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Once pleasantries were exchanged, Yves brought Rochefort over to where we were all assembled. I closed my fan and tried to look like I belonged. “This is my sanguine partner, Mr. Duval,” he told his brother. “And this is Adrien’s new blood nanny, Miss Ravenwood.”

I curtsied out of respect, and when I straightened, I noticed Yves’s attention was still on me. The look felt like a promise of illicit touches and whispered words. I was so distracted by it, I hardly realized his brother had said anything at all, until he reached out to pet Della.

She nearly bit his finger off.

“I’m so sorry, Your Grace,” I said, recovering. “She’s in a new place, and there are so many people around.”

The Duke laughed heartily. “If your bird had taken one of my fingers off, I’d match my beloved.”

The woman with pearls in her hair appeared at his side. She had big brown eyes that were the same shade as her hair, and a heavy pearl necklace. By the laugh lines around her mouth, I’d put her at just over forty. I noticed she wasn’t wearing a glove on her left hand, and that her ring finger was missing.

“This is my paramour, the Lady Christine,” he said by way of introduction. “And those lads are our boys.”

I swallowed my surprise and curtsied. The pair moved down the line. I held very still as I watched Yves make introductions. I’d thought vampires only had mates or consorts, but here was a woman who was neither, standing confidently beside the Duke and their three boys.

It was a scandal, and he didn’t seem to care.

Della and I exchanged looks, and I could tell by the glint in her eye that she was in the mood to go collecting.

It didn’t need to be said, but I couldn’t help myself from whispering, “Don’t get caught.”

Chapter 20

Complot

YVES

As soon as his family was settled in the guest wing, Renaud told me he had something important to discuss, so I indulged him.

We walked side by side through the vineyard I kept on the cliff terraces above the sea. The vines were a peace offering from the Trenali people more than two centuries ago. They thrived in our warm climate and salt air. Now, Valemer was famous for its wine.

Moonlight silvered the leaves as we continued. In the distance, the tide worked at the rocks.

For a quarter mile Rochefort spoke of nothing of consequence. His voyage to Old Town. The boys. The superiority of my grapes to his. All pandering. He spoke of a ball, hosted here, for his eldest’s eighteenth nameday.

When he started talking about the guest list, I lost my patience.

“Listen, Renaud. I have a problem in Old Town,” I asserted. “There’s evidence that The Devouring has risen again.” I pulled a medallion from my pocket and showed it to him before tucking it away. “Now is not the time to invite half the Unified Territories into my home.”

Renaud plucked a grape from the nearest vine and crushed it between his fingers. “On the contrary. With that many vampire princes beneath one roof, Château du Mer will be the safest place in the realm. What fool would challenge a gathering of vampire princes?”

“The sort who plot war in the back of a gambling den.”

His smile tightened. “Then allow me to ease your concerns. Half my personal guard will report to Severin at dawn. Put them at the gates, send them into Old Town, use them to search every cellar between here and the harbor. They will remain under your command until the members of The Devouring are found.”

“You would leave Christine and the boys with half their usual protection?” I questioned.

“They will be surrounded by some of the most powerful immortals in the territories. I daresay they will survive.”

Renaud examined the grape juice staining his fingers. In the moonlight, the red juice looked like blood. “Does this ease your fears about Caspien’s nameday ball?”

“No, it doesn’t. Sending Rochefort men out alongside my own will only make them scurry into their holes. I need to draw them out so I can question them.”

“I’m sure a grand ball will do just that.”

My jaw dropped. “You mean to use your family and mine as a lure? Absolutely not.”

“I mean to demonstrate that we will not cower because of a handful of zealots. There is a difference. And this demonstrates my point exactly.”