Chapter 16

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

DAPHNE

October 31, 1765

Palace of Versailles

"Daphne, you look absolutely gorgeous! Surprisingly virginal for Aphrodite," Charlotte laughed.

" Mon Dieu , do I look like I'm supposed to be Aphrodite?" I cursed. "I was going for Artemis."

"Oh, really? But you're covered in all those pearls."

"Well, yes, but they're supposed to symbolize the moon. Did the bow and arrows not give me away?"

I peered at my reflection in a back corner of the Hall of Mirrors. I'd decided on a shimmering silk gown in the palest blue, so light that it almost looked silver. I wore a spiked silver tiara to represent a crown of moonlight and had adorned a matching satin domino mask with several large pearls. I'd strapped a bow and golden arrows to my back, as well.

"It doesn't matter. You are breathtaking, chérie! I'm sure your dance card will be full in no time."

" Merde! I don't want to be the center of attention, Charlotte. We're supposed to be sneaking into Jeanne's library."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. She was dressed in a gown of fine plum silk that was almost dark enough to be black. She'd attached matching silk wings to the back of her gown and wore a black mask with high, pointed ears.

"Charlotte, I thought you were coming as a peacock," I said.

"Well, I was, but then I had this moment of divine inspiration! I changed my costume at the last minute and decided to come as a bat. Oh, Philippe was furious about the expense!" She chuckled and to illustrate her point, she held her arms out and the wings unfolded beautifully. She did, indeed, look like a lovely, mysterious bat.

"How clever you are! You look beautiful," I said with a smile.

Philippe joined us and held out two glasses of champagne. He'd come dressed as Apollo, resplendent in gold brocade with a glittering mask and crown. A papier-maché lyre hung from a belt at his waist.

"Daphne, you are certainly the most beautiful Aphrodite—lovelier even than the goddess herself," he gushed.

I scowled at him.

"She's Artemis, mon cher ," Charlotte said, nudging him with her elbow. "See her bow and arrows?"

"Yes, of course," Philippe said, though his mouth was twisted in confusion.

I sighed and sipped the champagne. I tried to avoid looking around the room nervously, but it was difficult considering the last several days had me in a tangle of raw nerves. Sleep had all but eluded me over the past week and I'd taken to prowling the moonlit halls of my chateau, gripping my pistol and a vial of holy water, waiting for Henri's return. Add to that the simmering resentment I felt at étienne's abandonment, and it seemed that it would be a long time yet until I could drift off in some sense of peace.

I had no idea if étienne would be coming tonight, but I hoped not. I didn't think I could restrain myself from issuing a very thorough dressing-down. I held onto the anger as best I could, mostly because it covered the hurt I couldn't seem to overcome. Besides, if he was here, I'd end up thinking of his dreamy, golden eyes and his hard, muscled body, and I wouldn't be able to properly focus on the task before Charlotte and I tonight.

If only I could focus now.

I'd thought of him ceaselessly since our night together and found myself squirming in bed, dreaming of his lips and hands on me. I reasoned that it was only natural, since the only physical love I'd ever known beyond my own explorations was with a man who couldn't climax without the sight of blood. Of course I would feel some sentimental attachment to étienne. I wasn't made of stone. Regrettably , I thought.

"Might the humble Poseidon fill a slot on Aphrodite's dance card?" A courtier in sea-green silk bowed before me. He stroked his trident pruriently and winked behind his mask. I looked around for Charlotte, but she had wandered off.

"Oh, well, I—" Panic had me stuttering and backing away from the unpleasant overture, until I came up against a solid wall of man. I shut my eyes. My body knew him immediately.

"I'm afraid the lady Artemis has a full dance card tonight, Monsieur."

That voice—velvet across my skin. The smell of soap, cedar, and peppermint. Snow-covered pine trees. Cool, smooth skin and lean, hard muscle making me burn with desire.

Putain.

Poseidon prowled away, grumbling. I opened my eyes and spun around. For all the angry words I wished to lash against him, I was ill-prepared for the impact seeing him would have upon me. He was clad in a suit of deep burgundy velvet and wore a leather mask topped with a small pair of black antlers. His sensuous lips curved up in the hint of a smile and his warm hazel gaze scorched me in its intensity.

