And then they both heard it, and just as the noise registered in her mind, the door slammed open.
In the doorway stood Max, leaning heavily against its side. "Rockley's been attacked," he said, then slid to the floor.
Chapter Seventeen
In Which Miss Grantworth's Bedchamber Sees Much Activity
The next thirty minutes were a blur of activity. Max, although confused and weak, was still coherent enough to explain that he'd managed to stop a vampire in the midst of an attack on Phillip. "Was he bitten?" asked Victoria, wrapping one of his heavy arms around her shoulders so that he leaned against her and one hand dangled free just below her left breast. She was helping him out to his unmarked carriage—not as difficult a task as it would have been if she didn't wear a vis bulla.
"No… got there in time. Staked the bastard. "
Victoria assumed he meant the vampire, not Phillip. Although she wasn't completely positive.
Max had saved Phillip, hustled him into Barth's hackney, and given the driver explicit instructions on how to get him home and what to do once there. Phillip was unhurt, but confused and nearly unconscious from the ensuing scuffle.
"What will he remember?" asked Victoria as she helped Max climb into his carriage.
"Nothing. Used the… pendant. "
She pushed him into his seat, then climbed back out of the carriage to say good-bye to Sebastian, who, although he hadn't been much help getting Max outside, had not hindered her effort either. He'd come along, showed her another way out from the back area, and helped to call Max's carriage around.
"Thank you," she told him, although she wasn't sure what she was thanking him for.
"Until we meet again," he said simply. He made no move to offer her glove, and she didn't ask. Victoria turned and climbed into the vehicle. Sebastian closed the door behind her.
The carriage lurched as they started off, and she tipped onto the seat across from Max.
He was slumped in the corner, a rumpled lump of black and gray. As the street lamps flashed into the interior, she saw that his eyes were closed.
Had he been bitten? She hadn't even thought to ask… she'd been so worried about Phillip since Max's dire announcement.
Victoria stood carefully, coming over to his side of the carriage, and nearly fell in his lap when they went around an unexpected corner.
She was just reaching for his collar when he opened his eyes. "What are you doing?" he asked, pushing himself upright.
"I thought you might have been bitten. "
"Sit down. " He glowered at her. "I haven't been bitten in… years. "
"Then why do you carry salted holy water? And why does that bite look like it's new?"
"So that if I am with anyone who's bitten, I can pour it on their bite. " He seemed to be suddenly more alert.
"What happened to you, then, if you weren't bitten?"
He drew in a deep breath, folding his arms over his middle. "I was drugged. By your marquess. "
Victoria's eyebrows rose. "Really. So a mere slip of a marquess got the best of you, when a nasty vampire couldn't? And you freely admit this?"
Max opened his mouth as if to speak, but appeared to change his mind. He turned to look out the window, his profile flashing every time a street lamp illuminated the carriage interior. She looked at the haughty slope of his nose, the set ridges of his mouth, the unruly mess of dark hair. He looked beat.
"What happened, Max?"
"I did what you asked, Victoria. We needn't discuss it further. " He did not look away from the window. "Your marquess is safe and will suffer no ill effects—and very little memory of what happened, because I took care of that too. He was trying to shoot a vampire with a pistol. " Scorn laced his voice. Then, "Where is your glove?"
Victoria looked down; both of her arms were hidden under her cloak, the bare one and the gloved one. "I… Sebastian took it. "
Max turned to look at her. "And what else did he take?"