by ERIN BEDFORD
I hummed and put up a brave face. "I could see that. Books and television have really desensitized the masses."
Boris scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Ugh. Television. Movies. Vampires that sparkle. Or explode into a bucket of blood. Can you imagine? What will they think of next?"
Either I was brain-dead or had a total disregard for my own survival, but the next question was out of my mouth before I could decide which. "What does happen?"
Boris gave me a sideways look.
Clearing my throat, I looked at Marcus and then back to Boris. "When you die. I mean."
Boris leaned forward, a smile spreading across his lips. "Why, my dear, are you planning on killing one of us?"
I gave a nervous laugh and shook my head. "Well, you know...if I ever wanted to die myself."
There was a long silence that made my heart race and my eyes dart to Marcus once more for help. The large man made no move to help. His nostrils flared and his jaw tightened, which was the only clear evidence that he was even paying attention.
"I do hope," Boris began again softly, his rough hands taking mine once more, "that if it ever comes to that, you will turn to me for aid and not take out one of my beloved boys. I would so much hate to lose them."
Licking my lips, I nodded. "Of course."
"Now." Boris stood, bringing me along with him whether I wanted to or not. "I think that's enough of a tour for one day. You'll have plenty of time to see the rest of the house over the course of the week. And if you ever get lost, please don't hesitate to call out." He tapped his long, pointed ear with a twinkle in those blood-red eyes. "Someone will hear you."
Resigned to never call out for help in this house, I followed Boris out of the library and down the hall, back the way we came, before he led me up the stairs and down a long corridor not unlike the one back at the House of Durand. Several doors lined the walls, each composed of a dark wood I couldn't identify. The floors were hardwood with a reddish-brown tint. A color I hoped was manufactured and not from a sloppy eater.
"You'll find that we have renovated the house to keep up with the times," Boris explained, gesturing around the hallway at the pane windows and light sockets, before leaning in to fake whisper, "No one wants to do their business in an outhouse, believe me. Some things even I wish I wasn’t alive for."
I laughed politely. Really, I was counting down the seconds until he would release me to my room. I wanted to scrub every inch of my body until I didn't feel his creepy hands on it anymore.
"And here is your room." Boris stopped before the third door and turned to me. Lifting my hand to his mouth, he hovered above, it inhaling my scent, before laying his mouth on the top of it. I held back my cringe as he straightened. "It was a pleasure to get to know you and I hope we have another chance for a one-on-one chat again soon. After all, we have forever."
I gave him a blinding smile, even as my stomach plummeted.
"Marcus." Boris inclined his head to the large vampire, before sauntering down the hallway to god knew where. I didn't give a shit as long as he was away from me.
When the master vampire was good and gone, I turned to Marcus and opened my mouth, but he pressed his finger to his lips, giving me a stern look. I clapped my mouth shut and turned back to my room. He was right. It wasn't safe to talk here. I wasn't even sure it would be safe to talk in the confines of my own bedroom. A bedroom that was already occupied.
I frowned at the door, listening for the voices I'd heard just a second ago. There it was again. Two sets. My brows furrowed as I turned to doorknob and pushed the door open.
The sight before me made my face heat. I averted my eyes. "W-What are you doing in my room?" I stuttered out, trying to look anywhere but at the two half naked men in my bed. It was obvious what Antoine and Darren had been doing with the former kneeling before the latter. Something I would definitely be putting away for later, but still, it was a bit disconcerting.
"Actually..." Antoine stood and approached me. My eyes darted to his bare chest beneath his unbuttoned shirt, trailing along the firm muscle and the house sigil tattooed over his heart just like the others. My gaze slid down his abs—yum—to the pale hair disappearing into his unbuttoned pants. Antoine made a sound in the back of his throat, a mix between a growl and a pained sound, before clearing his throat. "This is my room."
My eyes snapped back to his face. Any arousal I was feeling was shoved aside as confusion took its place. "Your room? Why would I be taken to..."
Antoine arched a perfectly pale brow at me.
