I quickly followed Veronique until she left the club entirely and was outside the red door in the alley.
"Veronique, wait," I called after her.
She turned and raised a perfectly penciled-in eyebrow. "Did you wish to speak with me, my dear?"
"Actually, yeah. Do you mind?"
"Why should I mind?" A smile grew on her full red lips. "Come." She held out a hand to me. "We shall have a drink together. There is a café down the street."
Well, that was friendlier than I'd expected.
The café was the same one I'd gone to with Heather and her boyfriend the night I'd been staked. I tensed as soon as I saw its sign, the French Connection, glimmering in the near distance. But I didn't say anything. I sucked it up and ordered a coffee when we went inside. Black. Veronique ordered a latte and a croissant with apricot preserves.
I never realized that she was one of the lucky vamps, even at her age, who could still stomach solid food. Apparently that trait was on a biological lottery system and Veronique had come out as a winner. Figures.
"Barry told me more about your unfortunate situation," she said. "How are you managing?"
"I'm much better now." I decided not to share my news about the gold chain with her.
"I remember when the nightwalkers roamed the earth. It was a different time."
"And they were all wiped out."
"That is correct."
"Because of the information that Thierry gave the hunters."
She studied me for a moment. "That is also true. In part. At the time I didn't agree with his decision. To me, even though the nightwalkers were fierce creatures who gave the rest of us a reputation as monsters, a reputation that has lasted to this very day, I didn't feel he was right in his actions. In fact, I accused him of being a traitor to his own kind. However, my opinion did change over time."
"Why is that?"
"One could not reason with a nightwalker. I, myself, was nearly a victim of one." She absently touched her throat as her expression shadowed. "It was a man who appeared very handsome and charming until we were alone. He restrained me with ropes and he very nearly tore out my throat despite my pleas for him to release me."
My stomach sank at that. "Oh, my God, that's horrible. How did you get away?"
"The Red Devil came to my rescue."
I must have looked surprised because she laughed lightly. "Yes," she said. "I have also heard that you have recently come in contact with him. That he has reappeared after so many years in hiding. It is a wonderful thing."
I didn't tell her Thierry's theory that he was a total and complete fraud. I gripped the hot mug of coffee in front of me. "So the Red Devil saved you."
She nodded gravely. "I would not be sitting across from you right now if he hadn't. I still remember the night vividly, as if it was not so long ago." She visibly shivered. "He was incredible. So tall, so handsome, so virile."
"So handsome?" I repeated. "You saw his face?"
She frowned slightly. "No, actually I didn't. He wore a mask. A red mask. But I have no doubt that underneath he was the most handsome man on earth." She pushed the croissant around the plate absently but didn't take a bite. "I will never forget that he saved my life.
At the time, he suggested that we become lovers, as he was so taken with me, but I had to decline. Still, I sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have such a charming and wonderful man in my life."
I wondered what had happened to the mask. My Red Devil just wore the scarf over his face. "He saved my life, too."
"Yes, I heard that as well."
"From Barry."
She nodded. "Barry tells me many interesting things about you, my dear."
My jaw tightened. "Yeah, I'm sure he does."
She studied me. "He tells me, for example, that you are very much in love with my husband."
That surprised me. Barry told her that? I wonder what the catch was.
"It's true," I said simply. "I love him. I'm sorry if that hurts you."
She smiled. "Why ever would it hurt me?"
"Well, you are married to him."
She waved her hand dismissively. "You are not the first woman to fall in love with my husband and I am sure you will not be the last. His cool exterior attracts as many as it repels. What he sees as a defense mechanism to keep others away from him, for their own safety as he likes to think, tends to sometimes act as a magnet to those lacking an instinct of self-preservation and common sense."
The smell of cinnamon drifted under my nose as the baker behind the counter removed a tray of freshly baked biscotti from the oven.
"Do you think I'm lacking an instinct of self-preservation because I'm in love with Thierry?" I asked dryly. "Or just common sense?"
"I'm not entirely sure."
"What else did Barry tell you?" I took a sip of my bitter coffee. "Just for the record, he really doesn't like me, so whatever he's said about me should be taken with a big old grain of salt."
"I'm not so sure about that, my dear. He, too, puts forth a rather harsh exterior. When one has been alive for so long, dealing with the daily struggles of a vampire's existence, one must put up a certain façade, and barricades against those who may lead us to harm."
"If you say so."
I heard the bell over the door as a couple, bundled up in winter clothes, entered the café.
They approached the counter to place their order.
Veronique slid her index finger around the rim of her latte. "Barry tells me that when you first came into Thierry's life he believed you to be a silly, insipid creature who was interested only in Thierry's power and money. He did not trust you and he did not understand why Thierry would willingly want to spend time with you. And when he found that you had raised Thierry's bloodlust to the surface, something that Thierry has fought to keep under control for a century, he was not pleased. He wanted you gone from his master's life."
"Yeah, this isn't news. He told me as much to my face." I remembered a small red face, clenched fists, and a great deal of foot stomping.
"But you refused to leave. You refused to leave even when my husband attempted to end things between you for good—he even went so far as to sell Haven so he could leave the country entirely. Why is that?"
When had I lost control of this conversation? Had I even been in control to begin with?
This was so annoying. I felt like I was on trial.