* * *
• • •
The snack and shower that followed had me nearly back at one hundred percent. I dressed, fancying myself up in the way of vampires.
Physically, I was turned out pretty well. My dress, found at a Paris consignment shop, was the color of emeralds, a sheath of bias-cut silk from the narrow halter-style top to the floor-skimming hem. It looked like the dress of a heroine from a 1940s mystery, worn to a fancy party where she’d pull a tiny, pearl-handled gun from her purse.
I paired the dress with strappy sandals in a metal that was halfway between silver and gold, and opted to pin my hair back into a knot, leaving a few waves loose around my face.
I liked feeling the weight of it on my shoulders—familiar, and almost like a cape of my own—but this dress deserved something more.
When I was assembled, my clutch and katana scabbard in hand, I locked up and headed to Seri’s room. The guards at the door checked my identification, nodded, and let me in.
Seri stood in the middle of the room on a flat box while Odette, on her knees with a pin in her mouth, worked at the hem of Seri’s gown.
If my dress was old-school American glamour, Seri’s was French avant-garde. The skirt was long and straight, with a slit in the front that rose to the top of her thighs. There was a navel-baring bodice with mesh sleeves that started below her shoulders, leaving them bare. Her hair was piled up in a complicated braid around a silver diadem, and the same black mesh reached from the bottom of the band to the top edges of her sleeves, enclosing her face in a strange, cocooning veil. Her earrings were drops of diamonds long enough to brush the tops of her shoulders, and her eyes were dark and smoky.
“Lis!” she said, pressing her hands together with excitement. “You look exquisite. What do you think of this?”
“It’s . . . amazing,” I said, and walked closer, then around her. The fabric shimmered with even the slightest movement, so it looked like Seri had been draped in a starlit night.
“I am so glad we decided on the green,” she said, swearing in French when Odette stabbed her with a pin.
“Sois immobile!” Odette said through her teeth, then pulled out the pin. “If you do not move, I do not prick you.”
“She is a thorny rose,” Seri said, sighing with relief when Odette sat back on her heels, surveyed her work.
“It will do,” she said.
“Merci,” Seri said, stepping off the platform and giving the dress a spin. “It is beautiful, no?”
“It really is. Won’t the veil thing get irritating?”
Seri laughed. “The ensemble is worth a bit of irritation.”
“You look very vampiric,” I said. “And very French.”
She smiled. “Perhaps I will find a strong American vampire to teach me a thing or two.”
“I wouldn’t mention that to Marion. Are you ready to go?”
“Finishing touches,” Odette said, adjusting the veil and fit of Seri’s dress across the shoulders. Then she stood back, put her hands on her hips, and surveyed her creation.
“You are ready,” she pronounced. And that was that.
* * *
• • •
Where downtown Chicago had become sleeker, Hyde Park had stayed pretty much the same. But several of the older homes and mansions had been renovated and rejuvenated, because peace brought new cachet to living next to vampires.
Cadogan House looked the same as it had four years ago. A big, stately stone building with an arch over the front door and a widow’s walk crowning the top, in the middle of a gorgeous lawn big enough to be a park. There was a tall fence around the perimeter, a new guard house at the gate.
It had been my home for nineteen years. I loved the building and the park that surrounded it, and I loved my parents and the other House vampires who’d become part of my supernaturally extended family. But I’d been ready to move on when I’d left for Paris, and leaving the fortified House had been part of that. I’d proven to myself that I could make it on my own. And coming home again made the House seem somehow smaller.
Paparazzi waited outside the fence, but there were plenty of guards to keep them away from the gate. They were positioned every few feet, and I guessed they had repeated that precaution all the way around the House. Unlike vampires, the humans opted for guns, and there were matte handguns strapped to their waists.
Our Autos rolled to a stop in front of the gate. A tuxedoed guard with a clipboard approached the first Auto, opened the door, and checked their credentials, then assisted Marion onto the red carpet.
Seri squeezed my hand. “The House is lovely,” she said. “Just as you’d described.” She leaned forward to look out the window, take in the white lanterns that hung like moons over the cocktail tables that dotted the front lawn. The tables were decked with flowers. Servers bore trays of appetizers and crystal flutes of golden champagne in the balmy August air, beneath a brilliant waxing moon. Even in the vehicle, I could hear the hum of music from a jazz band, probably on the other side of the House.
Our Auto pulled up into the spot vacated by Marion’s car, and the guard with the clipboard approached.
“Name?” he asked, giving me a pleasant smile.
“Elisa Sullivan, Seraphine, and guests.”
The guard had been looking down at a clipboard, and his head snapped back up quick enough.
“Yes, I’m their kid,” I said with a smile. “We’re here for the party.”
“Of course,” he said, and stepped aside, offering a hand as I stepped out of the car and onto the sidewalk. The song grew louder, and the scents of wine and food and perfume added notes to the air.
When we were all out of the vehicle—eight vampires in assorted red-carpet wear—he stepped aside and gestured grandly toward the sidewalk. “Have a lovely evening.”
“Thank you.”
Shutters began clicking, screens pointed in our direction as the paparazzi caught the scent of blood, and they focused on Seri. She had an amazing way of seeming to ignore them while presenting exactly the right angle to their cameras, just the right expression of not caring and demanding their attention. She worked the dress, too, using her shoulders and hips and legs to show off its strange angles before sashaying toward the gate, Odette trailing behind her. There was a definite gleam in Seri’s eye when she reached me.
“There is a time for politics,” she said, “and a time for beauty.”
I nodded, ignored the quickening of my heartbeat, the magical anticipation that rode beneath the skin. There was also a time for confrontation. And I had a feeling it would be sooner rather than later.
* * *
• • •
Paris was beautiful, and Maison Dumas was gorgeous. But there was something to be said for Cadogan House in late summer, when the trees were full, the air smelled of smoke and meat, and the lawn glimmered with torches. The House’s lawn was enormous, big as a park with walking trails, copses of trees, and benches placed just so to take advantage of the views. Vampires from more than a dozen countries were enjoying the balmy air, walking across the soft grass with champagne flutes in hand as jazz filled the air, accompanied by the heady scent of August flowers.
“First,” Seri said, “a drink.” She glanced around the lawn. “Ah!” she said, and pointed toward a waiter with a silver tray. But when she began to walk in his direction, and I obediently moved to follow her, she stopped and held up a hand.
“Elisa, you are dear to me, and while I would be happy to have your company this evening, this is the first time you’ve been home in years.” She put a hand on my arm. “You should take this opportunity to visit friends and family. I’m sure they have missed you.”
“I’m working,” I reminded her. “I’m your escort.”
“Odette will be with me.” She glanced around. “Besides, we are at your parents’ home, surrounded by allies and guards. The talks proceeded without violence, if with a bit more drama than I’d have appreciated, and there’s no reason to think there will be violence here tonight. Even if there was, there are plenty here to assist.” She squeezed the hand already on my arm. “There is no need to be concerned.”
“You’re sure?” I didn’t mind a good party, but I didn’t want to shirk my duties.
“I am sure. I spoke with Marion, as well, and we agreed you should be able to visit with your loved ones.”
“All right,” I said, figuring I’d do both. I could enjoy the party, but stay within sight of Seri and Marion in case I needed to intervene. And she was right: The guards and vampires here were more than capable.
“In that case, I’ll see you later.”
And I walked toward Cadogan House to face the monster again.