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1926? What’s he talking about? My understanding suddenly snaps into place, remembering Jade’s words that the theater was full of Others. I never dreamed that she meant Bruno.

“It was 1926,” mumbles the theater owner, looking sweaty. “Your memory is as impeccable as always, my lord.”

“So it was. A hundred years. Well, time does slip away, doesn’t it? Well, do not let me stop you from what you were saying,” Julian says silkily, though his smooth, monotone voice sets off warning bells in my mind. “I believe you were just telling my client that I am not welcome here.”

“That isn’t what I meant, of course, Commandant,” fumbles Bruno. “You are always welcome here.” He then stops and looks at me questioningly. “Client?”

“He’s my bodyguard,” I supply. “To stop Colton from following me.”

Bruno looks flummoxed. “But . . . why you in particular, my lord? Surely there are others you could send to guard her.”

Julian sighs, sounding aggrieved. “Again, you are making me feel unwelcome, Bruno. What will I do when I must suffer such disrespect?”

“He’s not disrespecting you.” I jump into the mix to defend my boss. I don’t like Bruno, per se, but I don’t want to see him with his head bashed into his desk, like the rude vampire from the other night. “It’s just that these are normally closed rehearsals and he’s surprised to see you, that’s all. Right, Bruno?”

Bruno looks at me gratefully. “That’s right. Closed rehearsals. But, in light of, err, your presence and Andi’s need for protection, I’ll, um, lift the restriction, for the time being. Does that work for everyone?”

“Works perfectly for me,” purrs out Julian. Then he surprises me by turning to me and asking. “Andi? Does that work for you?”

I suddenly feel that I have power in this situation. When I first entered the room, I had no power. Bruno had all of it. I think he might have been on the verge of firing me again because I brought Julian with me, and now he’s being all solicitous. Julian was getting all quiet and dangerous again, that psycho side just below the surface, but seemed to rein it in for my benefit. But I think with one word from me, it would be unleashed. I’m holding one end of the leash of a mad dog that, for whatever reason, is obeying me, for now, and that gives me power.

I don’t want to hurt anyone with it, though. So I smile, saying, “Works for me. Can I get back to rehearsal?”

“Yes, get out of my office,” Bruno breathes out, relieved. Then he looks frightenedly at Julian. “I mean, of course, if you want to, my lord.”

“I’ll leave you to your own devices,” Julian says, not offended by Bruno’s obvious desperation to get rid of him. He's probably used to this response to his presence. He opens the door, scans the empty hallway, then says, “After you, Andi.”

He sounds so old-fashioned as he says it, so gentlemanly, that I feel the odd urge to curtsy at his words. I don’t, of course, because that could be construed as flirting, and I’m not going to flirt with him. So instead, I just duck out through the door and start heading back to the main stage.

Julian falls into step with me again, and I say quietly, “Thanks for that. You didn’t need to.”

“Oh, but I did,” he responds. “I brook no disrespect. That is tantamount to inviting assassins and leeches into my inner circle. You should not accept less respect than you are worth, either.”

“He’s my boss,” I say, by way of explanation.

Julian stops walking, and that stills my own footsteps. I look curiously at the vampire by my side. His gaze is intense on me.

“You will serve many masters throughout your life,” Julian says seriously. “God knows I have. But we teach others how to treat us by what we accept from them. Accept nothing less than the highest respect, ma souris. You are worth it.”

I feel uncomfortable with his scrutiny and also his compliments. He doesn’t know me very well, and yet he sees me as being worthy of the highest respect. What does that mean? And why does it make my stomach flutter a little? To break the tension, I weakly joke, “Does that mean it’s a good time to tell you that calling me a mouse isn’t very respectful?”

His perfect lips curl into a smile. “But it is, ma souris. Do you think I give pet names to just anyone? It is a token of friendship that I am offering you, and I have very few friends.”

That gives me pause. “Why me?” I ask bluntly. “Why do you want to be my friend? You’ve been kind to me. Generous even. From what I've heard, that is not usually your nature.”

He laughs, like I’ve surprised him. Julian looks at me, mirth twinkling in his eyes. “Are you calling me hard and stingy, Andi?”

I feel my eyes widen. “No! I mean, that's what I’ve heard, but—”

“Peace, peace,” he interrupts. “Do not panic. I have been called worse. It is nothing that I have not called myself, even. More than once. You are right; this is not usual for me. But I am not bored by you, and that makes you special. You have filled my days with interest again, and I am not so stingy that I would return that boon with dross.”

Julian moves closer to me, his movements accentuated with the grace of a predator going for the kill. I move backward, suddenly finding my back against the wall, my bodyguard looming above me.

“But mark this, Andi, and mark it well,” he says, his hand coming up softly to my face. He gently brushes some hair to the side that must have fallen out of my bun, and I scarcely hold back a shiver that has nothing to do with the temperature. “I am not a generous man. Whether you receive my friendship or my protection, I always get something in return. Nothing is free in this world, ma souris. The day I stop receiving benefits from our arrangement is the day that it ends, understand? I do not wish for any misunderstanding about this. I am not a good man, and you should not think of me like one.”

I barely register what he’s saying. His face is so close to mine that our breath is mingling in the air. His eyes are dark and unreadable, and his lips are plush, almost too inviting. I shouldn’t be staring at Julian’s lips, but they are right there. All I’d have to do is rise to my tiptoes, and we’d be kissing.

Dumb. Bad Andi, bad. We aren’t getting involved with a crime lord. That would be so dumb.