angelica returned?
She looked down and saw a hooded and cloaked female figure climbing up the front steps as the carriage rumbled off.Please let her be Angelica.Maia didn’t hesitate. She slipped quietly out of her chamber, heedless of her bare feet and flowing nightgown, hurrying silently down the corridor to the stairs. But by the time she got halfway down the angular staircase, pausing on the landing at the second floor, she recognized the voices below.
Not Angelica.
A door closed on the lower level, and she heard the businesslike tread of solid footsteps coming from the corridor where the earl’s study was located. The last person she wanted to encounter was Corvindale, so Maia turned and started to climb back up. Worry and disappointment replaced the momentary surge of hope, but then she heard something that made her pause.
