Seamus paused, unsure how to answer. Diane was, in his eyes, still just an extension of her mother's will. He suspected every soft look, every careful word of hers that felt like a wolf in sheep's skin.
Getting close to him was her mother's idea, to peel him open, find his weakness, and place it in her mother's hand.
She was a Velstrath vampire, after all. In this family, madness was the common bloodline, and he couldn't convince himself she was any different.
But still… a small, treacherous part of him wanted to believe her
He turned to her, voice edged. "Why do you care, Diane? Do you want to run back and tell your mother all about it?"
"What? Why would I?" Her eyes narrowed, startled by the accusation. "I'm just… I don't even know how I feel about you. But I'd never try to snitch you to my mother!"
There was a flicker of hurt across her face, but Seamus didn't let himself believe it. Pretty faces in this house had fooled him before.
