Page 104 of Let Sleeping Vampires Lie

“Three,” I said.

The number tasted like iron on my tongue.

Gasps scattered through the seats.

It was not the amount. Many in this room could afford far more. It was the way I said it. Absolute. Uncertain only in how much I might be willing to go beyond it.

Cerise’s gaze flicked down and up, assessing.

Her lips parted. “Four.”

The host looked like a man who had just received a gift from a generous deity.

“Four million,” he echoed.

The pressure in the room thickened.

Con bent his head slightly toward mine. His voice reached me alone. “We can pay.”

“I know,” I murmured. “Can we pay more?”

“Yes,” he said.

I felt, rather than saw, the curl of his mouth.

Cerise tilted her head, studying me with open curiosity. There was recognition there. Not personal. Not yet. But she knew power when she saw it.

“Do you know what you bid for?” she asked lightly, addressing me rather than the host. “Or do you simply enjoy collecting expensive mysteries?”

Her tone held a lilt. Pretty. Poisonous.

I gave her a slow, cool smile. “If I tell you, it will cost more.”

Soft laughter rippled nearby.

The host cleared his throat. “We do not negotiate in riddles. Only currency.”

He turned his attention back to me. “Four million has been offered. Will you answer?”

Cerise’s eyes never left mine.

Behind her, behind the velvet and the lights and the glitter of criminal wealth, Valerian’s unseen presence coiled tighter.

He wanted this piece.

He would not get it.

I lifted my chin.

“Five,” I said.

The number dropped into the silence like a stone into still water.

The ripples reached every corner of the room. Servers paused. Guards shifted. Buyers straightened.

Five million would buy more than relics.

It would buy kingdoms in lesser parts of the world.