Page 31 of Veiled Justice

Ludwig relaxed a little. ‘Austria – but it’s been a few centuries since I was there.’

‘You still have the accent, though.’

‘I can’t shake it,’ he admitted with a shy smile.

‘You went to Quintos’s masquerade ball with Verona?’

‘Yes, we’re friends.’ His smile widened. ‘She asked me to go with her as back-up, to be her wingman.’

‘Had you met Helga Jónson before?’

‘No – and I didn’t meet her at the party either – but I saw her.’

‘And how did she look?’

‘Bored. She was bodyguarding Thomas Squiggins but nobody would dream of threatening him anyway, not with his dad and all.’

‘And his dad is…?’

Ludwig’s eyebrows shot up, ‘Well,’ he paused dramatically, ‘it’s Marcus Squiggins, of course!’ When my face stayed blank, he elaborated. ‘The owner of the Nocturne Circle?’

‘An invitation-onlygentlemen’s club,’ Krieg murmured to me.

‘Women are allowed to attend,’ Ludwig interjected. ‘But they have to accompany one of the male members.’

‘How forward thinking of them,’ I muttered. ‘Positively progressive.’

Looking confused, Ludwig squinted at me. ‘She’s being sarcastic,’ Volderiss explained to him.

‘Ah.’

I pressed on. ‘Did you see what happened to Helga?’

‘No, but I saw her laying into Squiggins when he got too handsy with Louisa.’ He brightened. ‘I like Louisa. She’s often at Nocturne. She’s fun.’

I wasn’t sure the word ‘fun’ captured her boisterous spirit – she was a spitfire. Inviting the High King of the ogres to your father’s human-centric charity gala was a little more than fun. If I had to hazard a guess, I’d say she would try almost anything to get Daddy’s attention.

‘But you didn’t see anything else happen to Helga?’

‘No.’ Ludwig shook his head. ‘I stayed inside at the bar. Verona told me to.’

‘She didn’t want you to go outside with her for the fireworks?’

‘She said they would bother me.’ His tone was matter of fact.

Ludwig seemed sweet and more than a little obtuse. ‘Wouldthey have bothered you?’ I asked.

‘Probably. I don’t like loud noises. I watched from inside, but even so I didn’t like them much.’

‘Did everyone come back inside after the fireworks?’

‘Most.’ He shrugged. ‘Somepeople sneaked off for some fucking.’

I blinked at his bluntness. ‘Did Verona?’

‘I don’t know,’ he said guilelessly. ‘I was having sex with one of the waitresses in one of the side rooms. Turns out she was a fanger.’ He looked pleased.

I suppressed a grimace. A fanger was a vampyr groupie who got off on serving vampyrs – in a multitude of ways. ‘Did you see anyone else pair off?’