Chapter Three #2
We were fifteen feet up on a wheeled scaffold, our necks and backs aching. Well, my neck and back ached. The platform was barely big enough for two, and we kept bumping in the most arousing — er, annoying — way possible.
“Principles are for big things. Other things, you can let slide,” I told him. “You know. Pick your battles.”
His only reply was a dark look. Then he turned on the vacuum and swept it over the next portion of sculpted ceiling.
I followed him with a brush and damp cloth. Thank goodness the artisans who’d designed the place had limited themselves to a single oval of molding and small, sculpted wreaths in the corners. Otherwise, cleaning and painting it all would take years.
One thing was for sure — many hands made light work. Especially Roux’s. Time flew, and it seemed like only a matter of minutes before we had to climb down and reposition the scaffold. Progress was that swift.
Agreeing on things, on the other hand…
“This way.” I angled my head to the right.
He shook his head, pointing left. “That way.”
I jutted my jaw. “This way makes more sense.”
He snorted. “How?”
“Because we follow the wall.”
He pointed. “Yes — that wall.”
“No, that wall,” I shot back.
He made a face, and I did too. Boy, oh boy. Talk about obstinate tigers.
“Are you the helper or the mastermind here?” I finally snipped.
He grimaced. “Helper.”
“Then help, please, by moving the scaffold this way.”
He did, though he wasn’t all that pleased. Neither was I. Next time, I would ask for a different helper. Maybe even Henrik.
At some point, a bell in the old-fashioned call system jingled, and Bene cheered from upstairs.
“Lunch! Finally!”
I climbed down the scaffold, then checked over our work. We’d finished a much bigger section than I’d imagined, and while there was still a lot to be done, it was starting to feel manageable.
Obstinate tigers definitely had their plus sides.
Roux sighed, though, as if he’d expected us to have finished by now. “That’s going to take at least another week.”
“It’s going to look stunning when we’re done, though.”
We took in our handiwork for another few seconds, then turned to put away our brushes. And dammit — even in the vast emptiness of the ballroom, we managed to bump butts again.
“Would you cut that out?” I muttered.
Quite unnecessarily, because he jumped away faster than I did.
“You cut it out,” he said, all offended.
Which went to prove I definitely wasn’t his type — if he had one. The man would probably have been happiest married to the military. But the poor guy hadn’t seen that nasty divorce coming, and now, he had to reinvent himself. Hard to do when you weren’t all that creative.
I, on the other hand, was a master at creating. Briefly, I even considering helping him. Then I decided Roux was a big boy, and I had already done my good deed of the month by helping Claudette.
However, that became increasingly challenging, especially when she turned up to breakfast the next morning acting strangely. Giddy, on the one hand, but lethargic on the other.
Henrik, meanwhile, looked rosier than ever.
Seconds later, the terrible truth dawned on me. They’d spent the night together, indulging in more than just sex, hadn’t they?
A closer look revealed the light bruise on Claudette’s neck, along with a faint pair of bite marks.
“Bonjour,” Mina greeted everyone cheerily on her way in. Then she froze. Her cheeks went from pink to furious burgundy, and her hands curled into fists.
Marius was right on her heels, and he stopped too, instantly alert to his mate’s change in mood.
I towed my sister into the adjoining ballroom before either of them exploded.
“I’ll kill Henrik,” she fumed.
Well, she would have to grab her wooden stake and get in line behind me.
“I can’t believe he would do this to her,” Mina ranted.
Her was Delphine, Henrik’s mistress. The woman was incredibly sweet and hopelessly in love with him.
Hopeless because he was a vampire and she a mere human.
Also because she was a prostitute, and he treated her like one.
Well, sometimes. Occasionally, he showed a quieter, more indulgent, and — dare I say — human side.
For example, during Delphine’s recent visit for Mina’s wedding.
Delphine sang beautifully, and when Henrik accompanied her on piano…
Well, the results were heavenly, if such a word could be used in the context of a vampire.
But once Henrik had drunk his fill and tired of her company, he’d sent her away, leaving Auberre a little less sunny — and Henrik even more irritable than usual.
“I hate it too, but there’s another angle to this,” I said, trying to calm my sister.
“You mean, the angle I ram a stake into Henrik’s heart from?”
“No, I mean for Claudette.”
Mina looked shocked. “Are you suggesting there’s an upside to this?”
Not the wording I would choose, no.
“I’m saying Claudette can hold down a steady job here and let one vampire suck her blood, or she can head back to Paris and become a sex toy and drinking fountain for an entire coven.”
Mina blanched. I felt sick to my stomach. But that was the ugly truth, and we stood there, wrestling with our emotions.
“God, this sucks,” Mina muttered.
I grimaced. “Please tell me that pun wasn’t intended.”
She winced. “Correction. This stinks.”
Slightly better, but that didn’t change things.
It also didn’t change another consideration we left unspoken, too ashamed to even admit to. Having Claudette giving blood freely to Henrik put us at less risk.
So, there it was: Real Life, with all its complications and contradictions.
Did we protect Claudette or ourselves — and stand by Delphine?
Did we turn a blind eye and consider this an act of Claudette’s free will, or did we intervene, knowing that circumstances didn’t offer her a wealth of good choices?
I found myself thinking of Roux and his hard-nosed, black-and-white approach to life. What would he do?
Drown defending his principles in a sea of nuances, the back of my mind muttered.
I ended up hugging my sister and grasping at slippery slivers of positivity.
Maybe I was overdramatizing. Maybe everything would be okay. I had found my way into several bad relationships, and I had found my way back out of them. So could Claudette. So could Delphine.
I hoped so anyway.
“So, what do we do?” I finally asked, defaulting to my younger sister role.
Mina thought it over, then swallowed hard. “I’ll talk to Claudette — and to Henrik.”
“He’ll be leaving soon, right?” I asked.
Mina frowned. “I can only hope. But until then, well… We’re safer keeping a snake in our sights than having one lurking around in the garden.”
True. But boy, would I prefer a reptile-free garden.