Chapter Thirteen
Thirteen
“Miss Hastings, come in, come in.”
Lord Hennawi was seated behind his desk in his human form, but he rose as I entered, coming to greet me. He shook my hand and then guided me to a seat in front of a low table where a tea tray was arranged. Mr. Connors was there as well, his eyes bright, his tongue lolling out of his mouth.
“Can I ask you to serve us some tea, Miss Hastings?” Lord Hennawi asked, sitting in one of the chairs on the other side of the table. He crossed his legs in an elegant posture and then folded his arms on top of his knee.
“Of course, my lord,” I replied. Some things hadn’t changed post-Revelation; women were still expected to serve gentlemen (or djinn or shugmonkeys) if there was tea involved.
I made quick work of the tea service, pleased to discover Lord Hennawi’s choice in tea was excellent, and we were soon munching on tea biscuits as I mentally prepared myself for the meeting.
“Well, Miss Hastings,” Lord Hennawi said in an expectant tone.
“Well, my lord. Sir,” I said, nodding toward my boss, whose tail gave a little twitch. “As you know, the Devil and his son are planning a party, and I am assisting.”
Lord Hennawi frowned. “Yes, that has us in a bit of a muddle. Why exactly are they throwing a party? It’s not as though there aren’t enough events for them to attend.
I understand they’ve been invited to many things, now that the word is out about their being here.
” He cleared his throat. “Our concern is that they are planning something.”
“Besides the party, that is,” Mr. Connors added with a wink.
I gave a wan smile in return.
“Well,” I began, glad I’d anticipated the question, “the Devil is apparently quite conscious of his image, you see. And his son wants to ensure that his father maintains a good reputation during his visit, and he’s seen—the marquis, that is, not the Devil—the flyers that have been circulating throughout the city. ”
Lord Hennawi shook his head. “Yes, most concerning. We had hoped they would not attract notice, but of course the public is thirsty for any kind of gossip.”
“By controlling his father’s image, the marquis hopes to dispel any rumors about the Devil wishing to disrupt Her Majesty’s rule.
” That made me think—we should probably get ahead of the tabloids and invite a few of their editors to the party so whatever was printed would be based on fact and not secondhand information.
Whether Marcellus would agree or not was another question, but I would have to persuade him. I didn’t want an angry mob storming Clarence House and leaving carnage in its wake. That would be chaos indeed.
“Do you believe that to be true?” Lord Hennawi pressed. “That the Devil has no designs on this world?”
I thought about treacle tarts and pub visits and the as-yet-to-be-done visit to the circus and nodded my head. “I do, my lord. The Devil, it seems to me, just wants to see the sights. He doesn’t show much interest in anything that doesn’t directly involve him, as a matter of fact.”
“The Queen and the Duke of Astelwyth expressed some concern to the contrary,” Lord Hennawi said. “Which is why we asked you to report on any unusual activity.”
“Of course,” I replied.
“But also,” Lord Hennawi continued, after taking a sip of tea, “since the Devil seems more interested in our world, the Queen wants to make certain that if there are any alliances to be made, that he make them with us and not with anybody else. Do you know if he’s had meetings with any other representatives? ”
I blinked. I hadn’t even thought of that.
I bet the Devil hadn’t, either—he didn’t strike me as very diplomacy-minded.
His son, on the other hand, was all smoothness and strategy.
I wouldn’t put it past him to have had such thoughts and not told me.
It wasn’t as though we entirely trusted each other, and for very good reason—he’d already lied to me about the initial portal outbreak, and he wasn’t going to compromise his world just because he liked my face.
Or wanted to kiss me. Or other things. Nor was I, even though he was absolutely tempting.
But tempting enough to throw away my future?
No face was beautiful enough for that.
“I have not heard of any such meetings,” I said carefully. “But I will report back if I do.”
“Yes, thank you. And, um, perhaps you could ask the marquis—it seems, from what you say, that he is the more business-minded one in the family?—if he would want to meet privately with the Queen? As a representative for his father, of course.”
Well. That was interesting. It seemed Lord Hennawi recognized the marquis as the one to speak to about these matters. We truly did have the same job, though his wasn’t an official title.
