Victoria Gardella: Vampire Slayer Read Free Page B

yourself?” he
replied. Even behind the obscurity of the mask, and the low light
from the hall lamps, she could see the beauty of his face. From the
first time she met him, she thought he looked like a golden
angel.
    A nefarious golden angel.
    “Turn out your pockets,” she said again.
    “You’d best do what the girl says, Vioget,”
came a bored voice, “or we’ll be here all night waiting for her to
get to the task at hand.”
    Victoria whirled, stepping back from
Sebastian. Just inside the doorway stood a tall, dark-haired man.
He wore a mask that covered the top of his face, but his dark hair
and square chin were exposed…as was the annoyed expression twisting
his mouth. The mask was his only concession to costume; the rest of
his garb consisted of a white shirt, and black coat and
breeches.
    “Nice costume, Max,” Victoria responded. “Let
me guess…a villain. No? A vampire perhaps? Indeed, I do believe you
have the look of Lord Ruthven to you.”
    “Definitely not Lord Ruthven,” Sebastian put
in. “That fictional vampire was known for a much better grasp on
fashionable attire than Maximilian Pesaro.”
    “What are you after, Vioget?” Max asked,
ignoring the comments and moving into the room with his long,
graceful strides. He passed Victoria as though she was no more than
a nuisance of a gnat and stopped in front of the other man, cutting
between her and Sebastian.
    “I have the matter well in hand, Max,”
Victoria said, smarting from his reaction. “Perhaps you ought to go
and slay the vampire that’s lurking about here. Somewhere.”
    Max barely deigned to glance at her. “I’ve
already attended to that.”
    Victoria looked at him, and realized with a
sudden surge of annoyance that he was telling the truth. The chill
at the back of her neck had evaporated in the last few moments,
since she’d come into the chamber with Sebastian.
    Which meant that the vampire had to have been
nearby for Max to have arrived at this room so expediently. Which
meant that it had been merely by accident that he came upon her and
Sebastian.
    Firming her lips, she pushed herself and her
gown between the two men and faced Sebastian. “I’ll check your
pocket, then, if you won’t show me yourself.”
    Sebastian’s mouth twitched. “Be my
guest.”
    But before she could slide her hand into that
deep pocket in his undertunic, the waft of a chill breeze skittered
over the back of her neck again. In spite of herself, she turned to
look at Max, to see if he registered the presence of another
undead…and he gave a brief, annoyed nod. His lips moved in a silent
oath—but whether it was directed at her, or the new vampire
presence, she wasn’t certain.
    “Vioget. What are they after?” he said
sharply.
    The lower half of Sebastian’s face turned
crafty. “A particularly well-thought member of the ton has
become…shall we say…enamoured of the undead. When he—or she—” he
glanced at Victoria, “please note that I do keep my clients’
confidences—last visited the Silver Chalice, a personal item was
left behind. One that could identify him—or her.”
    He stepped back, his hand beneath his tunic.
“I was merely returning the item to its rightful owner, and
I suspect that this person’s…enemies, shall we say? Wished to stop
me. Apparently, this individual is rather prominent, and a cause
for blackmail. The undead have many friends here in London. Perhaps
more than you would imagine, my dear Victoria.”
    “Now that you’ve entertained us with your
fantasy, Vioget, you might just as well get out of here,” Max said,
turning toward the door. “You’ll be no help now.”
    Victoria felt his gaze pass over her, and got
the impression that he had the same impression about her. Blasted
man.
    “Why, I do believe I shall,” Sebastian
replied, moving quickly toward a window.
    In a trice, he was gone.
    Having nothing further to say to Max,
Victoria swished past him, her stake at the ready. The new