The same couldn’t be said for Moldavi, for after Dimitri’s dismissal of Narcise, the man’s eyes burned brilliant red. “You dare to insult my family?”
“On the contrary. The insult was directed to you alone,” Dimitri replied, clearly bored.
By that time, Voss was at the door and he had no choice but to leave, even though he had a feeling that things were about to get interesting.
He didn’t find out until months later what exactly had happened that caused the great loathing between Moldavi and Dimitri to become even deeper and more permanent. According to other witnesses, after Voss left, Moldavi pretended to do the same. But instead, he remained in the club and somehow lured Lerina into a dark corner with him.
When Lerina reappeared with Cezar’s marks on her left shoulder and his scent on her, Dimitri had had enough. Intoxicated from the salvi and likely still weakened by the presence of his Asthenia, he was obviously impaired. Moldavi pulled out a small wooden stake—which he clearly had not left at the door—and lunged at Dimitri. In their struggle they knocked over a lit candelabra.
No one noticed at first because of the ensuing battle, and the fire started quickly, eating into the lush upholstery and furnishings in the chamber as Dimitri grabbed Cezar by the throat. Fueled by fury, he lifted him into the air, throwing him across the room. Cezar landed in a heap amid his followers, beaten by a vampire who was unarmed, not to mention intoxicated and weakened. Completely and utterly humiliated.
Of course, Voss wasn’t there to witness the details of the fight, but it was clear from the stories that were told that that night cemented a hatred between the two men even deeper than the discord he’d invited by bringing the goblets.
To add even more injury to Dimitri’s insult, the fire not only destroyed his new club, but it also caused the death of Lerina, who had been unable to escape the fire.
In one dark evening, Dimitri lost his mistress, a valuable piece of property and made himself a lethal enemy by humiliating an immortal madman in front of his peers. And had nearly been tricked into revealing his deepest secret. It was, Voss reflected grimly as he clung to the back of his carriage, no wonder the man blamed him. If he hadn’t put the salvi in the brandy, things might not have happened the way they had.
Or perhaps they would have.
After all, as Dimitri had warned Voss after Brickbank’s death, which couldn’t have been avoided despite Voss’s precautions: if one was destined to die, there was nothing that could be done to prevent it.
Voss blinked and rubbed his head against the back of the carriage that held Angelica, bringing himself back from more than a hundred years ago to present-day London. The carriage had navigated through shoppers and street hawkers on busy Bond Street, then along Piccadilly toward Fleet, and at last turned along Bishopsgate. Now it pulled into a narrow opening between two buildings.
Voss knew they’d reached their destination when the smell of the river and all of its accompanying stench melded with that of vomit and stale ale. The Billingsgate Fish Market was two blocks away, and here in the narrow, crooked streets crowded public houses frequented by the fishermen and mongers. The particular establishment to which he had directed his groom had a sign on the front naming it The Golden Lion, but was known as Black Maude’s to those who frequented it.
Now that they’d arrived on the eastern side of town amid close, tall buildings, Voss was able to raise his face without fearing it would be seared by the light of the sun. That heavenly body had sunk lower, which meant that Belial and his forces would be out in full force in short order.
Voss was one of the few Dracule who could go out during the daylight, as long as he kept any direct sunbeams from touching his skin. Even on some rainy, very cloudy days, he could walk about without covering for a short time. Tolerance for the sun varied by each individual, but there were some who dared not venture into sunlit air at all—covered or not. Nevertheless, full and direct exposure would kill any Dracule.
Just as Lucifer lived and thrived in the dark, relying on shadows and night to hide his deeds, so were the Dracule made. Sunlight exposed too much.
Voss considered himself relatively fortunate in this matter, which had made his escape from previous sticky situations much easier. And, in this case, it gave him the freedom to remove Angelica to a safer location.
The carriage had come to a complete stop in the back alley behind Maude’s, and Voss released the handle, stepping lightly onto the ground. A sharp glance around confirmed that the shadowy passage was deserted. He moved quickly to unlatch the carriage door, more than a bit apprehensive about Angelica’s reaction to being abducted in such a manner.
When he opened the door and looked in, she didn’t move except to spear him with a cool gaze.
At least she didn’t fly at him in a rage as another of his consorts had done when he’d subjected her to a similar mode of transport. Of course, India had been a fiery-haired and tempered vixen even when she was at rest, and that situation had been markedly different than this one. For one, he’d been abducting her from her husband. For another, he’d already shared her bed on more than one occasion.
