Chapter 15
I didn’t sign up for monarchy drama. This is the kind of meeting that causes people to disappear, at least in movies. And my life has been a lot like a movie lately, so I think my concerns are justified.
“Which house, Sophia?” Cassian demands.
“No,” she says stubbornly. “I’m not giving you information unless you sign a pardon and promise my staff and me official house protection.”
Cassian curses, standing. “Sophia, I swear—”
“Is it the Staulingtons?” Noah interrupts. “This hotel belongs to Alfred.”
She lets out a mirthless laugh. “Alfred has no political aspirations. He is content to spend his family’s money and rub elbows with whomever he thinks will make them more.”
“What about Jameson?” Cassian asks.
She turns her eyes on him. “I know the two of you are often at odds, but do you think he murdered Etienne?”
Cassian falls silent. After several seconds, he says, “No.”
“It’s not the Staulingtons,” Sophia says primly. “Sit down, Cassian—your broth is getting cold.”
“I don’t have any desire to get involved in these political games,” he says. “You know that.”
“You’re a prince—you can’t escape them.”
“Let’s say this house you were working for did assassinate Etienne,” Noah says.
“And they used you to create a criminal web that can’t be traced back to them.
What do you want me to do about it? I can arrest the rogue vampires you point me toward, but I’m only the head of the western region for the US branch of NIHA. My reach is limited.”
“I don’t know who else to go to.” The bubbly woman from earlier is gone.
This Sophia looks tired and scared. She lowers her voice to a whisper.
“They’re orchestrating things behind the scenes, and I no longer know who I can trust. And I honestly believe they’re trying to keep Cassian off the throne. He’s a threat.”
“I don’t want the throne,” Cassian insists.
“There’s an actual throne?” I whisper to Noah.
He leans close, dropping his voice. “I don’t honestly know.”
“You might not want to rule,” Sophia says to Cassian, “but a lot of people think you’d be a good choice. You’re going to be nominated again. Just like before.”
“And I’ll decline, just like before. If my so-called supporters want the throne, they can take it. I’m barely a prince. I’ve made exactly two vampires—you and Noah. The rest of my line is a bunch of rogue riffraff created because you have a bleeding heart.”
“Hey,” I say. “I’m one of those rogue riffraff.”
Cassian shoots me a look, trying not to smile, and then turns back at Sophia. “You know what I’m saying.”
“I do,” Sophia says, exasperated. “But I also know you’re two hundred years old, have never gotten caught up in a scandal, have never murdered a human, and have carved the way for vampires worldwide to have a better life.
” She extends her hand toward him, almost in a plea.
“And a lot of our people know that as well.”
Cassian presses his lips into a firm line, and then he corrects, “I’m two hundred forty.”
Sophia studies him for several seconds before she smiles like she can’t help herself. “You’ve always looked good for your age, Your Highness.”
Cassian’s lips twitch as he meets the petite vampire’s eyes. And for just a few seconds, they look at each other with remembered fondness that makes me swoon a little.
“Cassian,” Sophia continues softly, “if they can’t take you down with a scandal, who knows what they might resort to?” She beseeches him with her eyes. “Personally, I’d like to see you reach two hundred forty-one.”
A chill runs down my spine. This just got a little too real.
Noah must agree. He rises with a sigh. “I know you run on vampire time, but for us, it’s late. Let’s continue this conversation later in the week.”
“You’re a vampire,” Sophia points out.
“Yes, about that,” Larissa says, joining the conversation. She’s been watching the drama the whole time, sipping her tea from her perch on one of the settees, ankles primly crossed, red lips probably staining her porcelain cup. “I’d like to know how you and Cassian walk freely in the sunlight.”
“Next time,” Noah says, turning for the door.
I touch his arm. “What about Daniel?”
“Right,” Noah groans, and then he looks at Cassian. “Did you send him our location?”
“I didn’t.”
“You were supposed to—”
“Piper told me you’d found Sophia, and I lost my head.” He stares down his friend, unrepentant.
Sophia’s eyes fly wide at the romantic declaration. She bites her bottom lip and looks down at her lap, blushing like the southern belle she must have been at some time.
And then Cassian goes and adds, “If someone is going to kill her, it’s going to be me.”
Her sweet smile turns into a scowl.
Okay then.
“Who’s Daniel?” Sophia asks.
“My friend in NIHA,” Noah says. “He has hunters on standby.”
Though it’s obvious Sophia is trying to be nonchalant about it, she’s nervous. “What will you tell him?”
“That we met an anonymous informant who had news about the rogue vampires. For now.”
Relieved, she nods.
