Chapter Seven

Regan

 

The car felt stuffy despite the double backseat and the fact that the windows were all open. Running would have been so much faster, but Sheridan wouldn’t hear of it. We had to arrive “in style” and let the vamps know we could be as civilized as them.

Civilized vampires. I’d had to close my eyes to keep from rolling them when she’d said that.

The sleek, black car rolled to a stop and then proceeded across the intersection, up the hill that led to Rossi Manor. I’d never seen it before, but I’d heard stories. Of rooms with bars for doors and dungeons that housed bodies kept alive for the sole purpose of feeding the royal family. The images alone were enough to make my wolf strain against the confines of my skin. It wanted to avenge and protect and I had to swallow the urge to let it. Would the treaty be considered broken if my wolf unleashed itself and made me a widow right after the ceremony?

I shifted in my seat, careful to avoid touching the man next to me. He was a vampire, a guard for the Rossi family. I hadn’t caught his name. It hadn’t mattered. On his other side sat Charlie. Her eyes had been glued to her window since we’d left the house and her shoulders were stiff with tension in the gauzy blouse she’d thrown on at the last minute. I felt for her. Being in a stretch SUV full of vamps had to be nerve-wracking.

On the seat across from me sat Queen of the vamps herself, Gretchen Rossi. Her personal guard sat beside her, unmoving and unblinking. Prince Owen was on the end, across from Charlie. He, too, stared out the window, as if whatever was out there was infinitely more interesting than anything in here. I’d given up staring at the trees. It made me wish I was out there, running among them, instead of in here, stifled and on edge.

The road we were on wound up and up. I knew from territory maps and patrols that Rossi Manor sat on a hill far above the town of Paradise directly north of the pack’s side of things. I also knew it was much larger than our settlement. The vampires outnumbered us by almost twice as much. I’d heard stories of a luxury manor and sprawling grounds, but I’d blown it off. I assumed the vamp’s definition of fancy was more coffin-and-cold-tile than plush and cushiony comfort. For once, I hoped the stories were true.

The driveway was marked with a sign that read: “Private Property. No Trespassing” and blocked by a gate with a keypad. We stopped and waited while the lead car’s driver punched in a set of numbers and the gate eased open. We followed the motorcade slowly up the cobblestone drive and I felt my jaw slacken as I caught my first glimpse of the house.

Estate. Manor. Castle. Any of those would be more appropriate than simply “house.” The walls were made of sandstone until the second story where it became a contrasting color of slate-blue siding. There were circular columns to support the covered carport we parked underneath. Above us, a balcony the size of the entire downstairs of my house jutted out to greet the world. More like, to oversee it from afar. On each end, a rotunda topped with a widow’s walk completed the regal picture. I stared up until we passed underneath the carport and finally remembered to close my mouth.

When we parked, a man with white gloves opened the door for us and offered his hand as I climbed out. He smiled and offered a slight bow before reaching in for Gretchen Rossi behind me. I shuffled sideways and shook my head. They had a butler. An actual butler.

I waited while everyone gathered with no small amount of trepidation. The Rossi family had really pulled out all the stops for us. To the right and left, their front walk twinkled with fairy lights strewn in among the potted trees. Their glow was soft and surprisingly inviting in the gathering dusk. Music from a live, three-piece orchestra drifted through the air, and some of the younger vampires were lined up outside to greet us. They looked no older than teenagers and they waved and smiled, cameras flashing. We were, apparently, celebrities.

Blaine Rossi exited the car behind us along with my dad and Sheridan. Mr. Rossi joined his wife and they greeted the on-lookers with a slight incline of their heads, as if they were too good to really acknowledge their presence, before they headed up the walk. In the car ahead of us, Carter climbed out beside his dad and then turned to help Sylvia.

Al, Judas, and the rest had stayed behind to hold down the fort and to see what else they could uncover about the heart. I’d invited Lane and Bevin but Lane had thrown a fit at the idea of crossing the threshold of her enemy. She’d gotten so worked up, Sheridan had heard her and snapped something about public relations and holding her tongue. Bevin promised to stay behind and keep an eye on Lane instead.

