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“You know,” the man says between puffs, “Celeste would probably deny that she has a type. But I think we have a lot in common, you and I.”

I narrow my eyes at him. What does this wanker know about Celeste? “We do?”

He shrugs. “We’re both pretty vampires, to start.” His expression is conspiratorial. “But I saw the aftermath of what you did to my man on that boat after setting my shipment on fire. Oh, and the guy from the club that you got your revenge on? Come on, Deni, you’re not as much of a goody-two-shoes as you’d like us all to believe. You can trick Celeste… but I know a bad girl when I see one.”

I cross my arms in front of my chest. “That was self-defense.”

“Ha! You hunted that guy from the club down, darling!” His laugh is bright and clear.

“No, Ididn’t…”Celeste found them for me.

He waves his hand. “Either way, you had your revenge and you enjoyed it, too.”

“Are you suggesting that’s the same as building a criminal empire built on abusing and exploiting witches? Not to mention the shit that goes on in the Myrrh & Adder?”

His smile doesn’t waver even a moment. “Oh, what Charon’s Veil does with the Myrrh & Adder is well outside of my purview. As for witches… are you trying to tell me you stuck with Celeste all this time because youcare about her?” He laughs, as though that is the most absurd thing he’s ever heard.

“I…” Frustrated, I clench my fists. Do I? Does it even matter? Clearly, the people I fall in love with are not necessarily worth it.

“I suppose you haven’t had a wide sampling of witch blood yet, so you think they’re all the same.” He grasps my shoulder with his cold hand, leaning in towards me. “You’re going to be sorely disappointed when you realise you’ve developed a taste for the best of the best and there’s only one way to satisfy that hunger.”

“What are you saying?”

“I’m saying you can lie to yourself, Deni, but you can’t lie to me. You only care about one thing and that is blood.”

I shake my head a little too frantically. “That’s not true.”

His expression is knowing. “Whatever you say.” Extinguishing his cigarette in the ashtray, he adds, “You know, I really didn’t think she’d be stupid enough to go down this path again.”

“She’s not… what are you talking about?”

“She used to be so dramatic, you wouldn’t believe it.I can’t do this anymore.” For the last part, he imitates a woman’s voice. It sounds nothing like Celeste.

It also makes me want to smash his head through the window.

“You’re going to kill me.” He rolls his eyes and brings the back of his hand to his forehead, mock-fainting.

Maybe, after smashing his head through the window, I could use the shards to gouge out his eyes.

“Who are you?”

Tilting his head, he replies with an irritated voice, “Oh, come on, Deni! I thought you were smarter than this.”

My stomach feels like it will drop through the floor of the car as I remember the phone call on Mav’s phone. I thought the name sounded familiar. “Dante? But… you’re dead. She killed you.”

“Is that what she told you?”

I rack my brain – no, she never explicitly told me that.He’s been gone for so long and I still feel like he’s waiting behind every corner.“I thought…”

“Well, you thought wrong. You know what the best part is, though?”

I don’t want to hear it but he doesn’t wait for me to give him permission – why would he?

“She could have killed me but she took pity on me!” He claps his hands, laughing. “Witches are stupid, Deni, they always will be.”

Outside, the outer suburbs roll by in a dark blur.Fuck.

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