Page 24

Izzy

I left the hotel and took a car back to the Citadel.

But I didn’t go straight back to our rooms.

I gave the driver the address of a well-known club and had him drop me off there. I was looking for a member of vampire royalty called Princess Alexandra. She was considered vampire aristocracy and more importantly, she was a guest at the wedding where Lucca and Queen Tamara had been married. Earlier, the captain had said he had seen her in town and I had made a mental note. I’d been wanting to talk to her.

The club was full of people, bright lights and pumping music. The energy was slightly frenetic and my antennae was going haywire, there were simply too many vampires here. I could feel their eyes on me, their lust for my blood. In a place like this, humans disappeared all the time into dark rooms where their blood was traded, taken and often, sacrificed.

“What is a pretty lady like you doing here?” a tall man, with icy eyes asked. He was dressed in a silk shirt with a beautiful coat slung casually over his shoulders.

“I am looking for the Lady Alexandra,” I said. “I need to have a word with her, on behalf of King Lucca.”

I saw his eyes narrow as he considered my words. I knew the weight of mentioning Lucca’s name and it seemed to work.

“Come with me,” he said, taking my hand and leading me through the crowd and up the stairs into a private lounge area.

“I wouldn’t stay too long, if I were you,” he said with a wink before pointing out a willowy beauty at one of the tables.She was sprawling languidly in a chair, long limbs arranged elegantly while casually holding a cigarette.

I introduced myself and asked if I could ask her about the wedding.

“Oh, that night…” the lady drawled. “I was so drunk, I can’t remember a thing.”

“You remember Queen Tanata died?”

She licked her lips and seemed to compose herself a bit. “Yes, of course. I liked Tanata, always had. Felt a bit sorry for her, getting involved with that family.”

“Why?” I asked.

Princess Alexandra frowned. “Those sons are just so… intense. Not much fun, I think. Tan was young, like me, she liked parties. Lucca’s not so much into that scene.”

“Do you remember seeing anything or anyone unusual that night?”

She thought a bit. “I saw Layrr. That was weird. I mean, he wasn’t invited. We were standing outside and I called out to him.”

“I thought you said you didn’t like him,” I said, trying to figure the lady out.

“I said he was intense, not that I didn’t like him,” she gave a naughty laugh. “Sometimes that can be fun, right? I guess it’s Ragnar I don’t like. Bit of a prick.”

I agreed with her there.

“And Sunil’s a wanker. Too decadent, he’d even fuck animals, I think,” she said.

“But Layrr… he’s a bad boy,” she chuckled. “I like bad boys.”

“Okay,” I said. “So you saw Layrr and called him over. Then what?”

She shook her head. “He didn’t hear me, just walked away, into that garden thing. The maze.”

The implication of what she said struck her.

“Wait! You don’t think…”

“What do you think?” I asked her. “Could he have done something like that?”

“I didn’t say he was a killer! I didn’t see him kill anyone!”

She seemed shaken up by the idea. “I just wanted to check a few things,” I said reassuringly. “Thank you for your help.”