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I jumped and swung around, my heart racing and the repelling spell half released before I called it back.
The figure now standing a few meters away was decidedly familiar—and the last person I’d really expected to see right now.
“Fuck it, Roger, I almost blasted you to the other side of the parking area.”
He was sharply dressed in crisply ironed cream pants and a short-sleeved shirt as pale as his skin. His arms were crossed, his expression amused, and he seemed totally unfussed by the cloying heat in the air.
“It would appear that I have more faith in your control than you do.”
Maybe Ishouldhave blasted him, even if only to make him a little more cautious next time. “Why are you here? Do you know this person? I’m presuming itisa vampire.”
“I was sent to investigate the reason behind your café’s protections firing up, given how unusual it is.” His pale gaze drifted to the clothed figure near my feet. “I have not examined the body as yet, so I could not tell you who it is. But given how heavily protected they are, I would presumeyourpresumption is correct.”
“So it’s not one of Maelle’s people?”
“She has no fledglings here, or indeed anyone remotely capable of breaking into your café, nor has she any need to hire someone. If she wished to enter this place, she could, as you have previously invited her in. And I have never intended you harm, so can enter unimpeded.”
Never intended me harm up to the current point of time, anyway. That could certainly change in the future.
I glanced down at the figure again. “I take it, then, that this is one of Marie’s people?”
“Undoubtedly.” He walked over and stopped beside me. “It would not be a true adept, however. She wouldn’t waste someone so vital when she most likely intended to do nothing more than test the strength of your defenses.”
And now she knew them. Which meant I had better weave more spells around the place, just to counter future attacks. I might also add one revoking Maelle’s access. Of course, if Maelle did intend me harm, it was unlikely she’d attack me in what was basically my seat of power.
But if there’s one thing I’d learned over the last year or so, it was to neveroverestimate someone’s intelligence. When it came to revenge, emotions often overtook common sense.
I rubbed my arms, doing my best to ignore the whispered warning of trouble ahead. It was a warning I’d had before when it came to Maelle, and one that was becoming ever more likely. “Is there any way to reveal his or her features without exposing them to the sun?”
“None whatsoever.” He quirked a pale eyebrow. “Do you actually care?”
“No.” I paused. “If itisone of Marie’s people, will she feel the death?”
“She’ll have severed the connection the minute she felt her creature’s pain, thus ensuring it did not echo down the line between them.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Does that apply to the connection you share with Maelle?”
“Our connection is somewhat different.”
“Yes, because you’ve fed on her flesh and share her life force. That doesn’t answer the question, though.”
“My mistress has a higher-than-average pain threshold, even for a vampire. One could say it enriches her, even if it could never sustain her.”
Which no doubt explained her penchant for swimming in the bloody remains of her victims.
I motioned toward the body. “Could you check?”
He stepped forward without comment, gripped the figure’s shoulder, and pulled them onto their back. They were wearing a thick leather face mask with no mouth or nose holes. Therewereeye holes, but they were covered by a thick black mesh of some kind. Roger slipped his fingers between the mask and the thick scarf, then roughly, brutally, ripped it off the vampire’s face.
It was a man with pale skin, golden hair, and a thick long beard that was artfully plaited. Given vampires stopped growing hair after they’d turned, he’d obviously had it beforehand.
As soon as his features were revealed, his skin began to redden. Roger sniffed and said somewhat disdainfully, “We are not familiar with this person, but we know the lineage. They all have a hankering for ornamental facial hair.”
The man’s skin began to blacken and burn. I stepped back and used Roger as a shield. I didn’t need to see the flames crawling over his skin, erasing his features even as they consumed his flesh and bones.
There was nothing I could do about the stench, however, and it grew ever sharper on the air. My stomach wasnotappreciating it.
“I take it he’s one of Marie’s fledglings?”