Shuffling closer, Charlie looked so nervous that she might faint. I stuck close to her back so I could catch her if that happened, although I prayed she would hold it together. We couldn’t afford to show weakness. The vampires were watching, especially that vampire prince, even though he stood in the shadow of his parents and well out of reach. Owen wasn’t even looking directly at Charlie but I sensed his energy trained on her somehow. It was like he was waiting for her to fall so he could eat her.

“Welcome to our home,” Blaine Rossi said, sweeping his arms wide to encompass the entire manor, gardens, and their coven.

Uniformed valets removed the cars, and some small, primal part of me wanted to yell for them to stop. I was hardly stranded, even without vehicles; I could run as fast as most cars, and would be far more agile on foot. But I was in the midst of enemy territory. Everything smelled cold and serpentine. There were vampires everywhere. I scanned the faces, but didn’t see the one who’d visited my room. And the longer I looked, the tenser my wolf grew. I kept my expression composed, but it wasn’t easy.

In the front of our gathering, Blaine Rossi said something and the crowd of greeters dispersed. Cameras were tucked away. With a single word, the show was over.

“Gretchen will give you a tour of the grounds,” Blaine announced with a quick look at me and Charlie. “Your council members and I must discuss the plans for tomorrow’s test.” He zeroed in on Sheridan. “Shall we?”

“Of course,” Sheridan said on a sharp smile.

Blaine nodded to us with that same holier-than-thou look he had given to his vampires. I forced a polite smile. I could see Carter trying not to laugh at me out of the corner of my eye. I elbowed him, and he smoothed his face. The corner of his mouth still twitched.

My dad, Blaine, and Sheridan went inside the house, and Gretchen took the path on the right that apparently wound around into the gardens. I followed slowly, content to keep a healthy distance between me and anything without a pulse.

I was surprised to see Prince Owen fall into step beside his mother. I would have figured him for bolting as soon as he was able. They moved gracefully, like they didn’t walk so much as float—or slither. I stared at a spot in the center of the prince’s back and imagined how satisfying it would be to plunge a stake between his ribs.

“Wow,” Carter said, drawing my attention back to reality and away from my bloody fantasies. I found him and Charlie on either side of me, and both of them were staring in awe as we rounded the house and the yard came into view.

“It’s beautiful,” Charlie admitted. And I couldn’t disagree.

The vampires seemed to have a thing for non-native plant life. Palm and papaya trees shot up in groves interspersed between brightly colored flowers with wide stalks and fan-shaped leaves. Directly ahead, a shallow pond surrounded by dense, leafy ferns that looked more like a jungle than a forest stretched before us. The perfume of plump orange blossoms wafted through the humid air. Tiny lights glimmered among the plants and threw everything beyond the water into soft shadows. If I didn’t know this place was infested with vamps, I’d be enchanted by it all.

The only downside was the bugs. Mosquitoes buzzed around us in thick clouds. I swatted a couple off my arm but not before one of them took a bite. I shot a glance at Gretchen and Owen but the vampires didn’t look bothered. Guess mosquitos didn’t like to eat the undead.

When they reached the pond, they stopped and waited for us to catch up.

“This is my husband’s garden,” Gretchen explained, casting her eyes over the exotic flowers with a tilt to her mouth, a constant frown I’d come to recognize as her hallmark. “He favors the exotic, as you can see. This way.”

She led us past the jungle pond to a small labyrinth made out of paving stones and a low wall that looked like white granite in the twilight. “And this is mine,” she went on with no small amount of pride. White roses grew up and around the low stone. It made me think of something from Alice in Wonderland.

“It’s lovely,” Charlie said, admiration clear in her voice.

A hint of a smile touched Gretchen’s frigid face before vanishing as quickly as it had come. “Thank you. Now, proceeding past the guest houses...”

She led us past a few little cottages. I glimpsed people in the windows, and I realized with a jolt of surprise that they were human. They sat on couches, watched TV, and generally looked like normal people. Except that they were living in the vampires’ backyard.

Charlie hesitated, staring into the window of the guest house we were passing.

