Free Blood Wicked by Sharon Page Page B

Tonight I am going to go to the brothel in which Lord Cavendish died.”
    Julian blew a smoke ring. “And you’re taking Miss Dare. She’s thinking some very ripe curses about you right now.”
    It irked him no end that Julian could read her mind and he couldn’t. “There’s no need for you to be concerned about Miss Dare. She is of no significance to them. She is just a former courtesan with an ill child.” He tried to impose his will into Julian’s mind. Normally he could do it with a lesser vampire. But Julian’s mind resisted. The lad was more powerful than he looked.
    The younger vampire eyed him suspiciously. “She’s the succubus. I know she is; I saw it in her thoughts. She wanted to seduce you. And she’s slept with the five men who died.”
    Raw panic shot through him. “Whatever she is, she didn’t know it. She’s being used by someone, and I need time to find out who. If you turn her over to the council—”
    “I’m not going to do that. I don’t like that bunch of old, arrogant vampires any more than you do, Heath. I have to take orders from them. Doesn’t mean I do everything they ask.”
    Julian wore a rebellious pout, but Heath couldn’t accept his apparent disloyalty at face value. He still had to be wary. “I have to go, Julian. You’re free to drink my brandy to your heart’s content, but you’re not allowed to drink from my maids—”
    “But you think Miss Dare had something to do with your brother’s disappearance.”
    “She denies it. And I believe her.”
    Julian smirked. “Do you? Are there two reasons? The plump, round ones up on her chest? Or the curvy ones of her backside, equally tempting?”
    “Christ,” Heath muttered. He knew it was an odd curse for a vampire. “There is more to women than breasts and rumps, Julian.”
    “If this Miss Dare is a demoness and a murderess, what’s going to happen to her? In the mortal world, she’d be hanged. I don’t know what the council would do to her, but it wouldn’t be pretty. It seems a shame to destroy such a beautiful woman. And her poor daughter would be left alone.”
    There were times Julian amazed him. The lad saw right to the heart of matters. “I believe she’s an unwitting accomplice,” Heath said. “I need to find out more about that apothecary.” And about the seal that bore the design of his brand. Did it mean his sire was in London? Nikolai was not supposed to be able to leave the Carpathians….
    “You aren’t going to send me there again instead of letting me go to the brothels, are you?” Julian asked.
    “No. Keep away from there. Go to the brothels.”
    “Are you going to let Miss Dare seduce you?” Julian studied him. “You might learn a lot that way. You want her, don’t you?”
    “Shut up, Julian. I can’t bed her. It is as simple as that.”
    The lad gave a sly grin. “You could bed her once, old man. It takes two tumbles in the hay before you unleash the curse.”
    “This
is a brothel?”
    Heath watched Miss Dare open her eyes wide as she took in the opulence of the foyer. A fountain bubbled in the center. The walls were covered in crimson silk. Glasses of champagne were whisked through the crowd on silver trays carried by elegant footmen, while prostitutes draped in transparent veils struck enticing poses.
    Either she was a magnificent actress or she had never been here before. Her blue eyes were saucer wide. She had forgottento glare at him, which she had done when he’d returned to the carriage and set her free. Apparently she did not like being taken prisoner, even though he had acted the perfect gentleman.
    She was afraid to give up control. Afraid to trust. She must have been hurt in the past.
    “Lord Cavendish died in here.” He saw her flinch.
    But her gaze did not dart around like a frightened creature seeking a way out. She faced him with pride. “There was no point in bringing me here. I’m innocent—” Then she saw something behind him that brought her hand to her