“So what am I?”
“You are a servant,” she said simply. “Your lack of wealth and status gives you no other choice. But you are a charming and amusing girl whose company I greatly enjoy, so that is something for you to hold on to.”
“Thierry was poor when he was a human. I think you called him a peasant once, didn’t you? But now he’s considered a master vampire.”
“He has earned that designation over many centuries, but no, not from birth.”
“Is that why you wouldn’t sign the annulment? Because you think of me as a servant?”
She sighed. “The subject wearies me, my dear. Besides, it doesn’t matter anymore now that you and my husband are no longer together.”
“Fine.” I tried to push away any extra ill feelings I had toward the woman facing me.
“Thanks for the info on the… the Carastrand. Obviously it’s a very good thing to know.” I stood up from the table.
She eyed me. “And what of the Red Devil?”
“Honestly, Veronique? I don’t think you’re his type. I’ll mention you to him, but I figure if he wanted to hook up, he would have done it already. Two hundred years is a long time not to call somebody back after a first date. Maybe he’s just not that into you.”
A microscopic sliver of doubt slid through her gaze. “Are you saying you believe him to be homosexual?”
I blinked. “Is that the only reason a man wouldn’t want you?”
“Of course.”
“Then that’s what he is—he’s gay as a handbag full of rainbows.” I glanced at the window to see that Barry’s face had gone a few shades darker red and the top of his head looked about ready to blow off. “I’ll see you later, Veronique.”
“Of course.” She nodded but still looked disturbed by the possibility of her mystery hunk-
o-love being unattainable.
And to think, the man that she wanted, that she thought was the cat’s meow—where did that expression come from?—that she was willing to go to great ends to meet… she was already married to him and couldn’t recognize him to save her own life.
The knowledge that I knew who he actually was bubbled inside me like a teapot ready to whistle loudly. Balanced out, of course, with some major-ass annoyance.
Then again, it was par for the course with Thierry. He had serious trust issues. Did he think I’d go blabbing to everybody in town?
Could I be with somebody who tried to keep nearly every part of his life a secret from me?
Barry was waiting impatiently for me outside the café when I exited.
“Have you seen my wife?” he asked tightly.
I wiped a few flakes of falling snow off my cheeks. The skies above were thick and gray this morning. “I’m doing just fantastic, Barry, thank you for asking. How are you?”
“I don’t have any time for your nonsense today. I’m looking for Amy.”
“Have you tried her job? She’s typically there during Monday work hours, you know.”
“I’m not an idiot. Of course I tried there already. They said she went out for an early lunch.”
A woman walking a Great Dane passed us and looked at us curiously. I eyed her warily wondering if she was one of Gideon’s spies. The dog stopped to do his business and the woman crouched to pick it up in a plastic bag.
Gross.
I returned my attention to Barry. “Then I guess that’s where she is. Eating something.
Somewhere.”
His brow creased further than it already was. “She isn’t answering her cell phone.”
“Maybe she needs some time away from you. Can’t imagine why.” I studied him for a moment. “Is that all you wanted?”
He seemed to deflate a little in the anger category. “I wouldn’t have bothered you, but I saw you with Veronique and thought I’d ask.”
“You’ve asked. I’ve answered. Now, if there’s nothing else, I need to deal with my daily traumas.” I brushed past him, but he grabbed hold of the sleeve of my coat. I turned back to look at him.
“She’s happy, isn’t she?” he asked.
“Define happy,” I said. “I seem to forget what that entails.”
“With me.” He visibly swallowed. “I mean, she doesn’t have any issues that would cause her to find me… lacking in any way, does she?”
Oh, brother. Not something I needed today. A miniature vampire with an inferiority complex—who hated my guts.
“Amy is happier than she’s ever been,” I told him. “She’s like a werewolf after a flea bath.
Don’t ask me why, because I honestly couldn’t tell you. I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”
He nodded. “Good.”
A few more potential spy-types walked by us. One even had the audacity to ask me for the time before continuing down the sidewalk. “I’m sure she’s off shopping somewhere. Just chill. You two have something special. I guess it was love at first bite. Old joke, but whatever.” I turned away from him again before something occurred to me. “Hey, you don’t happen to know the Red Devil’s real identity, do you?”
He shook his head. “Whoever he is, I think he should have remained in hiding. The master says that his presence in the past did more harm than good.”
I narrowed my eyes. “I just bet he did.”
Of course Thierry would say something like that to help take any attention off the obvious—to me, anyhow—similarities between him and the Red Devil.
Barry raised his chin. “You should know that the master is seeing someone new.”
“I know.” My eyes narrowed. Even though I knew it was only a cover, it still bugged me.
“How do you like her?”
His lips thinned. “She is a crude and sharp-tongued woman. I don’t know why he would choose her so quickly after the end of your… relationship… when his preference is typically for solitude and reflection.”