“Promise?”

  “I swear it on Astrid’s name. I won’t let anyone turn you against your will. Even if they drained you, I’d find an economy-sized stake and shove it right up your—”

  “I get it,” he said with a snide expression.

  “Left ventricle,” I finished with a shaky smile. “So, can we get going now, or are we going to stand here, making violent promises to each other all night?”

  I took a step back, and we resumed our walk.

  The rain had died away shortly after I’d found Maverick, confirming that his power had been the epicenter of the bad weather.

  ***

  Rupert’s home was arranged at the end of a cul-de-sac, brightly lit by a row of twinkling red and gold lights. Expensive cars lined the long streets, congesting what was usually a wide, tree-lined street. Music filtered through the open front doors, and the labyrinthine mess that Rupert called a rose garden. A silly feature, in my opinion. Too many security risks involved. But then, how often was he really challenged? Aesthetics had trumped practicality for years, on both sides.

  I reached into my clutch and produced a vial of Confusion Oil, offering it to Maverick. He shook his head with a ghostly smirk.

  “Keep it. I have my own. And mine is doubtless of better quality than what the gypsy came up with. Just because you make do with her brews, doesn’t mean the rest of us have to.”

  “She’s good,” I said with a frown, uncorking the bottle.

  Maverick’s smirk bloomed into the real thing. He produced a larger and more colorful bottle of the same. “Maybe. But I’m better. I don’t need gypsy magic to get me out of trouble.”

  “Don’t say that too loudly,” I said, rounding the corner. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to need all the help we can get.” Then I took a deep breath and gave him a big grin. “Now smile. It’s showtime.”

  ***

  The house’s architecture was modern, full of sharp angles and wide, floor-to-ceiling windows.

  Approaching the mahogany door made me feel like a small animal wandering a little too close to the glittering maw of something huge and hungry—an impression that was only reinforced when a pair of cool hands wound around my waist, prying me gently from Maverick’s grasp.

  I barely stifled a yelp. Maverick failed entirely and almost sloshed his entire vial of Confusion Oil into the face of the vampire behind him. He caught himself just in time, arresting the motion before any liquid could drip onto Vicente’s face.

  “Sorry,” Vicente whispered, accent a little thicker than it might have otherwise been. Lorcan’s voice tended to do the same thing when he was stressed. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

  I craned my neck and found Erasmus behind me, looked equally sheepish. He looked older than most of the other (former) warlocks, as Janeth had kept him alive for a year or two before finally killing him. He was on the shorter side, but had managed to grow a little facial hair, which added to the impression of age. His eyes were a vivid green, the color similar to Lorcan’s, and crinkled a little when he offered me a smile.

  “We thought it would be best if we walked in with you. Two vampires and two feeders look less suspicious than two feeders arriving late. They’ll think we stole you for a little fun.”

  “Ah, good idea,” I answered. Maverick just groaned.

  “How’d you guess the uniform, anyway?” Erasmus asked.

  “It varies from clan to clan,” Vicente continued. “Janeth’s maker likes to dress her servants in purple.”

  I stepped out from the circle of Erasmus’s arms, offering him a hand instead. He took it graciously. I nodded toward the house, whispering, “I visited last year. I noticed all the human staff were wearing Neiman Marcus pieces, and since vampires tend to be creatures of habit, I thought it was a good bet Rupert would keep with the old standbys. I think I did spectacularly on the shade, given I had no swatch to work with.”

  Erasmus looked almost… impressed. “You got all that from one visit?”

  I flipped my heavy (newly) blonde ponytail over my shoulder with a smirk. “I’m a freaking marvel. Don’t forget it.”

  Erasmus’ eyes twinkled with good humor for just a moment. Then it was gone—as if he remembered what we were still to do—something that had no place for humor. He stepped into me as we approached the door, delivering a playful nip to my neck. I didn’t have to fake a giggle when his beard tickled my throat. I pushed him away, just as the guards flanking the doorway turned in our direction.

  I batted at Erasmus’s face ineffectually, still grinning. I had the image of a bubbly blonde cheerleader in my mind and projected it for all I was worth when Erasmus made another grab for my waist.

