Rises The Night (The Gardella Vampire Chronicles 2)

She couldn't have saved them; she'd barely been able to save herself. But the knowledge that they'd faced a horrifying, painful death stabbed at her. She was a Venator. Her task was to save lives by stopping the demons and vampires from taking them. She'd failed last night.

She'd seen it happen and been powerless to stop it.

She'd been too late to save Polidori; but at least she'd tried.

She hadn't tried to save the women.

Pushing away from the mirror, Victoria washed her face with a bit of water, using her damp hands to slick back the wisps of hair that had escaped from her braid while she was sleeping.

At the bottom of the stairs she met the Italian butler, a trusted member of Aunt Eustacia's household, who gave a little bow and said, "Your aunt and two gentlemen have availed themselves of the parlor, signora."

Two gentlemen?

Victoria hurried to the parlor and opened the door.

It wasn't Max. "What are you doing here?" She stopped short inside the door.

"Bloody hell, Victoria!" Sebastian stood, starting toward her, then stopped in the middle of the room. "Your maid said you'd been hurt, but this is much worse than she indicated."

"What is he doing here?" Victoria asked her aunt, ignoring Sebastian to sit down next to her on a divan. Of course she looked like hell. She'd been mauled by three vampires.

But he didn't need to sound so blasted surprised. Or repulsed. And just because he looked as handsome and well-groomed as he always did, with his artfully tousled gilt curls and perfectly folded neck cloth…

"It looks as though you had a rather close call," Aunt Eustacia told her, peering at the bites, even poking at one with her finger. "These are quite nasty, and even though you are a Venator, these kinds of wounds can have consequences, cara. Your maid said she treated you with salted holy water; and I have something else that will help the bruising disappear." She began to rummage in the small reticule she'd pulled from her wrist.

"We are very glad you didn't suffer any worse injuries," Kritanu said in his soft voice. He reached over from the chair on which he sat and patted Victoria's hand, ending with an affectionate squeeze. "And to answer your question, Monsieur Vioget arrived at your aunt's villa late last night."

Victoria turned to look at Sebastian, who had not stopped watching her since she came in the room, and raised her eyebrow in condescending query.

"I did not know where you were staying here in Venice," he explained, settling back in his seat in an obvious attempt to appear relaxed. He crossed his arms over his middle, his well-cut jacket straining gently over his broad shoulders. "But I did know how to reach your aunt and presumed she would put me in touch with you, particularly since I came with information that I believe you will welcome. It is unfortunate that I arrived a day late, or I could likely have prevented your bloody mishap last evening."

"And how is that?" Victoria asked. She was beginning to become weary of his sudden appearances and mysterious pronouncements. He always seemed to be obscuring something. Or trying to get something.

"I could have told you that Nedas is in Rome, not here in Venice. And if you wish to infiltrate the Tutela in hopes of stopping him, you will not do so here in Venezia. And certainly not on the arm of Count Benedetto Alvisi."

"And you waited until now to apprise me of this? Why did you not tell me this before I left London? In the carriage?" Her wounds throbbed along with the angry veins in her neck.

He spread his hands. "I did not know it at the time."

"Victoria, do tell us what happened last night," Aunt Eustacia interrupted. She closed arthritic fingers around her great-niece's hand. They were chilly, but strong, and her skin was soft and textured with thick weals of veins. "And here is some cream for your bites."

With relief, Victoria turned from Sebastian and gave a detailed description of the Tutela meeting.

"So you went alone, without taking any precautions should something go wrong."

Victoria skewered Sebastian with her look. "I'm a Venator and we must take chances, dangerous though they might be."

Aunt Eustacia drew in her breath as though to speak, but Victoria stepped on her words, not wishing to be reprimanded, particularly in front of Sebastian. "I will, however, acknowledge that I should have prepared for the possibility that things were not as they had seemed. Without Max, I had to act on my own; there was no one else who could have followed along and been able to assist me had things gone awry. Which, of course, things did go wrong. As it was, I was fortunate enough to make my own escape, and to come upon Verbena and Oliver, who were able to take me home. It is not"—she nodded at Kritanu and her aunt—"an experience that I would wish to repeat."

"You did not arrange for your maid to follow you, then," Aunt Eustacia said in a carefully modulated voice, which told Victoria that she was annoyed or angry.

"I did not. She did that on her own."

"You did not send a message asking for Kritanu to come with you. He could have followed you as well."

"I did not have the luxury of time to send to you; for I received the message from Alvisi less than a half hour before he was to pick me up."

"A conscious decision on his part. He has long been trying find his way into the inner workings of the Tutela," Sebastian added.

"You seem to be exceedingly well versed in the Tutela yourself, Monsieur Vioget," Victoria responded archly.

His smile was bland. "I am very pleased to be of service to you and all of the other Venators. Now, if you will permit me, I will be more than happy to assist in connecting you with the appropriate people in Roma"—he rolled his R with an authentic Italian purr—"so that you can continue your quest to find Nedas."

Victoria looked at Aunt Eustacia. She nodded. "Si, we shall all make our way to Roma. By ship. It will be safer than by land, where the Tutela might spot us or follow us."

Chapter 12

In Which Monsieur Vioget Calls a Bluff

"Enjoying the moonlight, or patrolling the ship for nasty vampires in order to save the rest of us mere mortals?"Victoria was not startled; she'd sensed Sebastian's presence as he came up behind her on the ship's deck. She turned easily to face him, leaving one arm propped on the corner of the ship's railing. "No worries, Sebastian, darling. There's not a vampire to be found on this vessel."

"Did you just call me darling, or was I dreaming?" He selected a spot to stand next to her, far enough away that her skirts, lifting and shifting in the breeze of the Adriatic Sea, did not brush his trousers. "Perhaps I am making progress."