My mouth dropped open as I let my eyes wander around the room to where my bag, and Darren's, sat next to Antoine's already unpacked one. The bed, a larger than king-sized bed, sat in the middle of the room, the sheets already rumpled. Darren busied himself by fixing it while I confronted Antoine.
Turning back to him, I closed my mouth with a snap before narrowing my eyes on my employer. "I'm not staying in here."
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not." I twisted on my heel and marched toward the door, but Antoine grabbed my wrist and pulled me back. "Let go. I'm going to go talk to Boris. He must have been mistaken. I can't stay here with you." I shook my head over and over as Marcus and Darren looked on with neutral expressions.
"You can and you will," Antoine commanded me, the feel of his power brushed over my skin, but not like before when I learned of their true origins and he'd convinced me to stay. Convinced, as in used this vampire superpowers to 'persuade' me to do as he wished.
I crossed my arms over my chest and smirked at him. "Funny, I don't think I will." I cocked my head to the side and stared hard into those pale blue eyes. This asshole fucked me, bit me, and then left me alone to figure things out b myself. I wasn't about to make things easy for him now.
Antoine let out an exasperated growl and dragged a hand over his face. "Piper, you do not understand the predicament we are in. This isn't a game. You can't defy me just because you cannot have your way. We're in my master's house. Boris, as you call him, does not take defiance lightly."
"I'm not defying him. I'm simply demanding the same as any other human. Privacy. A place I can call my own. Now, is that so much to ask for?" I gave him a sickly-sweet smile, but if anything, it only made his face harden further.
"Yes." Antoine reached out and brushed my hair away from my neck, his fingers trailing over the scar there, and I shivered. "You bear my mark, which in the eyes of every vampire means you are mine." His eyes flashed with something dark and possessive before his lips tipped up at the edges as those pale orbs met mine. "That is what you wanted, right?"
I swallowed and nodded.
Antoine leaned in so our noses were inches apart. "Well, as they say...you should have read the fine print." Pulling away from me, Antoine moved back to his discarded shoes and sat down on the bed. Darren, without being asked, proceeded to help him put them on. "As you can see, being a human servant doesn't just come with perks. They come with conditions. Conditions that you will now have to abide by if you want to stay in my household and not join Valentine's," his jaw clenched as he said the vampire's name, "ranks."
Clearing my throat, I jerked my head toward the bed. "And part of those conditions is that we have to share a room?"
Antoine chuckled as he buttoned the cuffs of his shirt. "This is my room. You are merely here to serve me. In any way I require." His eyes were hot as they swept up and down my form.
I tightened my arms around myself, both liking and hating the way he looked at me right now. Knowing he could feel what I felt, I pushed my apprehension down and pulled on as much rage as I could manage. My days of being my own person were gone. Now, I would have to erect even more walls around myself. Ones that couldn't be torn down. Even by me.
Chapter 6
Drake
An hour and a good wank later, Wynn knocked on my bedroom door. I opened it, not bothering to button my pants completely or put on a shirt. He didn't care one way or the other in any case.
"
Where's your brother?" Wynn asked, his tone all business-like, completely unlike him. His eyes kept skittering around the hallway, not quite meeting mine.
My brows bunched and I frowned. "In his room, I'd imagine. What's going on?"
Wynn shook his head, telling me to be quiet. "Not here. Get your brother and meet me in Antoine's room. We don't have long. Hurry." With that, he turned on his heel and walked over to Antoine's door, not bothering to knock before he entered. I could hear Piper's voice in there already, as well as Rayne's. With the least worrisome of us with his panties in a wad, I hurried to my brother's room. I rapped on the door once before opening it. Allister had his back to me as he stood in front of the mirror, buttoning up his shirt.
"Did you forget what we look like already?" I joked, clapping him on the shoulder with a laugh. "You'd think after all these years you'd be sick of looking at your ugly mug."
Allister shook his head and pushed me away with a roll of his eyes. "It's your ugly mug too, you know."
