Page 76 of Red Masquerade

Sinclair was a vampire, and I was alone. With him.

I glanced over my shoulder as if I could summon Vince.

“What areyoudoing here?” He was following me, one large stride at a time.

“I—”

“Were yousnooping, Miss Helena?” That glint in his eye danced, the corner of his lips turning upward. A tilt to his head, animalistic. “What were you looking for?”

“Nothing,” I said, because it was mostly true—I didn’t knowwhatI was searching for, just that it was here, in this house.

“Oh, come now,” he said, leaning on the wall with all the casualness in the world. “You and I both know you’ve been rooting around in those rooms.”

Under his stare, I felt like a deer that knew the wolf was hiding in the brush. My instincts, my body, knew he was a predator,even if my eyes told me he was any other man—a warning I’d not sensed when I first met him.

It was terrifying how easily they hid amongst humans. Drinking with us, sleeping with us, the only evidence of something uncanny the point to their teeth.

I didn’t know whether to fear him or thank him for bringing me to Vince.

But he didn’t hold any malice in his gaze, just an amusement at my jumpiness and a cool, collected exterior.

“I’m a guest here,” I said, lifting my chin. As though being a guest offered protection.

“Just a guest?” He crossed his arms. “I won’t hurt you, Helena. But be mindful of who’s around when you go running like that. You might inspire someone to… give chase.” Another flash in those eyes.

I swallowed. “Who else is here?”

A noncommittal shrug, as he pushed off the wall to standing again. “Right now, no one who will harm you.”

I heard the underlying message: that vampires, other than Sinclair, frequented these halls, and not just when those strange blood parties took place.

What did I get myself into? From one stifling house to another full of preternatural beings.

I should’ve hidden away at Flora’s—shouldn’t have let Vince convince me to leave, that coming with him was the best option. At least at Flora’s, I’d be safe until my brother realized where I was, banging on the door with a team of cops behind him.

It hit me that no one knew where I was. Not Flora, not Dixon, the only two that I could rely on should anything happen to me.

And there was a vampire standing before me, every so often glancing at the pulse in my neck, even if he didn’t seem like he was about to rip into my flesh.

My eyes narrowed on him. “What is going on here?”

His grin widened almost imperceptibly. “There it is,” he said. “Her curiosity wins out.”

My scowl deepened. “You were the one that brought me here.”

“I did no such thing,” he said, hands raised to feign innocence. “One can be easily swayed when someone pushes them to do what they already wanted. I made a suggestion.Youcame here on your own.”

“You wanted me to see.” He may as well have walked me right to the doors of that dark, red room himself. Pointing out the people in the robes, sparking that curiosity—he knew exactly what he was doing. And he’d been put up to do it by Vince, one way or another.

Sinclair leaned a bit closer. I cemented my feet, unwilling to move.

“And whatdidyou see, Helena?”

Words stalled in my throat.

“It wouldn’t just so happen to be coincidence we’re around the corner from that room, would it?”

My tongue turned dry against my teeth at the thought. I had no idea, but perhaps something had been pushing me along, guiding me there without my knowing. And all these guest rooms lining the halls nearby—rooms for vampires to consummate whatever lust took over, away from the eyes of prying humans that partied downstairs.