He looks over at me, his eyes dancing with excitement and wonder. I nod, unable to contain the smile. “It is.”
“Is what what?” Michael asks. He leans forward in his seat, craning his neck to get a better look at what rests in the case.
“A 1968 Fender Strat,” Lexington says in awe as he lifts the white guitar from its case, setting the case on the ground. He shifts the guitar so it rests on his leg, the neck in his left hand. He plucks out a string of chords, testing it out. “It’s the same guitar Jimi Hendrix played at Woodstock. Same…same white color and everything.”
“Are you telling me you were at Woodstock?” Michael asks with amusement and respect. “The Woodstock?”
“Hell yes I was,” Lexington says with a laugh. His fingers fly over the chords, plucking out some kind of song. He’s actually good. Like, impressively so. “Crazy, crazy scene. Amazing. But crazy.”
“You sure you want to be in a relationship with this old fart?” Robert says. “He’s practically ancient, and what are you, eighteen?”
“I’m twenty-three,” I say sharply, quickly growing tired of the assumptions.
“Elle,” Lexington says, looking up at me with wonder. “This…this is amazing. Like, literally the most perfect gift anyone has ever gotten me, or ever will get me.” He leans forward, pulling my mouth to his. “Thank you,” he says against my lips.
“You’re welcome,” I say, blushing, because every one of the other six people in the room is watching us. PDA is a first for me.
“You better have something pretty impressive after what she just pulled off,” Eva says with a smile. She sits on the floor, her ankles crossed, her forearms hanging over he knees.
“Well, Elle certainly has put me to shame,” Lexington says. He sets the guitar in its case, though he leaves the lid open. “But I hope this will be adequate.”
He hands me a bag. A huge one that is seriously heavy.
I look up at Lexington as I pull a layer of tissue paper off the top. He watches me with nervous, excited anticipation, and my heart does a little fluttering backflip.
He’s called me adorable before, but Lexington is pretty damn adorable too sometimes.
The first item I pull from the bag is a pair of gloves. Black and silky. Next comes a hat and then a pair of thick, wool socks.
Item after item, I pull out a coat, thermal underwear, footie pajamas that have little skulls all over them. And finally, an electric blanket.
“What is all that crap?” Aleah asks with a condescending laugh.
“I’m always freezing,” I laugh, buried beneath a mountain of things to keep me warm.
“You’ve obviously never felt this woman’s feet,” Lexington chuckles, pride shining in his eyes at everything he’s bought. “They’re like ice cubes, all the time.”
“You guys are so cute,” Julie says with a smile.
I laugh, handing the cord over to Duncan so he can plug the blanket in for me.
“And that’s not all,” Lexington says as he cocks an eyebrow at me. He disappears for a moment, the front door letting in the tiniest draft as he goes in and out. Almost instantly he appears back at my side, holding something out with a paper bag over the top of it.
I look up at his eyes with a little smile, excitement and just a little anxiety fluttering in my chest.
I’m really not someone who likes surprises.
I pull the bag up, and my face freezes in wonder.
A single stem rises up from a planter pot. White flowers with yellow centers jut out all around it, the petals frayed and fringed looking.
“Is that a fringed prairie orchid?” I ask in awe as I take the pot from Lexington’s hands.
“Sure is,” he says with pride.
“What’s the big deal about an ugly flower?” Eva asks.
“They’re getting to be really, really rare,” I explain as I look it over, searching for stress or damage to the plant. “They’re about a dozen plants away from being on the endangered list.”
I look up at Lexington, awe in my expression. I want to ask how he got it, but I can just see how happy he is at my reaction to his gift.
So instead I just lean forward, and press my lips to his. “Thank you,” I breathe.
“Gag me,” Aleah says. I look over to see her roll her eyes, slouching deep into her chair.
Everyone else laughs, and I’ve had enough PDA for now.
“Dinner is ready,” Eva says, providing a thankful distraction.
