"Why did you do it?" she said. But she had a pretty good idea why. That maniacal major must have been plotting his vampire-destroying schemes again. Still, Neil Asher had lived in London for years on and off, and the Van Helsings had never fixed their sights on him before. Why now?
No, it didn't make sense. Clair had carefully explained her mistake to Jane, it was true, in mistaking Asher for a werewolf during the farce that occurred when Clair was doing supernatural research for the prestigious Scientific Discovery of the Decade Award. But due to the debt she owed him for his role in it, Clair had wisely kept quiet about Asher. Clair generally told Jane most things, but she had kept quiet about the Earl of Wolverton being a vampire, since Jane was, after all, a Van Helsing, and a Van Helsing and her duty were not soon parted.
Clair had only recently decided to reveal all to Jane when she'd instead decided that Jane and Asher would suit admirably. Clair frowned. Jane had almost ruined her plan. Really, some people could be so inconsiderate!
Seeing Clair's frown, and taking her friend's silence for appalled revulsion at had what she had done, Jane sank wearily into the soft cushion of a pale blue chair next to the small fireplace in the center of the room. She gestured shakily for Clair to join her.
"I…" She tried to speak, then lowered her head. "I can still see Lord Asher's face when I shoved that stake in his backside. He looked so stunned, and for a moment—I probably imagined it, but I thought I caught a glimpse of true hurt in his eyes." That vulnerability had shaken Jane almost as much as anything she'd ever seen. Her, ashamed of doing her duty!
"Jane?"
She glanced up at Clair. She had also hurt her friend by the betrayal. "I am so ashamed," she said. "You've always been my closest friend, and to treat your hospitality like this… Please forgive me."
"I do."
Jane glanced up in surprise. What she saw on Clair's face lightened her heart.
"You don't hate me?"
Clair shook her head. "We've been friends for far too long to let a little vampire blood come between us. Although I must insist that you cease and desist in your attacks on Asher."
"Is the earl hurt…"Jane hesitated, trying not to cry. "Is Asher hurt badly? I wouldn't have killed him, really. Well, I tried… but I just couldn't bring myself to the sticking point. In fact, if he hadn't begun to bite me, I don't think I would have struck at all…" Jane hesitated, guilt eating her worse than Asher ever could have. "Please tell me, is he in much pain?"
"He'll be fine. Neil heals remarkably fast," Clair said. "So… you know what he is." It really wasn't a question, since the answer was a jagged hole in the vampire's fanny.
Jane nodded woodenly.
"Why did you try and stake him now—at our house party?"
Jane looked away. "Actually, I have been trying to get rid of him for the past ten days. I'm a dismal failure as a Van Helsing. I'm the butt of all the family jokes. My cousins can be most cruel at times. Still, I didn't want to come here to do it, but my father insisted. I longed to tell you, but I took that horrid blood oath."
Clair nodded solemnly. She knew how important that was—and how sick Jane always got after taking the Van Helsing blood oath.
Jane continued speaking, tears sparkling on her eyelashes. "The major is fearful that my uncle Jakob will discover who Asher really is, stake him and steal all the glory. He made me an offer I couldn't refuse. He said that if I failed to come to your party and do my duty, he would give both Orville and Spot away—Orville to the butcher. All I could imagine was Orville lying on some great block with his head cut off."
Clair felt a little concerned. She knew that Major Van Helsing was just mean enough to do what he said if Jane didn't follow his strict commands. He truly was an old stick in the mud.
"So I had to stop the evil from spreading. You do understand?" Jane begged, wringing her hands.
"You mean, Asher being a vampire?"
Jane shook her head. "Pay attention here, Clair. Asher is not only a vampire, but Count Dracul—the Prince of Darkness! He's a truly terrible monster of such nefarious evil that the world would be much better off with him not walking the face of it. Even if he is—or maybe especially because he is—dead."
Clair's mouth made a perfect O. "You think our Asher is Dracul?" She tried not to laugh. Last year she had accused Asher of being a werewolf. Now he was being confused with an evil vampire prince? What rotten luck. She said, "Asher may be a rake, behave rather pompously at times and have a certain reputation among the demimonde, but he is not this Dracul character. I know Asher. He has saved not only my life, but Ian's as well."
Jane sighed. "I truly didn't believe it. That was probably why, when the moment came, I got stuck and couldn't strike that place most vampires get staked."
Clair nodded. She understood perfectly. "Yes, you struck low, rather than strike the spot where vampires are staked to make sure they're struck dead."
Jane managed a faint smile, relieved to have a friend who understood her. "I didn't believe it about Asher," she repeated. "Especially tonight." Jane kept thinking of Asher's kisses. "Even though the major's spies were quite convinced that the Earl of Wolverton is Dracul."
Rubbing her forehead, she remembered the warmth she had glimpsed in Asher's eyes when he had kissed her—kissed her like she had dreamed of being kissed.
Well, actually it had been better. No dream could compare with the reality of Asher.
Yes, Jane had felt his hunger, but not evil. No, Asher might be many things, but he wasn't the malevolent force that was the legendary Count Dracul. She added thoughtfully "No, I don't believe Asher is the Prince of Darkness, but he is a vampire. The major compelled me strongly to remove the earl. What shall I do? You know the major hates Orville with a passion."
Clair wanted to roll her eyes. That bloody ostrich again! Jane needed to get her priorities straight. "Famous last names are hard to live up to. I should know. Take me, for example. After your uncle creates a human monster out of spare cadavers… well, how can I ever top that?"
Jane's face lightened. "Marry a werewolf, I presume."
Clair laughed.
"I have been meaning to ask, do you ever get fleas in your bed?"
Clair laughed even harder, holding her sides. "No! Only muddy footprints—in the most unusual places." She grinned mischievously, remembering one of her gowns with paw prints all over the bodice. Ian got a little frisky, especially in wolf form.
Jane sighed. "Sometimes I despise being a Van Helsing. I despise the sight of blood. I despise spiders, and I'm not very fond of dirt. And now I've been forced to attack an important member of the nobility in your home. I am so sorry, Clair."
Reaching over, Clair patted her hand. "Jane, of all people, I know too well the burden of family loyalty. I am a Frankenstein, so how could I not? We too haunt cemeteries at night and do odd things. Who am I to cast stones? Some of my earliest memories are of robbing graves or mixing potions in Uncle Victor's lab."
"But you enjoy the graveyard robbing and potion mixing."
Clair smiled. "True. One of my fondest memories is when Uncle Victor made Frederick and came running down the stairs screaming, 'It's alive! It's alive!'"
"A moment to live in history," Jane said sincerely.
"That it was," Clair agreed brightly. "As tonight will probably be. Asher will never live this down. Whatever else happens, Jane, you have my backing and Ian's."
Jane hung her head, placing a hand against her forehead. "What have I done? The major is going to be so disappointed in me. Not only did I not succeed with Asher, I have gotten myself compromised by him." She burst into tears again. "If Asher doesn't marry me, I'm ruined. If he does marry me, I'm ruined and probably dead, along with him. My father will get rid of both Asher and me—if Asher doesn't get rid of me first."