She was up there. Silas knew it. His kind had a decent internal clock, and so even though the cellar had no windows, he knew that night had fallen, and that meant Lucius would have summoned Serena to his presence.
Silas didn’t know which was worse…the long hours of grinding boredom, or the knowledge that the woman he loved was so close physically, but might as well be on the dark side of the moon for all he could reach out to touch her.
The thought made him tug at the manacles again. He’d stopped earlier today because he knew he was coming dangerously close to breaking the skin, but now he couldn’t seem to prevent himself from straining against the uncaring steel. He had to get out of here.
Pain was something he could ignore. What he couldn’t ignore was the blood that began to trickle down over his hands. He stopped then, swearing under his breath. There was nothing to wipe away the cursed liquid except the ragged jeans he wore, or the thin blanket he’d been given to sleep on. He decided to use the blanket, simply because if he did somehow manage to get away, his unkempt appearance would cause enough consternation without him sporting bloodstained Levi’s as well.
The door opened, then closed again. Michael St. John paused at the entrance to the cellar and shook his head. “Bad move, Silas. You’re lucky that Lucius is otherwise occupied — and that I just ate, or that blood might be just a little distracting.”
“Lucius let you hunt?”
“Hardly.” St. John came a little farther into the room, stuck his hands in his jeans pockets, and grinned. “I decided to treat myself to a double-double at In N Out. That was almost as good as having a pint of someone’s O-negative.”
Just the mere thought of a double-stacked cheeseburger made Silas’ stomach growl. They weren’t precisely starving him, but a few pieces of cheese and some bread weren’t exactly enough to satisfy.
“Sounds like I should have gotten one for you, too,” the vampire said, still grinning. “How thoughtless of me.”
“What do you want? You really need to get a hobby if the best thing you can think of to do with your spare time is come down here and talk to me.”
A shake of the head, and Michael St. John remarked, “Well, I thought you might be interested in what Lucius is up to. I got a little more clarification this evening. But if you’re not, I can head upstairs, binge-watch some Walking Dead or something.”
Silas refrained from commenting that the vampire should know all about being one of the walking dead. If St. John really was in possession of valuable information, the last thing Silas should do was quash any attempts to divulge said information. In truth, he should be thanking God Michael hated his master so much that he was willing to give his supposed enemies the particulars of his plotting. “So what is he up to?”
“I’m still not sure what his end game is, but tonight he got blood samples from all three of us — Tristan and Leticia and me. I bumped into the other two while they were leaving, and they were not happy.”
Blood samples? What was Lucius doing with samples of vampire blood? “Was Serena with Lucius while this was going on?”
“Yes. She was actually the one who drew the blood.”
Silas frowned. If asked, he would never have thought that taking blood samples was in Serena Quinn’s skill set, but she was a surprising woman. “Did Lucius give blood as well?”
“I think so. When he put away the vial with my blood in a little plastic case, I saw there was another vial in there already. I have a feeling it was his, although I can’t know for sure.”
“Did he say what he was doing with it?”
“No. He and Serena didn’t talk much during the procedure. But surely if he’s taking samples, he must intend to have it analyzed. What else would Lucius be doing with it?”
Good question. Silas thought that Michael’s instincts were probably correct. Why, though, would Lucius be ordering an analysis of vampire blood at this stage of the game? What purpose would it serve?
More than ever, Silas wished he’d had the chance to talk to Serena, if only for a few minutes. She would have told him what was going on. Unfortunately, he hadn’t seen her since a few days earlier, when she’d stopped in on her way to her sister’s funeral. She’d made sure he had water, wasn’t being mistreated, but he’d been able to tell from the stiff, formal way she spoke and the way her eyes didn’t quite meet his that she was only stealing a few minutes with him. Lucius had her on a very tight leash, even if he had given her the freedom to stay at her own home rather than here in the mansion.
“And Lucius has said nothing to you.”
“To me?” Michael St. John chuckled. “I’m usually the last to know anything. He and Serena left the house last night and went someplace, but I don’t know where. I don’t dare ask the semivives, since they’d only tell Lucius that I’d been snooping.”
Yes, although the semivives worked in this house and probably performed certain menial tasks on behalf of the other vampires who dwelled here, their true allegiance was to Lucius and Lucius alone. They would feel it their duty to inform their master that one of his fledglings had been asking too many questions.
“And of course you can’t follow him.”
“No. I’m not that stupid.” St. John paused and ran a hand through his shaggy dark hair. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this, except….”
“Except what?”
Dark eyes met his. They were slightly narrowed, as though the vampire had stopped to try to analyze his motivations and still wasn’t quite sure what they might be. “Except that whatever Lucius is plotting, I’m pretty sure I won’t like it.”
The food was still very warm when the semivives set it in front of us, proof that whoever had gone on the takeout run this evening truly had gotten there just as Lucius and I were finishing up with our little blood drive in the library. It had been a while since I’d last eaten Thai food, and the savory yet delicate aromas awakened a hunger I hadn’t even realized had been lurking.