“Let’s eat,” Michael says as he jumps to his feet. “I’m starved.”
The presents now all opened, the clock reading noon, everyone files into the dining room. A long table dominates the room, a dozen chairs set up around it. Everyone pitches in, taking the food from the ovens and refrigerator to the table. Julie smiles admiringly at the beautiful table setting she’s laid out.
And for just a moment, as everyone dishes up their Christmas dinner feast, I forget that these people are anything but that.
Until Robert breaks out the enormous pitcher full of thick, red liquid. One by one, he makes his way around the table, filling the wine glasses with blood. Until he reaches me, giving me a wink, and skipping over me to fill Lexington’s cup.
“This is wonderful, Eva,” I say as I near the end of my plate. “Did you go to cooking school?”
She nods from the end of the table, next to Aleah. “I was in New York, just two weeks away from finishing it up.”
“What happened?” I ask as I take a sip of my cranberry juice.
“Nine-eleven,” she says. “I was right under the building when the towers came down. I was pulled from the rubble two days later and woke up in a refrigerated box two days after that.”
“That’s terrible,” I say, my brows furrowing. “Did you know before?”
She shakes her head.
So many like her never knew what they were before they died and Resurrected.
“What about you, Julie?” I ask.
“You could say my mother was obsessed with vampires,” she says with a laugh. “She always loved folk lore, scary tales. So when she learned vampires were real, she hunted one down. Slept with him, much to the threat of her physical safety. Nine months later, I was born. Twenty-seven years after that, she convinced me to take my own life and see what would happen.”
“Wow,” I say. Her mother doesn’t sound much better than mine.
“How did the two of you meet?” I ask, looking from Julie to Eva.
“I just smelled her,” Eva says. “I know it sounds weird, and you probably can’t understand as a human, but we can tell.” Each of the other vampires nods. “We were both in Baltimore at the time. Neither of us had met another vampire.”
“We’ve been keeping an eye on each other ever since,” Julie says, offering a little smile to Eva.
It’s hard to imagine the two of them being friends naturally. But when they thought they were the only ones, what other choice did they have? They needed someone who understood what the other was going through.
And somehow along the way they met Michael.
I understand now why they joined the House so readily. The promise of others like them, with the possibility of meeting many more? It must have sounded incredible.
Eva has just started cutting up pie when there’s a knock on the door.
I climb to my feet to get it, but Duncan jumps up. I follow him toward the front door.
“A package for Miss Elle Ward.”
Shock and dread jolt my system like I’ve just stuck my finger in an outlet.
The voice behind Duncan is shaky, full of fear. Duncan steps to the side slightly, and I gain line of sight.
A man in his mid-thirties stands on the front porch. His entire body trembles in fear. And on the right side of his neck are two puncture wounds with trails of blood leaking from them.
“There’s no one here by that name, sorry,” Duncan says, furrowing his brows in confusion.
Lexington suddenly darts t
o the door. “I’ll take that,” he says. He steps through the door, looking in either direction up and down the street. “Who sent you?” he asks the man quietly.
“I…I can’t…” the man says, emotion breaking his voice. “They have my family.”
Lexington puts a hand on the man’s shoulder. “I understand. You’ve done your job. Go home.”
The man bites his lower lip and nods his head. Hardly able to walk, he’s still trembling so bad, he makes his way down the stairs.
“Who’s Elle Ward?” Duncan asks as Lexington turns. His blue eyes meet mine, and I see red burning like embers in them.
“What’s in it?” I ask as we walk back into the kitchen. He sets the package on the counter and grabs a knife to cut it open.
Lexington opens the flaps, and swears as he looks inside.
I grab the box, pulling it to me, and look inside.
Two dolls rest inside. One in the likeness of a beautiful woman with fiery orange hair, a tiny crown atop her head, wearing a beautiful dress. The other has blonde hair, fragile features, and wears the very same black pants and red and white polka dotted shirt I wear now.
It looks just like me.
