The Rest Falls Away (21 page)

“That is my point exactly, Eustacia. Just as she is beginning to show the skill of a truly gifted Venator—and yes, I'll freely admit she has the potential to be as good as you or I—she is going to be entering into a marriage! Where she will need to account for her every moment to the marquess, and where she will have greater strictures and parameters placed on her life. Not to mention the distraction of being In Love. Have you seen how love-sopped people look at each other? And at no one else, and nothing around them? We cannot afford another near miss like we had two nights ago.”

“You said as much to Victoria yesterday when she—or rather, the marquess—told us they were getting married,” Eustacia reminded him with a calmness he did not understand. “But, Max” —she spoke louder, raising her voice for the first time and stepping over his arguments— “I cannot and will not order her not to marry. It is her decision and I have to let her make it. Although I do share the same concerns as you, I know that I must step aside and let her do as she will. We all have that freedom, as Venators, and she is not the first to love and want to marry. Some of us love, but do not marry,” she added, giving a bare glance toward the door through which Kritanu was due to come at any moment.

“And the truth is, Max, perhaps she will succeed where we do not expect her to. Perhaps Victoria needs that balance of the light with the dark; the ordinary with the horrific unordinary. Perhaps that will make her stronger, more adept…just as your own grief and anger feed your strength.”

“I can't agree with you, Eustacia. The life of a Venator is like that of a priest—we are called and we are solitary. And we must remain so in order to fulfill our destiny.”

“And what of me, then, Max? Have I not fulfilled my destiny because I am not alone?” Eustacia asked gently, as if she suddenly understood what was at the core of his disheartenment.

Max knew an unanswerable question when he heard one, and swiftly changed the subject. “Victoria recognized Sebastian Vioget. How does she know who he is?”

Eustacia lifted an eyebrow. “That is interesting. My assumption would be that wherever and however she learned about the book and its protection was where and how she learned who Sebastian Vioget is. And it concerns me that he was there at Redfield Manor.”

“It concerns me that he would have allowed me to pick up the book,” Max replied with sarcasm. “He was nearly salivating at the thought.”

“It's too bad you cannot get beyond your past and form an alliance with him. It might be to our benefit. Perhaps that is something Victoria should consider.” Before Max could speak, Eustacia brought up another unpleasant topic. “How is your neck?”

He caught himself reaching to touch the old bite. It had indeed been paining him in the last day, throbbing with a constant dull tic. “I felt no need to mention it has been hurting. It would be no surprise to you, considering the events of the last few days.”

“No, but I could give you more salve,” Eustacia replied gently, as though speaking to a young child. “There's no need for you to endure the pain.”

“It's nothing.” Perhaps he would have said more, but at that moment Kritanu opened the door from the hall and Wayren glided in.

“Felicitations, Eustacia and Maximilian.” The blond librarian beamed. Her long medieval sleeves would drag the floor when her arms hung at her sides, but now she had them raised in delight and the flowing cuffs served only to wrap themselves around Eustacia and then Max, in turn, as Wayren embraced each of them. “You have succeeded in retrieving the book! And so quickly!”

“Yes, it was quite fortuitous,” replied Max as she stepped back.

“And your bite?” asked Wayren, giving him the same assessing look Eustacia had.

“It is tender,” he admitted.

The door opened again, and Kritanu ushered in the second guest—Victoria, of course. Max looked over and said, “Ah, there she is. And…alone? You did not bring your better half, Victoria?”

“Oh, no, Phillip sends his regrets. He is much too busy trying to decide which way to tie his neckcloth for the wedding,” she replied sweetly.

Max had to bite his lip to hide his appreciation for her smart rejoinder. She was quick. He damn well couldn't fault her there.

As he sat down in his favorite chair next to the highboy where Kritanu kept the brandy, he looked blandly at Eustacia, who had given him a less than pleased look at his sarcastic comment.

“Your better half?” asked Wayren, settling next to Max but speaking to Victoria.