We ate in the small game room, which apparently was Lucius’ choice of venue for meals with me. Or rather, it appeared that he chose this space when he was feeling mellow, when he didn’t have a reason to try to make me feel powerless, or insignificant.
Of course, he wouldn’t have any need to do such a thing now, not when everything seemed to be going his way. Tomorrow I’d deliver the samples, and the research would begin. Maybe. I didn’t know if Jackson’s project manager, this Shelby Gutierrez, could actually get a team together in that short an amount of time. What I did know was that pretty much everyone my brother worked with tended to be hyper-competent and an overachiever, which meant that Ms. Gutierrez had fairly good odds of having everything up and running by the time I made it out to Rancho Cucamonga the next day.
Lucius dished up cashew chicken and rice, and used a pair of tongs to set several egg rolls on my plate. I noticed he’d chosen a dry rosé for our meal, probably so the wine wouldn’t compete with the delicate flavors of the food. As I took a sip, I tried very hard not to think of Silas, chained up in a cellar somewhere below my feet. All I wanted to do was get up from the table and run down to see him, but since I didn’t have the keys to unlock his manacles and certainly wasn’t strong enough to yank them out of the wall, the most I’d accomplish with such a stunt would be to let Lucius know exactly where my true loyalties lay.
“That was a good evening’s work,” he remarked as he drank from his own glass of rosé.
“Yes, it was. I hope that four samples will be enough.”
A faint line appeared between Lucius’ brows, here and gone before I could barely register it as a frown. “It will have to be. The nearest vampire coven to Los Angeles is in San Francisco, and I very much doubt they would appreciate being asked for blood samples. It would be considered a gross invasion of their privacy.”
“Do you know them?” I asked, intrigued despite myself. I knew so very little about this strange supernatural world that existed alongside the “real” world, the only world I’d known…up until a few weeks ago.
“Not really. Nicholas Fielding heads the vampire coven there, and has reigned in that city since sailing ships brought immigrants there from around the Cape of Good Hope. His coven is slightly larger than mine — I think there are ten of them altogether, unless they have lost some of their number to the gula.” Lucius’ mouth curved slightly, but it wasn’t from amusement. More like…contempt. “Nicholas tends to be a careless master. That is part of the reason why I decided to come to Los Angeles. I knew that the master of San Francisco would not have the stomach to challenge me.”
“Vampires are territorial?”
“They tend to be. After all, because of our…dietary requirements…it’s necessary that we don’t overpopulate any one area.” Lucius set down his wine glass and reached for an egg roll, although he didn’t immediately take a bite. “Personally, I think ten vampires in a city the size of San Francisco is far too many, even if they do range out to the East Bay or northward to do their hunting.”
“That’s why you only have the three fledglings?”
“Yes.”
“And you’ve never considered making any more?”
His gaze lingered on me for a moment, and it seemed as if the temperature in the room dropped by at least ten degrees. No…he’d said on more than one occasion that he would never attempt to turn me, because the risk of me losing my psychic powers during the process was far too great. “Not really. If I lost Tristan or Leticia or Michael, then perhaps I would attempt to find someone to take their place, but that is the only reason why I would do such a thing.”
“Ah.” I wondered if he ever got bored being around the same three people all the time. However, I didn’t have the courage to ask the question, just because I worried that he might think I was criticizing the choices he’d made in his fledglings. Instead, I picked up my fork and helped myself to a mouthful of cashew chicken and steamed rice. The food was excellent, but beginning to lose some of its heat. I needed to eat more and talk less.
Apparently Lucius wasn’t bothered by such concerns, because after taking a single bite of his egg roll, he set it back down. “It’s always a balancing act, deciding how many to have in one’s coven. But I tend to err on the side of caution.”
“Tristan and Leticia have been with you for a long time.”
“Yes.”
“What happened to the fledglings you had before them?”
His expression darkened, and he reached for his wine. “Murdered by the gula.”
“But I thought — ”
“That they only watched, only did what was necessary to maintain balance in the world?”
“Well — ”
“It is a pretty story, Serena, the one Silas must have told you.” Lucius’ mouth tightened with barely suppressed rage. “Of course he would have to make it sound as if the Watchers had goodness and decency and justice on their side, that they only swoop in to attack vampires when the vampires themselves are the offenders, the ones who have gotten too greedy, have killed too many innocent humans. The actual truth is, if they have an opportunity to kill one of us, they will. They view us as being outside nature, unnatural, even though one might say the same thing for a race of beings who walk among men and appear to be them, but who have the ability to change into something monstrous.”
Monstrous? I didn’t see the gula that way at all. Oh, I’d definitely been scared out of my wits when Silas changed into his alternate form that first time, but once I saw that his gargoyle shape was only another version of him, was still Silas, then I realized he wasn’t a monster at all. Far from it. I’d made love to him while he wore that form because I had to prove to him that I loved all of him, not just the handsome face he usually presented to the world.
