As Shadows Fade (The Gardella Vampire Hunters 5)

She stopped at the edge of the ballroom, and glanced at the foyer beyond. Guests were still arriving, despite the fact that there were more than three dozen already here. Firmly she pulled her arm from his grip and stepped away, looking up into his pale blue eyes.

“Her fifth cousin is a swine and a fool, and is most likely at the bottom of the Thames with the fish,” replied George airily.

“I suppose that to mean Miss Maybelle partook of a generous portion of his blood before disposing of him. Or did she have you do it?”

He had the grace to look away. “He was a swine,” George repeated, petulance in his voice.

“But a man, nevertheless. I happen to know a few of those swine type of men myself. ” She looked at him meaningfully. “But I’ve never gone so far as to feed them to the fishes-or the undead. ” She pursed her lips, rather enjoying the moment of watching George squirm. Of course what he’d been party to wasn’t amusing at all, and if ever a man deserved a comeuppance, it was George Starcasset.

In fact, the only reason she hadn’t yet walked away from him and left him to deal with his vampire guest on his own was the very real threat that he might involve Lady Nilly.

“Did you have something to do with her being turned undead?” she asked again.

He smiled nervously, his cheeks rounding like crab apples. The softness made him look more like a boy than ever. “Mm… She was curious, and so Gwennie helped… and next thing, she had red eyes and fangs. And,” he added, swallowing, “an attachment to me. ”

Victoria’s brows rose. “And what did dear Sara Regalado have to say of that attachment? The two of you seemed to be rather intimately acquainted when you were escorting her about Town. ”

Sara Regalado had been a powerful member of the Tutela, often to the extent of sacrificing willing and unwilling human life. Her father, the Conte Regalado, had been the Tutela’s leader in Rome before being turned into a vampire and attempting to woo Lady Melly.

Sara was dead now, but she’d figured significantly in Victoria’s adventures in the last year, initially by befriending her in Rome and then announcing that she was engaged to Max. That engagement had turned out to be a foil Max created so he could infiltrate the Tutela.

At the beginning of the summer, Sara and George had turned up together in London. This was after disappearing in Rome, during a battle in which Max had killed the evil demon Akvan, who was also their master.

“Thought it quite amusing, if you must know,” George admitted. “Loved to watch Maybelle feed. ”

Victoria nodded knowingly. Sara had been overly fond of watching the undead drink blood-from both a distance and her own participation. “On you, of course. ”

He looked away, grinding his jaw so hard that his chin shifted and creaked audibly. “Finished with vampires,” he muttered, then looked back at her. “Will you help rid me of her?”

Victoria looked down at her magnificent gown. Since she’d become a Venator, fashion had been low on her list of priorities… but the frock was new. And the loveliest gown, after her wedding dress, she’d ever owned. And Verbena would scold. She’d hate to tear it, or get it stained. Yet… it had been two weeks since she’d seen a vampire. Her stake fingers were beginning to itch. Not to mention the fact that the whole situation with Max had left her in a constant state of frustration.

It would be a simple task. Perhaps she could even stake Maybelle, then return to the dance before anyone knew she’d gone.

“There will be conditions,” she told George sternly.

His eyes sprang round and hopeful. “You’ll do it, then?”

She nodded once, then began to tick off her requirements. “We will take my carriage. You shall alight from it at your residence and draw Maybelle out to me in my vehicle. Tell her whatever you wish: that you’ve someone to feed on or whatnot. Once she’s safely in the carriage, I will dispatch her for you. And then,” she said, glaring at him, “you’ll stay away from the Tutela, and the undead. If I find that you’ve become involved with them again-even thought about going about in the moonlight-I will kill you. ”

He was nodding emphatically. “Of course, of course. ”

She looked at him long and hard, and saw only sincerity and hopefulness there. At least for now, he was good for his word. “And if I choose to, I’ll collect on this favor at any time, and in any manner. ”

“Agreed. ” His moment of begging over, George allowed his attention to slip down toward her bosom once again.

Victoria sighed. “Then let us get on our way. ”

“Tonight? You’ll do it tonight?” He looked as though she’d offered to tear off her gown right there.

“Of course. Do you think I shall stand for you to bring any other people for her to feed on?” She started for the entrance, and he trotted after like an earnest pup.

Max scanned the guests in the ballroom beyond, taking care to remain at the edge of the grand foyer of the duchess’s home. The last thing he needed was one of those mercenary Society mamas to get him in her sights as a potential husband for her skinny, pale, spotted, or talkative daughter-despite the fact that he wasn’t a member of the ton or even the Italian peerage. It seemed as though any unmarried, ambulatory male (and even some who weren’t) who had access to Society gatherings was considered a potential husband.

He would have preferred to stay in tonight, knowing that Victoria was out and unlikely to disturb him in the kalari , the room set aside for martial arts training. He’d thought to ask Kritanu to work with him, hoping to take the man’s mind off his grief-but then he’d had to attend to this.

Blast it. Where the hell was she?

It wasn’t as if that bloody red dress-what there was of it-wouldn’t stand out, especially among the washed-out pinks, blues, greens, and yellows that clustered around the roo