Demon of Mine (28 page)

“
Then we’re still friends,” Elsie said. It was a statement, not
a question.

Jenny breathed
a sigh of relief. “What an odd pair of friends we make.”

Elsie
shrugged. “Damon and I are quite the strange couple as well. If I
were to rid myself of the people I make odd matches with, I’d have
no one left to love.”

Jenny beamed.
“How I’ve missed you!” Rushing forward, she threw her arms around
Elsie’s neck.

Elsie
enthusiastically returned the embrace, reveling in the sense of
comfortable familiarity that swept over her as the soft fabric of
Jenny’s cap brushed her cheek. “You smell lovely. Are you wearing
perfume?” She pulled away from Jenny, shooting her a shy smile as
she lowered her voice. “And if you are, who gave it to you?” Her
heart swelled as she asked the question. It would be wonderful if
Jenny was courting someone, about to find the same sort of
happiness she herself had found with Damon.

Jenny shook
her head. “I’m not wearing any. I washed my hair yesterday. Perhaps
that explains the smell.”

“
Perhaps,” Elsie agreed, just as her stomach rumbled
alarmingly. Her smile wavered for a moment before she could hitch
it back into place, desperate to conceal her sudden horror. Her
rebellious stomach growled again, and she couldn’t manage to keep
her pleasant expression intact. How could she possibly put a brave
face on when the scent of her best friend had just made her
hungry?

Jenny’s
expression changed too, though she didn’t break their embrace off
entirely. “You needn’t worry,” she whispered. “I know.”

Elsie slipped
out of her friend’s arms and hurried to the door, pulling it shut
and then double-checking to see that it had latched before she
dared to speak. “Tell me plainly, Jenny. What do you mean?” If
Elsie’s heart hadn’t been still, it surely would have skipped a
beat as she waited for her friend’s answer.

“
I
know that you are changed, like the rest of the family. Truly a
Remington in every respect.” Jenny’s voice softened, becoming
almost mournful. “Vampire is the proper name, isn’t it?”

For the first
time since her transformation, Elsie’s knees wobbled. “You knew
about the Remingtons… About Damon?”

Jenny nodded.
Yes, her face really was whiter than usual. “That’s why I tried to
dissuade you from your pursuit of Damon – because I knew his true
nature.”

The fact that
Jenny had hidden such a huge secret cast her in a new light. Elsie
had never so much as suspected. Was that why Jenny had never seen
fit to trust her with the information – because she’d been too
dense to discover it for herself?

“
It
was an accident that I found out.” Jenny swallowed and managed to
sound her usual matter-of-fact self afterward. “I caught sight of
Lucinda drinking blood out of a teacup.” Her face went even paler
still. “After that, I started noticing all sorts of little things
that made the truth more and more obvious, such as the fact that
mysterious quantities of toast seem to fly out of the bedroom
windows every morning.”

The absurdity
of the conversation combined with this unexpected tidbit struck
Elsie in the form of hilarity. Unable to stifle the laughter that
rose up suddenly in her chest, she giggled. “You know about
that?”

Jenny appeared
unsure of whether to be glad or worried that Elsie was taking her
confession so well. “Yes.”

When the
laughter was gone, the burning question remained: “Why didn’t you
tell me?”

“
I
wanted to,” Jenny said, her pale eyes pleading for belief. “I
wanted to, but I couldn’t. Mrs. Remington is aware of my knowledge
and has sworn me to utter secrecy. I dared not tell you, for fear
of how both of us would be punished if I did. I was miserable after
you left for Hertfordshire. I nearly went mad with guilt, thinking
that I should have told you one minute, then deciding I’d done the
right thing the next.”

Elsie nodded.
“I understand, but… Why were you so terrified of the idea of Damon
and I together? Were you afraid he’d drain the life out of
me?”

She shook her
head. “No, not really. I was afraid he’d take advantage of you as
Lord Wilkes had and break your heart, or worse…” She faltered a
moment before continuing. “Or worse, make you like him.”

