Chapter Text
Daniel doesn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved that Paige is too hungry to play with her first meal for long. She dips inside the Old Blue Last while Daniel pins Armand against the wall just outside. Nobody’s going to pay attention to a couple of old queens necking in this part of town, although heaven knows nobody’s going to read Armand as an old queen if they squint. If somebody recognizes Daniel, then they’ll recognize Armand. Gawkers snapping photos ought to distract everyone from Paige picking her victim, not that she’s being obvious.
They haven’t been kissing and whispering to each other for long beneath the raw, chilly cover of early darkness before a slight, graying man in his early forties emerges with Paige a few steps behind him. Daniel watches out of the corner of his eye, realizing that Armand has frozen in his arms and his mouth has gone still against Daniel’s. He taps into the mortal’s thoughts as Paige follows him around the corner and catches a wave of vitriol: Not those expensive, tasteless boots. Must be from somewhere backwater. New Mexico? Texas? Reminds me of my ex.
“Daniel,” Armand whispers, “I believe there was something else about him that made Paige single him out. We should follow them.”
“What do you mean by something else?” Daniel asks, following as Armand peels away from the wall. “You froze up. Really bad sign.”
“He’s been watching her as much as she’s been watching him,” Armand murmurs, keeping them to a drunken, human, stumbling pace. “Because she reminds him of someone he was married to for a while, someone he…used.” His eyes turn livid. “So kind on the surface. So cultured. Says he values a woman who knows her own mind, who’s his equal, but what he truly does…” Armand’s fangs descend. “Marius for another era. That’s all he is. Isolated her from her family. Broke her, kept her. She was lucky to get out. And then he found another.”
“What an asshole,” Daniel says under his breath, watching as Paige reaches to tap her mark’s shoulder. “Paige can’t stand narcissists.”
“Oh,” the guy blurts, his eyebrows knitting above his wire-rimmed glasses. “Are you lost? You can follow me to the tube if you want.”
Paige tilts her head at him. Because her back is to Daniel and Armand, they can’t see her face, but the stretch of sidewalk they’re on is deserted beneath the desolate streetlamps. The concrete glitters with frost, a perfect backdrop. She shakes her head slowly, patting his shoulder.
“You did a real number on Lore about a decade back, didn’t you, Ian?”
“Excuse me? Do you mean Laura? Did we meet you somewhere—”
“No, I mean Lore. You’ve gotta stop thinking of them as your ex-wife. That’s just embarrassing. So is what you said to their face when they finally came out to you and left your insecure ass. Fuck, good for them. But you suckered the next one good, caught her young and inexperienced, and you’ve got a kid with her? Gross. How bad do you think she’d really miss you if you didn’t come home given that the only reason you wanted the kid was to avoid going back to the United States? Speaking of, when was the last time you called your parents?”
“Looks like you missed some of the finer detail,” Daniel tells Armand, teasing him. “That’s some close reading. She’d better pounce soon, though.”
“Paige, that’s enough,” Armand says, and then freezes Ian where he stands with a look of abject trepidation on his features. “He was about to run.”
Paige spins on her heel, glaring at Armand. “I was just about to bite him!”
“You’ll get the information you want while you drink,” Armand points out.
“What do you mean?” Paige asks guiltily, looking everywhere but at Armand.
“You have your father’s hunger for the terror on your victim’s face once they’re cornered,” Armand tells her. “You thrive on their fear.”
Paige parts her lips, fangs extending. “We had that even when we were human.”
“Yeah, well, it’s gotten worse,” Daniel sighs, folding his arms. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
Paige glances sidelong at Ian, running her tongue testily along her teeth. “I can’t.”
Armand works his jaw. “I’m having flashbacks to that fucking podcast Jesse likes.”
“The Magnus Institute isn’t real,” Daniel reminds him. “Because this is the shittiest timeline, we’ve got the Talamasca instead.”
“Hold that thought,” Paige says, gesturing at Ian. “Unfreeze him as soon as I bite?”
Daniel takes out his phone as Paige slams Ian against the nearest brick wall and tears into his neck. With a wave of his hand, Armand unfreezes Ian just enough to ensure that he’s conscious to experience the agony of being drained, although Daniel can tell that the guy’s body will be on lockdown until he takes his last breath. Armand doesn’t look thrilled that Daniel is filming, but he doesn’t tell him to stop, either.
“Don’t include this in your next backup.”
“Duh. Want me to send it to you, babe?”
“What do you take me for? Of course.”
“Think we should start a scrapbook?”
Paige disengages from Ian, wiping her mouth on the sleeve of her black wool coat. She’s giving Daniel the same bleak look she’d once given him for taking too many photos on the first day of school. She glances at Armand, as if he might be persuaded to do something about this.
“I’ll be thirty next year,” Paige reminds both of them. “Thirty.”
“Meaningless number,” Armand says mildly. “Meaningless.”
“Like twenty-seven?” Paige asks. “Or five hundred and fourteen?”
“Don’t you want the rest of my notes on your scene?” Armand asks.
Paige stares at him. “Is this your idea of tough-love parenting, or—”
“How you longed to be in your father’s book,” Armand points out, smiling.
“You sick fuck,” Paige laughs, letting the body slide to the pavement.
“I think we need a scrapbook,” Daniel remarks cheerfully, still filming.