To the left of the main house—the area that stole Kira’s attention—were ruins. Stones crumbled into piles, old pillars of the original house stood tall but without floors or a ceiling to keep them stable. All the windows were empty holes and grass shrubs had invaded all of the cracks in the stones. Vines climbed up the steep walls, grasping at open crevices, reaching up the walls like arms clawing out of a grave. The deep opaque shadows that curled around the stones were so dense that Kira could see the skeleton of the remains but couldn’t see what lurked behind the façade.
Kira gripped Tristan’s hand a little tighter, hoping she would never have to venture into that area of the home. He squeezed, as if sensing her hesitation, and brought the car to a stop. Before either of them could move, the door opened and a brilliant ray of light pierced the driveway, sending the shadows away.
Aldrich.
Even though his features were silhouetted by the bright lights of the house, Kira knew it was him. His tall thin frame, short light-brown hair, and eyes of a deep midnight blue, so dark they were almost black—Kira could see it all in her mind even if the shadowed figure before her was a mystery.
“Ready?” Tristan asked. Kira sucked some air in before nodding. Slowly, she reached for the latch and let the door pop open. Unhooking her hand from Tristan’s, Kira stood and faced Aldrich on her own.
“Kira,” a man’s voice called. It was slightly higher in octave than she remembered, but the pompous, highbrow lilt of the words was familiar. “I’m so glad you accepted my invitation. And Tristan…” He turned, shifting slightly so the side of his face was no longer shrouded in blackness. “Welcome home.”
“This was never my home,” Tristan responded coldly.
“Technicality,” Aldrich replied with a shrug.
Tristan started to turn away, reaching back into the car for their things, but the door shut on its own, slamming firmly closed with a bang.
“My servants will take your things to your room. Come inside. Let me show you around.” He swept his arm in a wide arc toward the door and disappeared into the house.
Without giving Tristan the time to even think about grabbing her and making a run for it, Kira followed Aldrich inside. Tristan appeared next to her in the door a second later, holding her protectively around the waist. They were in this together, for good or for bad.
The decor was completely different than Kira imagined. The floors were checkered with polished white tiles, the table in the foyer was a lacquered black that gleamed in the candlelight. In fact, the candles were the only things that seemed remotely old-fashioned about the space. Modern art graced the plain white walls of the hallway, and a giant iron chandelier hung from the ceiling.
Looking around, Kira spotted an open doorway leading to a large dining table surrounded by darkly stained wooden chairs. Whitewashed antlers hung on the wall, making Kira wonder if Aldrich had caught those with weapons or with his teeth. The thought made her shiver, and she shifted her gaze to where Aldrich stood at the base of a grand staircase. In the light, Kira really saw his features—opal eyes, pale white skin, a lean build even taller than Tristan’s and light-brown hair that Kira would say was bleached by the sun if she didn’t know any better.
He wore a finely tailored black suit that looked sleek, but it washed out his already light complexion. And his red tie was starkly bright against the monotone black, white and neutrals of the space.
“Welcome,” he said, gesturing around the room. Kira remained silent.
Aldrich snapped his fingers and an Asian girl wearing a black sheath dress walked into the room holding a tray with three glasses—one glass filled with a clear liquid and two wine glasses filled with something red. The servant’s skin looked smooth as porcelain, and Kira almost thought she was a vampire but for the two small holes piercing her neck. At the sight, Kira flinched, turning her head away from the thin girl. Willing or forced? Kira asked herself.
Tristan felt the small jerk of her body and gave her an apologetic stare. She noticed there was no surprise in his expression—the scene was exactly like he had imagined it would be.
The servant stretched her hand in Kira’s direction, holding out a glass of what appeared to be ice water. Glancing at Tristan in her peripheral vision, she saw the small nod that let her know he couldn’t detect anything wrong with the liquid. Kira accepted the cool glass gratefully and took a sip to refresh her parched throat.
A wine goblet was offered to Tristan but he declined, making Aldrich raise his eyebrow slowly. When the girl stepped closer to Aldrich, he accepted his cup and tipped it in Tristan’s direction, taunting him. After a long sip, he lowered the cup and motioned up the stairs. Kira, however, didn’t follow the line of his hand. Her vision was caught by the thick red liquid still gripping the sides of the cup—not wine, definitely not wine.