However, I couldn’t say anything about that to Lucius. The master vampire wasn’t a fool; no doubt he knew I’d been intimate with Silas, although whether he guessed that I’d slept with Silas while he was in gula form was an entirely different matter.
Anyway, I wasn’t about to go charging in with a defense of the Watchers, not when I still knew so little about them. At least I’d gotten to meet another gula, and, as far as I could tell, Felix had also seemed forthright and interested only in my welfare.
“As with most things, I have a feeling the truth is somewhere in the middle,” I said, my tone mild. The last thing I wanted to do was get in an argument, but I also wasn’t going to blindly agree that the vampires were just a bunch of victims. Anyone who could leave a trail of bodies like that throughout their existence definitely wasn’t a victim.
To my surprise, Lucius didn’t appear offended. “Ah, Serena, you are quite the diplomat. It is not that I expect you to defend my kind…only that I would ask you to refrain from trying to defend the gula.”
“I think I’m going to stay out of it.” I reached for my wine and sipped, then took a larger swallow. It seemed the safest thing to do right then.
A chuckle. “Then I will let the matter rest, since I can tell you don’t want to talk about it.”
I offered him a relieved smile. “That sounds like a plan.”
He only shook his head, and picked up his neglected egg roll and finally ate it. We both consumed our food in silence for a few minutes, during which time Lucius quietly refilled my wine glass. I drank some more, then reflected what an odd situation this was. He wanted to see me every night, but he’d done nothing to advance our relationship. I couldn’t help but be relieved by his forbearance, but still…I wondered.
Maybe it was the wine that made me bold. Or maybe I just wanted to have some idea of what to expect. After all, if he knew that I’d been intimate with Silas after being acquainted with him for only a week, then Lucius must realize that I didn’t have any scruples about premarital sex, or sex after being with someone for a very short time. Really, if you did the math, I’d known Lucius for almost twice as long as I had Silas when we consummated our relationship.
“Lucius….” I began, then stopped. I couldn’t think of a way to say it without sounding as though I was propositioning him, and that was the last impression I wanted to give.
He set down his fork and looked across the table at me. There was nothing in those silvery eyes except mild curiosity, and yet I didn’t know if I should continue. “What is it, Serena?”
I bit my lip, then looked down at the napkin that covered my lap. Ivory damask, a contrast to my well-worn jeans. “I suppose I was wondering why you — that is, you’ve kissed me, but you haven’t tried anything else. I — I appreciate the restraint. But it’s something I’ve wondered about.”
Since he was too far away to reach out and easily touch my hand, he pushed his chair out from the table, then stood and came over to me. His fingers wrapped around mine, and he had me get up from my chair as well so I could stand next to him.
“I sensed that you were…reticent.” A hand brushed over my hair, then moved downward so he could twine a few strands around his finger. “Perhaps some part of you still cares for Silas, perhaps you are struggling to fully accept my vampire nature.” He bent and kissed me, but briefly, just a quick touch of lips against lips. “But the real reason I have held back….”
“Yes?” I asked, glad that he hadn’t forced the kiss. Yes, I was getting used to it by now…sort of…but I also would have worried that a more forceful kiss might be a prelude to deeper intimacies, that he would have thought my question signaled a desire for matters to progress further than they already had.
His hands wrapped around mine. Chilly, but I was used to how cold his touch always seemed to be. Was it warmer in the hours after he’d killed someone and drunk their blood? I didn’t know, because, as far as I’d been able to tell, Lucius hadn’t fed in the traditional vampire way since I’d come into his orbit.
“Because you’ve given me hope, Serena,” he said. “Because you’ve shown me a future where we can be together as normal people. And because I know that future is out there, I’m willing to wait for it. As I said, I want to walk in the sun with you…and then I want to take you inside and make love to you, just as an ordinary man might. I have lived a very long time. I have the patience to wait a while longer, because I know you — and the experience — will be worth the wait.”
I couldn’t allow myself to sag with relief. All I could do was smile up at him and say, “I suppose that does make sense.” And, because I had to keep up the charade, I added, “That makes me very glad Jackson is fast-tracking this research project. With any luck, you won’t have to wait very long at all.”
Those words obviously encouraged Lucius, because he bent and kissed me again, far more passionately this time. I had to admit to myself that his technique was very good. Was he equally as skilled in the bedroom? A different Serena, a Serena who’d never known Silas Drake, might have wanted to find out. As it was, I could only be glad that Lucius had set this arbitrary deadline for the consummation of our relationship.
The ticking clock that seemed to dominate my world had just gotten a little louder, though. As much as I hoped that Jackson’s researchers would find a cure for Addie, that meant they’d also be searching for the magic bullet which would make vampires more human. Once they succeeded, I would have run out of excuses.
My only hope was the gula, waiting and watching for the perfect opportunity to free Silas. They had to succeed. Otherwise, the future I’d seen in my visions would most certainly come true.