Elsie let the
revelation sink in for a moment as Jenny shot her an apologetic
glance. “Is it really that terrible that he changed me? Would you
have preferred I died of my illness instead?”

“
No, of course not.” One of Jenny’s perfectly-placed curls came
loose and popped out from beneath her cap, a coppery red corkscrew.
“But I hadn’t thought of that at the time. I never realized that he
could cure you. I don’t know much about your kind, really. Then, of
course, I heard that you were no longer ill when you returned to
London…”

“
I
see. Of course you wouldn’t have preferred for me to die. It was
stupid of me to ask – I’m sorry.”

Jenny smiled.
“I think we’ve both done enough apologizing for one day, don’t
you?”

Elsie breathed
a sigh of relief and nodded. “Quite. We never used to behave like
this. It’s silly. If you’re not too bothered by my new nature, I
say we should go back to the way things were between us – or at
least, as close to it as we can manage.”

“
Of
course I’m not bothered. I see now that you haven’t changed as much
as I’d feared. You’re still the friend I’ve always been able to
count on ever since I first came to this house.”

Elsie beamed.
“Wonderful. There’s something I need to discuss with you. I’m sure
you’ve heard about the murders…” Elsie proceeded to lay Damon’s
suspicions and her discoveries about Ms. White bare. Sharing her
troubles with Jenny was something she’d missed more than she’d
realized. She couldn’t possibly be angry with her for keeping the
Remingtons’ secret – not when she was so grateful that she had
someone outside of her new family to share it with.

****

“
Hello, love.” Damon slipped into the bedroom, flashing Elsie a
smile that was at odds with the tired look in his eyes.

Elsie returned
his smile from where she’d been standing by the window, watching
the sky slowly fade to purple as evening descended on the city.
“Did today go that badly?” She searched his eyes as she hurried to
him, wrapping her arms around his waist. The heavy odors of tobacco
and food he surely hadn’t indulged in clung to his jacket, nearly
obscuring his musky, spicy scent.

“
Not any more so than usual,” he said, a little of the tension
fading from his face as he buried a hand in her chestnut hair.
“Attending to business affairs with my father is always draining.”
He caressed the curve of her skull, pressing his fingers deeper
among her locks, causing the knot she’d twisted them into to come
undone.

A shiver of
delight raced down her spine as her long hair tumbled down her
back. “And why is that? This morning you seemed so eager to take
over the business.”

“
I
am, but sometimes I wonder how I’ll endure watching it suffer under
my father’s control until my time finally comes.”

“
Suffer? The manufactories are doing very well.”

Damon shook his head, flipping a dark lock of hair out of his
eyes. “I know they’re profiting immensely, but they’re doing so at
the cost of human decency, of human
lives
. I’ve been inside the facilities. I’ve seen the workers and
the squalor they live in because they can’t afford anything better,
despite the fact that they’re sending children who are little more
than infants to work.”

“
You’re pulling my hair.”

“
Forgive me.” Damon quickly unraveled his hand from her locks,
settling it against the small of her back instead. “You know better
than I do what the factory workers suffer through to provide my
family’s wealth.” He took one of her hands in his and gently
massaged her callouses. “What I’m trying to say is that you need
never worry that I will enable those circumstances. When I take
over the Remington empire, I intend to change things. There will be
standards. Rules. The factories will be places of fair labor, not
dens of torture. The workers will be paid more than the pittances
they’re receiving now.”

Elsie smiled
up at him. “And to think people call you a demon. You’re the
kindest man I’ve ever met.”

He brushed off
her compliment. “Noticing the laborers’ plight is hardly a special
kindness. Only a blind man could miss the injustice.”

“
But of course,” she said, her voice tinged with amusement.
“Now tell me – do you intend to take off your coat?”

