Page 130 of Red Masquerade

“How do you know?”

“He has a penchant for making a mess,” he grumbled, and with one sentence, I had so many questions. “Why is he here?”

“You must know.” I looked at him directly.

Dixon didn’t seem as disconnected from Vince as he’d like me to think. He was too concerned about the goings-on of the manor to be completely ignorant of who Vince was. And if he knew Brancato…

“Vince’s Sire?”

I nodded, and Dixon cursed under his breath. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “So you’re throwing a huge party to draw Brancato’s attention?”

I crossed my arms. “Who are you, Lloyd Dixon?”

He groaned. “You sound like my mother.”

I gave him a look.

“You’re involved; I know you are. You hate Vince, for whatever reason. You know who Brancato is. Do all vampires just nose around in each other’s business, or are you that involved?”

He pressed his lips together tightly. Debating what to reveal.

I threw my hands up in the air in exasperation. “You men! Telling your little half-truths! You know, keeping things from me, from Flora, is only going to put us in danger. We’re mortals.” I threw the word back at him. “We can’t protect ourselves if we don’t know what’s after us.”

Dixon’s resolve broke. “I was sent here to watch Vince. By my own… coven,” he said through gritted teeth. “His Sire has caused a lot of problems for us.”

Of course he had a coven, a den, whatever they were called, back in England. He was Born—his whole family must be vampires, then. “Are you the heir of your coven?” I asked.

He looked annoyed. “No, I am not. Which is whyIwas sent.”

“A brother, then.”

“Does it matter?”

I shrugged. “I’m just curious. Getting to know you, Dixon.” I patted his arm.

He grumbled something under his breath I couldn’t hear and ran his hand through his hair again.

“What has the Sire been doing to bother you? And what’s his name?”

Dixon looked up at me hesitantly. Cleared his throat. “His name is Andreas,” he said, barely above a whisper. “Just Andreas. All we know is that he has been around for a very, very long time.”

He looked around, as though worried passersby would hear. “He wants to establish a sort of royal hierarchy for our kind, of course, with him at the top.” Dixon paused. “Though my family claims their line runs even older.”

Vampire politics. Something I hadn’t considered.

“And he wants Vince back? Why, when Brancato is right there?”

Dixon shook his head. “It’s not about either of them. It’s the fact that Vince refused and defected. His Sire still claims ownership, but Vince has refused.”

A weight settled in my stomach. Glancing across the street, I saw Sinclair leaning against a building, staring at us with his arms crossed. Séra had disappeared. I scanned the street quickly, but she was nowhere.

“Not many stand up to their Sires and survive,” Dixon saidfrom beside me.

“So, you must help us.” I faced him again. “Go to the party. I’ll be with Flora, at her house,” I said, when he began to protest. “We’ll be fine there.”

Dixon took a deep breath, one that he didn’t need, and peered over at Sinclair with furrowed brows. Perhaps thinking about the company he’d have to keep tomorrow night. The Made vampire across the street smiled sharply, deadly teeth on display.

“Please,” I whispered, holding onto Dixon’s arm. “It’s going to come down to one or the other. Brancato can’t win. He can’t have him back.” I swallowed a lump in my throat.