Page 68 of Once Bitten, Twice Mine

Diya dropped her fork to the table. “Honestly, Caro, that’s enough. Is this about Edgar? Has he done something? You know I’ll support you no matter what.”

“Isn’t this a pleasant little scene?” Valeria said with an icy smile.

Caroline’s stomach dropped; what little appetite she had was gone.

Diya’s eyes flicked between Caroline and Valeria. “Lady Valeria, how nice to see you. I wasn’t aware you were still here.”

“Does Miss Blythe keep me a secret from all of her friends? Should I be offended?”

Valeria took the head of the table, draping herself over the chair as if she were the monarch presiding over them. While she was wearing an actual dress, it certainly wasn’t proper. At least not the way she wore it. The dark red bodice was cut low, and her corset was so tight her breasts practically spilled from her dress. Valeria smirked at Caroline, and her cheeks heated because she was caught looking, but she couldn’t help it.

“I think if either of us should be worried about what Miss Blythe keeps from us, it should be me because before this moment, I didn’t think we had any secrets between one another.”

Caroline kept her eyes trained on the cold slice of tongue on the plate before her. Tears pricked her eyes as shame choked her. She should have said something—anything—but nothing came out.

“Ah,” Valeria smirked. “I fear I am partially to blame. I have been a rather taxing house guest.”

“Weren’t you waiting for a doctor? You look as if you’re feeling much better.”

“At the moment,” Valeria shrugged, “But I could take a turn for the worse at any time.”

“Her doctor is in Scotland tending to another patient and will be here when he can,” she said, looking to Valeria, whose eyes were trained away from her. For the first time, she considered the flimsy excuse wasn’t true.

“Caroline,” Diya said. “Why don’t you get a plate for your guest?”

“No need,” Valeria responded. “However, I will take a glass of wine.”

Caroline’s brow furrowed as Valeria went to collect a wine glass and a carafe of red wine that was almost empty. In all of her weeks here, she had never once seen her eat or drink anything. As Valeria poured the red wine, she thought it looked a little…thick.

“You know, red wine sounds good. Why don’t you pour some for me as well?” Caroline asked.

Diya frowned. “You hate red wine.”

Valeria held the carafe upside down over her wine glass as she watched the last of the liquid drip into her glass. “Unfortunately, I can’t seem to spare any of it, but if you call Mrs. Thomas, I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to open another bottle.”

“That won’t be necessary; I only want a taste.”

Valeria’s eyes flashed, which made her want to dig her heels in further. Even though Diya’s eyes jumped between them and she knew she should stop before she realized everything that was happening between them, she couldn’t seem to stop.

“Oh, but I wouldn’t want to waste a single drop. Besides, I’m not sure if this is to your taste and I would hate for you to drink something you regret.” Valeria paused to drink before smirking. “Though I think it may be worse if you try it and find that you do have a taste for it.”

She shivered. Valeria was drinking blood at her dining room table. Her only hope was that it wasn’t anyone from her household. Though she didn’t like the thought of anyone’s blood being in that glass.

“If you want wine, you can have some of mine, Caro,” Diya said.

“No, it was just a bit of teasing between friends. Thank you, though.”

“Are we friends then?”

Caroline glowered at Valeria as she smirked in return. She wanted to kick her beneath the table, but her leg wouldn’t reach.

“Yes,” she said through clenched teeth. “What else would we be?”

Valeria’s eyes flashed, and Caroline knew at once she had said the wrong thing as Valeria took an angry sip from her glass. “I suppose you could say we are very, very close friends.”

“It’s interesting you’re such close friends, yet I never heard Miss Blythe talk about you until you appeared at her engagement party.”

“Are you jealous of our friendship, Miss Evans?” Valeria asked, cocking her head.