I reach inside and pick them up. But the moment I do, both their heads fall from their shoulders, attached to the bodies by a piece of yarn.
Chelsea was killed by my mother. I never saw the carnage, but was told stories much later. Chelsea’s head was beaten in, and then decapitated.
I hold the two dolls up, watching as both our heads swing.
“That’s dark,” Aleah says. I look up to see her watching the heads. “Even for our kind.”
Michael crosses to the counter, grabbing the box. He looks down inside. “A sister for a sister. What’s that supposed to mean?”
He tips the box, displaying the words that are written at the bottom in thick, black marker.
Lexington yanks it away, staring at the words. “Damn it!” he bellows, crushing it to the ground. His hands come up to fist in his hair, his eyes wild and violently red. “I should have known he wasn’t going to let this go. Charles is a patient man. He’s just been biding his time.”
I look back at the dolls, my head now resting still, unattached from my body.
He’s been spying on me. Today. In the last few hours.
“You talking about the Allaway prick?” Michael asks, his voice growing dark. “A sister for a sister. What the hell does this girl have to do with his twin sister getting killed?”
I meet Lexington’s eyes, and see the fear and the resolution there. It’s time. We have to tell them the truth.
“My mother murdered her, and most of his House,” I say, still looking at Lexington. “And my name isn’t Penny Jones.”
“Elle Ward,” Duncan says as understanding creeps into his voice. “Ward. That’s someone from the House of Conrath. You’re…”
“Alivia Conrath is my sister-in-law,” I say, looking over at him. “My brother, Ian Ward is married to the House regent. The Battle of the Bitten that initiated the genocide decree? It was my own mother who led them.”
More than a few curse words are let loose. The look in Michael’s eyes deepens, conflict rising there. Robert looks utterly shocked. Julie and Eva don’t seem to understand the history or know what all this means.
“So you’re saying she’s a direct target of the House of Allaway?” Aleah says. “A sister for a sister? Charles’ sister Chelsea, for Ian Ward’s sister, Elle?”
“That’s exactly what we’re saying,” Lexington says. He stands there, frozen, his eyes fixed on me, like he’s afraid if he looks away, Charles will magically snatch me away into thin air.
I look away, unable to take the agony in his eyes. “We didn’t tell you who I was at first because we had to be careful. My brother visited with Charles two months ago. He made a direct threat to me.”
“Then why hasn’t your brother just lopped the prick’s head off yet?” Michael asks with a growl as the yellow lights in his eyes.
“Killing Royals is a big deal,” Lexington breathes. He slowly walks in a small circle, the gears in his head spinning faster and faster. “If the House of Conrath takes out the leader of the House of Allaway, it’s a declaration of war. King Cyrus likes to deal with these kinds of issues himself. But he’s never quick about it.”
“Being thousands of years old will do that,” Aleah says.
“What an asshat,” Julie says with a look of disgust. “You’re just trying to help him. That’s what all this is about, right?” She waves her hand in a circle, indicating all the people in this house. “And he’s coming after you, threatening your life, when you’re doing something that will keep him from getting killed by this King?”
“Charles doesn’t always think logically,” Lexington says. He finally stills, lying his hands flat on the counter top. “He and Chelsea killed their own mother when they wanted the power. Chelsea thought it was entertaining to torture people, and Charles always went along with whatever his sister wanted. To him, all he’s seeing is the revenge.”
I walk to the dining table and sink into a chair, looking down at the dolls.
What are my options right now?
Run and hide. That’s always the method everyone has always suggested to me. Disappear, head to some unexpected corner of the world. There are billions of people on this planet and it’s huge. Charles can only look in so many places.
Fake my own death. Take on a new identity. Dye and cut my hair and dress totally different.
Every option leaves me having to say goodbye to the life here that I’ve fought so hard for.
This feels like a losing battle, one I’m not sure how to overcome.
