Page 41 of A Dream of Stars and Curses

‘We most certainly will,’ Anton says. ‘Alas, this is a tricky case. We don’t have as many details as we’d like. That makes things harder.’ His face softens into a smile. ‘We don’t mean to worry you. With Leverett watching over you, you’re in excellent hands.’

I blush again. I love every part of that sentence except for the real implications.

‘I need to be able to look after myself. There must be something I can do.’

Anton sniffs the air. His forehead wrinkles at the same time as Leverett’s eyes darken.

‘She’s gone,’ Saif says. ‘I chased her off.’

Leverett is next to me in a heartbeat. ‘Did she hurt you?’

I shake my head. ‘She just needed to shout at me a little, tell me how much she hates me.’

Saif raises an eyebrow but doesn’t correct me. Everyone in this room knows how spiteful Chiara is. I don’t even have a scratch. As far as I’ve seen, she’s all bark and no bite.

‘There are a few simple self-defence moves I can show you that will work against vampires,’ Leverett says. ‘That’s what Anton and I talked about—whether to share our weak points with you.’

Anton nods. ‘We don’t mean to mislead you, but I’m sure you understand the delicacy of this discussion.’

I nod, too, because I do understand. They talked about whether they can trust me with how to hurt, maybe even kill, one of their own.

‘And what have you decided?’ I ask. I want to know how I can protect myself against Chiara or any other vampire who might come after me in the future, but I’ll also understand if they won’t tell me. This is a big secret I don’t imagine many humans know.

‘I trust you,’ Leverett says, ‘and Anton trusts me. Neither of us trusts Chiara.’

‘Least of all with a human’s life,’ Anton says. He claps—a loud, dramatic move and sound, like he’s making a point more than anything. ‘Well, Saif and I will excuse ourselves. This is something Leverett can show you just fine without us here.’ Saif doesn’t move at first but jumps to his feet and practically flies to Anton’s side when he gives Saif a look.

‘Yes,’ Saif says. ‘Please excuse us. No doubt Anton has things to share with me?’ He sounds as confused as I feel. Anton ushers him out of the room, gives me a final wave, and then I’m alone with Leverett.

‘That was weird,’ I say.

Leverett chuckles. ‘You’ve made a good first impression on Anton, and I imagine on Saif as well. We’re sorry we kept the nature of our chat from you.’

I shake my head. Part of me wants to be angry, but they’re all trying to help me. As neat as it would be if I could simply defend myself against any Veiled, that’s not the case. I imagine a simple kick to the kneecaps won’t do.

‘I’m glad I don’t have to do this alone,’ I say. Bonnie and Kate are helping me, too, but they’re as human as I am. Kate has more knowledge than both of us combined, true, but that doesn’t change the fact that she’s human. I doubt the Veiled have left clues about how to kill or maim them lying around, so unless any of them have told Kate, she wouldn’t know. And if any of them did tell Kate, she’s not exactly at liberty to tell me. The betrayal would be unthinkably huge.

Leverett smiles at me and nods to the balcony. ‘After you?’

I swear I can feel my eyes sparkling. I’ve been wanting to check it out ever since I heard it exists. ‘I thought it was too risky?’

‘On your own, yes. But I’m here now. I’ll be with you.’

I couldn’t refuse him even if I wanted to.

I give him a sideways smile I hope looks cute and beautiful in equal measures when I walk past him onto the balcony. My face burns when I step outside—I can’t believe I just did that. Since when do I have it in me to outright flirt with Leverett?

I briefly close my eyes and inhale when I step through the doors. I’ve a feeling I’ll be grateful for the fresh air before twenty minutes are over.

I feel like some high-born lady as I overlook the gardens from the balcony, one hand on the railing and eyes roaming over the guests. It’d be easy to pretend they’re my loyal subjects and I’m their queen, but only because I’ve read it in so many novels and seen it in so many movies. That’s exactly how this feels—like a scene from a film.

Especially when Leverett steps out behind me and stands next to me. My king in all things.

And he has no idea.

Or he does and is gracious enough to not bring it up. If I think about it—and I’d prefer not to—there’s no way he doesn’t know. He must. There’s no way in all hells that his vampiric hearing misses my heartbeat, the slight ways my voice changes, how my breath hitches whenever we accidentally touch. And yes, I must smell different at times, too. I really don’t want to think about that. He does things to me. I can’t help how my treacherous bastard of a body reacts.

‘I’m sorry about Chiara,’ he says, looking over the gardens.

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