Nice to know we had more than lust in common. I mean, I knew that, and we hadn’t done the lust thing recently anyway, so this was just another reminder that my heart was in serious danger.
“What does the Queen want to gain with increasing diplomatic relations with Hell?” Mr. Connors asked.
Lord Hennawi’s expression tightened. “I am not privy to Her Majesty’s thinking, but I believe she wishes to ensure that the sun truly does not set on the British Empire.”
I snorted in disbelief, then froze as I realized I’d revealed my “revolutionary ideas.”
“For what it is worth, Miss Hastings, I agree with you,” Lord Hennawi said.
“While I think it is beneficial, of course, to be on good terms with our neighbors, no matter where they are, I don’t think it behooves us to make deals with the Devil.
So to speak,” he added, when he realized what he’d said.
“But I would prefer if this conversation was kept to ourselves,” the djinn added hastily, tendrils of smoke curling up behind his head. “Perhaps the Queen has something else in mind.”
“I will not say anything, my lord,” I assured him. “And you wish me to ask the marquis for a private meeting?”
“Yes.” Lord Hennawi nodded. “It should have happened before, but the Queen wasn’t entirely certain what the Devil wanted in coming here, and she wished to gauge his intent before revealing any position of her own, you see.”
I didn’t, but then again, I wasn’t a crafty royal vampire. I was just a human who had to muddle through the world with only a few borrowed items of protection and a multifunctional cane with an impressive tea ball.
I truly was in over my head, wasn’t I? And yet I was having the most fun I’d ever had since obtaining my position. My regular life would feel much duller when the Devil—and his tantalizing son—returned to Hell.
“I will report back when I have his answer,” I replied.
“Oh, and I wanted to ask,” I began, hoping I could word it carefully enough, “do you know if there is anyone else assigned to watch over the Devil and his entourage? The marquis mentioned seeing a suspicious character when we were at the Royal Academy, and I didn’t know if it was just a coincidence, or if there was something of which I was not aware.
” I did not want to bring up the whole Tower of London incident, at least not until I knew more.
I had to just ask, didn’t I? Imagine how ridiculous I would look if it ended up that there was someone assigned to this task, and I didn’t know about it. And I thought I would be able to tell if either of my superiors was lying to me, at the very least.
Lord Hennawi and Mr. Connors looked at each other, then at me, and then both shook their heads.
“No, Miss Hastings,” Lord Hennawi said, “we have left this duty entirely to you. We did not wish to provoke the Devil’s wrath by observing him beyond your scope.
If the Queen ordered it done, it is without our knowledge. ”
“It would be very foolish indeed,” Mr. Connors added.
“I agree,” I said. Mr. Connors, thus far, had been absolutely truthful in all his dealings, so I trusted his answer.
Lord Hennawi was more of a mystery, but at the end of the day, he was a supernatural being who was also a member of the aristocracy, so he wanted to keep the peace between the two factions.
He wouldn’t want to disrupt things, either, I didn’t think.
I finished my tea, wishing I had the temerity to stay for a second cup, and made my way home.
“What is it, Hastings?”
I was in the Clarence House ballroom again, arranging black and red roses evenly among a variety of vases. The black roses had been dyed, so I was wearing gloves that were slowly turning a nasty shade of gray.
Marcellus was sorting and counting our various pieces of folderol to see if we needed to make more. I was hoping not—we’d already made quite a few items, and frankly I was not the craftiest person, so I was getting bored and irritated.
Or perhaps that was because I remained unkissed during these days leading up to the party. I understood—we were busy—but I was also frustrated. He’d been so…forthcoming during our carriage ride, and I was craving more.
Especially since we were alone at the moment. Marcellus, apparently, had no patience for any of his father’s entourage, so he’d tersely declined any offer of help. And the Clarence House servants knew well enough by now not to disturb His Demoness.
A tiny part of me was hoping that was because he had other things in mind, but thus far, it was just flowers and folderol.
Besides, I knew we had to focus on our tasks at hand. Namely, the party and whatever conspiracy might be swirling around the Devil and his companions.
