Helena’s thoughts were much the same. “Did you remember much of Daniel that night? Or he of you?” She knew that the Beast’s highest priority would be protecting Beauty, who would be in danger if she was staying so close to Mina. But if Dracula would turn around and try to escape, who was to say the Beast wouldn’t mind too much, now that his castle and his Beauty were safe. “And what if he gives up on Mina?” There wasn’t a hint of conceit. She knew, Mina was adamant about it, that Dracula would want more. He was drawn to her, yes, but he had other interests as well.
She was pleased that she could occasionally surprise him and at his question, she smirked. “Do you remember how I was when we first came to Bellum? Those incredibly awkward days where I was too nervous and overly polite about being in someone else’s home, not as a friend but not as a complete stranger? Now multiply that tenfold.” That was only a hint of how she felt about staying in Daniel’s house. She would be somewhere between a guest and a nuisance and there would be no shaking that. The entire plan hinged on them staying together upstairs, and she understood that it had to be done. But always tiptoeing around a man she just met, even with their mutual friends there, was not something she looked forward to. “Do you mind that I’d be staying with him?”