Gleefully, Dryden sat up and leaned toward Zack. He motioned for Zack to come closer. “Why don’t you tell me why you froze in that little video, and I’ll tell you why you don’t have to worry about the pest?”
Mara put her hand on Dryden’s chest and pushed him back against the couch. “He’s not allowed to make any deals. Our mistress has forbidden him from doing so.”
“That’s like telling a kitten not to scratch the furniture,” Dryden pouted. “Deals are what Ido.”
“I thought that was a demon thing,” Kit said.
“They took it from us!” Dryden declared.
“And demons will say the fey took it from them,” Mara replied. “Look, don’t worry about Vincent, and don’t listen to Dryden. Vincent’s desperate, that’s all. I didn’t sit down here to gossip about the little things. I was hoping Zack and I might discuss what our masters are considering for upcoming events.”
“Like hosting?” Zack asked.
Mara motioned dismissively. “Your master won’t be hosting anything for a while. However, my mistress would hate if his outfits clashed with her ensemble, particularly for the Winter’s Grand Ball.”
“That’s almost two months away,” Zack said.
“We’ve been planning since New Year’s for it,” Mara replied. “Mistress hasn’t hosted it for seven years, and she’s thrilled to have it at the Chateau. Everything must beperfect.”
Great. I’m stuck out here talking wardrobe, and Roger’s probably planning world domination with his fellow vampires.Zack pressed his lips into a smile because he couldn’t let the others see how badly he wanted to bolt from the room. “Of course. Why don’t you tell me what your mistress has in mind?”
“For starters, she has plans for these amazing ice statues.” Mara grinned broadly. “I can’twaitto see the mages work their magic.”
CHAPTER 21
Candide’s private chambers inside the Chateau were exactly the sort of rooms Roger had envisioned for her. They were reminiscent of their original lavish house in Chicago. They’d shared a home for a short while—less than a decade—when they were settling into their new city. This room was much like their living room had been.
Most of the furniture had likely been in it. A good portion of it was in the style of the early twentieth century and had the sort of well-cared-for appearance that was hard to replicate. A deep red rug covered the hardwood floor from corner to corner, and Roger recognized it as the one that they’d had. It’d been in his penthouse before his coma.
The walls were bare except for the paintings. Each was of a different locale that Candide had once called home: a stately manor in the French countryside, a Parisian house of the early 1700s, a London home in the mid-1700s, a Brooklyn townhome, and the three different places she’d had in Chicago. Roger knew every building.
Candide sat on a chaise. She wore a stunning gown that was tight through the bodice and spread into a wide skirt. She lounged as if she didn’t have a care in the world, only movinga hand to beckon Ezra to come closer to her. After Ezra knelt on the floor beside her, she lazily carded her fingers through his hair.
And for once, Ezra seemed at peace. Roger hadn’t seen him so relaxed in … well, over a century at least.
Upon the room’s singular love seat was Lucille and Dempsey, two of Candide’s sirelings. Lucille could have been Candide’s younger sister in life. She was fair-skinned and blond. Her teenage appearance had long been underestimated. Other vampires assumed that because she looked like a sixteen-year-old, she must have the mind of one. As the eras changed, ignorant vampires began to assume she was less and less mature like the modern mortal teens they encountered. They failed to see that behind Lucille’s pale sea-green eyes was a mind as devious and calculating as Candide’s. After all, she was the first vampire Candide had ever made and was among the ten oldest in the coven.
Dempsey was the second-youngest vampire in the room, older only than Takashi. Not long after arriving in Chicago, Candide had fallen in love with the musician. Dempsey was skilled with a violin and flute and, since he’d been turned, had studied various instruments and musical styles the way Takashi studied languages and Roger collected art. His pale blue suit was a striking contrast to his deep brown skin. He appeared relaxed, but he had a wariness in his dark brown eyes. When Roger met his gaze, Dempsey flitted his attention to the final vampire in the room.
Across the room from Candide was Dmitri. He wore a black suit and a stark white dress shirt. His dark hair had the slightest curl at the ends, and his sharp features threatened to slice through Roger’s memory and drag his heart out onto the floor for all to see.
Perhaps falling in love again had opened the wounds of broken loves. Roger slid his hands into his pockets and kept the slightest grin on his lips. A leader wouldn’t show subordinates any sign of weakness.
“You called, we’ve come, mon cher,” Candide said.
“To be fair, I texted you and Dmitri,” Roger said amicably. “You didn’t mention you already had company.”
“She invited them.” Dmitri gestured with his chin at Lucille and Dempsey. “Though you aren’t above bringing children into this mess yourself.”
“What mess would that be?” Roger asked.
“Don’t be boring or dense,” Candide said with a sigh. “I had other plans tonight.”
“As did I. I was planning to sink into a warm bath and listen to my new vinyls,” Lucille complained with a pout. “They’ve been stacking up while I was away. Taylor’s set to release another one soon, and I haven’t listened to her latest rerecord yet.”
Or perhaps she does have things in common with the modern youth because I’ll have to ask Zack what that meant. Roger tried to observe Dmitri and the others the way that Zack might. A tension was threaded through the room, creating an invisible wall around Roger and the others. Each vampire was holding themselves perfectly still apart from Candide running her fingers through Ezra’s hair. They were all old enough to have dropped the habit of breathing to keep up a pretense of mortality.
Out of all the beings in the world, they were the few that might understand Roger’s inner agony intimately. They had been bearing the weight of the same monsters in their lives night after night. But had Dmitri ever revealed to them the terrible magic that Anton performed? Did they know what had happened to many of the vampires they’d once called friends? Lovers? Did they give a damn? A conscience wasn’t required tobe a vampire. In the GLC, the damn thing could lead to one’s demise.
