A threat lay on my lips. I wanted to warn them off from her. However, if I came off too hard, they might rattle out of their selfishness enough to get interested, and I didn’t want that.
So instead I forced a smile that was maybe a little too close to a snarl, but I needn’t bother. None of them were paying any attention to me.
“This is definitely a scheme,” Baldwin declared. “I just can’t tell how. It must be a test or something.”
“We need to contact home,” Auberi whispered frantically to his twin. “Surely he’s launched an attack against us and is using this prattle as a distraction.”
Amée was already frantically typing away on her phone, her expression icy.
“Relax, you three. Nothing besides my vampire slayer could have gotten me to essentially volunteer for the Curia Cloisters.” I let some of my disgust shine through in the tone of my voice. “The atmosphere of that place is entirely toohopefulfor my tastes.”
“Ah—my Second got back to me.” Baldwin stood up and waved his phone at the twins. “Nothing is happening with my Family, so I’m not the target.”
I rolled my eyes. “There is no target. It’s the truth.”
“Sire,” Margarida gave me a pitying smile. “Even I cannot believe such a tall tale.”
I stared at her, mute with outrage.Margarida—the dedicated Dracos softy to humans—didn’t believe me!
Smug laughter filled the room, and I glanced at the door just in time to see Killian—who must have heard Margarida—sag against the doorway as he was apparently laughing too hard to stand upright.
“Hello, Killian,” I flatly said.
“Elder Maledictus,” Killian said when he’d recovered enough to stand up. He inclined his head in respect at me, but his insufferable smile was back on his face as he strode across the room. “We broke traffic laws to get here in time, and I’m so glad we did. I was worried I’d miss the fun. But that—that was perfect.”
“You have to team up with us, brother,” Baldwin declared. “He’s planning something.”
“Welcome home, Little Killi!” Margarida—the only Dracos sibling who dared to use the nickname on Killian as she meant it genuinely—beamed at Killian. “We’re having a good Family bonding time—though our Sire seems very insistent in trying to tell us a silly story.”
“I’ve told you before, Margarida, he is not our sire,” Amée said, her voice as icy as her expression.
Margarida puffed her cheeks in a childish show of irritation, but said nothing more.
“We’ve got confirmation from our staff that our Family is well, so we are not the targets, either,” Auberi announced.
I shifted my gaze from the twins to Killian, who’d chosen to walk around the table and sit next to me. I wasn’t asking for help—I didn’t want his help. I’d save it for when I really needed aid with something connected to Jade. But I was looking to commiserate in the stupidity of his vampire relatives.
“I arrived in time to hear you say you worked for the Cloisters and that you were doing so because of your vampire slayer. Is that what they are so harshly rejecting?” Killian asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Why don’t you try telling them again?” Killian suggested. “I’m sure their reactions will be amusing.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re going to get yours soon, Killian, so act smug while you can. You four, however.” I lowered my tone from the pleasant and long-suffering tone I’d been using to something more serious.
Instantly, the four Dracos siblings—Killian not included—straightened.
Baldwin sat back down in his chair while Margarida gripped her now lukewarm mug of hot cocoa and blood, and Auberi and Amée inched closer, stopping just behind Baldwin’s and Margarida’s chairs.
“As I will be occupied until further notice, I want you out socializing,” I said.
Baldwin’s jaw dropped. “Huh?”
“You are going to attend vampire socials—of note, no sense sullying the Dracos name with the unimportant,” I said. “While out and about, I want you to find out whatever you can about Gisila and what treasure piece she wants so badly from her sister that she’s willing to attack Tutu’s Crypta & Custodia.”
When the task force teams returned from their routine patrols last night, the naiad sergeant affectionately referred to as Sarge announced that Gisila had paid for her room through the end of December—which almost certainly meant she intended to return to Magiford and was likely using this time to build her own forces.
Auberi scratched his head, ruffling his brilliant blond hair. “Who is Gisila?”
