Iago Wick and the Vampire Queen by Jennifer Rainey

Author:Jennifer Rainey
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Iago walked to Darke Street. It was not far, just a few blocks away, and he briskly traveled until he reached house number 13. It was a tall and thin house, pleasant to behold from the outside. The average citizen of Marlowe had never seen within, and unless the average citizen harbored an extreme passion for taxidermy, then that was probably a good thing.

Iago walked up the steps at 13 Darke Street and knocked twice. Moments later, Dante Lovelace appeared.

“My dear,” Dante greeted. He was in his shirtsleeves and lacking a necktie. “I was just working. What are you doing he—”

“I apologize, my dearest Dante,” Iago proclaimed as he rushed past his partner and into the foyer. “I know I promised to leave you be. Alas, I have been forced to break that promise by that blood-sucking harlot!”

“Ah,” Dante said, sniffed the air, and grimaced. “Is this much garlic really necessary?”

“Obviously, it’s done me little good! I breakfasted at The Raven’s Nest. I had every intention of going home, of sitting and waiting for these damned fangs to leave Marlowe. However,” Iago said, “that is not an option! I’ll be staying with you for a spell.” He charged into Dante’s parlor, a well-curated museum of taxidermic beasts and post-mortem photos and decorations of hair and bone. His home, though lovely without, was quite frightening within. Dante liked it that way. The room’s centerpiece, a large stuffed vulture named Montgomery, loomed over them from his spot above the fireplace. “If that’s satisfactory to you, anyway,” Iago added.

“Why?” Dante asked and straightened his notes upon his writing desk. “I mean, of course, you are welcome here, Iago. What has happened?”

Iago relayed to Dante what he’d discovered upon returning to his apartment and about the simpering minion who had greeted him on the sidewalk. He sat upon the settee in the parlor and took a glass of scotch—and two petit fours for good measure—to calm himself.

“I should not even be here,” Iago said finally and finished his scotch. “They may do the same to your home if they know I am here.”

“No, stay,” Dante insisted. “Should they curse my house, then at least we’ll be on the streets together. We cannot live in fear of them.”

“There’s no saying what they will do! They are so frighteningly… petty.” It was a most alarming trait.

Dante gave a gentle smirk. “Well, my dear, you did spit in their collective eye a little. You could have taken Locksley’s soul without being quite so demonstrative.”

“That would not have been fun, though,” Iago insisted gravely. “It was such an excellent twist in the plot. Man falls in love with soul-devouring vampire. Man sells soul to demon to win vampire’s heart. Disappointed vampire no longer wants him. The threads connect so nicely.”

“And now you are paying the price. Something tells me the vampires don’t care for your narrative, Iago Wick.” Dante sat beside him.

Iago didn’t care much for the opinions of his critics. He gave a heavy sigh. “You are correct.

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