Authors: Melissa Schroeder
“If you do, then what the bloody hell were you doing in the
Smythe’s library with her?” Gray asked.
Irritation crawled down his spine and had him growling at
the duke. Gray may be a peer of the realm, but Nico did not have the patience
to deal with him—not tonight. “I did not plan that. She came into the library
trying to escape Hurst. By the way, where is the viscount?”
“Down in the dungeon,” Gray said.
Nico stopped and looked down at the floor then back up at
Malik. “Gray has a dungeon in his townhouse?”
Malik’s lips twitched. “Not so easy. Gray over there might
be easily led astray, but I am not. What are you doing about the Collingsworth
chit?”
Nico sighed. “I’ll marry her. Even if I had not ruined her
reputation, it goes beyond that. I cannot leave her without protection. She’s a
Carrier.”
Surprise lit Malik’s light green eyes. “I did not know of
it.”
“I looked at father’s list.” Gray shook his head. “There is
no mention of her mother being a Carrier.”
“Bloodlines?” Nico asked.
“That will take a bit more research. I’ve dispatched a
message to my father about it. It is definitely his area of expertise. He might
know who her birth father is, but that means nothing. The Carrier gene runs
through the female line. Her father did not have to be a Born for her to be
one.”
“You say that you had no control with her in the room?’
Malik asked.
Nico frowned. “I would not say that, precisely. There is a
chance that her mother’s bloodline was very pure. Or…her sire might have been a
Born. That would explain a lot.”
“So that is how you are trying to explain your behavior?”
Malik’s voice dripped with sarcasm.
Nico ignored him. They did not have time to fight amongst
themselves. And he was not ready to deal with his behavior. He still didn’t
understand it himself. He definitely could not explain it to his best friend.
“That is certainly why Hurst was after her. She has a strong
pull.”
Again, Malik watched him. “Indeed?”
He nodded. “Have you ever known me to lose my head like
that?”
Malik shook his head. “Never…for obvious reasons.”
He tossed Malik another warning look. He did not want to
talk about the past tonight. There was too much at stake. “I don’t think there
is a need to go into family histories at the moment, do you?”
Malik said nothing.
Nico glanced at Gray, who watched them intensely. “What kind
of state is our prisoner in?”
Gray winced. “Beyond any reason. The man kept shouting about
Lady Cordelia being his. He would not let it go. We poured enough laudanum down
his throat to put out half of London.”
“Keep a lot on hand. We actually might be able to save him
from himself.” Nico glanced at Malik. “Do you agree?”
The cold, shuttered expression in his friend’s eyes was one
he had seen before. Both of them had their demons to deal with…only Malik had
to relive his any time he tried to help a Made vampire through transition. “I
have not seen him, and you know it varies from person to person. If the man was
of strong character, we might be able to save him—if he hasn’t progressed too
far. I need blood, all from Borns.”
Gray stepped in. “I already put out the call. Father will
want to discuss this with you after you are finished. I know that he has never
heard feeding them Born blood helps them through transition.”
Malik nodded. “I need it from a variety of sources. It will
help pull him through and cut off his connection to the Born who made him. We
also need to factor in that there might be others who will object to my
presence and methods.”
Nico shook his head. “You are always exempt from these witch
hunts. They know you fought on our side when the priests came after us.”
“You know the younger generation does not understand,” Malik
said. “I will try to help him, but there will be no promises. I will not kill
him.”
Nico said nothing because he knew Malik was right. There
would be some among the Born vampire families who would always look down on
Malik for being Made, no matter how old he was.
With many Made vampires came trouble. There was always the
occasional Made popping up, but the number that had appeared in the last six
months was alarming. Still, as they always had, the Vampire Alliance did
nothing. They wanted to wait to see if it would just blow over. Samuel
Blackburn thought differently. His father was more than likely right to worry,
especially now that they knew someone had turned a member of the aristocracy.