"étienne." His name came out more breath than sound. Of its own volition, my body arched toward him, magnetically drawn to what it wanted most.

"Duchesse." He took my hand and bowed over it, then turned it over and pressed a lingering kiss to my wrist. Lust blazed through me, wild and urgent. I stared—gaping like a ninny at his seductive beauty. Try as I might, I could not form the sharp retorts I'd been clinging to for the past days.

étienne smirked. "Perhaps we should make our way to the dance floor? I'd hate to have Poseidon accuse me of lying. I believe that's actually the Marquis de Balay beneath that hideous mask. I can't believe he adorned his wig with real seaweed. In an hour, this room is going to reek of low tide."

Despite myself, I chuckled. étienne's hand found the small of my back, gently guiding me to the other dancing couples. I drew in a breath, fighting for calm—fighting to remember my anger and disappointment.

"I'm surprised you bothered," I managed.

"Pardon?"

"What do you care if the Marquis de Balay asks me to dance? You made it abundantly clear you want nothing to do with me—after everything, " I sneered, hating the petulant tone of my voice and the undisguised hurt that bled through.

A look of pain flitted through his eyes but was gone quickly. He opened his mouth to reply, but the strains of an allemande began, and he grasped my hand to start the dance.

"Though I suppose you're not here for me," I goaded. "Probably just back to your regular hunting grounds now, eh? Isn't that how it is for you, étienne? Use one up, then move onto the next—a little sex, a little blood, a little influence. The Order isn't sending another agent after you because of my interference, so I suppose that's all you needed from me, then."

The dance swirled us away from each other for a moment, and when we came together, he was white lipped with anger. When we clasped hands again for a turn, his grip was rough.

"What do you want from me?" he hissed. "By your own admission, our alliance was only ever meant to be temporary."

"That doesn't mean I appreciate being cast aside like another one of your conquests! For a moment, I thought you were… I thought I was… I thought we were—" I cut myself off, too afraid to say the words out loud. I thought you were different. I thought I was special. I thought we were…something.

étienne paused, missing a step in the dance. He stared at me; his eyes unfathomable behind his demonic stag mask. Couples spun around us and I started to suffocate in the stifling room. I needed to get out and get some air. Breathe, Daphne.

Without another word to étienne, I fled the room before the dance ended. I barreled through the other revelers, fighting my way to the doors that led out to the gardens. I was grateful for the sharp bite of late October chill. The bracing cold allowed me to regain the composure I seemed to misplace whenever étienne was around. I stared out at the dark garden beyond, dotted with guttering torches. Had it only been five weeks since my encounter with him in the hedge maze? It felt like a lifetime ago.

"You never answered my question."

The words at my ear made me jump. Once again, I marveled at his stealth. He came up to stand next to me, looking out into the inky blackness.

I blew out a breath and watched it condense in a cloud of frost before me.

"I want what I've always wanted," I answered. "The truth."

He turned to face me, raising his fingertips to my cheek.

"Is that all?" he murmured.

"Yes," I whispered, leaning into the feel of him. No. I don't want to live in fear of Henri's return. I want to be able to sleep at night without dreaming of your hands on me. I want to feel like I was something to you.

He chuckled. "Liar."

I shut my eyes against the truth of his words.

"We will get to the truth," he said, taking a step closer to me. His legs brushed against my skirts. "Daphne…whatever happens, you will be safe from Henri. I swear it."

"And then?" I asked.

He swallowed. "And then you will go back to The Order and continue your life as an agent. I will go back to my duties as emissary, trying to convince the king to see reason, trying to convince the court to accept the blood plague as our new reality. We'll go back to work, Daphne, and Jeanne's spirit will be at peace."

His words formed an ache in my chest that spread through my entire body. But why? Isn't that exactly what I wanted? I knew it wasn't—not anymore.

"What if that's not enough?" I whispered.

