waste any time. “Clive. Now.”
The female vamp who answered looked me up, down again, gave Theo and Connor the same treatment. Then settled that arrogant gaze on my face again. “Are you here to surrender?”
“No. We’re here to discuss his brother’s attack on me.” I held up my wrists, the bruises now vibrant.
Something flared in her eyes. Knowledge, I thought. And a little bit of fear. “A moment,” she said and closed the door in our faces.
“She knows something,” Connor murmured.
“She absolutely does,” I agreed. “Maybe she was the target of his friendship before me.”
The door opened again. “You may enter if you hand over your weapons.”
I snorted. “I’m not handing over my blade, and Theo is authorized to carry his weapon on duty. We’re searching for Levi, and if we find him first, Clive might not like it. He has five seconds to decide whether to talk to us.” I smiled politely. “Five. Four. Three.”
The woman’s lip curled, but she stood aside. “Enter.”
“Good choice,” I said quietly as we passed her. “And I’d start thinking very seriously about a career change.”
We walked inside to find a large and well-appointed suite that smelled of lemons and cinnamon and the coppery tang of blood. That sparked my hunger, and the monster’s interest, but I pushed it down. I’d refuel when this was done.
Vampires were arranged behind Clive, all of them in tailored black. Clive looked me over, took in the bruises. “It appears you’ve been fighting again. How unsurprising.”
“I was attacked in my home by your brother. Levi lay in wait inside my apartment, used his glamour to make us believe he wasn’t there. He’s been stalking me.” I offered the copies of the notes Theo had thought to bring.
Clive’s expression didn’t change; he probably believed he’d hidden his reaction completely. But it was the lack of apparent surprise that did him in. And the nervous glances exchanged by the vampires behind him.
“These weren’t signed by him,” he said and handed them back.
I ignored that. “He fled after attacking me. Your brother is disturbed.” That did it, putting a flash of molten anger in his eyes.
“This is obviously a ruse intended to draw attention from your dangerous behavior.”
I snorted a laugh. “He was lying in wait for me, bound and threatened me, and I’m the one engaging in dangerous behavior?” I tilted my head. “I’m curious, Clive. Did you know he was violent when you sent him to my door? Did you encourage him to communicate with me? To watch me?” My own anger rose, dancing along with the monster’s Great Offense that he didn’t believe me. “To try to kill me in my own apartment because he’s manufactured an imaginary relationship with me?”
“Whatever you’re raving about, you undoubtedly brought it upon yourself. If you’d sworn the oaths you were supposed to swear, had moved into a House, it wouldn’t have happened.”
But I could see in his eyes that he knew exactly who his brother was, what his brother could do.
“He’s tried this before, hasn’t he?” I asked quietly. “Maybe gotten too attached to someone. Hurt someone even though he didn’t mean to do it. Other imaginary relationships?”
“Clive,” whispered the vampire to his left. “If she’s telling the truth—”
“She never tells the truth,” Clive said, shifting the narrative. “My brother’s issues are his own.” But one of the vampires moved quickly into a hallway. Probably to confirm the report, or to get to Nicole before we did.
I glanced at Theo. “It’s interesting, don’t you think, that the so-called Compliance Bureau wants to punish me for saving a life, but when one of their own stalks and attacks me, and tries to kill the crown prince, the rules just don’t apply.”
“You have no proof.”
I held out my wrists again.
“The CPD has evidence,” Theo said. “They’re investigating.”
Clive snorted. But fear had begun to furrow his brows. “Bias,” he spat. “Of course their investigation would be biased toward a Sullivan and a Keene. You get away with everything.”
“We do?” Connor asked and looked at me. “Did you know that? Because I didn’t, and I’d have raised much more hell if I’d known.”
“Same,” I said. “If you choose to believe your brother didn’t just attack me, where is he?” I glanced around, counted. “Because he seems to be the only member of the Bureau who’s not here. Well, him and the other two Bureau members who attacked Connor outside my apartment.”
Clive’s jaw tightened. “If you don’t have a warrant, get out.”
“Okay,” I said, gave Theo