“Miko will show you to your room. I’ve had clothes laid out for the both of you, and I will be expecting you in the dining room in half an hour,” Aldrich said very matter-of-factly.
At the sound of her name, the girl placed the tray down on a side table and started walking up the steps, not really waiting for Kira and Tristan to follow. Tristan moved first and Kira followed after him, but halted when Aldrich grabbed her arm. “Your mother is very excited,” he whispered to her. Her heart dropped and lifted at the same time—soaring with hope that her mother was waiting somewhere in this house, and falling in fear that Aldrich spouted nothing but taunts and lies.
Tristan reached down to grab her hand, tugging her from Aldrich’s hold with a hard look at the older man. His eyes turned an icy sky blue, threatening Aldrich, who just grinned and took a step back in surrender.
“I’ll see you soon, for…dinner.”
Kira couldn’t bear the secret hiding behind the slight smirk gathering on Aldrich’s face—he was up to something and Kira knew she wouldn’t like it. So, she turned and followed the servant, Miko, down the sterile, museum-like hallways until the girl stopped outside of a door.
Without saying a word, she twisted the doorknob and stepped aside to let Kira and Tristan inside. When Kira walked past the girl, she looked into her vacant stare and glazed-over brown eyes. Was this girl drugged or just so brainwashed that she couldn’t function anymore? The question left Kira feeling uneasy.
The door closed, leaving her and Tristan alone for what felt like the first time in ages, even though they had only left the car a few minutes ago.
“Are you all right?” Tristan asked while running his hands up and down her arms to get rid of the goose bumps that had sprouted against her skin. Kira closed her eyes and fell against his chest, taking comfort in his strength. Yes, she was a super powerful vampire hunter who could throw flames from her skin at a moment’s notice. But, there was nothing wrong with having a big, strong man hold her and tell her everything would be okay.
Kira stayed silent against Tristan’s chest for one more prolonged breath, letting the world stop for just a second, before pulling away to survey the room. Even though it was a bedroom, it was no cozier than the rest of the house. Still black and white, still very sparse, and still very modern. Bleh, Kira thought with disgust. How would she fall asleep in here? It seemed almost like a hospital room—completely devoid of character or any personal touches.
“We need to get dressed,” Kira said with a sigh and pointed toward the suit and dress draped across the gigantic four-post bed behind Tristan. At least the pillows looked comfortable, she mused and walked over to see what outfit Aldrich had chosen for her.
Green—that was all she saw when she walked over. Layers and layers of bright seaweed and lime materials puffed up off of the mattress, leaking on top of Tristan’s suit and cascading to the floor as well.
Kira sighed—black-tie, really? The last time she dressed up this much was for a school dance, and even that dress wasn’t very expensive. Reaching over, Kira ran her hands over the smooth silk and scratchier chiffon. This dress definitely wasn’t cheap.
“
He’s a little extravagant,” Tristan said after leaning over Kira’s shoulder to eye the outfits.
Kira rolled her eyes. “Obviously. A ball gown for dinner?”
“What can I say, the Victorian era always was his favorite time period to live in,” Tristan told her wearily, as if he had experienced something like this before.
“What aren’t you telling me?” Kira spun slowly, taking his expression in carefully. Sparks of pale blue spotted his otherwise navy eyes, and Kira new he was remembering something—something that made him angry. She may not have super senses like him, but vampires were sort of easy to read.
“Nothing.” He shook his head, retreating from her to grab his suit. Kira clutched his hand, turning him back around and flashing him her angry eyes. His shoulders fell, and he looked away from her toward the window. “It’s just…Aldrich used to make…well, he would give fancy dresses to…” Tristan trailed off, unable to finish the thought, but Kira could guess.
“To his food?”
Tristan nodded, and this time Kira turned away from him with a gulp and reached for the dress. Now or never, she thought while looking for the zipper. If it meant getting a step closer to her mother, it was worth it.
