Page 77 of The Highwayman's Bite

But to Change her, he’d have to petition the Elders. That was the law for all Lord Vampires. Aldric shuddered with dread at the prospect of corresponding with the oldest and most powerful vampires in the world who oversaw the laws of their kind. Although it was unlikely that whatever lie he fabricated for his reasons to bring his niece into the fold would be detected, there was always the slim chance that the Elders would send a representative to hear the case in person.

After he ordered Vivian’s bath to be drawn, Aldric left his office and looked in on Vivian’s reunion with Madame Renarde. He prayed Vivian was holding to her vow to keep her silence about all things pertaining to vampires.

He paused in Madame Renarde’s doorway and watched the two exchanging an affectionate embrace. Madame Renarde’s palpable joy and relief to see Vivian brought an unexpected lump to Aldric’s throat. How long had it been since he’d felt such a closeness for someone? At least two hundred years. Vivian had burrowed her way into his heart and Renarde had gained his respect and admiration in ways Aldric had not anticipated. As he observed Vivian’s protective concern over her companion’s illness and listened to her questions about how she was treated, he felt a pang of melancholy.

That was yet another tangle in this disastrous affair. Vivian’s foray into the vampire world would cleave their friendship like a stone slowly cut by rushing water in a river. No longer could she talk with in her companion about everything in her life. Only Aldric would be safe to talk to and since he’d separated Vivian from her lover, he didn’t anticipate her confiding with him.

Especially when he was finished dealing with said lover. Damn that rogue to hell.

Vivian rose from Madame Renarde’s sickbed and levelled Aldric with an accusing glare as she strode to the door. “You cannot grant me a moment’s privacy with my companion?”

Aldric ignored the sting he felt at her angry tone. “Actually, I only came by to let you know that I must go out tonight and ask you to remain here with Madame Renarde.”

Her stormy countenance softened slightly. “Oh. Well, have a satisfactory hunt, then.”

“Lower your voice,” he admonished with a whisper. “And you are not to leave the house until I’ve decided what to do with you.”

Vivian visibly bristled once more. “I recant my words regarding our prospects of getting on well together.” Before she could utter another biting set-down, the housekeeper appeared in the corridor to announce that her bath had been prepared. Vivian gave him one last furious glare and flounced to her chambers.

Aldric’s shoulders slumped with despair. He had to find a way to repair their relationship before he Changed her. Alas, there was little chance of that, for if Vivian discovered his next course of action, she would hate him for all eternity.

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