Dawn is breaking, and the gray light of morning leaks in through the window. I am alive, but I don’t for the life of me understand how.
I sit at the head of the bed with my back against the cool wall, my knees pulled up to my chest, still clutching the dagger. Waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting for the vampire to burst in my room to attack me while I sleep.
So I didn’t allow myself to sleep, and now my eyes are heavy and dry.
I hadn’t even come close to killing him at dinner last night. It was as if that insufferable man knew what I was going to do before I even moved. I must learn to be stealthy.
What have I done? What have I done? What have I done? The question repeats over and over and over until it drowns out all other thoughts. What had possessed me to agree to go off to live with a vampire and leave Kitty and Xander? It was the most foolish thing I’ve ever done…
And yet, I would do it again to save my sister from this fate. Though somewhere over the past few days, I've let my arrogance—and my promise to Kitty—cloud my mind. That vampire I killed in the forest… that had been nothing more than ideal timing and plenty of luck. It hadn’t seen my arrow coming, hadn’t realized I was even there.
Mr. Devereaux must know by now that I have every intention of fighting him when he does come for me.
But now that I am here… who will take care of poor Kitty? My decision to take her place was too hasty, leaving her in Father’s incapable hands.
Somehow, I need to find my way back to my life.
Uncurling myself, I drop my feet off the edge of the bed, and, eyeing the door, I reluctantly set the dagger down on the table next to the bed. I run into the bathroom and look for my discarded clothes from yesterday. Gone. One of the housekeepers must have taken them while I was at dinner last night.
Turning around, I return to the main room. I might as well check the armoire to see if there is anything I can possibly use.
Nothing but an assortment of dresses and corsets.
Forgoing the corsets all together, I unlace my dress. It falls to the floor in a heap of silk and lace. I pick out another, attempting to find the least cumbersome one.
I smooth my hands down the sides of the dress. These clothes cannot last, they are far too nice for someone who is a meal.
I grab the dagger from the night table, sheathing it, and strap it to my leg. It’s not ideal by any means, and the skirt could pose a problem. It’s all I have for right now and still relatively easy to grab.
No hesitation.
I stride out of the room and down the hall, ready to face the vampire.
Making my way through the halls, I come across the butler, Mr. Steward. He carries a silver tray with an empty glass still tainted red with blood. He says nothing, but I can feel him watching my every movement as we pass.
Everything looks like it had been cleaned moments before. The entire house has the feel of being busy, but almost always just out of sight. I’ve only ever seen three of them, but for a house this large, surely there must be at least half a dozen more.
I get to the front end of the manor and hear the clattering of dishes coming from the dining room. I stand in the doorway, staying hidden from whoever is inside and press my back against the wall. After a few heartbeats, I slowly look in. Two slender hands belonging to a woman are arranging various dishes and cutlery on the table, and the soft murmur of feminine voices.
I glance around the large dining room, wary that Alaric might be near.
“Are you looking for something, Miss?” The young servant from yesterday asks. Her red hair has been pulled back into a bun at the nape of her neck. She smiles warmly and looks at me expectantly as she waits next to the dining table with the head housekeeper dressed in the same uniform.
“No,” I say slowly as I step into the room. There’s only one place setting.
“He’s out, Miss,” Mrs. Westfield says.
My gaze drifts back to hers as I quit skulking and walk up to the nearest chair, resting my arms along the back. Her voice pulls me out of my thoughts. “He? Oh, you mean Al—Mr. Devereaux?”
The two women look sideways at each other.
“Yes, Miss.” The younger clasps her hands in front of her. “Will you be having lunch?”
Both of them assess me from head to toe, and if they suspect my motives for inquiring about Alaric’s whereabouts, they won’t hesitate to inform their master.
I feel the tension leaving my shoulders. He’s not here. I am half relieved I won’t have to confront him now. But also in that same breath, disappointed.
The older housekeeper lifts the silver dome cover and reveals a plate of sausages, boiled eggs, potatoes, pork, and bread with a side of jam. It seems a little over the top.
I eye the meal. I have never had such a feast for my morning meal. I might as well take advantage of it while I can. I don’t plan on staying here for long.
“Yes, thank you, Mrs. Westfield,” I say.
“You’re welcome, dear, but please call me Lydia,” she says with a smile. It’s almost a warm expression, but her eyes are slightly too narrowed to be genuine. She dips her head then turns and leaves through the door that leads to the kitchen.
The younger is still watching me. I lift my brows, not sure what to call the girl who can’t be much younger than I am.
“Elise,” she offers.
“Thank you, too, Elise.” She turns to go, but something occurs to me. “Elise?” I say. She stops and tilts her head, inquiringly. “I do have a question.”
“Yes, Miss?”
