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“Excellent idea,” he says. “Priscilla’s always had a thing for gold.”
“Indeed,” I agree as we exit the vestibule into the second sub-level of the mansion and head for Sultan’s rooms at the other end of the floor. Luckily, he was an older, higher status vampire who had several rooms to himself. We won’t be at risk of disturbing other sleeping clan members while we’re poking around.
Darcy opens the door with his master key, and I step into Sultan’s over-the-top private apartment for the first time. We’ve never been friends and one look at his decorating style confirms why.
“It looks like a genie vomited on the walls,” I observe, arching a brow at the gold-and-jewel encrusted wallpaper.
“And the furniture,” Darcy agrees, wrinkling his nose at a gaudy, overstuffed pink couch with golden clawed feet. “One wonders how he was able to afford such…opulence without employment. He did some translating work for the clan, but only part-time.”
“Agreed. It’s suspicious.” I step closer to the fireplace, studying what looks like an authentic Art Nouveau clock. “I saw one of these at the Paris flea market last year. It was listed at thirty-five thousand euros. Even if he scored an incredible deal—”
“It’s not something he could swing on his allowance,” Darcy finishes. “Even a senior vampire’s allowance. Being a Shadowbane spy must pay better than I thought.”
“Maybe,” I say. “Or maybe he’s serving more than one master.” I fill him in on the sulfur smell Annabelle noticed after the “man with the red lips” visited Sultan in his bed. “Could be he’s feeding secrets to the demons, as well.”
“Perhaps. Though they left fairly amicably after learning you and Casey were to be married.”
“Maybe too amicably,” I say. “The demons have wanted a connection to Nightfall since the beginning when they were refused sanctuary. Could be they’ve decided it’s time to take what we’ve refused to give.”
“Or it could be Casey’s ex, working alone,” Darcy muses. “Though he doesn’t seem like the sort to have bribe money lying around.”
“He could have stolen it, I suppose,” I say, but my gut says this has nothing to do with Casey’s ex. Manny is absolute garbage, but he’s also weak and unfocused. From the stories Casey’s told me, the man couldn’t hold down a job or keep his socks clean, let alone orchestrate an elaborate bribery scheme. Without the help of the senior demons, he brought with him last time, I don’t see Manny as a threat. “Hopefully there will be clues inside Sultan’s secret room. Annabelle said the entrance is through the clock.”
Darcy arches a brow. “That’s a small clock.”
“It is, but maybe…” I brush my fingers across the clockface, surrounded on all sides by golden fairies in the Art Nouveau style. Almost instantly, it begins to stretch, opening like a giant mouth until it forms a large, mist-filled oval big enough for a grown man to step through.
Darcy starts forward but hesitates at the entrance. “We’re assuming we’ll be able to get back out again?”
“I would assume so. Annabelle didn’t mention any difficulty getting out once inside. But if we run into trouble, Colin knows what we’re up to and where to start looking if we don’t show up at the party tonight.”
“Well, that’s good.” He sighs. “Though I honestly wouldn’t mind missing the damned thing. I’m not in a party mood.”
“Never miss a chance to have a good time, brother,” I say, thinking of the holiday season ahead, the last chance I’ll have to celebrate with the ones I love. I clap Darcy on the shoulder, hoping he can feel how much I care for him, this man who’s become more my family than the one I was born into. “We need joy to lighten the load of all the heavy things we carry.” I wink. “And the Wonderfully girls do clean up awfully nice for a party.”
His eyes widen. “Fuck, that reminds me. There’s another one coming soon, maybe even tonight.”
My brows pinch. “What?”
“Their sister, the youngest one, Felicity,” Darcy said. “She got into some trouble with the Atlantic City clan. Luckily Ferris was there and intervened before she could be branded and sold into service as a blood mule.”
I shake my head. “What? How on earth did that happen?”
“She borrowed twenty-thousand dollars from a loan shark, then borrowed from the vampires to pay the loan shark, then was unable to pay off the second loan in a timely fashion and was about to pay the price for her foolishness,” Darcy says, his disapproving tone in full effect. “Allegedly, she had a solid reason for taking such stupid chances, but Ferris wasn’t able to speak freely on the phone. He has Atlantic City clan members tailing his every move until he and Felicity leave town. Some of them weren’t best pleased to lose a shot at bidding on the girl. Apparently, she’s a beauty. Ferris said he hopes to arrive tonight or tomorrow night, depending on when he can book sleeping cars on the night train to Portsmouth.”
“He’s taking a train?” I ask, shocked. “Of his own free will?”
Ferris was nearly murdered by a serial killer while riding the rails from town to town during the Great Depression, looking for work. He’s been a car or plane man ever since.
Darcy nods grimly. “There weren’t any rental cars available on such short notice. That’s how eager he is to hand over responsibility for the hellion to someone else.” He touches my forearm. “But don’t tell Casey or the others. I want them to have the pleasant surprise of welcoming their sister to her new home before dealing with the unpleasant surprise of her poor financial choices. I intend to cover the debt, of course, but there have to be consequences of some kind for this girl. She must learn to be more responsible. She’s twenty-one, not twelve, and it’s time she behaved accordingly.”
I laugh. “Father Darcy brings down the hammer.”
He shudders. “Can you imagine? I’m happy to leave that to you and Baron. I’ll be the loving uncle who buys toys and disappears when the tantrums start.”
“Yes, well, we should probably get started,” I say, nodding toward the clock portal, not wanting to think about how little time I have left to be a father to Amy. “Time and golden toilets wait for no man.”
Darcy heaves another long-suffering sigh. “I know Sultan well enough now to predict this is going to be weirder than we’d like it to be. Probably in a sexual way.”
