At such close range, even she could hit a vampire full force in the shoulder, surprising him considerably.
He paused in his attack. “Well, my word! You can’t threaten me, you’re pregnant!”
Alexia pulled the hammer back again. “Take a seat, won’t you, Lord Ambrose? I believe I have something to discuss with you that might change your current approach. And I shall aim for a less-resilient part of your anatomy next.”
The vampire was looking down at his shoulder, which wasn’t healing as it ought. The bullet hadn’t passed through but had gone into the bone and lodged there.
“Sundowner bullets,” explained Lady Maccon. “You’re in no mortal danger from a mere shoulder injury, my lord, but I shouldn’t leave the bullet in there if I were you.”
Gingerly, the vampire settled back against the plush velvet seat. Alexia had always thought Lord Ambrose the pinnacle of what a vampire ought to look like. He had a full head of glossy dark hair, a cleft chin, and, currently, a certain air of childish petulance.
Lady Maccon, never one for shilly-shallying even when her life wasn’t in danger, got straight to the point. “You can stop with all your uncouth attempts at execution. I have decided to give this child up for adoption.”
“Oh? And why should that make any difference to us, Lady Maccon?”
“The lucky father is to be Lord Akeldama.”
The vampire lost his sulky expression for one of genuine shock. He most certainly hadn’t expected such a bizarre revelation. The surprise sat upon his face as precariously as a mouse on a bowl of boiled pudding.
“Lord Akeldama?”
Lady Maccon nodded, sharply, once.
The vampire raised one hand and fluttered it slightly from side to side in a highly illustrative gesture. “Lord Akeldama?”
Lady Maccon nodded again.
He seemed to recollect some of his much-vaunted vampire gravitas. “You would allow your progeny to be raised by a vampire?”
Alexia’s hand, still clutching her gun, didn’t waver one iota. Vampires were tricky, changeable creatures. No sense in relaxing her guard, for all Lord Ambrose seemed to have relaxed his. He still held the garrote in his other hand.
“The potentate, no less.” Alexia reminded him of Lord Akeldama’s relatively recent change in political status.
She watched his face closely. She was giving him an out and knew that he must want an out. Countess Nadasdy, Queen of the Westminster Hive, would want one. All the vampires had to be uncomfortable with this situation. It was probably why they kept bungling the assassination attempts; their little hearts simply weren’t in it. Oh, not the killing—with vampires, that was but one step up from ordering a new pair of shoes. No, they would want to get out of having to kill an Alpha werewolf’s mate. Lady Maccon’s death at vampire hands, whether provable or not, would bring a whole mess of trouble down upon the hives. Trouble of the large, hairy, and angry variety. It was not that the bloodsuckers thought they would lose a war with werewolves; it was simply that they knew it would be bloody. Vampires hated to lose blood—it was troublesome to replace and always left a stain.
Lady Maccon pressed the point, figuring that Lord Ambrose had had enough time to cogitate her revelation. “Surely you can do nothing but approve so tidy a solution to our current predicament?”
The vampire pursed his full lips over his fangs. It was the very elegance of Alexia’s proposal that had him seriously considering it. They both knew that. “You would not contemplate allowing Countess Nadasdy to be the infant’s godmother, would you?”
Alexia placed a hand on her belly, taken aback. “Well,” she hedged, trying for the most courteous response, “you know I should be delighted, but my husband, you must understand. He is already a little flustered by Lord Akeldama’s parental undertaking. To add your hive into the mix might be more than he could stomach.”
“Ah, yes, the sensitivities of werewolves must be taken into account. I always forget that. I can hardly countenance his approval of the scheme in the first place. He is amenable to this arrangement?”
“Unreservedly.”
Lord Ambrose gave her a look of disbelief.
“Ah, well,” Lady Maccon made light of the situation. “My dearest spouse has some reservations as to Lord Akeldama’s ideas on schooling and, uh, proper dress, but he has approved the adoption.”
“Remarkable powers of persuasion you possess, Lady Maccon.”
Alexia was rather flattered he should think it all her idea, so she did not bother to correct him on the matter.
“You will make it fully legal, put the adoption in writing, file it with the Bureau?”
“Indeed. I understand Queen Victoria is agreeable. Woolsey is intending to lease the house adjacent to Lord Akeldama’s to keep an eye on the child. You must allow me some level of motherly concern.”
“Oh, yes, yes, entirely understandable. In writing, you said, Lady Maccon?”
“In writing, Lord Ambrose.”
The vampire put his garrote away in a waistcoat pocket. “Given such a proposed arrangement, Lady Maccon, you will excuse me for the time being? I should return to Westminster at once. It is taxing to be so far away as it is, and my queen will want this new information as quickly as supernaturally possible.”
“Ah, yes. I thought the hive’s range extended only to parts of London proper.”
“Praetoriani has some advantages.”
With a gleam of pure mischief in her brown eyes, Lady Maccon remembered her manners. “You are certain you won’t stay? Take a drop of port? My husband keeps a small stash in the carriage amenities compartment for emergencies.”