His mouth dried and the sheaths around his incisors tightened as he realized how soon he’d be doing the same with this young woman.
“Shall I disembark, or are you planning to join me?” Angelica asked in an even voice. Her hair was still pooled around her shoulders, and her slender hands were settled in her lap. The uneven light spilled over the curves of her collarbones and breasts. Voss’s breath deepened as he gripped the door frame. She was so very lovely.
But…her eyes. It was her eyes that captured him: clearly annoyed, beckoning, intelligent. And wise.
It was the wisdom there, the peace, that tugged at him.
“I thought you might wish a bit of refreshment,” he said. “We’re going to stop for a bit.”
“Is it safe?” she asked, and that peace edged away to be replaced by wariness. Worry.
She still trusted him enough to ask.
“I won’t allow anything to happen to you, Angelica,” he said, offering her his hand. At least, anything that you won’t enjoy.
She murmured something that sounded annoyed, but she rose from her seat and took his hand with her bare fingers. “Does this belong to you?” she asked, showing him one of his gloves.
“I wondered where it had gotten to,” he replied and took it as she alighted from the carriage. “Thank you for finding it.”
She merely gave him an inscrutable look and lifted the hem of Rubey’s frock so that it didn’t drag on the ground.
Voss, feeling unusually put-off by her reticence and calm (he had expected to be confronted with a harridan when he opened the door), and the odd way she was looking at him, opened the grimy door of the building. No sooner had they stepped inside the back entrance, dark with dirt and soot and sticky with grease, than his carriage rumbled off for a change of horses. The groom would return after and wait for them in the alley.
Inside Black Maude’s, Voss led Angelica down the dark passage to the private rooms with which he was well familiar. As was expected, no one greeted them in this rear corridor. It wasn’t until he unfastened the latch on the third door (the only one with the red string hanging out, indicating that the chamber was empty) and entered the small chamber that he spoke again.
“Are you hungry?” he asked, turning to lock the door behind them and to pull its red string inside. There was another door on the opposite side of the chamber through which he would communicate with the proprietress.
It was all very discreet but, unlike Rubey’s, this particular establishment didn’t cater to Dracule members. Most of the patrons here were mortals with very specific tastes that they dared not allow to become public.
Angelica stood in the center of the room, looking as if she were afraid to touch anything. Voss couldn’t blame her; for although the bed was neatly made, its cleanliness appeared dubious at best. There were two chairs and a small dining table, along with a screen in the corner and a chamber pot. On the table was an unopened bottle of whiskey along with a collection of glasses. And, to his annoyance, in what sounded like the very next room, a woman was trying to sing to a piano that was ridiculously out of tune.
“Your choice of accommodations seems to be deteriorating,” she said, gesturing to the space. But a bit of a smile twitched at the corner of her mouth, taking some of the petulance away.
“The chair is likely the safest place,” he said, sweeping off his smothering cloak. He settled it over the nearest chair and indicated for her to sit.
And all of a sudden, he felt awkward. He was in a bedchamber, with a woman he desired.
And he felt awkward.
“Is something amusing?” Angelica asked. Despite the sensual disarray of her hair, she managed to look and sound very proper. Even her bare hands were folded neatly in her lap.
A knock at the door interrupted any reply he might have made, and Voss went to slide open its small, inset panel. He ordered food and drink for Angelica, and then closed the sliding door.
“I neglected to ask earlier,” Voss said, resisting the urge to pace, and firmly ignoring the painful nudge at the back of his shoulder, “if you were hurt. Other than your…foot.”
“Hurt? No, ’tis only a little ache. But frightened?” She lifted her chin and fastened him with her gaze. “Yes, I am quite frightened, Dewhurst. Frightened and confused.”
“I prefer you to call me Voss,” he said, taking care to allow a bit of huskiness into his voice.
She merely looked at him, and again, he felt as if the ground was falling away beneath his feet. This was a woman he couldn’t quite understand…and couldn’t control. She didn’t make demands, she didn’t throw her delicious body at him— but nor was she a shy and retiring virgin, exactly. And she was a woman who saw, and lived, death every day.
How could she bear it? How could she have such peace in her eyes?
Voss would never understand what made him speak at that moment, to ask the question that suddenly, unexpectedly, jumped into his mind. But he did, and later, he found that he didn’t regret it. “Do you know when you are to die?”