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“I’ll pretend I know what that is.”
A vampire minion entered the room, carrying a tray with a flute of prosecco and a small cheeseboard.
My eyes widened as I spotted my favorite cheese. “Is that Stilton?”
Magnarella dipped his head slightly. “A favorite of yours, no?”
“How did you know that?”
Ignoring the question, he handed the flute to me. I promptly sniffed the contents.
“You have nothing to fear. If I wanted to drug you or poison you, I would’ve done so when you were bound.”
I examined the bubbling liquid before taking a sip. “Nice.”
“I’m glad you approve.” He motioned to the minion, who leaned forward with the tray of cheese.
I was ravenous thanks to my missed dinner at Otto’s. I swiped the Stilton with the dull, rounded cheese knife and smoothed it onto a cracker. It wasn’t the moon that was made of cheese, it was heaven; I was certain of it.
“Dr. Edmonds has been working to recreate the god elixir.”
“Edmonds is still plugging away? Good for him.”
“He is remarkably resilient.”
“If you lost your business partners, why continue the program?”
“This would be for my own purposes. I’ll be seeking silent investors going forward, which is the point of the gala.”
A god elixir in the hands of a vampire like Magnarella seemed even worse than the alternative.
“And what would my role be? I don’t have money to invest, and you know silence isn’t one of my strengths.”
“Knowledge, Miss Clay, and incredible resourcefulness. To that end, I’d like you to meet with Edmonds on Wednesday at ten, so you can see the new lab. It’s very impressive.”
I laughed. “You trust me to visit your new lab?” That explained the trucks seen going in and out of the compound’s grounds.
“There are new safeguards in place to prevent a repeat occurrence.”
No doubt. “I’m not a scientist.”
“No, but your knowledge of deities is remarkable. I know people with PhDs in mythology who don’t possess your level of information. I’d like to make good use of it.”
“You mean exploit it.”
“You say exploit. I say when opportunity knocks, you’d be a fool not to answer.”
“In other words, you’re making me an offer I can’t refuse.”
“You can refuse, but you may not like the consequences.”
“You and I have different definitions of the word ‘truce.’” I swiped another cheese and cracker combo from the tray. “One for the road.” I shoved it into my mouth.
A familiar figure appeared in the doorway behind Magnarella. I washed down the cheese and cracker with a swill of prosecco.
“Oh, good. My Uber is here.”
Magnarella craned his neck. “Sullivan.”
