“But you cannot,” Lady Melly started, but this time Victoria was more firm.
“I must. ”
Her mother stood. “Surely it has nothing to do with that Monsieur Vioget you insist upon allowing to stay around,” Melly said, her voice sharp. “He is no better than those clinging vines that we have to cut away from the chimney top. ”
Victoria blinked in astonishment that her mother was even aware of such a mundane occurrence.
“I must say, Victoria, that it is just too ridiculous that you encourage him! Why he has no title and isn’t even British, and rather a bit slick in the tongue, if you ask me. ”
That was one way to describe it, Victoria thought as her lips threatened to twitch.
“His tailor is quite excellent,” Lady Nilly offered. “And he does rather remind me of a kind gentleman who once saved me from a vampire . . . or at least, I dreamed he—”
“Do hush, Nilly. ”
“Mother, I suggest that you become used to seeing Sebastian about,” Victoria said firmly. “For it is quite possible—quite possible—that he will someday become your son by law. And now,” she continued rapidly, shocked that she’d actually said those words, let alone thought them through, “I really must leave. Don’t try to stop me. ” Why had she said that?
“Victoria Anastasia!” Lady Melly shot to her feet. Teacups rattled and brown liquid slopped merrily. “How dare you take that tone—”
“Good-bye, Mother. I’ll be in touch soon. ” And with that, Victoria whirled out of the parlor, fairly sprinting down the hall to the front door.
The sounds of screeching voices and gasping breaths faded as she darted out the front entrance in a most undignified manner. Her carriage was indeed waiting, its midnight blue paint sleek and shiny under the late-afternoon sun. Gold and silver trim gleamed when the coachman opened the door, and Victoria climbed in.
She didn’t expect to actually find Wayren in the carriage, but there she was. The woman was of an indeterminate age—she appeared older than Victoria, but younger than Lady Melly. Yet she had been there when Aunt Eustacia had taken up the vis bulla. The satchel that always seemed to contain more books and manuscripts than appeared possible sat like a lumpy toad next to her.
A brittle brown-spotted scroll open on her lap, Wayren looked up from behind perfectly square glasses, squinted, and then removed them as Victoria settled in her seat. “Hello, Victoria. How are you?”
The words, so simple, and often spoken—and responded to—without regard to their real meaning, were said with such sincerity, and the expression in her gray-blue eyes was so kind, that Victoria felt the threat of tears sting, and the inside of her nostrils tingled with emotion. She blinked hard, and then answered with pure honesty. “I don’t know. I don’t think . . . perhaps not so well. ”
Wayren nodded. Gravity rendered her face smooth. “Aye, I can see that is so. ”
The carriage started with a gentle lunge, and Victoria looked at her companion. “You received my message. Can you tell me . . . is Lilith correct? Will I . . . am I . . . ?”
“The reason I did not arrive sooner—for I received your missive yesterday, of course—was that I spent some time with Ylito to see if he was aware of anything that might stop . . . or slow . . . the effect of the undead blood. That would, you see, give us more time to determine a cure. If there is one. ”
“And?”
> Wayren shook her head slowly. “There’s nothing he can do. But Victoria,” she said, and to her surprise, the older woman reached across the space and clasped her fingers around Victoria’s wrist. Her hand was bare, and her grip closed over the skin above Victoria’s gloves. The touch sent warmth and ease flowing through her; Victoria felt steadier than she had in some time. “You have already shown the strength to fight back the impulse of the immortal blood that threatened to take over. You are well armed, and you are strong. Though Ylito has nothing in his laboratory that might protect you, I believe that it is possible . . . more than possible . . . that you are strong enough to conquer this trial. ”
A deep wave of disappointment and fear washed over her, despite Wayren’s comforting grip. There was nothing. Nature, in the form of tainted undead blood, would take its course. There was nothing that could be done.
Victoria drew back, and in spite of the warm summer afternoon, her flesh felt chilled when Wayren released her arm. Nausea churned in her belly. She’d expected, she’d believed, that Wayren would be the answer to her problem—that the mystical woman who seemed to know everything, or at least where to find out about it, would arrive with a potion or a serum that would wash away the vampire blood.
But of course. How could she be so foolish? If there were such an elixir, she could have ingested it after her experience with Beauregard.
She could have given it to Phillip.
Victoria blinked hard. So it would come full circle then. Her mistakes, her selfishness back to haunt her. Her fate would be the same as Phillip’s, the innocent man. She just hoped someone staked her before she did something terrible.
The memory of Max, holding the stake when she’d awakened at the Consilium, refreshed in her mind. He would have done it without hesitation.
Wayren watched her with steady eyes, soft with worry. She didn’t speak, as though knowing that Victoria had to assimilate it all on her own. She merely waited as the carriage rolled through the streets.
“Will I . . . ” she began, then had to start again. It was better not to think of herself . . . but to keep the thoughts removed. “A vampire who drinks from a mortal is damned for eternity. Will you ensure that I . . . ” Her voice clogged. All of a sudden, her future was becoming real to her. The possibility that she’d forced away, refused to consider, disbelieved . . . its reality was reflected in the expression of Wayren’s eyes and in her thinned mouth.
“Victoria. ” The other woman’s voice, stern and sharp, penetrated the fog of pink that threatened the edge of her vision. “You cannot let the power of evil slide into you. You cannot succumb. ”
“But vampirism isn’t a choice; it’s not something that can be fought off. I know that. ”