As Shadows Fade (The Gardella Vampire Hunters 5)

Where the hell was Victoria? Had she sent for him or not?

Suddenly, he heard a faint… splash . Water.

Max looked past the dressing table toward the dressing room and swore. Under his breath.

She was taking a bloody bath .

He turned, ready to flee, when the chamber door opened and in bustled Verbena, the poof-haired maid. She carried a load of linens and didn’t appear surprised to see him.

And now it was too damned late for him to slip out without being noticed.

“Oh, an’ there y’are,” the maid said, bustling past him. “S’sorry t’keep ye waiting, my lord, sir,” she added, her skirts sending a glass bottle clinking against another on the table as she hurried into the dressing room.

Where Victoria was bathing.

Christ. Almighty.

Max considered making his escape anyway when the chamber door opened again and in limped Vioget.

He hadn’t even knocked.

And he looked exceedingly pleased with himself as he came into the room dressed no more formally than Max himself, in trousers and an untucked shirt. Vioget never went about in such dishabille. He likely thought he’d not long be attired at all.

Fully aware of Vioget’s penchant for carriage seductions, Max couldn’t keep his mouth closed. “You’re a bit out of your element, Vioget. There’s not a carriage in the vicinity. ”

He had to give the man credit; he eclipsed his shock almost immediately. “What are you doing here?”

“Likely the same as you,” Max replied smoothly, sinking into the chair in the corner. “Responding to our ladyship’s beck and call. Unless you weren’t beckoned and are calling uninvited?”

“I was referring to your presence in London, not in this chamber,” Vioget responded.

Max looked away. Bloody damned good question. If he’d leave, Victoria would have no choice but to be with Vioget.

Now that she wasn’t drinking from the little blue bottle.

He eyed Vioget with a mixture of loathing and candor. For all the man’s faults, Max knew Sebastian cared for Victoria and would protect the woman who feared little and needed no protection-at least, overt protection.

If only Max would get out of his way and allow him to do what both men wanted Vioget to do.

“She attended a ball without an escort last evening,” Max said. “And left with none other than George Starcasset. Perhaps if you were a bit more attentive, I could leave you to your courtship. ”

Vioget’s fist tightened, and for a moment, Max thought he might use it. His glance flickered down to the clenched fingers, then back up to meet Vioget’s eyes. Yes.

Just then, he heard the quiet scuff of bare feet and the soft swish of clothing. Victoria entered the chamber, fresh from her bath. Her face flushed from the heat, her eyes bright, she brought in a waft of something spicy and exotic. She was properly clothed in a neck-to-floor robe. Only her bare toes peeked out, and in light of the fact that both Max and Vioget had seen-touched, tasted-considerably more than those slender digits, it seemed ridiculous to focus on that immodest display.

“Ah, so you’re both here. Good. ” She sat on the edge of her bed, high enough off the ground that her feet didn’t quite touch. “I’m sorry for bringing you in here, but there was no other place for us to talk. Wayren is in the parlor, and I didn’t want to disturb her… and Brim and Michalas are sleeping on the floor in the kalari room. The house isn’t large enough to accommodate so many people. ” She raised her chin, as if challenging him to argue that they

could have met in the dining room, or… somewhere. Else.

In the most surreal moment of his life, Max realized he was about to have a strategy meeting with Victoria and Vioget in her bedchamber.

Someday, perhaps, he would find it amusing.

“Brim and Michalas aren’t invited?” he drawled. “What a shame. ” Her hair fell in a dark cascade over one of her shoulders, and he remembered her scream as the clawed demon had lifted her by the scalp.

Victoria looked at him, and hell if there wasn’t a glaze of smugness in her expression. “I apologize for the informality of the accommodations, Max,” she said. “I realize you’d prefer to be anywhere but here. ”

Bull’s-eye.