I couldn’t blame her for gaping. Sure, the front rooms looked nice, but I could just imagine what it would be like farther back—did vampires keep their victims in cages? I wanted to know, but I couldn’t guarantee my reaction to the truth would be peaceable.

“How do vampires eat?” Charlie whispered.

“They drink human blood,” I said, not bothering to lower my voice.

Prince Owen gave me a sharp look, hanging back as Carter and Gretchen drifted onward. “As part of our pact, we don’t harm humans. We can sip blood from them without causing permanent damage. In fact, our saliva has healing properties for humans, and we can instantly heal the bite wound when we finish drinking.”

I couldn’t resist. “You can, but that doesn’t mean you do.”

His voice took on a hard edge. “Having a permanent settlement here means a lot to us. We don’t want to jeopardize our home, but we won’t starve for it either.”

“So you drink from them and then heal them again,” Charlie said, looking at Owen with open curiosity. After the hard time she’d had with the deer, it surprised me she sounded so accepting of his diet. “And they don’t mind it?”

Owen shrugged. “The bite of a vampire can be very … stimulating,” he said with a wink.

Charlie flushed.

Taunting my sister? Seriously? I glared. “We better catch up with the others,” I interrupted before he could say anything else.

The rest of the tour was the same. Beautiful gardens. Grand living quarters. No expense spared inside and out. I felt as if we’d stepped into another dimension. One where money grew on trees and over-indulging meant the height of social status. As we rounded the house, back again where we started, I saw the crowd of vamps from earlier had returned. They stood in a group near the front door, waiting to scream at us and snap more pictures. Charlie hung back at the sight of them and bit her lip.

“Is there another way in?” she asked.

Gretchen had already gone ahead, completely ignoring the masses. For some reason, Owen had hung back. In fact, since our conversation in front of the rental cabins, he hadn’t left us alone. Owen cocked his head. “This way,” he said.

He led us to a back entrance that opened into the kitchen. The blinding whiteness of the counters and polished steel of the pots and pans made me wonder if they’d ever been used before tonight. But as proof, the space bustled with activity. Pale-faced chefs and apron-clad assistants rushed here and there, slicing and stirring whatever it was they intended to serve later.

Owen led us past all of it and straight up a back stairwell. It was narrower and less opulent than the one in the entryway, but it was still plusher than anything at home. The adults were waiting for us on the second floor in a room Owen referred to as the parlor. The snobby way he said it made me snort.

We had drinks—the adults had snifters of brandy while the teens had club soda—until it was time for dinner. It all felt so organized, so political, so fake.

“See?” Charlie whispered over the rim of her glass. “I’m glad I changed.”

“I thought you looked fine,” I grumbled and suddenly wished I’d worn sweatpants just to prove my point.

After an hour to “dress,” dinner was held in a dining room the size of a football field. Okay, so that was probably not true—but it sure felt like it as I stepped through the grand double doors. The table was long—I counted seating for twenty easily. The walls had old paintings on them that depicted familiar faces, and I wondered how many of them were authentic. Had Gretchen Rossi really been alive in the time of ruffled collars? Had Blaine Rossi really worn plate metal armor and jousted? It was hard to tell how much was myth, and how much of it was PR meant to scare us.

As intimidating as the room, paintings, and even the marble sculptures were, it was not nearly as surprising as the fact that the vampires had dedicated so much space and money to having a dining room at all. I imagined that they ate their victims in places more like dungeons. But there was nothing dungeon-like about the tall, airy windows and red velvet drapes, and even though they did illuminate the room with candelabras, they had a few electric lights near the kitchen to keep things from being too dark. The three-piece orchestra I’d heard earlier had found its way to the balcony outside the dining room. They were playing something I recognized as Mozart with skill. I guess you can get pretty good at violin if you have a century or two to practice.

Blaine and my dad took seats at the opposing heads of the table. Gretchen drifted to her husband's side and rested a hand on his shoulder. "How fare negotiations?" she asked in an empty voice.

"Well enough, my dear," he said without so much as looking at her.

