The Rest Falls Away: Victoria Book 1 (The Gardella Vampire Hunters: Victoria) by Colleen Gleason

Author:Colleen Gleason [Gleason, Colleen]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Tags: Fiction/Romance/Paranormal
ISBN: 9781931419512
Publisher: Avid Press
Published: 2014-09-15T04:00:00+00:00

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“Max, I don’t recall the last time I saw you so disturbed.”

“Disturbed? That’s much too polite a word to describe the way I’m feeling,” he said to Eustacia. He’d been stewing about it since yesterday, when Rockley had blithely announced the news at Grantworth House. “Victoria cannot marry—and a marquess, no less! What has addled her brain?”

“I don’t disagree with your sentiment, Max, but the fact remains that there is no law against a Venator marrying anyone, marquess or no.”

“No law but common sense. Of which she apparently possesses none.”

Eustacia had not moved from her chair, but despite her calm, measured words, he saw the concern in her ageless face. She might not rail and stalk as he did, but as she said, she was no more pleased than he.

“We have the Book ofAntwartha,” he continued. “And I will admit that she played a much larger role in its recovery than I had expected…but she likely believes that since we have the book, all threat is now abolished, and she does not have to play at being Venator any longer.” He flicked his finger over the sleek black stake he’d just slipped from his favorite hidden pocket.

“It is no more than I suspected when she was first called—she would find her role exciting and exhilarating for a time, and then become bored with it,” he continued. “And then she would want to return to her simple world of poetry-spouting beaux and pink furbelows and dance cards. This is precisely why women should not be Venators. Present company excepted, of course, Eustacia, as you always are the exception that proves the rule.” He gave a short bow, for he recognized the beginnings of fire in her onyx eyes.

“Victoria has given no indication she believes the threat is over, Max. You must admit you’re being unfair. She did save your life during the process of getting the Book of Antwartha, and although it would have been preferable for the two of you to stop trying to cut the other out and work in tandem, you did indeed work together and succeeded. Brilliantly.”

“That is my point exactly, Eustacia. Just as she is beginning to show the skill of a truly gifted Venator—and yes, I’ll freely admit she has the potential to be as good as you or I—she is going to be entering into a marriage! Where she will need to account for her every moment to the marquess, and where she will have greater strictures and parameters placed on her life. Not to mention the distraction of being In Love. Have you seen how love-sopped people look at each other? And at no one else, and nothing around them? We cannot afford another near miss like we had two nights ago.”

“You said as much to Victoria yesterday when she—or rather, the marquess—told us they were getting married,” Eustacia reminded him with a calmness he did not understand. “But, Max” —she spoke louder, raising her voice for the first time and stepping over his arguments— “I cannot and will not order her not to marry.

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