This type of elaborate ruse was just the sort of thing Voss reveled in. He enjoyed not only the planning, but the execution as well, and considered that a trap had only been perfectly sprung and a puzzle solved when he managed to do so without the victim realizing what was happening.
But in this case, things did not turn out as he’d intended.
He and Dimitri, along with several other guests—mortal and Dracule alike—sat in the main parlor of the club. Windows dark with heavy curtains allowed only a swatch of moonlight to filter through, and a violinist played in the corner. Lovely women, a rarity in men’s clubs at least in London, offered trays of drink and slender ivory wrists or shoulders.
The very essence of the place was hot and lush, stemming not from its colonnaded design but from the scent of warm blood and rich wine, along with the haze of hashish smoke filtering from another chamber. The chamber exuded hedonism, complete with food and drink and the most sensual of furnishings—both of the inanimate and mortal type.
Dimitri had planned his establishment well, and even though Voss meant to use the evening to observe and learn from his host, he found himself lulled by the strains of music and the feminine company—and young, hard males as well, for those who tended toward that preference. He confessed to having tried that once, early on after realizing he was to live forever, and when he was very drunk. But in the end it hadn’t appealed, and he returned to the lush flesh of women instead of the hard muscle of men.
The most lovely of the women was named Lerina, and she was clearly Dimitri’s current mistress. Her elegant shoulder, bared by a low-bodice gown, bore several sets of bite marks on the right side. Every Dracule in the place recognized Dimitri’s scent on the woman, and even if they hadn’t, the way she watched him with her pale blue eyes would have indicated her allegiance.
Dimitri accepted the first goblet from Voss, and sipped the brandy as Lerina traced her fingers gently over the back of her lover’s neck. His dark eyes scanned the room, as if watching for trouble or merely surveying his domain, and he hardly seemed to notice the woman’s touch.
That was where Voss and Dimitri differed, as well. Even if Voss was only planning to bed the woman that night, he plied her with attention and charm. When he was finished with her, he was finished…but until then, she was the recipient of all of his attention.
As he sipped from his own cup, Voss observed his host, who was drinking from the goblet with a garnet in the base. He noticed nothing untoward. He’d added a bit of a favorite of his enhancements to the brandy as well, in hopes that it would lower Dimitri’s natural defenses even further. The salvi wouldn’t weaken Dimitri—although it would drug a mortal to sleep almost instantly—but combined with the brandy and blood, it would increase his intoxication to an even deeper level.
Voss partook of the same drink, with the same enhancement, and divided his attention between his host, the lovely Lerina, who seemed desperate for Dimitri’s spare notice, and other amusements in the room. Voss had all night to enjoy himself, and fully intended to do so.
He’d refilled Dimitri’s goblet a third time—and had swapped for a third gem, the topaz, which had taken the place of a pearl—when everything went to hell.
It started when one of Dimitri’s stewards approached swiftly, carrying a chest. As he came closer, Voss recognized it as the box that held his collection of goblets, along with the salvi. Damnation.
“My lord,” said the steward, showing Dimitri the chest. “I found these in the front alcove. Hidden behind the curtain.”
Voss’s stomach sank, but he fixed an insouciant smile on his face as Dimitri glanced at the goblets, lined up in their spots with the chemical symbol for each gem marked on its slot in the box. Of course, one slot was empty—for the one cup he held in his hand. He turned a frigid glare onto Voss, who lifted his own glass in salute.
“A gift for my host,” Voss said in an effort to bluff his way through the situation. “A collection of a dozen of the finest craftsmanship.”
“So that’s what you’ve done,” said Dimitri. His eyes burned red and his mouth flattened into an unpleasant expression. “I wondered. And you expected to trick me thus?”
Voss noticed that his hand trembled, and that the man’s face appeared taut and tense. His breathing altered, slowed.
Voss had been right! It was a gemstone. Something in the chest. Something that wasn’t large enough to cause him great weakness, although in combination with the salvi and blood-brandy it had obviously affected him. But there was no way of knowing which one it was, for all dozen were present.
“I would throttle you but I’m afraid I have more imminent concerns to deal with,” Dimitri said flatly, and Voss realized he’d shifted his attention from him to something beyond his shoulder. He had an arrested expression on his face as he looked across the room. “But you are no longer welcome here, Voss. See that he leaves,” he added to his steward.
Voss stood, knowing when he’d pushed things too far. He didn’t see any reason to cause a fight and muss his clothes, so he gave a short little bow of acquiescence. But Dimitri was no longer paying him any attention.
Instead his focus was on a group of men who’d just entered the room.
Cezar Moldavi and five of his companions.
At that time, Voss knew little about Moldavi except that he didn’t care for the man. Perhaps it was the way the vampire carried himself, as if there was a large block on his shoulder that he dared anyone to knock off. Or perhaps it was the manner in which he spoke to everyone, as if he were better than they. Which was a hard thing to account for, since Cezar Moldavi wasn’t the tallest of men, and he wasn’t particularly pleasant to look at. He wasn’t even half as rich as Voss. In the company of other Dracule, what exactly did he think was so special about himself?
“Who allowed that child-bleeder entrance?” Dimitri snarled, seeming to forget about the goblets. “I gave strict instructions—”
“Dimitri,” said Moldavi, sweeping toward them boldly. Voss could tell immediately that he knew he wasn’t welcome, and that he didn’t care. His five companions pushed their way through as if they were the club’s owners, rather than guests. “Your place is quite accommodating.”
“I hardly expected to see you here, Moldavi,” Dimitri replied, looking at him from his chair, as if he couldn’t be bothered to rise. But Voss assumed it had to do with the fact that the man was weakened by the presence of some gemstone as well as the salvi. “There aren’t any children about.”