She continued standing as we each took our positions at the table. I was seated between Carter and Charlie near the middle of things—and too far away from either set of elders to hear anything important. I scowled into my water glass. I would have much preferred to sit close enough to hear what the Rossi queen and her dinner partner whispered about as they cast dark glances in my direction. But each seat was marked with a name card, so I didn't have much of a choice.

I scanned the dining room, keeping an eye on all the shadowy crevices that weren't illuminated by candlelight and the long corridors that led into darkness.

I didn't like the gloom in the hallways. Not one bit. It would be way too easy to mount a sneak attack. I had promised Charlie there was no way the vampires would make a move on us on their home territory, but the words weren't quite so comforting now that we were actually here. I actually found myself hoping I’d spot my vampire visitor—and maybe even find a minute alone to ask him what the hell was going on and who was after my family.

Charlie paused at the head of the table to greet the Rossis with her usual grace, giving a dimpled smile and a light laugh at something they said to her. If she was afraid, she didn't show it. She’d changed into a red dress with a high neckline and low back that made her look elegant, and a lot more grown-up than usual. Her hair was twisted into a complicated knot.

“Your eyeballs are going to fall out,” Carter whispered as he took his seat. “Stop glaring at the vampires.”

“Sorry,” I said, but I didn't mean it. If I didn't watch Charlie, who would make sure she didn't get eaten? After a moment, she joined us. I felt a lot better having her at my side, within arm's reach. She eyed the crystal goblets set in front of the fashionable square plates. “How, exactly, do vampires drink blood?” she asked me in a low voice without ever losing that charming smile.

“From the tap,” I responded with confidence, as if I knew what I was talking about. To be honest, I had never seen vampires in a social setting before. I’d only seen them feed in battles. And “from the tap” was too cutesy for the reality of those feedings—I had watched them rip out the throats of pack members and drink the gushing blood like it was a water fountain. They weren't neat about it. They were monsters.

Charlie toyed with her fork as a server filled our water glasses from an icy pitcher. “Do they eat real food?” she asked when the server moved on.

I didn't know the answer to that, so I just shrugged. “Guess we'll find out.”

A line of waiters came out a moment later. To my shock, they weren’t vampires. Their skin was too warm, and they didn't smell nearly scary enough. I sniffed the air. Humans. My inspection sharpened as they moved, but they didn't look abused. There were no visible bruises, at least.

They carried trays covered by metal domes on their shoulders, and they set each platter in the center of the table before unveiling it.

Maybe vampires didn't eat food, but that didn't mean they couldn't cook. They’d roasted a whole pig. I watched out of the corner of my eye as the servers distributed the food. Everyone was served, including the vampires, and then Blaine stood and raised his glass. The contents were dark red. Probably wine. I hoped.

“Ladies and gentleman, members of the Vuk pack, welcome to our home. I’d like to take a moment and thank our guests. Not only for letting us show hospitality but for first showing us trust by leaving what was familiar and coming here. May your visit be pleasantly surprising in more ways than one. To peace.”

There was a collective murmur of agreement as we all lifted our glasses.

“To peace,” I murmured. I found Owen watching me from across the table and looked away.

Blaine returned to his seat, picked up his fork, and speared a piece of roasted pork. He brought it to his mouth and I held my breath, watching unblinking while he chewed and swallowed. I wasn’t the only one. Charlie let out a small gasp, tearing my gaze from the elder vamp and meeting her shocked expression.

“Did you see that?” Carter whispered beside me.

I caught Owen’s small smile before he ducked his head and dug into his own plate.

The food was delicious. I couldn’t deny that. The courses were endless and the servers prompt with refills of both food and drink. My mother had once taken me to a five-star restaurant for my birthday. I’d been amazed at not only the flavor but the creative way it had been displayed on the plate; like a work of art, I’d almost felt bad eating it and messing it up. This felt like that. Each plate served was its own creation, from the array of coloring to the placement on the delicate china. I ate slowly, not wanting to waste the one enjoyment I’d found in coming to the home of my enemy.