It was true they’d found nothing concrete yet…but Nico knew something deadly
swirled in their midst.
Malik rose from his position on the sofa. “Where is this
dungeon of yours?”
Gray called in a servant. “Please take this gentleman to see
our guest.”
With a bow to Gray, the young man held the door open for
Malik, but Nico saw the look in his eyes. Disgust. Sadly, many in the Born
bloodlines had an irrational hatred of any Made.
“Now, explain to me why I would not understand about Malik?”
Nico glanced at Gray then wandered over to the window. A
smudge of red filtered through the grime of London. The sun was rising.
“Nico?”
Without turning around he said, “Malik is Made.”
“And?”
Nico faced the young vampire, thinking Gray had been lucky
to have missed the vampire genocide. It had been four hundred years since the
Spanish Inquisition. So many of them had perished…especially their Carriers. It
had almost wiped out all of their kind.
“Many want to kill any Made for fear of their
behavior—thanks to the memories of Vlad the Impaler and his army.”
A look of pure astonishment passed over Gray’s face. “But
Malik is always accepted. The man is a legend. Father speaks of him in such
awe, I will admit I expected him to be a sword-wielding giant.”
Nico chuckled at that. “He saved your uncle’s life.”
Gray nodded. “Yes, along with many others. But I do
understand that there might be a witch hunt…which means we need to discover who
is making vampires before it comes to that.”
“One of the reasons my father sent me down here. The
rest...well, they would prefer not have to deal with another Vlad if they don't
have to. They would rather pretend this is all just rumor. The Quad refused to
send in anyone officially, and let’s not even start with the Alliance. To get a
qualifying vote from all the different factions would be impossible. Pretending
there isn’t a threat is easier than facing death. Especially for Borns who
think they will live forever. But with the viscount...”
“We know better.” Gray blew out a breath. “The problem is
many of them are too old, too set in their ways. Your father is the only
intelligent one on the Ruling Committee. My father said that if needed, he and
mother can return.”
That surprised Nico. As with the rest of their predecessors,
the older generation would “die,” allowing the next Duke of Queensbury to take
over. They usually lived on the continent, away from court. To offer to come
back to support Nico's father on the council meant that the old duke knew just
how grave things were.
“My father would hate for that to happen, but I will let him
know.”
“Father knows the situation is bad.” Gray grimaced. “There
have been a rash of murders near our Scottish estate...similar to the one you
spoke of.”
In that instant, the scene from a fortnight ago came rushing
back in stark clarity. Nico had to close his eyes, but when he did, the image
of the damaged woman, the stench of her blood, appeared. He swallowed the bile
that rose to the top of his throat. He would never forget that image or the
feel of thrusting a stake into the heart of another living vampire.
“But on to more important matters...I can get you a special
license if needed. I assume you want to conduct your business as quickly as
possible.”
Nico opened his eyes and wanted to smack the smug expression
off the man's face but knew better. Gray allowed a lot of things, but that
would be stepping over the line.
“Yes. I require one. My problem is actually proposing.”
Gray's eyebrows rose to his hairline. “You think she might
refuse? I would think Lady Cordelia is smarter than that. She knows the
consequences of her actions. More so than others, I would say.”
“Why?”
“Her mother. The woman’s reputation would make a courtesan
blush. It is said she had more lovers than the prince regent did. Except for
the present earl, her children have lived by strict guidelines.”
The memory of their interlude came rushing back to him in
vivid detail. Cordelia must have iron control of her emotions. He must have
just tapped the surface of her passion. She would be the death of him.
“All girls, correct? It stands to reason they would be held
to a higher standard.”
Gray chuckled. “I would love to hear your soon-to-be
betrothed's ideas on that, but you mistake what I say. Not one of the girls was
presented...none had a season.”
That gave Nico pause. “But Lady Cordelia...”
“Is here because she did not want to stay with her drunkard
brother...or he turned her out. I would not put it past the bastard.”
