Amelia could only nod, and Victorija left without asking what drink she’d like. The clubbers were a collection of unique individuals. Some were impeccably dressed in high fashion, and others looked like they had walked in from a goth club. There were a few men and women who were incredibly tall, unusually so, but the overriding feeling was that these people were somehow out of step with Amelia’s world. A relic from a darker, almost Victorian age, as strange as that sounded.

Why didn’t I listen to Byron?

* * *

Victorija walked to the bar and found Drasas already there feeding from a woman’s wrist. She stopped when she realized Victorija was there, and said to the woman, “Go.”

The woman gave Drasas the dirtiest of looks and said, “Not even a thank you? You’re an arsehole, Drasas.”

Victorija laughed. “You really do have a way with women.”

Drasas wiped her mouth with a napkin from the bar. “British women have no respect for their betters. How is Mademoiselle Honey?”

Victorija looked back to their table. “Very calm and compliant, at the moment.”

“When are you going to contact Byron?” Drasas asked.

“When I return to the table. Now that Amelia is her Principessa, she will have to give us the Debrek secret.”

“I have people stationed all around the room and the outside, Principe,” Drasas said.

“Excellent.”

Victorija turned to order drinks, but the bartender, Slaine, was currently talking to someone at the other end of the bar. “Fairy, if you could serve me, that would be wonderful.”

Slaine stormed over to her and leaned menacingly over the bar. “Watch your mouth, vampire.”

Drasas jumped up with red eyes and fangs showing. “That’s Principe to you, fairy.”

Slaine was six foot eight of solid muscle, and half fae, half shifter. It was taboo in The Sanctuary to call Slaine a fairy, and usually got you a punch in the mouth and thrown out, but two vampires were too difficult for her to take on. Hence Victorija took great delight in teasing her every time she was in the club.

“I don’t care if she’s the Queen, no one calls me fairy.” Slaine and Drasas were almost nose to nose across the bar, ready to fight.

Victorija said, “Now, Drasas, stand down. We all know Slaine feels inadequate because of her ancestry. Let her be.”

Slaine took a breath and stepped back. “I am not ashamed of being a fae, and I will not have the fae reduced by you to the status of fairies. The Sanctuary was founded as a place for all of our kind to come together peacefully, a neutral zone where we keep all hostilities at the door, so just watch your language.”

The sanctimonious garbage about The Sanctuary’s policies made Victorija want to gag. She’d rather go to an all vampire bar, but there were none in the area.