“Max is speaking of my betrothed husband, the Marquess of Rockley. He—Max—appears to be under the impression that when I take my vows I will forget those I have already made to the Gardella Legacy.”

Victoria, whose hair was dressed in a way that Max had never seen, pressed a kiss to her aunt's cheek, and then one to Kritanu's, before selecting a chair directly opposite Max. Instead of being piled high on her head, with every black curl stuck in place and intertwined with gems and ribbons, her hair fell in a simple, long plait down the back of her dress. She had to move the braid out of the way or she would have caught it between her and the chair.

Max noticed that she was carrying a leather bag, and as she settled in her chair, she drew it onto her lap.

“That is the book?” he asked, desirous of getting their discussion onto more important things than the impending wedding.

“It is.” Victoria drew it out and held it for a moment before offering it to Eustacia. “What shall we do with it now that we have it? Is there anything in it that could help us?”

Wayren watched the battered leather tome with the same avidity Max's old dog had watched the table for a bone or other scrap to fall—or be pushed—to the floor. She sounded almost breathless when she spoke. “I will have to study it to know for certain…but I would venture to say that there is little in there that would promote living in the light. It is the book of Kali's evil child, and as such has only recipes for promoting evil. Still, knowing what value it has for Lilith may help us to understand her next move.”

“Indeed,” Eustacia agreed. “Merely having it in our possession is the greatest of advantages. And in fact, I have been thinking long and hard about where we should hide the book until we have decided what to do with it.”

“Won't you keep it here, Aunt Eustacia?” asked Victoria, surprise lighting her face.

Max did little to disguise his snort of disgust. “Eustacia's home, or mine, would be the first place Lilith would look for it. Or yours.” A jolt of enlightenment changed her face. Ah, perhaps she did understand the severity of the situation, that the game was not quite over yet…and, in fact, would not be over until Lilith was annihilated. “She knows who foiled her plan, and I can only imagine her fury with us.” Actually, he could imagine it quite well. Better, in fact, than he wished.

“Wherever it's kept, you must place it out of direct sunlight, especially while transporting it,” Wayren said, “or it will crumble into dust. It is an evil book, and therefore it thrives in the dark…and disintegrates in the light. And before you take it, I would like to reverse the protection on it as well, in order to give us additional security.”

“Reverse the protection?” asked Victoria. “You can do that?”

“That's part of Wayren's charm,” Max interjected. “No pun intended.”

Wayren tinkled a laugh at his jest, and he was partially mollified when Victoria narrowed her eyes as if not sure what to believe. He felt a perverse pleasure in keeping himself one step ahead of her.

“I would like to destroy the book,” Wayren added, “and then we need not fear Lilith finding it and retrieving it, but before we do that I want to do a bit more investigation in order to make sure there will be no adverse effects if we do. Or whether there is anything in the book that we might find advantageous. So if there is a place that it can be kept safely for a bit longer…”

“I have come to the conclusion,” Eustacia interrupted pointedly, “that the best place is to hide it away in a church or holy place of some sort. She can't go there if it is protected enough, and she cannot send her minions.”

“If you do not have a place in mind, I have a suggestion,” Victoria spoke. “There is a small chapel on the grounds at St. Heath's Row—Rockley's estate,” she added, looking pointedly at Max. “I could hide the book there, and make certain there are enough holy relics and images to keep them away, even if they were to determine it was there. I will be becoming quite familiar with the entire chapel, including its decor, as that is where we are to be married.”

The way her lips curved in a mocking smile made Max's blood pressure rise. He gave no indication, however; just picked up his black stake and slapped it against his palm. It was time to leave.

He stood. “Well, then, since we have settled that, I must be on my way. Lilith will have sent her people out to gather victims for her feeding, and I've a mind to put her on a restricted diet.”

He expected Victoria to leap up and insist upon going with him, and he had a rigidly polite response ready to sally off to her…but she didn't. She just looked up at him with those clear hazel eyes in a delicate, creamy face that should not belong to a woman who'd killed eight vampires two nights earlier.

