Page 95 of Let Sleeping Vampires Lie

Same warehouse Julian had identified. Same district. Same stretch of forgotten industrial road where criminals stored things too dangerous to leave above ground.

No flourish. No explanation. No second chance.

I felt the air shift. Con saw the change in my face before I spoke.

“They approved me,” I said. “The auction is tonight.”

His jaw clenched. “Location?”

I turned the screen toward him. Recognition flickered across his eyes as he studied the map. “Same place.”

“Yes.” I exhaled slowly. “They want me inside that warehouse within ninety minutes.”

“We need to move,” he said. “Now.”

We started down the hallway toward Julian’s workspace. Our steps echoed in tandem, purposeful and controlled. The mansion hummed around us, lights low, the house in that strange half-state between day and night when vampires woke and humans slept.

But halfway to the stairs, the heaviness in my chest shifted. It took me a beat to understand the emotion curling through me.

I was excited.

The kind of excitement that only came with imminent danger, hidden agendas, and a room full of predators who all believed they were the apex of creation.

Con shot me a look. “You are thinking something reckless.”

“Only a little,” I replied.

He made a disapproving sound that did nothing to hide the fact that he understood me too well.

We rounded the corner toward the tech room, but before we reached the door, Con touched my arm. His fingers curled lightly, stopping me just shy of the threshold.

“Show Julian after we prepare,” he said. “Not before.”

I considered. “You want to be dressed for the role first.”

“I want to be ready,” he corrected. “Julian will start calculating patterns the moment he sees this invitation. If I am not dressed for the field when he begins rattling probability charts, we lose time.”

He was right.

“All right,” I said. “We prepare first.”

Then my phone buzzed again.

Con’s grip tightened almost imperceptibly. “What now?”

I checked the screen.

It was the secondary part of the invitation. A formal digital pass with an entry token and verification key, followed by a bold instruction⁠—

Attire is expected.

Buyers arrive in formal wear.

Weapons permitted with discretion.

My brows lifted. “They want us dressed by the time we arrive.”

Con’s mouth curved slightly. “Then we should not disappoint.”