Мелисса де ла Круз - Masquerade

"As much as any form can be real," Lawrence replied. "Anderson, you may excuse us.”

The elderly gentleman winked at Schuyler and exited the room, closing the creaky wooden door with a hush.

Schuyler settled in her chair, noticing the faded Aubusson rugs on the hard stone floor.

They were similar to the ones in Cordelia's library on 101st Street.

"Your Conduit?”

Lawrence nodded. He stood up and walked over to the recessed bar across from the fireplace, opened a lower cabinet, and removed a bottle of port wine. He poured two glasses of the scarlet liquid and handed Schuyler a glass.

"I had a feeling," she said, accepting the drink. She sipped it slowly. It was sweet without being cloying, full-bodied and delicious. Alcohol had no effect on vampires, but most of them still enjoyed the taste.

"I thought you might. You almost turned to address me, but caught yourself. How did you know?”

"The lord of the manor typically seats on the left, where you were, while he was seated on your right," Schuyler said. It was a law of medieval etiquette she had learned from Cordelia's endless lessons on Blue Blood history. The king was always seated on the left, while his queen, or any lesser personage was seated on the right.

"Ah, very observant. I forgot. I am getting old.”

"I'm sorry Cordelia couldn't be here," Schuyler said softly.

Lawrence sighed. "It is all right. We have been separated now for more than a century.

One gets used to solitude. Perhaps one day it will be safe for us to be together again.”

He leaned back on his chair and removed a cigar from his front pocket. "So, you are Allegra's daughter." He said, breaking off the corner of the cigar with a silver cigar cutter. "I have been watching you. I knew you were looking for me the minute you arrived in Venice. I sensed something in the air—I thought it was your mother but it was a different energy. You saw me.”

"You were the woman on the street that I saw today. You had taken Allegra's form," Schuyler realized aloud. It all made sense now. Lawrence nodded.

"I do sometimes. If only because I have missed her for a very long time.”

He took a quick puff from the cigar and exhaled. "I was wary of coming out to you until I was certain of your identity. I have many enemies, Schuyler. They have been hunting me for centuries. You could have been one of them.”

Schuyler sat up suddenly, almost spilling her drink. "The lady at the pensione? That was you as well. At least at first.”

Lawrence chuckled. "Yes. Of course.”

"So that was why she said she had never seen us before when we came down the stairs.

She was telling the truth." Schuyler set her empty glass on the small side table across from her chair, taking care to place it on one of the gold-plated coasters.

"Marie is an honest landlady, I'll give her that." Lawrence smiled.

"Why did you show us your room?”

"I didn't mean to, but you were chasing me and I had to seek shelter in one of my secret hiding places around the city. I have many addresses, you know. One needs them if one is going to hide successfully. Marie was telling you the truth; the room was locked. But it opened for you.

I took that as a good sign. I thought I would give you a clue see if you would be able to find me in the Biennale. You did well. You were drawn to the Olafur Eliasson as was I.”

"But why did you run away from me again? I was chasing you.”

"And you almost got me. My God, the speed of you—you are unbelievably strong. It took all of my energy just to stay ahead of you. I was still unsure of your intentions or your identity. You surprised me by finding me in front of the Colonial building. I'm sorry I had to use that sleep spell on you.”

"Why do you choose to trust me now?" Schuyler asked.

"Because only Allegra's daughter would know the correct Advoco Adiuvo, the invocation you used. Cordelia and I had agreed that if we ever went looking for each other, our emissaries would use those words from the Sacred Language. Without the Advoco, you would never have found me in a thousand years, regardless of your powers. But I had to put you to sleep to stall for time while I made sure you had not been corrupted. I had to take you somewhere safe, where we would not be observed.”

Schuyler nodded. She had guessed as much.

"So now you have found me, what do you want?" Lawrence asked, looking at Schuyler through a haze of smoke.

"I want to know about the Silver Bloods. I want to know everything.”

NINE

The next day was the beginning of finals week at Duchesne. Unlike at other schools, students at the exclusive institution actively looked forward to examinations since it meant a flexible schedule and marked the advent of the coming school holidays. Bliss consulted her chart as she hurried through the school's double-height, gold-brass and glass doors. That day she had English and AP American History. The next day, German and Biology. She had a Social Justice test on Wednesday, no exams on Thursday, and only a French recitation on Friday.

As she ran up the grand staircase to the third floor, she noticed that all around her, girls were dressed down in yoga pants, T-shirts, and worn Ugg boots, while the boys wore faded sweatshirts, holey jeans, and sneakers.

What was going on? She herself was wearing her usual attire: pressed stovepipe jeans tucked into knee-high buckled pirate boots, and a Stella McCartney sweater over a ruffled Derek Lam blouse. Why did everyone else look as if they had stumbled out of bed and had gotten dressed in the dark?

"Hey, Bliss!" Mimi yelled as she sped out of the second-floor library.

Bliss was surprised to find Mimi in an outfit she would never be caught dead in otherwise. Mimi had pulled back her long blond hair into a garish red-and-blue bandanna and was wearing hardly any makeup (in fact, Bliss noted a small pimple on Mimi's chin). An oversize Duchesne lacrosse T-shirt borrowed from her brother, Jack, hung on her skinny frame, and she completed the look with low-slung flannel pajamas and comfortable shearling slippers.

"Hey!" Bliss called.

"Can't talk—late for my Chem final," Mimi explained, hurrying downstairs, her slippers flip-flopping on the marble.

"Did you just get here?" Soos Kemble asked, following Mimi. She was wearing an oversize Oxford sweatshirt and saggy jersey leggings, her thin blond hair a frizz. This was the girl who arrived in school every day with her hair perfectly blow-dried, wearing designer outfits that cost in the five-figure range.

"Yeah." Bliss shrugged. "Why?”

"Everyone else has been here since dawn." Soos yawned. "It's the only way to get the best cubicles in the lib during finals.”

Interesting, Bliss thought. She would never quite understand the unspoken rules at Duchesne, but apparently looking like a "grind" or a "nerd" was the height of fashion during exams. You had to appear like you were slaving away and totally serious about tests. Even the Blue Bloods, with their hyperintelligence, still needed to cram.

Tomorrow, Bliss promised herself, she would arrive at school in her oldest pajamas. She hated sticking out like a sore thumb. It was just another way to broadcast the fact that, unlike her classmates, she hadn't been a student at Duchense since pre-pre-kindergarten. Would she always be an ignorant outsider? Bliss wondered if she should be annoyed that Mimi hadn't told her about the casual dress code, but then realized Mimi probably had better things to worry about than advising Bliss on what to wear to finals.

When Bliss arrived at the History room, almost everyone in class was sitting down quietly and waiting for their professor to hand out the tests. Bliss took a seat in the back of the room, looking around to see if Schuyler or Oliver were there. She wanted to tell them her news of Dylan's return. Surely they would believe her, even if Mimi did not.