“Take care, Max,” she said, surprising him again this evening.

“I will.” And he left, glad to be out in the night doing what he was born to do. At least he would have no distractions.

 

+ + +

Victoria wanted to make another visit to the Silver Chalice, but that was easier conceived than actually realized.

Her retrieval of the Book of Antwartha had happened six days ago, and since then she had been balancing the requirements of being the future Marchioness of Rockley, duties to her mother, who was milking her new status for all she could, and meetings with Aunt Eustacia, Kritanu, the waiflike Wayren, and, of course, Max.

As promised, she had taken the book and hidden it under the altar at the chapel at St. Heath's Row, which was the extensive Rockley estate that sat on the very edge of town. Wayren had been given leave to visit the chapel at any time so that she could study it in safety. Phillip had been told she was a distant relative of Victoria's who was offering a novena in her name for the success of their marriage, and wished to spend time in the chapel.

Max was not so easily managed. He had tried several times to bring up the fact that she'd mentioned Sebastian's name during the events at Redfield Manor, but Victoria had been stubbornly closemouthed. She was furious with herself for such a blunder, but as long as she continued to sidestep Max's inquisition, she could keep the damage to a minimum. In fact, she found it a pleasure to see the annoyance on his face when she sweetly dodged his queries.

It was when Aunt Eustacia began to ask questions that Victoria had more difficulty.

“Max tells me you have met Sebastian Vioget,” her aunt commented one afternoon when Victoria had managed to slip away from Grantworth House before Melly dragged her off to another tea. It wasn't that she didn't like sharing biscuits and gossip with her peers; it was that she'd done so much of it in the last week that Victoria felt ill at the thought of more lemon curd and clotted cream slathered on various baked goods. Not to mention the fact that her stays were feeling uncomfortably tight.

And how was she going to fit into a wedding gown if she kept eating five or six rounds of tea during daily visits?

“What makes Max think I've met him?” countered Victoria innocently.

Aunt Eustacia gave her an indulgent look that told her she would allow her to play the game of splitting hairs. “You recognized him at Rudolph Caulfield's home, so Max assumed you knew him.”

“I did recognize him, but that doesn't mean I have met him. What do you think he was doing there?”

Her aunt clasped lace-edged hands in her lap and looked directly at Victoria. “I thought perhaps you would have the answer to that.” The indulgent look had vanished.

“I truly don't know why he was there. I was as surprised as Max must have been. Unless Max had expected him…?”

Her aunt watched her for a moment as if to gauge the veracity of her statement, then seemed to make a decision—obviously in Victoria's favor, for she said, “Sebastian Vioget is very powerful and he would be a valuable ally to our cause. If we could trust him.” Aunt Eustacia was looking at her with such scrutiny that Victoria felt her face grow warm. She felt as though her aunt was waiting for her to say something, but Victoria didn't know what…and she knew that anything she said at that point would be inadvisable.

But Victoria, at least, had no reason not to trust Sebastian. The information he had given her had been correct—as far as she could ascertain.

It wasn't that she
did
trust him. It was that she didn't
not
trust him. That splitting-hairs problem.

“Why don't you trust him? He's not a vampire.”

Eustacia swept at her a look that reminded her of the sharp swipe that Max had used to behead the Imperials. “No, he is not a vampire. But the mere fact that he was at Rudolph Caulfield's home, in the midst of this transferal of the Book of Antwartha, has given both Max and myself reason to wonder at his involvement. Victoria, what do you know about Sebastian Vioget? Have you had any interaction with him?”

Victoria opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. Sebastian had warned her about divulging where she'd gotten her information…but how could she keep such information from Aunt Eustacia? Especially when asked so directly?

She struggled. The older woman was watching her, and the fact that Victoria had delayed answering her question had already given her aunt the information she sought. So she made the decision.

“I visited the Silver Chalice to try to find information about the Book of Antwartha, and I met him at that time. He made it clear to me that I was not to tell anyone we'd spoken, so I did not.”