Read Stealing Magic (Vampire Primes) for Free Online

distance, even with the excuse of the rain, but he wished they had.
    Dowd walked beside him, chattering inanely, totally unaware of Julien’s discomfort.
    Of course, Dowd might be revealing the Tsar’s plans to invade Her Majesty’s possessions in India through the Khyber Pass and the mortal’s words would sound like gibberish while Julien concentrated on controlling the pain.
    How could mortals stand so much exposure to sunlight? It was unnatural. Mortals seemed frail against a vampire’s strength, quick ability to heal, longevity, and mental powers, but they could stand in the midday sun. They could consume foods such as garlic, which poisoned vampires. They could touch silver which his kind could not—and people wondered why he always wore gloves at dinner! Certain woods didn’t cause mortal skin to bruise at the merest touch.
    Do stop whining, he ordered himself. A few minutes of discomfort isn’t worth complaining about.
    Once he was inside the dower house he would make sure he got Dowd alone and interrogate the mortal properly. Lady Dowd had been easy to read, and innocent herself, but she had worries about foreign trips her husband had taken. Lord Dowd was not easy to read. In fact, he was quite resistant to Julien’s psychic intrusion. Julien decided that the man needed a distraction. It was Lord Dowd who had suggested a visit to the women in the dower house when his wife excused herself to gossip with friends. Julien had agreed, knowing very well how powerful sex was as a distraction. Dowd could spend a pleasant hour with one of the girls while Julien sat alone in a nearby room and concentrated on breaking into the mortal’s deeper thoughts.
    After an eternity of a few minutes Julien and Dowd reached the front door of the house. Lord Dowd gave Julien a nudge in the ribs and chuckled wickedly. “This will be a pleasant diversion,” he said, and rapped with the door knocker.
    “I am sure it will be,” Julien said. He was relieved to be beneath the thin shelter of the house’s arched entryway. The pain started to ebb instantly.
    Julien took off his dark glasses just as the door was opened by the copper-haired beauty whose image hadn’t left his thoughts since the first moment he’d seen her.
    Grace flushed bright pink. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, and he saw the disappointment there. It caused him to blurt out, “This isn’t what you think! I can explain everything!”
    “What are you talking about, man?” Dowd asked. He stepped past the maid and into the impromptu brothel. Dowd took off his hat and coat and handed them to Grace. He rubbed his hands together as he looked her up and down. “Aren’t you a pretty chit?”
    Julien stepped inside, and between Dowd and Grace. “She’s not on offer.”
    Dowd laughed and chucked Grace under the chin. “Saving this one for yourself, are you?”
    Grace’s hand landed on Julien’s arm before he could rip Dowd’s throat out. Her fingers squeezed hard, helping to bring his fury under control.
    “May I take your coat, my lord?” she asked.
    For all her politeness, there was iron and sternness in her attitude. He liked this. Julien smiled at Grace and let her take his things. She wouldn’t look him in the eye.
    “Come along, man,” Dowd said. “I want that black-haired beauty standing in the sitting room doorway, even if she is staring at you.”
    “You are welcome to her.”
    Julien knew how useful the mortal’s impatience could be to his purposes. Still, he needed to speak to Grace. He sent an image to her mind, and the thought, Meet me after sunset.
    “I am at your service, Lord Dowd,” Julien said, and followed his mortal prey into the sitting room.
    * * *
    It wasn’t quite sunset, and she wasn’t the only person walking through the garden, but at least the rain had stopped. It would be night very soon, or so her pocket watch told her, but with the dark clouds overhead and a fog rolling in it might as well officially be night. She