étienne sighed. "Daphne, it has to be. You're a smart woman. You understand what it would take for us to be together. I'm immortal—eternal. I will not watch you wither away with age and die, and I hardly think you're leaping at the chance to sacrifice a lifetime of sunrises on me. You must understand. It's better this way."

A sharp pain chased the ache away, followed by an overwhelming numbness. I swallowed back tears I didn't want him to see. He was right. Even entertaining the idea of there being something more between us made me feel foolish. What was I expecting? I didn't just want a passing fancy, but the reality was we couldn't be anything more.

I swallowed and nodded. The look of anguish in étienne's face nearly unraveled me. I turned to head back inside, but he caught my arm and pulled me to him.

"Daphne, I wish it could be another way," he said, wrapping his arms around me. "I won't dishonor you by asking you for more, but you must know you were never just another conquest to me."

He tilted my chin up and set his lips to mine. There was no lightness to the kiss, just the untamed unleashing of need and a thousand shades of passion. His arms around my waist tightened and I clung to him, holding on as if I were adrift in a storm. I pressed him back against the stone balcony railing, painting my body against his.

He groaned against my lips. "Daphne, I can't— mon Dieu —I can't do this. I can't keep doing this. I have to let you go."

But his hold on me tightened, and his lips found mine again, and the only time he paused was to feather kisses against my cheeks, jaw, and neck. His arousal pressed against my belly, sending fire straight to my core.

"Why do you have to?" I panted against him, nearly faint with desire.

He pulled away to look at me, staring hard into my eyes. "Because, Duchesse, you are not mine."

He tilted his head down to resume the kiss, his lips inches from mine, when a rough voice called my name. The look in étienne's eyes went cold. At the interruption, I froze, panic snapping my mouth shut. I straightened and backed away from him.

"Daphne!" Philippe called again. "Daphne, Charlotte needs you, darling. Over there. Now, please." He pulled me firmly away from étienne. "She was most insistent."

The look in Philippe's eyes was murderous. I burned with embarrassment at being caught, but étienne stood straight and narrowed his gaze at Philippe. A heavy silence descended upon the three of us.

"Daphne," Philippe prodded. "She said it was important."

I nodded and stepped back toward the ballroom. étienne bowed stiffly at Philippe and followed me.

"I believe the ladies would like to be alone," Philippe said, staying étienne with a hand on his arm. étienne glared, but let me go.

Rather than get in the middle of whatever unpleasant altercation seemed about to take place between them, I hurried inside the palace, searching for Charlotte.

The candlelit corridors blurred as I careened forward, quietly calling for her. Finally, a door cracked open, revealing a thin stream of amber light. A familiar head poked out and beckoned to me.

"Daphne! Come here! I've found the library!" Charlotte ducked back inside the room and quickly closed the door behind me.

I ripped my mask off, throwing it onto a desk beside Charlotte's bat mask and crumpled into a nearby chair. Seeing my pink cheeks and breathless manner, Charlotte threw her head back and laughed.

"Oh, chérie ! Tell me what happened with étienne."

"Mon Dieu, Charlotte, I have no idea!" I shook my head in confusion as tears started to well in my eyes. "One moment, I was arguing with him on the dance floor, the next I was outside trying to get some air, and then I found myself before him again, wondering what if we could be together? But we can't because he will live forever and I can't become a vampire, and so we have no future—and then it was as if we were saying goodbye to each other, but then we were kissing, and then Philippe found us and he's just furious , Charlotte—I don't think I've ever seen him so angry!" The words rushed out of me as the tears started to fall, dropping onto my shiny, pale skirts.

"Hush now, ma chère amie ! You are fine now, are you not? Philippe and his temper are out there, and we are safe in here. And as for you and étienne—well, what do you really want?"

"I don't know!" I wailed.

She tutted and hugged me, but her tenderness only made me cry harder. I buried my face in her shoulder and sobbed almost as hard as I had when Michel had died. What was wrong with me?

"You must figure that out first, chérie. Otherwise, how will you know what to ask him for?" she soothed, pulling a flask of brandy from her garter. "Here. Have a drink of something medicinal."

I sipped at first, enjoying the sweet warmth of the liquid. Then at Charlotte's insistence, downed the rest of the flask.

