Page 25

Chapter 7

“Devising more ways to poison Alessandra against me?”

Kenton had heard Lawrence coming, of course. He’d heard him walking around the house. The ground floor patio behind his temporary home felt too small for the two of them. For such a large home, the three-story Italianate style villa had very little outdoor space.

Two days had passed since his “date” with Alessandra. He and Lawrence had nearly come to blows, both knowing their disagreement would bear nothing but further resentment and a determination to do what each thought was necessary.

“Gin and tonic? How evolved you’ve become.”

Stretching his legs out in front of him, Kenton watched as Lawrence sat across from him. Apparently accustomed to taking care of guests, his maid appeared at the door.

“Would Mr. Derrickson care for a drink?”

“Yes, please,” Lawrence said, then grinned at her and added, “I would be grateful for whatever Mr. Morley is having. Thank you, Mary.”

Kenton did not show his annoyance, either over how comfortable Lawrence had made himself or the fact that he knew Mary’s name. Lawrence undoubtedly knew as much as he did about Stone Haven and its inhabitants. When he’d told Alessandra the man was intelligent, it had not been a lie.

“There was a time you’d drink nothing but sloe gin even if you had to pick the berries yourself.”

“There was a time when I did not wish to rip your head from your body.” He pursed his lips. “In fact, no, I am mistaken. There was not.”

As was his fashion, Lawrence simply grinned. A smile that had been the undoing of more than one human. And vampire. Confuse his good nature with weakness and pay the price. Kenton had learned that lesson long ago.

“Ahh, thank you, Mary,” Lawrence said, taking the drink from her. He then sat back as if making himself at home.

“A lovely little garden you have here. Mary is quite competent, I’m sure, but unless you wish to see those Japanese plums die, I would rehire some of the staff you let go after taking residence. The gardener, at least.”

He didn’t flinch. “A reference, I assume, to Camaret-sur-Mer, when Laria tore my flowering heather to shreds in a fit of rage?” He looked down into his drink. “Where is your lovely sister these days?”

His own siblings were far from here, in their homeland, or were, at least when he’d left them. Most importantly, neither brother seemed to be aware of Alessandra—yet.

“I believe she’s with my brothers. Thank you for asking.”

Lawrence’s undertone of pure hatred began to grate.

“What do you want, Lawrence?”

“Just to ask what you hoped to gain by telling Alessandra such tall tales? I’m surprised she has not turned us both into local law enforcement.”

I’m not. Though I am surprised you waited this long to badger me about this.

He’d taken a calculated risk that night. Given how impossible Lawrence had made his task, he’d decided the only way he could get information out of Alessandra was if he shared a partial truth with her. Only now, she understandably wanted nothing to do with either of them. He may have to end this much sooner than he would like.

“What would you have me do? Have her cower in fear every time I’m near?”

“Instead, you helped bring about the very thing you feared. Her ‘abilities,’ as you call them, would most certainly have lain dormant if you hadn’t come here threatening her.”

Kenton rolled his eyes. “A tired old argument. And if she’d come into contact with another vampire? What then?”

“Perhaps nothing. The likelihood of her becoming a hunter—”

“Doesn’t matter. The possibility is still there.”

“But why not wait to find out before killing an innocent?”

“Innocent,” he spat. “And this is where we will always disagree.”

He thought back to the other day at The Witch’s Brew. “She knew of my presence in the coffee shop. I could see it, and you likely did as well.”