Footsteps cross the kitchen and Lexington squats down in front of me, his face coming into view. He pulls the dolls out of my hands and sets them to the side. He takes each of my hands in his and my eyes finally rise up to meet his.
“I’m not sure what to do right now, Elle,” he says quietly. “I know you don’t want to run, and I don’t want you to have to do that either.”
“Move her into this House,” Robert says, though the tone of his voice says he doesn’t like the idea. “If we’re all here, that makes eight vampires to keep an eye on her at all times.”
“But this isn’t going to be resolved in just a few simple weeks,” I say, looking over at them all. Their willingness to jump to Robert’s suggestion is there in all of their eyes. “Charles is an immortal. He has eternity to execute his revenge.”
“Then the only option is to kill him,” Michael says. His brows furrow, his expression rolling into a gnarled mess of anger. “I don’t care if this King comes after me. I’m no one, I can disappear. I’ll go kill Charles myself, problem solved.”
I look at Lexington’s face as he studies Michael. He’s seriously considering the plan.
“Is there any chance of reasoning with him?” I ask, pulling Lexington’s eyes back to mine. “Would Charles listen if you talked to him? If I talked to him? Would he hear anyone out?”
Wistfulness fills his eyes, but there’s also resignation there, too. “This is a family feud now. The Allaways are descendants of the third son, just like Alivia. To them, family is something you fight for. And Charles is nuts.”
“You don’t have to have this on your conscience, darlin’,” Michael says. Suddenly he disappears. I hear footsteps upstairs, loud noises as he shuffles around, and the next moment he reappears, next to the doorway.
His flail hangs over his shoulder. “Just don’t ask where I’m going and this isn’t on you.”
He looks back at me, sincerity in his mad, wild eyes, just a moment before he pulls the door open, grabs a pair of sun goggles from the table next to it, and disappears out into the afternoon sun.
“How much of a chance does he stand against this guy?” Eva asks as she stands at the counter, her hands braced on it.
“They’re both totally nuts,” Duncan says as he crosses to the front door and closes it, sq
uinting against the sunlight. “So I’d say it will be a pretty evenly matched fight.”
“He’s going to have to surprise Charles,” Aleah says, crossing her arms over her chest. “Michael may be crazy and a good fighter, but he’s still only a Bitten. Charles is a Born, and his House may be small, but he still has some followers.”
I swallow, my eyes falling to the floor.
I’ve only known Michael for a few days, but already I’ve found myself feeling very fond of him. His loyalty. His hot reactions. His readiness for change and plans.
No wonder Alivia is so affectionate toward Markov.
If he gets himself killed trying to help me…
I close my eyes and shake my head. I can’t think like that right now.
“If he does kill Charles,” I say, looking back up at Lexington. “What will happen? To those who follow him? To his House and title?”
“Some of you probably don’t know this, since you’ve never met the man,” Lexington says, looking up at our own little House. “But Charles is gay. I’ve watched him run through a parade of lovers over the past thirty years. He’s never produced an heir. Neither did Chelsea before she Resurrected. They’re the end of the Allaway line.”
Lexington stands, crossing his arms over his chest. “If Charles dies, King Cyrus is going to have to instate a new family to rule over our region.”
“Who?” I ask, shaking my head.
Lexington shrugs. “I don’t know. Isn’t everyone who lives back at Court in Roter Himmel a Royal? Maybe someone from there would be willing.”
I nod. In my time in Roter Himmel, I learned a lot. Located in Austria, it’s a town full of vampires and humans alike. Each of the vampires is a direct descendant of the third or seventh son, and thus, Royal. But they don’t rule Houses there. They’re just ordinary citizens, though considered members of Court. Their motivation for living there is that they don’t have to hide what they are. They have an agreement with the humans. They feed as needed on the human population, and take care of them financially in exchange. It’s a peaceful town, and they don’t have to hide their basic nature.
“Maybe,” I say. My head is spinning.
If a new Royal family is instated, it means King Cyrus will likely come to the North East. It means more of his twisted games.