Page 20 of Until the Heart Stops
“You are looking at the most reputable blood den in the city,” Callum snapped, his eyes on mine even as hiswords cut through the unfamiliar male. “To patronize anywhere else is to admit you lack the taste befitting your station.”
The male who had spoken stiffened. Even his honey-blond hair appeared to freeze.
Mateo’s lips pursed in amusement and from the corner of my eye he threw me a wink. But I found I couldn’t look away from his brother as he finally turned toward the males, the ice in his expression now dripping from his tone.
“This is the moment in which you apologize.”
The male blinked rapidly before clearing his throat. “I-I apologize, my lo?—”
“Not to me,” Callum snarled, lifting his walking stick to point in my direction. “To her.”
Mateo wiped a hand over his mouth while Henry grinned so wide both fangs flashed in the firelight. I could only try my best to hide my surprise behind the practiced smile I offered most of our patrons.
The male cleared his throat, the veins in his cheeks deepening in color. Both males bowed their heads and touched their fingertips to their lips. “My apologies, Mademoiselle.”
I nodded. “Thank you, my lords, that’s kind of you. Please know you are both welcome here any time.”
The second unchastised male relaxed at my words. “I have seen your male giver a few times and he is beautiful, Mademoiselle.”
With a nod, I gestured toward the curtain. “Monsieur Baldé is an exceptional giver, my lord, and skilled at cards.”
He took a step forward, eyeing Callum cautiously as he passed. The male was a touch shorter than the Auguste brothers, but his shoulders were wide and he wore a neatly trimmed beard that was not as fashionable in this time as ithad been a few centuries before. “Is Monsieur Baldé available now, Mademoiselle?”
I flipped open my ledger to cover my surprise, though there was nothing to look at. Liam had no clients set to come today, though he had recovered from his cough and was reading in his parlor. “He is,” I answered, making an extraneous note in the margin and closing it.
The male ran a hand over his beard as if to smooth it, green eyes sparkling in excitement. From his pocket he procured a clinking bag of coins and placed it on the counter. But when I went to count out Liam’s fee, he raised a hand and shook it before throwing a quick look behind him at Callum. “Oh, no, Mademoiselle, please no change.”
I frowned, counting out the two hundredoyistaand handing him back the bag. “We’re a blood den, my lord, not a charity. But if there is anyone in need of a bit of spoiling, it’s Monsieur Baldé.”
With a wink, I tugged back the curtain, magic shimmering across my palm so Liam’s cozy parlor appeared. He looked up, a small grin pulling at the corner of his full mouth, and ran a hand over his close-cropped hair as he placed a marker in his book.
“My lord.” He rose fluidly and pressed three fingers to his full lips before moving them to his brow as they did in his native country of Flourisant. “Serang lan nauth.”
I let the curtain drop behind the male and, when I turned around, the other was gone. But Mateo and Henry were chuckling, the former reaching out to jostle Callum’s shoulder.
“You should have taken his coin,” Henry teased me.
I shook my head. “I don’t need pity, especially not from them.”
“I don’t know,” Mateo mused with a smile. “His coin would make up for our enduring his friend’s presence.”
Their amusement was infectious. Again, I could not imagine how these two and Gabrielle could be so playful with a maker like Mael Auguste. Callum alone was an anomaly among them. Unbidden, the playfulness of the letter from the mysterious patron slid through my mind and I wanted to sigh. I could not imagine Callum writing such things, not with how serious he always was.
“I wish I had more to offer you gentlemen,” I murmured, playing with the edge of the ledger. “But I’m afraid Adrienne is an exclusive giver to another client and, as you have seen, Monsieur Baldé is indisposed.”
Henry turned to face me fully, gaze drifting from my face to my throat. “Are you not a giver yourself?”
But my answer was cut off by the low growl slipping through Callum’s teeth. The ever-present grin on Henry’s face widened. He rubbed his hands together and leaned onto the counter, breathing deeply.
“I would imagine you to be the sweetest wine, Lilith. It’s too bad you would keep such a vintage locked up tight.” My cheeks flushed when he reached out to brush a finger across the heated skin. “We could make it worth your while, I know it.”
It was teasing, I could hear it in his voice. He wasn’t serious about this offer, but I couldn’t understand for whose benefit he did it. Even still, I shook my head, biting my lip as I held back my smile.
Henry gave an exaggerated inhale. “Smell that, brother?”
Mateo nodded. “Gorgeous.”
“Enough,”Callum snapped.