  “Stop it, Luke, we’re going to be late! We’re late already,” I sucked in a dramatic breath when he caught me again. “I don’t want to miss it!”

  “Five more minutes,” he said in a husky stage whisper, pretending to ignore the guards. I saw one of them roll their eyes good-naturedly at the scene before them. It probably wasn’t the first they’d witnessed tonight.

  “The last ten minutes weren’t enough for you?” I countered. “Come on, I’m dizzy, and I need a bandage after all that. Let me sit down to watch the show, please.”

  Erasmus turned toward the guards with a devil-may-care smile and what-can-you do shrug. We were close enough, and distracting enough, that they didn’t see Maverick and Vicente on our heels. And by the time they shifted their attention to the pair, it was too late. Maverick had already shaken hands with all four of them, smearing them liberally with the Confusion Oil.

  That left them blinking and chuckling vaguely as we passed. I waited until we were alone in the nearby coat room to relax the set of my shoulders and release my grip on Erasmus’s arm.

  “Sorry about that,” he said. And he did look apologetic. Of the five of them, William was the outgoing, flirtatious one, not Erasmus. This must have been like hitting on his friend’s sister. Not something you did in polite society. “And you, uh, you won’t tell Lorcan?”

  I gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s fine. It’s not like you pinched my ass.”

  “True,” he answered with a quick nod.

  “Speaking of… where are Lorcan and the twins?” I asked.

  “Down the street, just waiting for the signal that we’ve found Sybil.”

  “Lorcan says he’s not sure about this...” Vicente added.

  “Neither am I,” I admitted. “But Lorcan said he doesn’t want me to martyr myself either, so this is the plan we have and we’re going with it.” I took a breath. “We’ll find you when it’s over.”

  He nodded, gave us a few moments to dab all our various oils onto ourselves, and then cracked the door for us. We slipped out, heads down, color high in our cheeks. I doubted we were the first to be seen sneaking away from a sordid encounter with a vampire. The evening was young, and it was a vampire ball. Everyone’s blood was high, so to speak.

  Lorcan had underestimated the numbers Rupert could bring to bear. He’d assumed we’d be facing a hundred vampires. But there were at least three hundred in attendance here, at a quick glance. Now, that wouldn’t mean they’d all be willing to fight, but if even half this number volunteered, we’d have had another war on our hands.

  Maverick kept an iron hold on my wrist, inching us through the crowd of mingling vampires at a snail’s pace.

  “Is there any reason we’re walking so slowly?” I asked.

  Maverick’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t otherwise react to my tone. “The mixture is unstable.”

  “Mixture?” I echoed.

  “The blend of Confusion Oil and Fiery Command Oil I created is potent, but I don’t trust it in a room at capacity with bloodsuckers. Like you said, we can disguise our scent and disguise our faces, but this is still risky if we’re using magic. It only takes one person to notice something out of place to poke a hole in the illusion. So, we move slowly and let the potion do its work.”

  “Fiery Command Oil? Why would you blend that with Confusion Oil?”

  With my level of ineptitude when it came to potions, even having the ingredients for both nearby would be enough to cause a spontaneous explosion, leveling the nearest building.

  “It’s the closest thing you can get to a control-serum,” he answered in an undertone. “Confusion Oil to get someone’s rational mind out of the way and Fiery Command Oil to make them follow orders.”

  I stared at him, appalled. “Are you saying you’ve used this before?”

  He huffed out a frustrated breath. “It can’t force you to do something that goes against your core beliefs. I couldn’t use it to make you love me, for example. It’s just superficial control. In this case, I’m exuding a very low-level ‘stay the fuck out of my way’ vibe. And all the vamps are stepping out of our path without really thinking about it, see?”

  I followed his gaze and, sure enough, found the next cluster of vampires stepping backward, giving us a small avenue to navigate. They covered the motion by turning to their neighbors to talk, stooping to arrange the ties on their dress shoes, or making a detour to the line of other feeders at the back of the room. Their eyes roved past us as if we weren’t even there.

