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Chapter 34

Endeuillée

CORA

No one questioned a woman in a black dress entering a cemetery. At least, that’s what I told myself as I dressed for the charging circle, choosing to wear my old skirt and bodice. I tied a black cloak over my shoulders and lifted the hood, then made my way to the carriage Yves said would be waiting for me outside the servants’ entrance.

However, there wasn’t just a carriage, but a vampire prince. Clad in all black, he almost blended in with the coach, but that was impossible. Nothing about Yves blended in. Not his vibrant green eyes or rail-straight posture. Definitely not his perfect bronze skin or the gold hoop in his ear.

Or the other piercings I now knew about.

I frowned. “I asked for a driver.”

He gestured to the man holding the reins. “You have one.”

“Then why are you here?”

Yves opened the carriage door. “I am your security detail.”

I noticed the sword tucked beneath his black coat. His open collar revealed the edges of more tattoos he’d refused to show me when he’d come to my room last night. I told myself it was a good thing, because it meant he wanted to keep a layer between us, which was exactly what I wanted. It was just sex. Nothing more.

Marching right up to where he stood, I poked the vampire in the chest. “You are not coming.”

He glanced down at where my finger had been. “The Devouring has already attacked you once. It would be foolish of me to let you leave the castle without an escort. And call me controlling if you must, but I trust no one else with that job but myself.”

He offered me his hand. A hand that had touched my softest parts and brought me to the brink of pleasure and back.

I could argue and demand he stay away. I was planning on doing something illegal after all, and he was the one who would be responsible for punishing me if he learned of my crime. Because I intended to summon Dominique tonight.

Instead of telling him to leave, something traitorous inside me loosened at the sight of the sword strapped to his hip, and any argument died on my tongue.

He’d broken the law by taking blood from me. He’d have to live with the fact that I was going to break the law to help him.

I entered the carriage, and Yves took the seat across from me. Once we were both settled, we stared at one another for a long moment. This thing between us didn’t seem to require words. It followed us into the carriage, hungry and desperate, waiting for one of us to acknowledge it.

The carriage lurched into motion, and I leaned against the seat and peered through the curtained window as the darkened château grounds passed outside. Clutching the folded sheet of paper that contained my spell, I told myself I needed to focus on what I was going to be doing tonight.

When I glanced back at the Duke, he was sitting with one ankle crossed over his knee, watching me, and I became aware of how little space existed between us.

“There is something I want to discuss with you,” he said.

I straightened, wondering if this was it, if he was going to bring up our rendezvous.

“I know where Hartley will be tonight.”

Every thought vanished. I leaned forward in my seat. “Where?”

“A place called Les Jardins de Minuit. It’s a pleasure garden catering to wealthy clientele. There’s food, drink, dancing, entertainment, and of course, the famous lantern path.”

I raised a brow. “And how did you come to discover this information?”

“At my meeting with the harbormaster. I mentioned Hartley’s name and gave him your description. It turns out he is exactly the conman we believed him to be and that he often does whatever he can to settle his gambling debts, including working the fireworks nights.” He tapped his boot against the trunk beneath his seat. “Masks, clothing, and everything else we need to track him down. But we’ll need to move quickly. The fireworks begin at midnight. If we miss the start, we may lose him in the crowd.”

If Hartley appeared at these pleasure gardens, I would not need to summon the demon to find him. I still needed tonight’s circle to recharge my magick, but that would be an easy task. If Hartley failed to give us what we needed, Dominique would remain my final recourse.

“Yes. Absolutely. Yves, this is wonderful news.”

He watched my relief with a small, satisfied smile, and something inside me shifted. He had taken me seriously enough to use his power to find Hartley.