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He laughs and hugs her closer. “I know, I know, you didn’t curse. You’d never. You’re the classiest lady I know.” Laura leans her head against his chest with a smitten grin. “You should be teaching etiquette at the community center instead of that troll, Andrea.” Laura rumble-moans and Edmond laughs. “I know. She’s ridiculous. Forcing those poor children to eat with one hand in their laps while she struts around with a finger shoved up her nose. And yes, I understand that’s acceptable behavior in troll culture, but it’s an interspecies Cotillion course and should be conducted as such.”
Shaking my head to clear the haze inspired by Edmond’s endless chatter, I jab a finger toward the door. “Go. Please. I won’t be attending the party, and I don’t have time for nonsense tonight. There’s something out in the swamp. Something new. I don’t like the feel of it.”
Edmond sobers and pulls away from Laura with a final scratch of her head. “I’ve felt it, too. Even at the estate, though the energy is definitely more intense out here. What do you think it is?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know. But whatever it is, it doesn’t mean this town well.”
“I’ve overheard some of the clan whispering about that demon baby, the one Darcy rescued along with one of the Wonderfully sisters. They think it was a mistake to offer the child sanctuary, and that she’ll bring about Nightfall’s destruction.”
A scowl claws into my forehead. “And you allow such ignorant chatter in your presence?”
Edmond lifts his hands in surrender. “I’ve only been home a short time. I’m still trying to catch up. I haven’t had time to do my research on demons or their children. Honestly, I thought they were extinct, or trapped in their dimension without a way to cross into ours.”
“They are. Mostly.” I finally shut the door, the better to keep the cold wind from scattering the papers on my desk, since Edmond is clearly determined to ignore my lack of hospitality. “There are still a few functional portals between our world and theirs, mostly in deserts, where the heat thins the barrier between the two. But they’re rare. There’s one outside Las Vegas and another in the Sonoran Desert in Mexico. The others are in Egypt and near the ancient city of Susa in Iran. But even if there were a portal close by, the shield protects us from observation from other dimensions, and that child is an innocent with the misfortune to have a piece of shit demon for a father, not a threat of any kind.”
Edmond’s expression softens. “That’s the longest speech I’ve heard from you in a while. You really like these women, don’t you? Our new generation of witches?”
“The ones I’ve met are good people.” I grunt, eager to change the subject before my savvy baby brother figures out that I think at least one of those witches is so much better than “good.” I think she’s…everything. Everything kind and clever and beautiful and everything I can’t allow myself to have. “But more importantly, I don’t want to see this town turn on its children.”
“Agreed,” Edmond says. “And what better way to keep our little ones safe than by you attending the celebration tonight and giving anyone gossiping about the demon baby a good growling at? You can’t deny you’re the best growler in the clan. All other grumpy vampires are pretenders to your most irritable and cantankerous throne.”
I pull in a breath to insist he leave me alone, but exhale a beat later, the protest dying before it reaches my lips.
Unfortunately, he’s right. If the superstitious members of the clan need an attitude adjustment, I’m the one to deliver it. I excel at scaring people, even my own brothers and sisters, and I couldn’t care less if they hate me for sticking my nose into their nasty gossip.
And in a way, this feels personal. I haven’t met the little girl yet, but I’ve heard her name bantered about town—Amelia or Amy for short.
Amelia was my eldest daughter’s name. I remember her at eighteen months, how her contagious laughter sent the dogs racing around the great hall in paroxysms of delight and the way she sweetly gave damp, open-mouthed kisses to anyone who scooped her up for a hug. The thought of a defenseless child, a baby, having enemies plotting behind her back is too wretched to be allowed—especially from ancient vampires who ought to know better.
My shoulders slump in defeat. “Fine. You can trim my beard, but that’s it. And I’m wearing what I have on.”
Edmond’s blue eyes glitter as he arches a teasing brow. “Are you sure? I brought a suit home for you from Paris, specially tailored to fit those bulky shoulders. I’m guessing your secret crush would enjoy seeing you in something more refined than a black sweater and jeans. You look like a tortured poet. Or a cat burglar. Speaking of cats, did you know Darcy moved his cat to the Wonderfully mansion, too? It looks like he’s going to be living with the witches for the foreseeable future. How bizarre is that? I mean, I realize he’s desperately in love with Blaire, but Darcy’s obsessed with his privacy and keeping everything tidy and in its place. I would think living in a crumbling mansion with a chaotic number of women and a demon baby who wants to suck his blood every morning at the crack of dawn would drive him absolutely out of his mind.”
“Love changes things,” I say as I sit down on the couch and tip my head back to grant him access to my beard.
“It does, doesn’t it,” Edmond murmurs as he fetches his trimming scissors. “It most certainly does.”
I know he isn’t talking about Darcy—he’s referring to how relatively easily he’s been able to force me from my solitude. This isn’t the first time Edmond’s tried to drag me to a party or social event I didn’t wish to attend. Nine times out of ten, we both end up missing the party and spending the night playing chess in front of my fire with Laura snoring happily on the rug beside us.
Silently, I curse myself for not putting up more of a fight. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before he realizes it’s a Wonderfully woman who has my stomach tied in knots and easily connects the dots from there. Annie is the only single witch who was in town the night I had a guest in my home. Laura isn’t usually good with dates, but she’ll remember that night. It was the first snowstorm of the year and the only thunder snow event in years.
I’ll have to be careful at the party tonight.
I won’t so much as glance Annie’s way. I’ll keep my interactions confined to my clanmates and the other guests and throw Edmond off the scent.
No, better yet, I’ll wish Annie a warm welcome, exchange some basic small talk, and then ignore her for the rest of the night. There is such a thing as protesting too much and shunning Annie might actually arouse more suspicion.
I hold tight to the plan as I warn Laura to keep a close eye on the cabin and start toward town on foot with Edmond. I could dematerialize and reappear at the Blackmore estate in seconds, but Edmond is one of the few clan members who can’t shapeshift into a bat or otherwise easily move from place to place, and I’m in no hurry.
The longer it takes to reach the party, the better. Annie isn’t a night owl and will likely head for home before midnight.
If I’m truly lucky, she might not attend the party at all. Yes, her sister is the one who worked the spell to renew the shield, but Annie rises early and should be starting her job as head Catacomb Librarian soon.
I hold tight to hope until we reach the top of the cliff path that ends beside Darcy’s cottage on the Blackmore estate. The moment we step out onto the lawn my gaze is inexorably drawn to two of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen emerging from the tram.
One is a stunning Native-American woman with a face that begs to be immortalized in oil on canvas, but it’s the slightly shorter woman who takes my breath away. It's Annie, in a clingy black dress that leaves nothing about her incredible body to the imagination and a pair of glittering eyeglasses that send scandalous fantasies surging through my head.
Fantasies of Annie wearing nothing but those glasses, her hair wild around her shoulders, and that secret smile on her face.