  Perfect.

  “It’s good,” I conceded. “You’ll have to talk to Poppy about that blend.”

  “She can pay for the recipe,” he said with a tight smile. “After all, we do have a daughter to support.”

  Daughter.

  The word made my stomach clench. We had a daughter. A daughter who’d put herself in danger in an attempt to save my life, all because I’d been too stupid to guard my mouth while she was in earshot. I’d assumed she was too new, too inhuman to register what it all meant. Now it could get her killed.

  Chapter Nineteen

  We reached the edge of the crowd with a suddenness that startled me.

  Maverick pushed me against one of the ornately decorated walls, taking our place next to more feeders. They had the glassy-eyed contentment of well-drugged puppies and barely spared us a glance as we inched away from them.

  “Okay, we’re through,” I said, more to myself than him. “Now we just have to find—”

  I collided with Maverick’s back, face mashing into the scarlet silk of his shirt before I could stop myself. I was set to curse him, but when I peered around his elbow, I found the reason for the sudden stop.

  Rupert and his cronies had arranged themselves in gilt chairs only feet away, guarding what could only be described as a human-sized bird cage. And inside it was Sybil.

  Or rather, Sybil disguised as me.

  My world tilted a little off its axis as I took in her crouched position, arms clutched around her middle. She was identical to me, down to the last, luscious curve, but at the same time was very much not me. Her eyes were the same shape, the same color, but they were wide with fear that I would never have allowed myself to show, especially in the face of this many vampires. Especially in the face of one who was such an asshole.

  Sybil’s lips were just as full as mine, but trembled as she fought the urge to cry. I wouldn’t have cried in front of a vampire, period. Lorcan excluded, of course, and that was only because the bastard had pushed me to my limit. But this dickhead? No, I wouldn’t have gone crying to my death. I’d have hexed him right between the pointy ends of his teeth.

  Sybil looked like a perfectly made-up actress who’d flubbed all her lines and was on the edge of a nervous breakdown. I was shocked she hadn’t broken character and revealed herself yet. I’d been prepared for that scenario too, but I was secretly grateful she hadn’t cracked. Now there was a chance we might both emerge from this alive.

  “Now what?” Maverick asked.

  “Now we put on a show.”

  I pulled my phone from my pocket and sent off a single, terse text: Ready when you are.

  Maverick leaned over and read the message with a frown. “What are they going to do? We haven’t freed Sybil yet. Shouldn’t the distraction happen when we’re trying to make our escape?”

  “There is no escape,” I said. “Rupert is going to keep coming for me. The only way out is death and we’re going to let Rupert think he managed to force Lorcan’s hand.”

  “How?”

  “Watch and find out,” I answered. I hadn’t wanted to explain the whole plan, its ins and outs, with Maverick beforehand because I hadn’t wanted to deal with his myriad questions and arguments.

  I scooted along the wall until I reached the bird cage. Sybil perked up very slightly when I whispered her name.

  “Mother?”

  “Shh,” I said, pressing a finger to my lips.

  I knelt, on the pretext of redoing the strap on my heel. Rupert’s gaze swept over me, stuttering for a second, but eventually moving on. Maverick’s stuff was good. I’d definitely have to pay for more of this potion of his.

  Between the disguise and the potion, we’d managed to avoid detection, even while standing nearby. I prayed to the Goddess our luck would hold up.

  “It’s okay. Lorcan is going to get you out of there in a minute,” I whispered to Sybil. “He’s going to yell, and he might have to pretend to hurt you a little bit. When he whispers instructions to you, listen to them and do whatever he tells you to do, okay?”

  She nodded, tears quivering on her lashes. My lashes. Goddess, this was strange. “I’m sorry, Mama,” she whispered, voice lost in the eager hum of the crowd. “I just wanted to help.”

  The earnestness in her voice hurt to hear. I struggled to swallow past the knot of grief in my throat. This was my fault.

  “I know you did. And you are. Just listen to Lorcan, okay? It will all be over soon.”

  “What are we—?” Maverick began.