I breathe in then let out a breath. “Why is he treating me like this?” I motion to my dress, then the food on the table that is fit for someone far more important than a poor girl from a nothing town. “When will I…” I frown, not quite sure how to put this without being rude. “When will I become his… servant?”
“You are his guest, Miss,” she says, frowning.
I scoff and glower at the plate of food, the rich aromas waft up and tempt me. “I am not a guest—I am a possession.”
“If that is what you think, then you are mistaken. And we are not his servants—we are his hired staff. The others have come to him seeking employment. I was born into it, my parents worked for him until they died, then he was kind enough to take me in. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other duties to attend to.”
She bows curtly then leaves me to sit and dine.
I stare dumbly after her, shocked by her outburst.
That vampire must have compelled them all into loyalty… though when he compelled me, my body was under his control, but my mind was still my own.
When neither woman returns, I sit and dig into my food. With the first bite, I groan. This food is delicious and decadent. After another few bites, I shovel it into my mouth, barely finishing one before I take another, washing it down with tea sweetened with sugar and a splash of milk.
“Miss?” Elise says from the doorway.
I nearly choke, not realizing she had reappeared. Her placid expression has returned.
Demon’s tits, she’s quiet. I put the silverware down and lift my glass to my lips, taking large gulps.
“Do you need anything else, Miss? More tea, perhaps?”
I push back my chair and stand, swallowing the last bit of food. “No. I don’t think I could eat another bite. Thank you for the meal.”
I skirt the table and pass her and head toward the front entrance. Elise clears her throat, making it obvious she has something more to say. I stop to look back over my shoulder.
I smile for her, pretending that everything is fine, but it’s strained and already making my face ache with the effort.
“Miss, if it’s all right, I would like to ask you a question.”
I nod.
“Earlier—” She plays with the hem of her sleeve, hesitating for such a long moment that I’m not sure she is capable of finishing. “—why did you assume you would be…” her question trails off.
I say nothing. She is an idiot to not realize what it means when a vampire takes a human during the claiming.
“Do you not like the Master?” Elise whispers the question.
“No, I do not,” I say before I can stop myself.
Elise wrinkles her nose as if it were abnormal to loath a thing that fed on you. Even rabbits know that the fox is not their friend. It is all too clear that she adores the beast that keeps her. Poor thing.
Her mood shifts visibly across her pale face.
“He has been nothing but kind to you. He allows you to stay here, feeds you the best food—” Once more she takes me in from head to foot, only this time she looks as if she smelled a pile of horse manure. “He gives you the best clothes.”
“Then you don’t know him as well as you think you do. You don’t know what he’s done.”
“The only thing he has done is improve your life.”
She’s angry again. But so am I. Elise is a fool if she thinks being given clothes, a large room, and pretty things is enough to make someone worthy of adoration—for ripping me away from the ones I love and the life I have fought tooth and nail for.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” I say, turning my back on her. “It takes more than material possessions and money to win someone over.”
“I know he is a good man.”
Otherworld take me, this girl is crazy. A good man? She is so deep into her delusion there is no use trying to explain how much he falls short of that mark. The other servants must be equally blind to who and what he is as well.
“I’m going for a walk,” I say. I storm from the room and out the front door, effectively ending the conversation.
Once I get outside, the cool air takes the edge off my irritation. I make my way through the gardens. White gravel crunches underfoot. I wander through the paths, between rows of rose bushes and shrubs. Occasional birdbaths decorate where the pathways intersect.
I stop at a bench beside a small circular pool of water with a blanket of lily pads over half of the surface. The stones placed around it start small and gradually get wider as they fan out. Green moss grows thickly in the grooves. I plop down on the bench and grip the edge with my fingers and wait for my anger to dissipate.
The next several days pass quietly in the manor. I could almost believe Alaric has left for good. I haven’t seen him in a few days. Except I do spot that flying beastie of his hovering around me in my wanderings.
It still surprises me that Mr. Devereaux has not come for me or taken back his dagger. I have managed to sew pockets into most of the dresses in my wardrobe to better hide it.
I have returned to the small pond every day for the last three days to think, and it is today that I have decided…
I will kill the vampire tonight.
Though it’s something I have been telling myself I would do since Kitty asked it of me, I hadn’t thought of what it would truly cost me. Kitty.
And so I am finally ready to give up the life I have planned and waited for. I must be prepared, or my attempts will amount to nothing but angering him, and I will die accomplishing nothing.
If any vampire finds out I’ve killed him, it will mean instant death. But I have seen neither hide nor hair of any other vampires since he brought me here. And while there is an extra room on the third floor, none of the staff has ever mentioned any visitors, nor did Alaric when he gave the tour. The only warning he gave was of demons.
I imagine sinking this dagger into his heart and what it would mean.
The three servants would be free, no longer forced to pretend to love him.
And I will be free.