"I don't know what I want. I don't understand my feelings for him, Charlotte. I want to hate him. He makes me so crazy! And he's a vampire ! Just like the ones that killed Michel."

"But he did not kill Michel," Charlotte pointed out. "And you know, darling, I don't think he's really like all vampires, any more than one man is like all men. Why are you so confused by these feelings? You simply thought he was one thing, and then you got to know him and learned that you were wrong. And now you must figure out if you want him at all, if you love him and will make it work, or if you think it's best to part ways and move on with your life."

"It's not that simple," I argued.

"L'amour rarely is. But for now, we have work to do, so no more tears, d'accord? "

"Yes, yes, I know. Merde . It's fine. I'm fine, really."

"Good," she said, taking the empty flask. "Now that you are fortified, we shall look for the book. I would love to hear of your troubles and your heartache, chérie , but we don't have much time before the silly men come looking."

She was right. I stood and forced étienne from my thoughts, intent on finding a copy of the book. I blew out a breath and took a candle from the desk.

"Thank you, chérie. As always, you are right." I offered her a wan smile. "You start over by those shelves and I'll start on this side."

We perused the bookshelves lining the walls, standing on chairs to reach the uppermost volumes. Unfortunately, they didn't seem to be in any kind of order, which meant we'd have to individually check every book. I groaned. This room wasn't as large as the formal library at Versailles, but it was big enough to take us all night.

"I should have brought more brandy," Charlotte muttered. "Do you think I should go and get us some?"

"No! It'll take us long enough to search together—it'll take twice as long if we're drunk."

A soft knock startled us both. Before I could climb down from the chair, the door opened. We froze.

A pair of antlers poked in, followed by the rest of the man I wanted to see the least.

"étienne!" I gasped. "What are you doing here? Get out before someone sees you and finds us in here!"

I jumped down from the chair and hurried over to him.

"My, my," he drawled. "What have we here? Two sneaky little vixens hiding away in Madame de Pompadour's private library? What will the king say?"

I started to push him out the door, but it was like trying to move a block of solid stone. He chuckled at my feeble attempts and removed his mask. Charlotte narrowed her eyes at him, but suddenly gasped and pulled him further into the room.

"Charlotte, what are you doing?" I whispered.

"Daphne, he can help us look!"

I scowled.

"Look for what?" étienne glanced from me to Charlotte, then back to me again.

"Nothing!" I whispered. "It's nothing. If you want to help, go keep watch and leave Charlotte and I to work. You haven't exactly been the best partner in this investigation lately, anyway."

He peered down at me, his expression unreadable.

"No," he said.

"No—what?"

"No, I don't want to leave. The Comtesse de Brionne has asked for my assistance. I will stay to help." He faced Charlotte and smiled charmingly at her. "What are we looking for, Madame?"

I seethed with anger. Charlotte raised her brows at me.

" Pseudomonarchia Daemonum ," she said.

"Traitor." I folded my arms against my chest.

étienne's smile dropped.

"Daphne," he said in a warning tone. "This is extremely dangerous. You have no idea what you're getting into."

I raised my chin haughtily. "Oh, and you do? Well, by all means, share it with me. You forget, étienne, I was in that cellar, too. I want to know what we're up against, be it ghost, supernatural beast, or demon. Whatever it is, I will defeat it. We have no other leads to follow, and I don't think I need to remind you that time—and The Order's patience—is running out."

"The Order's patience? Because it's not enough to simply find Jeanne's murderer—we have to do it so that your masters will welcome you back into their good graces," he scoffed.

"How dare you!" I growled. "If it wasn't for my intervention with The Order, you'd probably be returned to dust from some other assassin's stake."

Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Stop! Both of you. We're wasting time. Help us look for the book, étienne, and then you two can spar all you want."

Chastened, I returned to my spot at the bookshelves. I resolved to ignore étienne as best as I could, but it was difficult with him smiling smugly a few shelves over. I cut my eyes to him. He was scanning the titles with inhuman speed and I swallowed an oath. Charlotte had been right to ask him for help. I'd almost forgotten about his supernatural speed. I could only hope I found the book first, just so that he wouldn't have the satisfaction of?—

"Found it," he called.

