It was well past noon the morning after they’d retrieved Angelica from the horrible, dirty, scandalous place called Black Maude’s, and Maia was weary of waiting for the earl to drag himself from slumber. She needed to speak tosomeoneabout her sister, about what had happened.
She could hardly fathom it. It was simply inconceivable Angelica had not only been bitten by one of thosevampirs…butthat it wasLord Dewhurstwho had done the deed.
How could that be? How could a member of thetonbe avampir?
There were these creatures—who, impossibly, actuallyexisted—and they were after her and her sister, no one wouldtell her anything of substance, and her brother was missing, and Alexander was coming home, but his letter hadn’t really said anything to make her feel certain that he still loved her…and she felt solonely.
So alone.
Maia swallowed as the prickle of a frustrated tear burned the corner of her eye. She didn’t want to be in charge anymore. She didn’t want to have to handle this—whatever this was—on her own. She didn’t know how. She didn’t understand it.
And she was more than a bit frightened.Vampirsattacking and killing people at a masquerade, and one of them a member of the peerage. And then one of them abducting her sister! According to Angelica, Dewhurst—or Voss, as she’d called the viscount (which was a warning sign in itself)—wasn’t one of the angry, evilvampirswho’d killed three people at the Sterlinghouses’ ball. Through this, Maia realized Angelica had come to care for the man, only to learn that he was not only a rogue, but avampir,as well.
Definitely not someone she ever wanted Angelica to encounter again.
Maia shook her head and swallowed again, blinking hard. She’d had to deal with the death of their parents when she and her sisters were still in short skirts, and to help them get on without Mama and Papa. Chas was so absent that it all fell to her, all the time.
All the time. All of the problems. She’d been in charge for as long as she could remember, and normally shelikedit. Liked managing things, solving problems, taking care of people. It made her feel as if she had some sort of control over her life.
But this…this was simply too confusing for her to handle alone. Too confusing, and toodangerous.
For the first time she could remember, Maia was frightened.
And there was no one else for her to turn to except Corvindale. Much as she hated the thought.
She was not going to show the earl weakness, but shewasgoing to get some answers. Could heknowDewhurst was avampir?Was that why he’d been so coldly furious about Angelica’s disappearance with the viscount?
Incensed at the suspicion he’d kept that information from her, she held on to that emotion and drew in a deep breath. “Corvindale!” she called, knocking firmly on his chamber door.
She waited, and heard nothing from within. But she knew he was there—Greevely, the earl’s valet, had told her. But only after she’d stared him down. That expression of determination and haughtiness was a learned one she’d had to adopt in order to handle their affairs while Chas was gone. It worked without fail.
Except, it seemed, with the earl.
“Corvindale! I must speak with you!” she said, knocking harder and more vehemently. She’d been more than patient, waiting for him to drag his lazy bones from his chamber. “Corvindale!”Her sister’s well-being was at stake, not to mention Maia’s own concerns.
“Go away.” His bellow nearly shook the rafters, but Maia was not to be thwarted. She’d sat up all night, holding her sister so Angelica could sleep without fear. And twice, the poor thing had awakened from nightmares.
Maia drew in a deep breath and turned the doorknob, cracking the door. She wasn’t quite brave enough to look inside, although she could see the room was swathed in darkness. “Corvindale, I must speak with you. It’s nearly two o’clock and I’ve been waiting all morning?—”
“Go away, Miss Woodmore. If you must speak with me, you can wait until this evening.”
Maia gritted her teeth. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t had to roust her brother once or twice or several times in the past. It wasone thing to sleep until noon after a late night at the theater or his club, but when he hadn’t stirred by mid-afternoon, and there were pressing problems to be solved…
She opened the door a bit wider, and the bright spill of light from the day made a long, narrow wedge on the floor and over the foot of a heavy wooden bed. The chamber smelled a bit like tobacco, along with lemon or bergamot and something clean and spicy—possibly from his soap or hair pomade, although she couldn’t be certain if Corvindale even used pomade. His hair never seemed to be shiny or stiff from such an application, and it certainly didn’t stay in place for very long and instead seemed to curl up and around at the edges and his ears.
“Corvindale! It’s imperative that I speak with you. This is a matter that cannot wait, and if you do not come out then I will come in.”
There. That ought to bring him forth. If Maia knew one thing about men, she knew they didn’t like to have their bedchambers invaded by the fairer sex.
Except for their wives and mistresses, she supposed. And for some reason, her face flushed hot. What if he had a woman in there with him? A mental image of tangled sheets and a bare-chested man next to an equally bare woman made her cheeks even hotter.
Did unmarried earls actually bring those sorts of women into their homes? Or did they visit them at outside establishments? Or did he have a regular mistress?
How could a woman even stand to spend any length of time with his rude, controlling self? She supposed while they were engaging in such activities, perhaps he wasn’t talking quite so much. Her cheeks burned hotter.
“I am abed, Miss Woodmore, and have no intention of leaving it. If you insist upon speaking with me at this time, don’t let something as ridiculous as propriety keep you out.”
Well, that made it sound as if he was alone. She drew in a deep breath and inched the door open farther, curling her fingers around the edge as much to keep it in position as to force herself to move forward. “My lord, I must speak with you regarding Angelica.”