He frowned and
shot a glance toward the window and the darkening cityscape beyond,
as if he were actually considering going out again. “I suppose, but
I can’t stay long. It’s nearly dark.” He removed it slowly, pulling
an oddly-shaped object from an inside pocket before draping it over
the nearby bedside table.

“
What is that?” Elsie asked.

“
Blood.” Damon surprised her with a smile. “I have a very
surreptitious deal with a local butcher. Don’t worry – it came from
a bull.” He held the object aloft, revealing it to be a wine skin.
“You are thirsty, aren’t you?”

Elsie nodded,
allowing her thoughts to turn to the dull burn in her throat she’d
been fighting ever since she’d inhaled Jenny’s sweet human
scent.

“
I
thought you would be. Even I can only endure a few days without
drinking before the bloodlust sets in.”

She watched in
a combination of bemusement and amazement as he opened the wardrobe
and pulled, of all things, a china cup from a compartment concealed
beneath a false bottom. “Asking for empty cups all the time tends
to arouse the servants’ curiosity.”

“
I
should think so,” Elsie replied, trying to imagine what she would
have thought of such behavior when she’d been one of the
housemaids. It was almost unnerving to realize what a thorough job
the Remingtons made of hiding their conditions.

Unnerving or
no, she couldn’t possibly resist when he offered her the first cup
of scarlet liquid. The second tasted just as good as the first. He
bid her to down the wineskin’s entire contents, giving the window a
dark look as he assured her that he would assuage his own thirst
soon enough.

Elsie arched a
brow, wondering if she’d gained a proclivity for the mannerism
through her long association with the Remingtons.  “You have
business in the city again so soon?”

He nodded, and
the determined look in his eyes told her that whatever he had
planned, it was not business with his father.

She sighed. Of
course it wasn’t. After last night’s murders, he was surely
chomping at the bit to take to the streets in search of the killer.
“I suppose you intend to see that there’s not a repeat of last
night’s horrors?”

“
Yes.”

A now-familiar
hint of fear caused her chest to feel tight, but she tried not to
sound afraid. “I should have known.” Outside, the sky had turned a
deeper shade of violet. Night was closing in. “What do you mean to
do if you find the murderer?”

“
Kill him, of course.”

“
What if you’re right – what if the killer really isn’t human?”
She and Jenny had discussed the matter thoroughly in an attempt to
determine whether the clues pointed more toward a mortal or
immortal killer. By the time they’d finished, which had been
scarcely less than an hour ago, they still hadn’t reached a
definite conclusion. There were just too few clues to go
on.

Damon
shrugged. “Either way, he can be killed.”

That was true
enough. But so was the fact that Damon’s life could be ended in the
same way as any other vampire’s, and it was painfully obvious that
this killer wasn’t afraid to remove a heart. If the murderer was
immortal, Damon’s advanced speed, strength and night vision would
fail to give him an edge over his opponent. “It seems a dangerous
gamble.”

He pulled her
close against him. “You needn’t worry about my safety. I’ve been
ridding this city of criminals for years. I know what I’m
doing.”

“
Can I come with you, then?”

He seemed
almost shocked that she’d suggested it. “Certainly not. If I’m
willing to face the killer for the sake of strangers, what makes
you think I’d put my own wife in danger’s path?”

Though
unsurprised by his answer, she had to bite down to restrain a
pouting lip. “Ah, so you admit that you’ll be in danger if you
pursue the murderer?”

“
I
never said I wouldn’t be. I said you needn’t worry.”

“
How can I help but worry? I love you. I wish you’d let me come
with you.”

“
The streets are too dangerous, but you’re welcome to accompany
me to bed.”

“
You mean you’ll stay?”

“
For a while.” He lifted her into his arms and lowered her onto
the bed in one smooth motion.

She wrapped
her legs around his waist, causing him to growl as he settled
between her thighs, bracing himself on his elbows as he flexed his
hips against hers. At least she could be sure of his safety as long
as he was in her arms. Wrapping them tightly around his neck, she
pulled him into a kiss.