Throughout the meal, and the mandatory after-dinner drinks, I remained alert. My singular goal for putting up with the schmoozing my dad and Sheridan insisted on was to hopefully spot the vampire I’d come here to find. I searched the faces of everyone present, nodding and smiling as introduction after introduction was made, without really hearing any of it.

I scanned faces but never saw the man. I’d taken a break from my searching and hand-shaking to slouch against the wall in a dimly lit corner. I stared at the room without really paying attention.

My mind drifted to my mother again and that same birthday dinner I’d remembered earlier. I could still picture her that night. She’d worn a dress—something my mother rarely ever did—and her hair up. It was a simple bun but it had made her eyes bigger and I remembered thinking how beautiful she looked and wondering why I’d never noticed it before. Her beauty had been the simple kind. Her personality had matched; direct, to-the-point, but caring. I missed her so badly in this moment, my chest ached.

“I can see how happy you look from across the room. Try to contain yourself,” Carter said, slouching beside me.

“I’m tired,” I said to cover my reminiscing. “All this smiling and pretending I don’t want to kill them takes it out of me.”

His expression softened, and I knew he hadn’t bought it. He didn’t press me, though. I liked that about Carter. He let me have my space. “Where’d your sister get to, anyway?” he asked.

“Um…” I scanned the room for Charlie but I didn’t see her. I frowned. “I don’t know. She was just here.” I started to straighten, intending to go look for her. Carter’s hand on my wrist stopped me.

“Relax, I was testing you. I heard her say she was going up to bed like twenty minutes ago.”

“She left?” How had I missed that?

“I saw my dad walking her out. She’s safe.”

“Your dad?” I echoed.

“Brent tried but she complained and Dad didn’t want the bad press.” Carter’s mouth thinned. “I can’t blame her for refusing his help after that stunt he pulled at the Test of Strength.”

I nodded, my skin heating as I remembered. Despite allowing my victory, I was just as disgusted at the way he’d cheated her. “No matter which of us wins, he’s going to be removed from guard duty,” I said.

Carter met my eyes and I smirked. “I’m sure we can find some patrols that need running out near that sewer treatment plant Sheridan always insists has vulnerabilities.”

Carter shook his head, but didn’t argue.

I settled back against the wall, still frowning. I felt guilty for not noticing Charlie’s exit. I’d been so wrapped up in my own investigating I hadn’t watched her as closely as I should have. At least she was safe in bed. I went back to scanning faces and trying not to think of my mother.

A face caught my eye and I straightened from my slouch against the wall. It was a split second, nothing more, as the man passed outside the door, but I recognized him instantly. He was dressed more casually than the other guests and I knew he hadn’t been at dinner. Or invited here all.

“What is it?” Carter asked. I ignored him and took a step toward the door. “Regan?”

“It’s him,” I murmured. I began walking toward the door, slowly, trying to appear nonchalant. Carter followed.

“Him who? Where are you going?”

I stopped, huffed out a breath. Carter was drawing attention. I needed to slip out fast. And I didn’t have time for the full explanation. I gave him the shortest version of truth I could think of. “The day Charlie and I went into town, there was a man—a vampire—following us. I just spotted him here.”

I started walking again. Carter matched his pace to mine. “Do you think he wants to hurt you?” Carter asked.

“That’s what I intend to find out,” I said.

“That’s what we intend to find out,” he corrected.

I wanted to argue, to tell him to stay behind, but doing so would only draw more attention. And if I was being honest, I wanted the backup. I was tired of doing this alone. Instead, I bit my lip, nodded, and slipped out with Carter on my heels. I looked up and down the deserted hall without stopping. I headed in the direction I’d seen the man going. Left, toward the kitchen.

We passed several wait staff carrying trays of snacks and drinks as they headed toward the gathering we’d left behind. I continued up the hall in silence. Carter started to speak but I cut him off with a look. The back door I’d used earlier clicked closed just as we reached the kitchen. I rushed toward it with Carter close on my heels.

My heart pounded as we raced out into the night. The answers I’d been looking for since Mom died suddenly felt just within my reach. They felt attainable—if only I could catch this guy long enough to make him tell me. I wasn’t even sure when I’d started trusting his word, but I did. And I intended to make him talk.