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“This fireplace is gorgeous,” Sophia says when we join her. “Did you paint the brick? Or is that some sort of plaster?”

“I’m not sure.” I eye her, nervous. She’s a hummingbird in my space—a venomous hummingbird. “My grandfather remodeled it about ten years ago.”

“It’s darling.” Then she brightly asks, “So, where’s my room?”

Before I can come up with an answer, I hear Noah on the stairs. Halfway down, he spots the two vampire women and stops dead in his tracks. It’s apparent from the look on his face that Cassian didn’t share his idea with him either.

“Hello, Noah,” Sophia says. “May I call you Noah? I noticed that’s how Cassian and Piper refer to you. If you’d prefer, I’ll call you Montgomery. Though—forgive me—that seems a bit stuffyfor you.” Her smile grows. “Which is probably why you chose to go by a different name, isn’t it?”

“What are you doing here?” he asks, coming down the rest of the stairs and stopping beside me.

“Cassian asked us to stay with Piper,” Larissa answers. “He said we would all find the situation mutually beneficial.”

Noah shoots Cassian a look. “Did he now?”

Oh, Cassian’s in trouble.

“Larissa was an assassin in Nicolau’s employ,” Cassian explains. “Excluding you, I cannot think of anyone more qualified to watch over Piper.”

Noah looks slightly taken aback, making me think this assassin business is a big deal. I mean, she’s obviously old. Cassian said Duncan, the Scottish archduke, had the throne for a hundred years before he stepped down. If she served the archduke before him, she must be close to Cassian’s age.

“Are you the head of your line?” I ask her.

“No,” she answers. “I’m a black sheep of House Sorin.”

“What do you get out of this?” Noah asks Sophia.

She gives him a knowing look. “You know what I want. But I’m eager to hear what you and Cassian have decided to offer.”

Noah studies her, looking torn. After several long seconds of deliberation, he finally says, “If you keep an eye on Piper, and you give me the name of the family who hired you,andCassian agrees to give you a house pardon, I’ll keep your name anonymous in the NIHA records.”

A huge smile dawns on Sophia’s face. “Andyou’ll turn a blind eye when it comes to my patrons?”

Noah’s face goes stony. “No deal. You’re done spreading the virus like a wayward fairy sprinkling pixie dust.”

She frowns, her small nose wrinkling ever so slightly. “Fine. The laws may change soon anyway.”

“What does that mean?” Cassian demands.

“We’re about to have a new archduke. Everything could be turned on its head.” The pretty vampire shrugs, but she knows something she’s not telling us.

“Sophia…” Cassian warns.

“We’ve already been over this—I’m not talking until you swear the Chevalier line will protect me.” She narrows her eyes like she doesn’t trust him. “And I want it in writing, Cas.”

“I didn’t think illegal contracts were binding,” I whisper to Noah while Cassian bickers with Sophia.

“The type she’s talking about is legal. She’s asking for an official house pardon, grantable only by the archduke or the prince of the house the vampire belongs to. The only one who could revoke it would be the archduke himself, and we have found ourselves temporarily bereft of one.”

“What if the new archduke revokes it when he takes the throne?”

“He won’t be able to revoke a pardon made before he claimed his place.”

I lower my voice. “That’s handy for her. Are we sureshedidn’t assassinate the archduke?”

“I heard that,” Sophia says with a laugh. “And no—I didn’t.”

“And what about the regular human government?” I ask, this time directing the question to everyone present. “The police. The sheriff’s department.”