Tom’s crooked smile had always charmed her.
“Most vampires don’t use electronic spying,” Anne said.
“The smart ones do,” Declan said from across the table. “Or they have their humans use it.”
“So I’m to assume you do?” Anne asked, her interest piqued.
Declan looked to Murphy first, but the vampire who’d behaved so rashly in Galway and so politely at the opera only gave a measured nod that reminded Anne her loyalty no longer lay with the three men around her but with a rival who’d openly opposed Murphy at many turns.
She hated her sister a little in that moment.
“We do,” Declan said. “It’s still very effective. Most immortals are willful Luddites. We use it against them. Our most valuable intelligence usually comes from electronic communications from human employees associated with vampires.”
Anne said, “But with a large human staff, don’t you run the same—or even increased—risk of exposure?”
“If the left hand doesn’t know what the right is doing,” Declan said, “the risk is less. Not eliminated, mind you, but—”
“I treat my people well,” Murphy said, not looking up from the files he’d been perusing on the table. “A well-fed dog has no need to scavenge.” He looked up, focused on Anne. “He’ll stay at his master’s side through fire.”
“Tell me you’re not comparing your human employees to dogs,” she said.
He shrugged. “Simply an illustration. The fact remains: While temptation is always a threat, humans who are treated well have less inclination to look elsewhere for patronage. As for immortal influence, I make it a point to know who is in my city at all times.” His eyes flickered with some dark emotion. “I didn’t always, but when I make mistakes, I do not repeat them.”
Jack. He was talking about Jack.
And maybe her?
Anne knew it could very well be both. But while her heart was too stubborn to leave him entirely, Anne had also learned her lesson about trusting too easily.
“Brigid is late,” she said, remarking on the obvious since she had nothing else to fill the tension-laced air between them.
“She usually is.”
As if on cue, a tiny tornado burst through the door. “Sorry! Sorry. Blame this one.” She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at the auburn-haired behemoth behind her who was carefully locking the door since they were the last to arrive.
Anne smiled immediately. “Carwyn! I didn’t know you were coming.”
“Neither did I,” Murphy said. “Listen, Carwyn—”
“Sorry to interrupt—wait no. That’s a lie,” Carwyn said, winking at Anne. “I’m not sorry at all. Don’t get your breeches in a bunch, Murphy. Gemma called just before Brig was leaving with the final guest list for the summit. Thought you might want to know who was on the menu in London. I’m not intruding.”
“Yes, you are,” Brigid said. “I told you I could bring them.”
“But then I wouldn’t get to see that expression he makes,” Carwyn said, nodding toward Murphy. “Like an irritated cat in a necktie. Adorable.”
Anne smothered a smile. While she could see the fixed look of annoyance on Murphy’s face, she also saw the hint of laughter in his eyes.
It was hard not to love Carwyn. While any immortal leader would chafe at such a powerful and respected vampire living in their territory, Carwyn had a startling lack of personal ambition. He’d been a Catholic priest until only a few years ago, and his devotion to his large extended family had never waned. The fact that he’d mated to one of Murphy’s lieutenants had to rankle, but Anne heard it hadn’t stopped Murphy from using Carwyn’s connections when it suited him.
Gemma, one of their hosts in London, was Carwyn’s oldest daughter, and Deirdre, the earth vampire who would be overseeing Dublin with Tom and Declan in Murphy’s absence, was one of his other daughters.
Anne’s own sire had the utmost respect for Carwyn, and he didn’t like many.
“Do tell,” Murphy said, his arm sweeping graciously toward the chairs at the end of the conference table. “I can guess most, but it will be good to review them for Anne’s benefit anyway.”
“Thank you.” She was far from offended by Murphy’s assumption of her ignorance. She had made a point to avoid vampire politics as much as possible. She was going as a representative of her sister, but also as a somewhat neutral party since Mary had independent alliances with many of the players in the North Atlantic.
“A quick reminder,” Declan said. “For everyone, but especially Anne since she’s coming up to speed. This summit is focusing on the shipping and transportation aspect of Elixir. We all know it’s shown up in varying degrees across Europe. Terry’s aim with this summit is to focus on who is moving the drug, in the hopes that it will reveal who is behind the production. So he only invited those with some kind of shipping interest, particularly in the North Atlantic. As far as we know, infection rates in the North Sea and the Baltic have been the most concentrated.”
“Why?”
“We don’t know,” Declan said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re going.”
“How many were invited?” Anne said.
“Terry didn’t tell us,” Brigid said. “But we do know seven have accepted, including us. That leaves five foreign-vampire interests outside the British Isles.”