“I find it exceedingly ironic that you should ask me, of all people, for help,” Victoria replied. She tried to keep the sarcasm from her voice, but, based on the abashed look on George’s face, she didn’t quite succeed.

Yet he forged on, showing a resilience she would never have expected of him. And for once, he wasn’t looking down the front of her bodice. “Daresay it’s mad, but there’s no one else who could be of assistance.”

Victoria concentrated on the waltz for a moment, if only to keep from laughing outright at his presumption. He’d spent the last year trying to capture her for a variety of villains, including vampires and a demon. And that was after he had sneaked into her bedchamber-and bed-one night and tried to kiss her. Of course, he’d been foxed at the time, and goaded on by a mischievous Sebastian… but still. Despite her concentration, she wasn’t able to keep a smile in check.

“Should be the last person in the world to turn to for help,” George muttered, “after you killed my sister, but there’s nothing for it.”

“That’s what I do to vampires, George. I stake them,” Victoria reminded him drily. “And you-you protect them, and serve them. I cannot imagine how you think I might, or should, assist you.”

“They’re all gone, y’know,” he told her. “Since you ruined Lilith’s plan to kill King George, she’s gone away and taken them-most of them-with her.” His lips twisted grimly. “There’s where I need your help.”

“What? Is there a vampire that hasn’t gone with Lilith that you’d like me to chase away?” Victoria thought she was making a jest, but when his face dissolved into shock, she realized her flippant comment had hit the mark. “Is that it? Truly?”

George tightened his hand at her waist, pulling her toward him to redirect their path from a collision with another couple. “Sh’won’t leave,” he admitted. “I was… er… attached to her a bit, but her demands are getting too much. Need her gone.”