Page 32 of Be Still My Unbeating Heart

An ally could be the killer.

The mayor seemed unfazed by the talking cat.

“If nothing else, it’s good business,” she said. “Undead tourism is booming, and Vernazza has been vampire-free for too long.Now is the perfect time to inject fresh blood into our town.” She winked at Bastian. “If you’ll forgive a terrible pun.”

Bastian smiled obligingly. He found the mayor’s calm surprising. Surely she knew about Luna’s murder. She should also know that a vampire was the prime suspect—the very vampire standing in her office looking fabulous in a pale blue shirt and linen trousers.

“It’s nice to encounter a place where vampires are welcomed,” Bastian said.

“The Red Euro is something we should be taking advantage of. Sweden’s economy boosted exponentially when they started welcoming nonlethal vampires into their cities. In fact, the mortality rate wentdown, thanks to better communication between humans and vampires.”

“Coincidence,” Whitby said. “Not all vampires are as even-tempered as Bastian.”

Well, quite. As a rule, vampires were messy, loud, and mean. While Bastian didn’t begrudge the support of allies, he got the impression that few had met a real vampire, and that rankled him. True acceptance demanded more than hashtags and placards. There had to be some middle ground. People had to accept vampiresas they were, without romanticizing or demonizing them. It was the only way to achieve meaningful change.

“Where are my manners?” Mayor Moretti asked, crossing to a bureau in the corner. “Could I offer you something to drink?”

“I could take a cosmopolitan,” Bastian said.

De Luca cleared his throat, and Bastian waved a jovial hand at the mayor. “Just joshing, darling. We’ve already been fed and watered.”

“You’re sure? It’s no imposition.”

The mayor shrugged and, as she crossed back to her desk, Bastian noticed a framed picture resting atop the bureau. It showed the mayor with her arm around a man. The man’s smile was tight,and he wore an ill-fitting suit that crept up to his ears. An incongruous pair, Bastian thought, but love took many forms.

“Vampire-human relations are at a tipping point,” the mayor said, back to business. “I believe it is thehumanswho are the biggest problem. Many simply cannot believe that a vampire could be a useful member of society.”

“Bastian would rather watchBaywatchreruns than kill,” Whitby said.

The mayor’s animated gaze remained on Bastian. “This is such fortuitous timing. We’re throwing a gala tonight at my home, a summer party to celebrate the very best that Vernazza has to offer. Please, I would be honored if you would attend.”

“A gala!” Bastian said. “How wonderful!”

He thrilled at the thought. The costumes! The music! The dancing! It was what he lived for. But…

“You can’t possibly,” Whitby said, right on cue.

No, he couldn’t possibly because—

“I’m afraid I’m under house arrest,” he told the mayor, who looked at him, then around her office, lips curling. The joke wasn’t lost on her.

“Is that so?” she said.

“The commissario believes I am responsible for the death of Luna Esposito.”

“Ah, yes. A tragedy, to be sure. What do you believe, Inspector?”

De Luca ignored Bastian’s fluttering stare, speaking without emotion. “I believe it is in the best interest of the town that we explore all possibilities before drawing our conclusion.”

Not exactly a ringing endorsement of my innocence.

The mayor’s gaze lingered on him. Bastian looked, too, because he was trying to figure out if De Luca really meant what he’d said. Did he still suspect Bastian?

Finally, the mayor declared, “It is a masked gala. It would be wonderful to have a vampire in attendance, especially one so easy on the eye. No one needs to know it’s you. Our guests will be simply thrilled to meet a real, live vampire, so to speak. And it would certainly go some way toward convincing the more resistant members of our community that they have nothing to fear.”

“I really don’t think that’s a good idea,” De Luca said.

A muscle in the mayor’s jaw flickered.