**
Declan leaving hadn’t been a surprise. I wasn’t sure how he would take it, really. Most of our two decades together, he seemed like the sight of me upset him. He never really wanted a partner. That was what I’d always suspected. A little part of me thought maybe he’d even be relieved to hear Charles’s decision.
Obviously he wasn’t.
Maybe he’d lost his marbles and thought the story he made up, that he and I were together when I was human, was true. I’d understand him being upset if he actually loved me.
I had no reason to believe he did.
But it wasn’t my problem anymore. Not right now. I had other things to worry about, like Will. And Annabelle and Lennox. Charles would somehow know, in his miraculous way, they were the ones I cared about. If he wanted to punish me, if I went against his wishes, Charles would undoubtedly go for them first.
The meeting was over. Charles had made his announcements and everything was final.
I couldn’t believe Colin was no longer a Master. Just like that. Though I hated him, always had, always would, I wasn’t sure he deserved to be dishonored so much. I didn’t see why Charles thought he failed.
But again, that wasn’t my concern now. I had to stay focused, because Charles was coming towards me.
I still held Will with one arm. He hung loosely at my side, and I didn’t think he was awake. It was for the best. If being face to face with Annabelle freaked him out, being this close to Charles would probably give him a heart attack.
“I will escort you,” he said, and I saw Delilah’s reaction over his shoulder. It was pretty obvious she didn’t like the amount of attention I was getting from her partner.
Surely she knew I could never be his. But that didn’t make her like the way he leaned into me when we stood in front of each other.
Also, not my problem.
Not yet.
It would be when I moved into Charles’s family. I had no idea what it would be like. Would it be different than living with Colin? I thought for sure it would. If nothing else, Charles seemed far more willing to answer my questions and teach me about the creatures we were.
Maybe eternity with a Master like Charles who shared my interest in knowledge wouldn’t be so unbearable.
I liked answers. I never realized until now how interested I was in what I was. I wondered about vampires in general, what was fact and what was fiction. But never about where I came from, my own, true vampire lineage.
It would be entertaining to find out.
And maybe having Will around with me wouldn’t be so bad. We could learn about what we were together.
It would be nice to have someone to share it with.
No. I wasn’t thinking straight. Maybe I was trying to look on the bright side—boy was that not like me—but there was nothing good about what happened here tonight.
I had to disgrace my family, was going to kill a friend, and would soon integrate myself deeper into the vampire world.
And Charles wouldn’t allow the things Declan had. He wouldn’t allow me to sulk, or sneak reading books, or continue my interest in humans.
Well, maybe that last one. But my idea of being interested in humans would be way different than his.
“May I look at your human?” Charles asked with a strange squint in his eyes, and I turned to see if Will was awake, and was thankful he wasn’t.
Charles stared into Will’s unconscious face and squinted even harder. His focus didn’t falter for over a minute, but nothing happened.
He sighed, and gave me a gravelly chuckle when he looked at me again.
“I never have been able to read humans.”
“It works even when someone is unconscious?”
He nodded, and I was intrigued again, but Charles wasn’t going to allow a change of topic this time.
“It is time. Please put your human inside,” he motioned gracefully to the open door which I hadn’t seen him open. He was very fast. But I knew he would be. He was very old.
I wondered how old he really could have been. I wondered how his ability to read vampires worked, what it felt like to him, and what all he saw when he read me.
But again I knew he wouldn’t want to be taken off topic. I had to know how to sire Will, and there was a glimmer of impatience in Charles’s complex tone.
I hurriedly set Will on the floor, letting him hit a little harder than I should have, and closed the door behind me as I rejoined Charles in the hallway.
It was ridiculous, but I thought at least Will was safe, alone in the room for a few minutes.
“I suppose you know nothing of becoming a sire?” Right down to business.
“Colin and I weren’t exactly confidants.”
Charles grinned wickedly. “No, I suppose not. When I got word something was not right with your family, I was anxious to intervene.”
“You live far away, right? What brought you here today?”
“I’ve been keeping an eye on him. I never fully expected Colin to…rise to the occasion, if you will. My family and I were visiting another family in this area when we got word of some disturbances.”
“Ahh,” I said, not meaning to. I knew Charles wouldn’t ignore it. I was beginning to see the similarities we shared, which was very weird. Little old me having things in common with the King of all of the vampires. Imagine that.
“Has something occurred to you, Lena?” he asked like he already knew what was on my mind.
“I just—” this might have been a good time to keep my mouth shut. Maybe Charles and I were somewhat alike, but I didn’t know how he would react to me prying into his personal dealings. Anything I said had a chance of coming back to bite me. “I guess that means you have spies.”
One of his eyebrows rose, and I was surprised at how good-natured it made him
look.
“Spies?” he asked.
“Someone who watches what other families do and reports back to you. I always wondered how you could be involved in all of the different families if you never visited.”
“I do visit others. Just not Colin’s.”
“You really never liked Colin much, huh?”
He broke the eye contact we’d held since I closed the door behind me. Seconds passed and I knew he wasn’t going to answer. It was nice how easy it was to converse with Charles. I seemed able to understand him, and he seemed to welcome that.
Very, very weird.
So I changed the subject, “How many other families are there?”
All right, yes, I was stalling again. But Charles was letting me.
I felt like the longer I waited to go into the room with Will, the better. It was idiotic. I’d have to go in there eventually. This had to happen at some point. But if I could give him even one more minute to be alive, I would.
“There are six in my region now. My family is the largest, of course. All of the others are skilled in whatever abilities they have passed down. One of the most interesting of them can travel among humans and vampires alike and not be noticed. They—spy—for me.”