  His words were drowned by a furious roar of sound. A trio of raised male voices echoed in the foyer and only grew louder and more irate the closer they came. Eager faces turned toward the door as newcomers spilled into their midst.

  William, Amos, and Lorcan wore identical expressions of fury, despite being so disparate in looks. Lorcan’s face was paler than I’d ever seen it, teeth extended in a snarl so savage, it scared even me. If I’d been on the receiving end of his ire, I’d have been running. But Rupert just stood, giving Lorcan a magnanimous bow.

  “Ah, Lorcan, fashionably late as always,” he said, voice smooth and lightly amused. “Your heir arrived well before you did.” Then he turned around and motioned to Sybil. “I hope you don’t mind her accommodations. You know how flighty witches can be.”

  The crowd laughed, as though the trite joke had been something outrageously funny. My jaw hurt from trying to contain a shout. Sybil cringed away from the sound.

  “Let her out,” Lorcan snarled. “Or I swear to God I’ll tear your fecking head off.”

  “God?” Rupert asked with a laugh as he looked around at his retinue. “We are our own gods.”

  Everyone cheered at that as Rupert took the steps that separated him from Lorcan, the amusement now missing from his eyes. “And, besides, you wouldn’t make it three steps, boy,” he finished, tone shifting to cold fury in an instant.

  “Don’t test me,” Lorcan responded.

  But Rupert didn’t seem to be in the least bit concerned. “You know as well as I do that this was a long time coming. The only good Blood Witch is a dead Blood Witch. You know the price for her freedom.”

  Lorcan’s eyes flicked from his adoptive sire to Sybil’s position in the cage, and back several times. His fists clenched and unclenched many times before his shoulders sagged. He was doing a very admirable job of playing his part.

  “We’ll pay whatever price you have in mind. Just let her out,” Lorcan said.

  “What?” Maverick hissed.

  “Go with it,” I whispered at him.

  I began tugging on Maverick’s arm, trying to guide him away. He fought me, and only a sharp jab to his side stilled him long enough to allow me to pull him along. His eyes were glued to Sybil’s cage, watching with horror when one of Rupert’s vampires unlocked it and dragged her out, flinging her across the room toward him.

  Lorcan scooped her out of the air, stroking her hair, whispering softly into her ear. The tears that had gathered on her lashes fell, and she nodded in response to whatever he’d said. He bent toward her and…

  I had to gag Maverick with the strap of my clutch when Lorcan sank his fangs into Sybil’s throat.

  “He’ll kill her!” Maverick started.

  “No, you fool, he’s saving her.”

  I managed to wrestle Maverick into an adjoining hall before he recovered himself. Then his hex took me off my feet, sending me flailing halfway down a familiar hall. I impacted the carpet on my ass, which was the only thing that saved me from breaking anything vital. As it was, I was sure there’d be brilliant purple bruises on my thighs and lower back as a result of all the tumbling it took to slow my fall.

  Maverick was a serious pain in my ass. Literally.

  When I finally came to a stop, I found myself sopping wet, braced against a fallen hall table, with a runner bunched between my thighs. A vase of roses had shattered on the floor, splattering me with the floral-scented water.

  Maverick turned away from me, striding back the way we’d come, but when he tried the door, it stuck. He rounded on me then, a dangerous gleam in his eyes. The new colored contacts didn’t make him look an iota less dangerous.

  “Open this door now,” he said quietly. The shadows above him bunched and roiled like boiling water. The air grew thicker, the muggy pause right before the storm hit. “I mean it, Wanda, don’t make me hurt you.”

  I didn’t point out that I was already hurt. He’d consider this a warning, and anything that came next as the lesson. The power he was already displaying made me nervous. Betanya was right. He was developing unstable death magic at a pace that outstripped us both. It was then that I regretted not having filled him in on the plan earlier—it’s just… I hadn’t expected this reaction from him.

  “So, you can scupper the plan? No. Everything is going exactly the way it was meant to.”

  “The way it was meant to!” he shouted. His voice was only disguised by the thunderous applause from outside. “That asshole bit my daughter!”