After all the waiting (not so much of waiting for selling an antique, but I was one impatient woman) with selling the coffin, it surprised me to see a buyer finally turning up. JJ set up a personal meeting to discuss the price and the delivery, and two days later…

Two days later I stood in front of a mirror in my room, making sure that all the silver I hid under my clothes didn’t show when I moved. It was more important than ever now, when I had to make a deal with a vampire. And that vampire was not JJ.

JJ used his presence in my room as he waited for me to finish primping as an opportunity to half-lie on my bed. I watched him through a reflection in the mirror. In my opinion, he looked way too comfortable (and suggestive) sprawling on it, but since my only chair at the moment were overtaken by my clothes, I didn’t protest.

I noted again how he looked better and better with each passing day. There was no helping his deathly paleness, though. Normally, I would’ve expected a more contrast look with it, like Avarice’s image. Black hair, like mine, dark eyes. 

Maybe only JJ could pull off the strawberry-blond of his hair with the tone of his skin—but he did it somehow. Instead of looking like a victim of a prank with flour, he gave off an impression of something unearthly. He almost glowed, and the light colours of the shirts he wore only strengthened that.

He caught my eyes in the mirror and smiled his smug “I’m sexy and I know it” smile that made me roll my eyes.

“No need to look away, ma chèrie. We still have plenty of time before the appointment. You can admire all you like.”

I wished I could roll my eyes while I roll my eyes, because that was exactly what I wanted to do. “If you are so awesome, JJ, how did someone ever put you in that coffin?” I grumbled as I evened my hair.

To my delight, my question made the smile fall from his face—but the happiness was fleeting, because I immediately felt shitty about myself. It was obviously a touchy question, and a touchy situation.

“Sorry, for that, JJ,” I hurriedly said, turning towards him. “Just forget about it, alright?”

JJ sat up and propped his chin on his elbows. He clicked his tongue and gave me an admonishing look. “You should know already that not all questions will bring you answers, ma chèrie. Now, you better sit down. There’s something I should tell you before we go.”

He patted the bed next to him with an innocent expression. I didn’t fall for it. Instead, I just moved my clothes from the chair onto the bed and sat on it. I should’ve known that centuries-old vampires, and especially JJ, have thicker skin than that.

“Well?” I asked, impatiently jerking my foot.

“First, I can’t be seen in there, ma chèrie,” JJ said. Before I could do more than open my mouth for protest, he continued. “But I still will be with you, so you don’t need to worry. I, of course, can’t leave you without protection in there.”

I closed my mouth, only to open it again. “How? Can you turn invisible, too?” I narrowed my eyes. With how mysterious JJ was by default, I just knew he was hiding from me the full extent of what vampires, and he specifically, could do.

He grinned. “No, ma chèrie, but close enough. With my glamour I can make people find my presence so insignificant that they will ignore it completely. As long as there won’t be another witch, no one will notice me even if I dance naked in front of them.”

A short chuckle burst out of me at this mental picture. “Just don’t make faces at me when I will try to negotiate a price, alright?” I asked, still smiling from ear to ear.

“Wouldn’t dream about it,” JJ said, giving me a smirk of a complete liar. “Second, you should know whom you must expect to meet. All that silver you put on… I doubt you will need it, ma chèrie.”

I put a hand on my collar in a defensive gesture. “Better safe than sorry.”

“Well…” A smile that played on JJ’s lips showed he didn’t take me seriously enough. I glowered at him, but it only made him even more amused. “The chance to actually meet another vampire in there is very low.”

I blinked. “Why?”

“As I said before, our kind is solitary by nature. Our instincts tell that any other vampire is a competition. So, to avoid bloodshed, deals like that one are made by vampires’ representatives, who are usually humans. For a vampire to come to a deal in person without a preliminary agreement would be a great breech in etiquette… And a breach of territorial agreements.”

I hummed in understanding. “I thought you can’t be seen just because you are afraid to be exposed to your whatever enemies,” I said. “Wait, won’t another vamp be able to glamour himself invisible and come, like you are?”

JJ leaned back a little. “No, ma chèrie. Not everyone’s gifts are equal. Not to mention that if that happens, you will still be able to see them.”

“But they won’t know it. You said yourself they expect a human, no?”

He nodded. “So they will. Your kind rarely works together with mine.” He chuckled. “Though, I guess it would’ve been more right to say that my kind rarely works with yours. But there are other inhuman creatures out there, and some of them serve vampires from time to time.”

I perked up, instantly interested. “What kinds? Are there werewolves? Fairies? How about mermaids?”

JJ chuckled. “I’m afraid if I were to tell you about all of them, ma chèrie, we will be way too late to the meeting. Don’t worry—if we really meet one, I will tell you all you need to know…”