“All the others are married?”
“Yes, one widowed. All to local gentry, and they had
dowries. What little Lady Cordelia had is probably gone. From what I
understand, the bastard of a father left her with nothing but a pittance.”
“That is beyond odd.”
“The whole family is odd.”
Nico threw him a warning look. “Stupendous. And now they
will be my family.”
“Look at it this way. She's a Carrier at least. You have a
way to mate. It is difficult enough to find a Carrier these days...and most
leave much to be desired. Besides, it seems that you two are compatible.”
The duke shot him a mocking smile. Nico glared and tried to
fight off memories of Cordelia against him, her flavor on his tongue.
Impossible. His body responded immediately, his blood quickening, his fangs
stirring. He ground his teeth together. He had to keep his inner beast in
control or he would be no better than a newly turned Made.
“Who knows, you might want to bond with her.”
Those words threw cold water on Nico’s thoughts of his
bride. He had seen what bonding did to a vampire, how a simple mistake could
take away everything precious...including your life.
Noticing the younger man staring at him, Nico shook off
those thoughts and smiled. “At the moment, I am not convinced the woman will
even allow me in her house.”
*
*
*
*
Cordelia took a sip of her tepid tea and winced. She could
not abide tea and would rather have coffee, but that was much too expensive…as
was chocolate. Living on her meager earnings from her articles in the
The Daily Inquisitor
did not allow for
luxuries. She could not complain since she still had a roof over her head—for
now. If her brother heard about her mishap, Alex might throw her out on the
street.
With a sigh she leaned back in the chair. She was out of
sorts. Any sane person would be after last night’s events. Closing her eyes,
she remembered the way Nico’s mouth had tasted, the way it felt to have his
long, lean muscled body pressing her into the couch. She shivered, her body
warming at the intense memories. Cordelia opened her eyes. In one action she
lost her reputation and proved to everyone, including herself, that she was no
better than her mother.
Fionna Bentley, the Countess of Collingsworth, had lived
life by her own rules, which apparently had been at odds with society. By all
accounts, her brother was Collingsworth's son, but she and her three sisters
had no real idea who their fathers were. There were rumors about Amelia,
Sophia, and Diana's fathers, but no one had any idea who Cordelia's birth
father might be. The truth had died with her mother in the early morning hours
the day after Cordelia's birth. And now she had proven she had a lustful streak
like her mother.
She was ruined in so many ways. She cared not a whit about
society, except that it was her meal ticket. And without access, she was one
week away from begging for food. There was a way…if she dared. It would require
ignoring the loss of her reputation and allowing society to think she was truly
like her mother. She shook her head. That just would not work. Cordelia would
never enter the
demimonde
, even if
she were pretending. It went against her nature.
Wells, the Collingsworth town butler, opened the door to the
breakfast room. He sniffed in disapproval of her meager breakfast, but she
refused to give in. She would not have Cook make breakfast for a family of one.
Porridge and tea was enough for Cordelia and all she could afford.
“A Mr. Blackburn is here to see you, my lady.” His voice
dripped with censure.
At the mention of Nico, her heart turned over. Heat filled
her face at the thought of seeing him in the daylight.
“My lady?”
She glanced up at Wells and realized their old retainer was
staring at her with interest.
“Y-yes, please show him in. We will need another setting for
him.”
The look of horror that crossed over Wells' face almost made
her laugh. “Just bring the tea service out. I doubt that Mr. Blackburn will be
here to eat.”
With another sniff of disapproval, Wells left. He returned a
moment later and announced Nico.
Nico stepped into the breakfast room and everything that had
gone on the night before came rushing back to her. If possible, her face grew
even hotter. She had no idea what kind of conversation a lady had with a man
who had done such shocking, wonderful things to her…person.
She rose from her seat as he approached her.
“Lady Cordelia.” He took her offered hand and kissed her
fingers. The brief contact had her head spinning.