Page 11 of Let Sleeping Vampires Lie

My mind stalled, the edges of the room pulling tight like a drawstring.

“Isra’s boyfriend?” I asked quietly.

Dimitri nodded. “The very one. Charming fellow. Handsome. Soft-spoken. And extremely good at moving rare objects from one set of hands to another. A master broker. His fortune didn’t come from a trust fund, I assure you.”

I clenched my jaw. “You’re sure.”

“Oh, absolutely. Marcus used to handle some of my smaller deals before I… ascended.” He waved a hand at his cell as if it were a luxury suite. “He’s discreet. Connected. Respectable enough to avoid suspicion. Exactly the sort of man you’d want running a black-market transaction in the city.”

Con muttered a curse under his breath.

I felt the floor tilt beneath me. Isra had finally found someone good. Stable. A man who made him smile. And now Dimitri was telling me that the same man might be involved in selling arcane relics connected to Valerian.

I forced myself to meet Dimitri’s gaze.

“If you’re lying, I’ll come down here and personally peel your skin off.”

He smirked. “Cassara, you give me far too little credit. I wouldn’t waste a lie on something this interesting.”

Con stepped closer to the bars. “If Marcus is involved, he has some explaining to do.”

Dimitri leaned back on the cot, hands behind his head, looking entirely too pleased.

“Oh, he has plenty to explain. And I, for one, cannot wait to hear how that conversation goes.”

I stared at him until his smile dimmed, just a little.

“We’re done here,” I said.

But Dimitri wasn’t finished. As we turned to leave, he called after us.

“Do say hello to Marcus for me. And tell him his last cut was too high. He’ll know what I mean.”

I didn’t look back.

I didn’t trust myself to.

The heavy door clanged shut behind us, sealing Dimitri back in the dim cell. His satisfaction still clung to the air like a stain.

Con and I made it halfway down the corridor before I stopped walking.

“This doesn’t feel right,” I said quietly.

Con halted beside me, his expression tightening. He didn’t question the instinct. He rarely did.

“No,” he agreed. “Dimitri enjoyed that far too much.”

“He always enjoys stirring trouble,” I replied, “but that… that was different. He wanted to watch the fallout.”

“Because it will hurt Raven,” Con said.

I shook my head. “She doesn’t know Marcus that well.”

“But Isra does,” he countered. “And hurting Isra will set Raven off.”

That settled with a thud of grim truth.

“Shit,” I muttered.