Merde.

He pulled a thick, leather-bound volume down and placed it on a table near the middle of the room. It looked almost identical to the one from the cellar. Without hesitation, I flipped through the pages, looking for the one that had been seared into my mind.

The Demon Asmoday.

Charlotte and étienne stood on either side of me, reading over my shoulders. The page detailed horrifying rituals for summoning and controlling a demon. In exchange for sacrifices of blood, the demon Asmoday was said to bestow wealth, charm, power, and all-compelling allure upon his summoner, in addition to granting any number of requests. The demon could appear in his own form but had the power to both remain unseen and inhabit bodies. With the illicit gifts listed, I could suspect any number of people of summoning him—especially at court. Who didn't wish for wealth, power, and the lust of others? The only thing that didn't make sense to me was Henri's involvement. Why would he have summoned a demon to give him everything he already had?

"What does this mean?" Charlotte's humor had faded, replaced with a look of horror.

"We're dealing with a serious force of evil here," étienne said, turning the page. "Someone has summoned the demon Asmoday and somehow, he is connected to Henri's body, or his spirit. I can't be sure which. We will need to petition the Vatican for an exorcism. That's the only way to defeat the demon."

"Are you certain? There has to be another way. Holy water, prayers, silver—something like that," I offered, desperate and starting to panic.

"Well, I don't know for certain about the holy water and prayers, but I believe silver only works on werewolves," he said thoughtfully.

"We don't have time to petition the Vatican," I said. My voice sounded on the verge of hysteria, even to my own ears. Henri is connected to a powerful demon! As if he wasn't terrifying enough as a mere mortal man. What has he sought and gained in this new supernatural state? Strength? Immortality? Other unnamed dark powers? Each prospect became more terrifying than the last, but I willed myself calm with a steadying breath. "You read the text. There will be more deaths—more sacrifices until the summoner has what he wants. If we don't stop him, who knows what will follow? To stop Asmoday, we must stop the summoner."

"How do we do that?" Charlotte asked. Worry lines creased her forehead.

"We don't," étienne said emphatically. "We must have help—someone who has performed an exorcism before. I've certainly never done one and I doubt either of you have. I do know that if it isn't done properly— safely —it can go very, very wrong."

I ignored his words. "Perhaps there's another book in here…a book about exorcising demons. Charlotte, help me look!"

"What the Hell is going on in here?" Philippe threw the library door open, knocking several books from their shelves. He tore his mask off and threw it aside, face purpling in anger. His eyes lit upon étienne and he practically vibrated with violence.

"Philippe!" Charlotte laughed to cover her nerves, but her voice shook. "Nothing, mon cher , nothing! I was just having a quiet moment with Daphne when Monsieur de Noailles came in and?—"

"Not another word, Charlotte. Not another lie shall cross your lips tonight. Get your things. We are leaving."

"Philippe, please, it was my fault. I—" I stepped toward him. He held up his hand to stay me.

"No, Daphne. I've had enough of this. It is your life—your decision—if you choose to remain under Noailles's influence, but I will not have you dragging my wife down with you. I feel like I can't trust you anymore, and if I cannot, then neither can The Order. I'll be writing to them this evening and telling them that you've been compromised. Do not send them any further messages."

Shock slammed into me. I felt rooted to the ground. My heart pounded with the speed of a runaway horse. I swallowed and opened my mouth, but no sound came out. Out of The Order? I couldn't believe it. Charlotte's worried gaze met mine and she shook her head, eyes warning me to be silent. She sighed deeply, picked up her mask from the table, then came to kiss my cheek.

"It will be all right, chérie . I will call on you in a few days when all of this has blown over. D'accord? "

Then, straightening with as much grace as the queen herself, she exited the room. As she passed Philippe, she looked at him and said in a voice more chilling than I'd ever heard from her, "Apollo always was a silly, jealous god."

A muscle in Philippe's jaw ticked and he slammed the door, leaving étienne and I in devastated silence.