Noah sets his hand on my shoulder, silently telling me it’s time to leave. But as we walk toward the door, he turns around like he’s just remembered something. “Listen, if we’re going to work together, you can’t make any more vampires. Before I leave tonight, I need you to agree to that.”
Sophia’s face falls. “What about Richard? He’ll die if he doesn’t get the final dose.”
I glance at Noah, my heart pinching. His eyebrow twitches, and he works his jaw.
“Who’s Richard?” Cassian demands.
Sophia answers, “I met a woman at a coffee shop in Savanah last year while I was visiting home—Gladys is her name. Oh, Cassian, you would just adore her. She’s so genteel—a proper lady. We got along splendidly. Well, her husband—”
“Get to the point, Sophia,” Cassian cuts her off. “Richard is her husband?”
“No.” Sophia fidgets with her cup. “Richard is her husband’s cousin’s uncle.”
“Sophia,” Cassian says, annoyed.
“He was a tech-ed teacher for thirty years—they do that woodworking thing, with the tools and the saws and…I don’t know.
Hammers, I suppose. Anyway, two years after he retired, he was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Obviously, he didn’t have the funds for my services, so I offered to give him the virus for free.
Richard, lovely man that he is, refused.
He said he worked his entire life and wouldn’t accept charity now.
So, I hired him—and now he’s dying. I must uphold my end of the bargain. ”
“Sophia, it’s illegal.”
Her eyes flash. “It’s only illegal because Andrei put vampirism on a pedestal.”
“What is she talking about?” I quietly ask Noah.
“Andrei Nicolau, the archduke whose reign stretched from the early nineteenth century into the beginning of the twentieth. He soothed the fears of several monarchies and governments, agreeing that vampirism should be regulated as much as possible. But many claim he was gatekeeping.”
“What if I bite him on accident?” Sophia asks Noah, practically begging. “I could trip and accidentally latch onto his arm as I fell.”
“It’s not an accident if it’s premeditated,” Noah says dryly.
“Please, Montgomery.” Eyes glossing with tears, Sophia sets down her cup and saucer and presses her hands together. “Just this one time. Cassian said it himself—the courts are lenient when it’s a life-or-death situation, and this is.”
“Even if Cassian won’t issue a pardon, it’s possible I can ask your judge for leniency for your past transgressions, especially if you will go down to the office and make an official statement,” Noah finally says. “But I cannot condone a future crime.”
Sophia begins to beg, but Noah turns away again.
“What about Piper?” Sophia demands just before we reach the door. “You’re going to outlive her. Eventually, her body is going to succumb to an illness. Will you take your cold stance then, just because a vampire a century ago decided this is how it should be?”
“We’re not together,” I say, trying to free Noah of the question.
Sophia gives me a pitying smile that sits like iron in my stomach. Noah and I aren’t together, and we might never be. I might meet a nice, regular human, and we’ll live our regular lives with our regular children.
But this is Noah’s reality…whether I’m in it or not.
“Come on, Piper,” Noah says, his tone a little weary. “We’re leaving.”
We go down the elevator in silence. We don’t talk as we cross the fancy Victorian foyer, nor as we walk to Noah’s SUV.
He calls Daniel when we’re on the road, letting him know we’re fine, telling him exactly what he said he would.
When I can take the silence no longer, I say, “Sophia wasn’t what I expected.”
He looks pensive. “Me either.”
“Do you think Cassian was actually going to murder her?”
“The heads of the houses are expected to control their offspring. If Sophia willfully broke the laws Archduke Nicolau put in place, I think it’s possible Cassian felt a strong duty to…” He swallows.
“But she was his fiancée,” I argue, aghast.
He glances at me. “And that’s probably why she’s not dead.”
“He made me think she was a monster. She’s more like a willful kitten.”
Noah grunts.
“What will you do if she bites Richard again?”
“I don’t know.”
“I understand why the law is in place, especially after my experience with Ethan. But at the same time, I…”
“It’s a polarizing subject,” Noah agrees.
“Cassian must have infected Sophia before the law was in place.”
“I’m assuming so, yes.”
We fall silent again, and I fidget with my purse’s strap. “Do you think he still loves her?”
“You’d have to ask Cassian that.”
“Is it bad that I ship them?”
“I’m sorry.” He frowns. “You what?”
I laugh a little. “I ship them. You know, I’m rooting for them? I want them to get together?”
“Is that another K-drama thing?”
“No, it’s like a fandom thing. Books. Movies.”
“Why is it called shipping?”
“It’s short for relationship, I think. Or maybe it’s because you’ll loyally go down with your ship? I’m not really sure.”
He glances over. “My girlfriend is a little weird.”