Page 108 of Let Sleeping Vampires Lie

He wanted to intimidate, not win. I recognized the tone.

Cerise’s fingers traced the side of her clutch. She lifted her hand again. “Twenty-five.”

The number dropped with command.

The host’s eyes gleamed. “Twenty-five.”

I let my jaw relax, kept my breathing even. This was theater. They were not the only ones who could play.

“Thirty,” I said.

Several people straightened.

Con’s fingers brushed the back of my chair. It was not a restraint, more of a grounding point.

The host looked delighted. “Thirty million, for the right to rewrite your forces.”

Whispers rose now. Some buyers exchanged glances. Others watched in silence, calculating, reassessing.

Cerise studied me openly. “Do you intend to drink it, little vampire, or simply deny it to everyone else?”

“Why limit myself?” I said.

Her smile turned wolfish. “Forty.”

The man with the rings stayed quiet now. This was beyond his comfort level. A witch in a dark-blue gown twitched, but did not speak. She knew when she was outmatched.

I considered.

Forty million.

We could pay it. We had resources. Old caches. Hidden accounts. The Shadow Bone coffers might not enjoy the hit, but they could take it.

The real cost would be invisibility.

No one in this room would forget the buyer who walked out with that case.

Con bent lower, voice a thread in my ear. “If you win, you become the primary target. Every mercenary, every military buyer, every criminal with ambition will track you.”

“If I lose,” I said, “Valerian gets control of it. I assumed he had funded the research, but now I’m not so sure.”

We both knew which option I would choose.

My fingers curled.

“Forty-five,” I said.

The host’s smile widened.

Cerise’s gaze cooled. For the first time, I saw genuine interest morph into something else. Assessment. Curiosity coiled with wariness.

“You are very eager to spend,” she said softly. “I wonder who you truly work for.”

“Someone with an aversion to slavery,” I replied.

Her eyes glittered. “You should cling to your ideals while you can. They will not protect you when these soldiers stand at your door.”

“Perhaps,” I said. “Or perhaps they will fall before they reach it.”