The juxtaposition of the two opposing trains of thought likely made my expression odd, which was why Marcellus had asked me the question in the first place.
“It’s—” And I shook my head as I gathered my thoughts.
I’d been thinking about the attempt on the Devil’s life at the Tower of London; the assassin had been able to escape quickly, and the knife was made of iron, not the more common steel. That suggested a level of competence and planning beyond just an angry anti-Devil being.
“How are we going to go about trying to find the mole?” I asked.
“And what if the mole doesn’t realize they’re a mole at all?
What if they just revealed the information by chance, and there is someone who is not part of your entourage who is behind the plot?
What if”—and my eyes widened as I realized what I should have realized when he’d first suggested having a party in the first place—“what if there’s another attempt during the party? ”
Marcellus gave me a smug smile. “I am counting on that.” He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. Today he wore a casual outfit, for him, which meant his neck was bare.
He’d removed his coat and rolled up his shirtsleeves, which also meant his forearms were exposed.
I stared greedily at them, noticing the lean muscles that shifted when he moved and the veins that ran up the inside of his arms.
But then I realized what he’d said.
“Wait. You’re counting on that?” I said. “What if someone gets hurt?”
He shrugged. As though it didn’t matter, once again reminding me of the enormous difference between the mortality of a human and that of a demon. “I doubt anyone will, but if they do, then we’ll have even more reason to be able to punish the culprit.”
“You can’t!” I said. “I don’t mean punishing the culprit, although actually that would be up to our government,” I temporized, “but you can’t let anyone try anything in the first place—we have to stop any possible attempt if it means someone might get hurt.”
“I don’t see why,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone. “I’ll protect you—none of us can actually get seriously harmed. My father might lose his temper, which could cause some trouble, but then we’ll know. Isn’t that the whole point?”
I took a deep breath before speaking again. “It’s— No, Marcellus. It’s far too risky. There are going to be regular beings there, beings who had no idea that they stepped into trouble when they accepted your invitation. It’s unethical.”
He gave me one of those menacing smiles I hadn’t seen since I first met him, and I felt an unease shift through me. “You are not naive, Hastings. You know we are not ethical. If there is a potential danger to my father or myself, I will do anything—anything—to thwart it.”
I bit my lip at his words, hearing the truth behind them. I was dealing with a dangerous creature, a demon from Hell, and I needed to remember that. Just because he was charming and handsome didn’t mean he wasn’t also cunning and duplicitous.
So I’d have to be on my guard and do my best on my own to ensure nobody was harmed during the party or in general, because there wasn’t anybody else who was going to do the same.
“Right now you’re telling yourself you’ll do it all on your own because I won’t.”
I froze.
“I’m right, aren’t I?”
His expression had returned to its lazily flirting one, the one I hadn’t seen that much in recent days.
The one that usually incited inappropriate feelings inside.
I wasn’t virtuous enough to say those feelings weren’t currently present as well, but they were joined by a trepidation that I couldn’t—and shouldn’t—shake.
“I have an obligation to keep people—and beings—safe,” I said in a low, quiet voice.
“It is in my actual job description, in fact. For the world to maintain whatever delicate peace it has, the various species have to tolerate one another and not get harmed. Your desire to allow this to happen, just to stir up a hornet’s nest, is foolhardy. And puts me and my job in danger.”
I expected him to wave my concerns away, but to my surprise, his expression dimmed, and he frowned in thought.
“I hadn’t thought about the implications to you, Hastings,” he said.
I kept my gaze steady on him.
“I suppose I will do my best to stop any action before it starts, if I can. I want you to keep your position. If only because I don’t want to be responsible for you losing it.”
Well. It was something, even if it wasn’t done with the best intentions. But then again, he was a demon—he didn’t have best intentions. At most, he might have middling intentions or intentions that happened to align with what might be good just by chance.
“Thank you,” I replied.
Now we just had to get through this party and see what we could discover.
Without any harm coming to the Devil, his son, his entourage, any casual onlookers, or me.
I really longed for an easy dispute between cat and dog shifters or something like that.