Stealth-mode. He must have known I had that same ability.
They couldn’t possibly be watching everyone all the time. Why was Charles spying on me? It didn’t make any sense.
“When you and…and your sister were seen with your human, the news was brought to me by Quinn, a member of Locklan’s family. You see now why I was so interested, and why I had to investigate.”
Then it occurred to me. Everything became clear. Charles hadn’t been watching me. He probably didn’t even know who I was when the spy reported what happened. It was Annabelle he was watching.
He couldn’t say her name.
He wouldn’t even look at Lennox.
That’s what she didn’t want me to know. Charles was Annabelle’s sire.
He could see I had realized something. I didn’t know if my face showed surpri
se or fascination, but he saw something there and leaned in slightly, squinting.
I had to say something, change the subject. I didn’t know why exactly, but I knew without a doubt Charles couldn’t know I knew about Annabelle.
So I tested what I suspected he knew. “I always thought I was pretty stealthy. I could sneak around this place and the rest of my family wouldn’t be able to find me.”
“Except for your consort—” he said, and leaned against the wall so casually. Like we were just having a quick chat.
“How did you know?” I matched his posture and leaned against the door Will was behind. I could hear him stirring. He’d be awake for what was to come next.
Charles replied, “you are related to this family, Lena. More so than you are related to me. Patraicc sired but two males before his punishment. Declan was one. Locklan was the other. He’s the Master of this family.”
“If he’s a Master, why isn’t Declan? I mean, it sounds like Declan is way older than Colin.”
“Your sire did not want to be a Master.”
What kind of Master would Declan have been? Sulky and brooding. Everyone he sired would be grouchy like him. That would be a sad sight to see.
“How many are in Locklan’s family?”
“Ten. And since your interest in things that do not follow seems as great as my own, I believe you would like our Locklan.”
“Why?”
“Among other things, he has light, red hair,” Charles chuckled as my eyebrows rose.
That really was fascinating. Declan and I both had dark hair. What must Patraicc have looked like? And if Locklan had red hair, then did all of his family have red hair? I didn’t know why, but I was a little disappointed they wouldn’t look like me.
“Do they have the gold ring in their eyes like Declan and I do?”
“Yes.”
“Wow—” I whispered. That was what I was hoping, that there would be something that proved I belonged, and I tried to imagine it. What if I had lived in Locklan’s family with Declan instead of in Colin’s? Would things be different now? Would I be happier being with a family that was more like me?
I’d never know.
“I’d really like to know more about Patraicc and Locklan and his family and how Declan ended up being bossed around by Colin and—”
Charles raised his hand gracefully as if he was realizing the conversation was very off course. He must have heard Will moving around the room behind me like I did. Of course Charles could hear him too.
“Your zeal for knowledge is refreshing, but I suspect you have an ulterior motive.”
“I admit I’m reluctant to do this. I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t feel…qualified.”
I wanted to make my concerns all about me. I wasn’t positive Charles bought it. But if he knew how desperately I hated being a vampire, how completely I didn’t want to make Will one of us, I imagine he’d have a far more negative reaction.
“Lena, this is part of what you are. Siring is natural.”
He pulled a box out of nowhere and handed it to me. As I slowly opened it, he explained what I had to do.
“Take this dagger and open your wrist, very deep. You must make the wound last long enough to pour your blood into the human’s veins. At the same time, you must drink of his blood. A lot of it, and as quickly as possible. You will know when you’ve taken enough. Your human will begin to feel the effects even before you are finished drinking.”
I pulled the silver knife from the box and squinted as the shiny metal caught the light and reflected into my eyes.
“—and will take longer to pass out than you expect. You should feel strong and clear headed, and must watch over the human as he transforms. He will pass out once you’ve taken enough of his blood, but you’ll already be able to feel a change in him.”
There was a long piece of soft leather in the box also. It smelled like old blood, vampire and human.
“Does it hurt?”
“Of course not,” Charles replied, confused. Then he realized I wasn’t asking if it would hurt me. “The transformation is painful. You may need to restrain the human. It’s different for each of us, but it shouldn’t take long. He’ll be on his way to becoming Vampire within the hour. You, as well as I, will be able to tell by his heartbeat.”
Charles read the reluctance on my face. I wasn’t able to mask it. Hearing what I was about to have to do, visualizing it in my head.
I wanted to run. I wanted to be as fast as Charles so I could grab Will and leave the manor before anyone could see. I wanted to save him, and get us both out of this thing.
“It must be done, Lena. Within the hour. If there are not two vampire hearts beating in that room within the hour, you know the penalty.”
Everyone will die. The visions of turning Will were replaced with visions of Annabelle and Lennox lying side by side, broken and mangled as I had been less than an hour ago. I couldn’t stand the image, and had to blink repeatedly to force it out of my thoughts.
“I understand,” I said softly, and it was the truth. My options sucked, but I’d already made my decision. Now I just had to follow through with it.
A cold feeling snuck up my back and rested on my neck, making me want to squirm, but I wasn’t allowed. Charles couldn’t see it.
“It will be interesting, having you around to talk to, Lena. I think I will enjoy your company.”
This was it. He wouldn’t let me ask any more questions. He wouldn’t let me stall any longer.
I knew my greatest asset right now was Charles’s interest in me. The smartest thing I could do was keep it as long as I could.
“I hope to have many more conversations,” I said in a very convincing tone. I was surprised I could pull it off.
He nodded, and then Charles was gone. The hallways were empty. But I knew every vampire in the manor knew where I was, and at least seven of them could sense me. I couldn’t run.
The door felt inexplicably heavy, but I pushed it out of my way and joined Will, shutting the door securely behind me.