“Tarzan lost funding,” Garrett confirmed. “Made that movie instead.”

Betsy shrieked again and kicked over her stool. The thing flew across the kitchen and crunched into the wall; plaster rained down on the (previously) spotless floor. “You’ve been a vampire for almost seventy years?”

Garrett shrugged.

“What a pity,” Sinclair commented, “that we already killed Nostro.” But he was looking at Garrett in a new way: intrigued and even a little alarmed. Antonia wondered how old Sinclair was.

“Sing it, sweetheart! God, what I wouldn’t give to have him in this kitchen right now. Torturing poor George and the others for more than half a century, that piece of shit! That son of a bitch!”

“Garrett,” Garrett corrected her.

“Right, right, sorry.”

Of all of them, Antonia noticed, Garrett seemed the least upset. She asked him about it, and he shrugged.

“Long time ago.”

“I guess that’s one way of looking at it,” she said doubtfully.

“Things are different now.”

Yeah, she thought bitterly. You’ve been redeemed by love. Loving someone else, that is. Fuck.

Chapter 13

I’m glad you didn’t cut it,” she said later, after making love. She stroked the long, silky strands. “I like it long.”

“Now, yes. Then, no.”

“I suppose. That’ll teach you to conform to society,” she teased.

He made a sound like gravel rolling down a hill, and after a minute, she realized he was laughing.

She supposed she should tell him; he might wonder, tomorrow night, where she had gone. “Just a heads up, I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“Because…because I haven’t been able to figure out how to help the queen. And I can’t stay here while you—I can’t stick around, let’s just leave it like that.”

“But if you don’t help…you don’t get what you want.”

“So I don’t get what I want. My life will remain completely unchanged.” She thought she said it with no bitterness. And dammit all, she was about to cry again. But not in front of Garrett. No way.

“Don’t go,” he said.

Okay, now she was crying. “Well, I am, so shut up about it. What do you care? You love Betsy, don’t you?”

“Yes.”

“So that’s all you need.”

“No.”

“What’s the matter with you? Why do you even care? You’ve got everything you need right here.”

“Now.”

“Look, Garrett. I guess…you don’t really love me.”

“Wrong.”

“What?” Outraged, she sat up. “You just said you loved Betsy.”

He yanked her back down. “Love Betsy…like the sun. Powerful, can’t control it. Don’t know what will happen.”

“Yeah, that sounds about right.”

“Love you like…air. Need it. Betsy is queen…belongs to everybody. Like money. You…belong to me. You’re…only for me.”