I struck a pose behind him in the mirror. "Nope, I'm the pretty one. You're the ugly duckling."
"Isn't that a nursery rhyme?" Allister asked over his shoulder, as he moved away from the mirror and over to where his shoes sat. "And we are identical twins. There's no logic to your assessment."
I shrugged. "Facts are facts, brother. Anyway, we're needed in Antoine's room. Chop-chop." I clapped my hands together and walked to the door.
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Allister inquired, nodding at my bare chest.
I smirked. "Nope."
"This wouldn't have to do with a certain blonde maid, would it?" Allister sighed as we walked down the hallway and toward Antoine's room.
Grinning from ear to ear, I shrugged. "What can I say? I need all the advantages I can get. Antoine's already bound to her. Rayne's one apology away from getting into her panties. And we don't have to even guess about Wynn. He'll have her spread-eagle in his bed before this week is through. I have to up my game if I want to compete with that."
Laughing at me, Allister knocked on Antoine's door but I opened it before anyone could answer. They were waiting for us inside regardless, there was no need to be polite.
Antoine's room looked the same way it had when we lived here before. The same as mine and Allister's. It was like we'd never left. Even the screams and the stink of blood still haunted the rooms. I didn't know how I was ever going to get any sleep tonight.
I passed Marcus, who was standing by the door, and stepped into the room. My eyes drifted from Wynn and Rayne sitting on Antoine's couch, to Antoine leaning against his wardrobe with Darren close at his side, to Piper sitting on the edge of the bed. She looked pissed as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. She kept shooting glowers at Antoine—who was firmly ignoring her—but when my brother and I walked into the room, her eyes shot to us. Those pale brown orbs scanned over Allister briefly before landing me. Her eyes widened and the tiny pink muscle in her mouth darted out to wet her lips. The air in the room filled with the sweet, sweet scent of her arousal, making the others shift uncomfortably.
"See," I muttered to my brother, who rolled his eyes before collapsing on the couch next to Rayne.
I knew exactly what I looked like. While I hadn't planned on seeing her after I'd just gotten out of the shower, it was a side benefit. My hair was still slightly wet and curled around my ears, and my skin gleamed from the moisture. I looked good, and by Piper's state of arousal, she thought I did too.
I smirked at Piper, causing her to gasp and turn her eyes back to Wynn who had called us here.
"Theresa had some interesting things to tell me today." Wynn sat as stiffly as a corpse on the other end of the couch, his face still set in a serious frown.
I took up residence against the post of the bed, near enough to smell Piper's sweet scent but far enough away to tempt her into giving me sideways looks. Responding to Wynn's words, I muttered with a smirk, "Oh, I bet she did. I bet Theresa was all kinds of chatty while she was riding your magic rod."
Piper frowned and a flash of hurt crossed her face. I wished I could take back my words, but it was too late. Fuck me.
Wynn ignored my poke—another abnormality—as his eyes locked onto Antoine. "She says this is a trap. We're all in great danger."
Allister snorted. "Like we didn't know this already?" My brother looked around the room. "Who here didn't think this was a trap before we even got on the plane?" He raised his hand and waited for someone else to agree. No one did. "See?" He dropped his hand. "This is old news, Wynn."
"What exactly did Theresa say?" Antoine asked, not letting my brother deter Wynn's worry. "Did she have any other information that could help us? Or just that we're all in danger?"
I scoffed and shook my head. "I doubt she could get it out with his dick in her mouth."
Piper froze next to me, and once again I wanted to take back my words. I had to stop doing that. I was so used to screwing with Wynn about his womanizing ways—the guy fed on sex, for crying out loud—that it was hard not to poke at him now. Though, judging by the way Piper was reacting, I wasn't winning any points for pointing it out.
This time Wynn didn't ignore me. He jumped to his feet and was across the room in an instant, his fist flying for my face. I ducked just in time and the wood above my head shattered as Wynn's fist went through it. Darting to the side, I held my hands up in peace. "I was just messing with you, bro. Why are you so worked up?"
