Page 65 of Vampires and Violas

He nods, looking like he doesn’t particularly want to be here for what feels an awful lot like a lover’s quarrel.

“I had no desire to become archduke then,” Cassian argues, “and I have no desire now. Stop trying to twist this back on me. You were the one who illegally created a legion of vampires, and you need to answer for it.”

“A legion,” Sophia scoffs, rolling her eyes. “Honestly.”

“Why did you want to meet with Noah?” Cassian demands.

She looks back at him. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

“I am your prince—everything you do is my business.” He leans down to look her in the eyes. Their height difference is almost comical.

Or adorable.

I’m not sure which it is right now because things are still pretty tense.

“If I could leave your line, I would.” She blinks, angry tears welling in her eyes. “If I could have died as a regular human, I would have done that, too. In fact, stake me now.” She jerks her chin toward the hand that still holds the weapon. “Then at least I won’t have to see the revulsion in your eyes again.”

Cassian slowly straightens and puts the stake back inside his jacket. Sophia rips her eyes away from him.

This first meeting is obviously not going the way she hoped. Nosy creature that I am, I desperately want their full story. Because one thing is evident: there is a lot ofsomethingbetween them.

Larissa clears her throat, reminding us she’s here and just as uncomfortable as Noah and I are. Apparently confident Cassian isn’t going to kill her employer, she says, “Do you think you two can play nice long enough I can get that tea now?”

We all slowly turn toward the beautiful vampire, and some of the tension drains from the room.

“Broth for Cassian,” Sophia says, refusing to look at him. “He can’t stomach tea.”

Larissa raises her brows in Cassian’s direction, and he jerks his head. “Broth is fine. Thank you.”

After eyeing us for several more seconds like we’re all more trouble than we’re worth, she leaves again.

“Sit down,” Sophia instructs Cassian. “Let’s talk like the adults we are.”

Noah and I return to the settee, and Cassian chooses the chair next to us.

Looking far more subdued than she was before Cassian showed up, Sophia crosses her hands in her lap. “I suppose I’ll start by sharing my story. For the last seventy-five years, I’ve passed the virus to people who are terminally ill.”

“For a profit,” Cassian adds.

“My services are expensive, as the virus is quite extraordinary,” she says with an unapologetic shrug. “But I take on charity cases occasionally, such as Richard and Reid’s wife.”

Noah sits a little straighter. “What about Reid’s wife?”

Sophia smooths a wrinkle in her dress. “He’d been looking for me for years, but I’m good at hiding my tracks, and most of my clients are loyal thanks to the circumstances under which we meet. I never let him find me, not until I received a call from one of my informants letting me know his wife had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.”

“Reid’s wife has cancer?” Noah asks, incredulous.

“She doesn’t anymore. I went to him, offering to discreetly infect her. I knew he couldn’t afford my prices, so I asked him to stop looking for me—to let me and my business be.” She pauses. “He agreed, and his wife was open to the infection process. For the third dose, she flew to Mexico so she would have access to the necessary medical care an unregistered final-stage vampire cannot get here in the States. Because he didn’t want to raise suspicions at work, Reid stayed in Denver. While there, she met another one of my clients, and…” She shakes her head, looking annoyed.

Noah swears, resting his head back.

Sophia continues, “I fully expected Reid to turn me in after his wife left him, but he upheld his end of our bargain.”

“And went to jail for it,” Noah snaps.

Sophia solemnly nods. “Yes—thanks to NIHA’s ridiculous laws about transmission.”

Cassian looks like he’s about to yell at her again, so I cut him off by asking, “What do you do with all the money?”

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