Wynn gnashed his fangs at me. "All of our lives are at stake—Piper's in particular—and you make jokes about how I got the information? You should be kissing my feet for taking one for the team. We could all be dead in our beds tomorrow."
"And what a burden that would have been," I quipped, unable to help myself. I dodged Wynn's fist again before Marcus stepped between us.
"Enough."
"Marcus is right," Antoine announced, stroking his fingers across his chin. "This is not the time to be fighting amongst ourselves. We have much greater threats to deal with. Now, if you can keep your mouth shut long enough for Wynn to tell us what he knows, maybe we'll all get out of this place alive. If not in one piece."
Wynn and I stared at each other for a long, hard minute before I conceded with a nod. "Fine. I'll knock off the jokes."
"Thank you." Antoine turned to Wynn and gestured with a hand. "If you would continue?"
Wynn crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the ground. "Apparently, Valentine had a little more to say about us from his visit than just about Piper." Piper's breathing increased and her pulse raced at the mention of Valentine. I didn't blame her. The guy was a freak. "Our master believes we have strayed too far from the ways he has taught us. That we are becoming too mainstream."
Rayne laughed bitterly, leaning forward on his knees as he propped his face on his hands. "That's a bit hypocritical. He's the one who made sure no one could tell he's from Russia, but didn't do shit about his face."
Scattered chuckles spread across the room. I stepped forward into the middle of the group. "So, that's it? He wants us to be more monster-like?"
Wynn blew out a hard breath. "I wish. Not only is he going to be looking to see if we have forgotten the old ways, but he is going to be testing our feelings toward..." He trailed off as his eyes moved over to Piper.
Piper shifted on the bed, her arms wrapping around herself. "Don't hold back on my account. I'm part of this too, you know. No going back now."
"She's right," Allister interjected, smiling at her. The cheeky bastard. "Piper's immortal now. If we keep things like this from her then we might as well sign her death certificate ourselves." He jerked his chin toward Wynn. "Tell her. Let's get it all out there so we can figure out how to leave here alive."
Wynn hesitated for a moment, shooting a look at Antoine. Our head of house nodded, though he didn't look happy about it. Tucking his hands into his pockets, Wynn shifted his stance toward Piper. "Valentine wants you. We all know he already called Antoine and tried to buy yo
u. He's got to pissed that you're a human servant now, but don't think that's going to stop him. In fact, it might just make him even more adamant to have you."
Piper stood abruptly. "Wait, I thought this was supposed to keep me safe? Why'd I go through all that crap if Valentine can still get to me?"
Antoine shot her a look. "You went through that crap so that he couldn't snatch you out of your bed in the middle of the night without a word."
"Oh, gee, thanks. So what now, he has to what? Ask permission?" she snapped back, her hands on her hips and her eyes glowing with fire. God, she was beautiful and she didn't give two shits about who Antoine was. If God made a perfect woman, it was Piper Billings.
"More or less," Wynn answered for Antoine with a sigh. He closed the few between them and placed his hands on her shoulders. "We won't let him touch you. I promise. We are doing all of this to protect you. Valentine and our master can play their games, but you belong with us. Don't let it worry you."
Piper touched one of his hands tenderly and jealousy flared in me. I wanted to be that guy. I'd never been in a position where I wanted to be Wynn in my entire existence, except for this very moment. She peered up at him lovingly, with those big doe eyes, and smiled softly. "I know you will. But I'm going to worry regardless."
"Can you get on with the rest?" Rayne complained, his face tight with irritation. I wasn't the only one annoyed by Wynn getting all the attention. "We have a dinner to go to in a few minutes and I, for one, don't want our master to send someone to look for us."
"Rayne has a point," Allister noted and stood. "We should prepare for whatever they are going to through at us tonight."
"Why do you think they will start tonight?" I turned to my brother with a frown. "Wouldn't they be more subtle about it?"
My brother laughed. "You should know as well as I, that subtlety has never been our master's style. He'll want to get his intentions out as soon as possible."