Across the bed, Tristan was unbuttoning his shirt with his back turned to her. Kira took a moment to watch the shirt fall from his shoulders, revealing smooth muscles underneath. He turned to pick up his dress shirt and caught her staring at his bicep. Grinning, he flexed his muscle as a joke and Kira immediately snapped out of it. He was right. This was so not the time for any of that. She gave him a "who, me?" look and turned around to get dressed.
Kira spread the dress on the ground, trying to create a hole through the top that she could step into. Finally successful, she dropped one leg through, then the other, and raised the dress to cover her exposed torso. One quick zip up the back and she was ready to go… she couldn’t breathe, but she was ready to go.
“Holy crap this is tight,” Kira said and spun around to search for a mirror.
“It looks…” Tristan took a moment to swallow. “It looks amazing.”
Kira smiled to herself. It was nice to know she could make a one-hundred-and-fifty-year-old guy speechless.
Spotting the mirror, Kira started to walk across the room and realized after about one step that there was a slit in the floor-length dress—one that reached almost completely up her thigh. Behind her, she heard Tristan cough and compose himself.
In the mirror, Kira finally understood. Green was definitely a good color for her—of course, the skintight silk corset sucking her stomach in and pushing her boobs up didn’t hurt. Right below her waist, the corset loosened into a billowing skirt, which billowed enough to completely expose her legs thanks to the sky-high slit. The entire dress was made of a beautiful emerald silk and the under layers of the skirt were composed of different, brighter hues that were revealed when she walked. In fact, if Kira didn’t feel slightly like a high-class prostitute, she might have felt rather sexy. As it was…
“No way am I wearing this.” Kira turned away from the mirror. “I’m meeting my mother!” Tristan was too busy staring at the dress to bother paying attention to her words. Looking down at the full-length of her left leg, Kira grabbed the fabric and closed the slit firmly shut, snapping Tristan to attention.
“Huh?” He looked up and finally took notice of her annoyed expression. “Hey.” he shrugged. “You knew coming to Aldrich’s would be difficult.”
“Yeah, you’re clearly suffering,” Kira said under her breath and walked over to her bag, which had conveniently been resting in the corner when they originally walked into the room. Digging around, she pulled out a pair of Nike spandex shorts and quickly wriggled them on. She would wear the dress, but her way.
Looking at the four-inch heels resting at the base of the bed, Kira was tempted to pull out her sneakers in complete defiance. But she decided to give in. With her legs covered up a bit, she didn’t feel quite so bad in the dress and if her mother really had been living here for ages, she would probably understand that Aldrich had picked the outfit.
“Okay, let’s go,” Kira said after clasping the strappy shoes in place. She pulled the chain with her father’s wedding ring out from underneath the corset. Normally she liked to keep it hidden, for her private enjoyment, but for her mother, Kira would wear the ring proudly. Tucked below the ring was the small sun Luke had given her. For a moment, Kira thought about removing it just for the night. But the two went together perfectly, and as much as Tristan would hate it, Kira liked having a little reminder of Luke with her.
Aldrich was waiting for them at the bottom of the steps. Kira slipped her fingers into Tristan’s as they approached and never let go of his hand as they sunk slowly down to meet Aldrich in the main hallway. When he saw her shorts, Aldrich wrinkled his nose in disgust. Or maybe anger, Kira thought as his eyes flashed white. He clearly wasn’t used to people going against his orders, but Kira thought she was playing rather nicely at the moment. Her feet already ached because of the shoes, but was she complaining? No.
“You must be hungry,” Aldrich said to Kira, or was that to Tristan? “Come.”
They followed him into the dining room Kira had peeked into before. Walking in now, she saw the same large black table surrounded by darkly stained wooden chairs. The cushions were black silk, and a cast iron chandelier hung from the ceiling. But instead of electricity, there were candles with flickering flames. In this light, the antlers were more menacing—bleached white to blend into the wall. The candles cast dark, finger-like shadows that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
Kira noticed two doors against the far wall. The entire frame was made of polished white molding that reflected the light. Finally, Kira’s eyes landed on a china cabinet. But it was filled with glasses—wine glasses, champagne flutes, goblets of all sizes—there were no plates or bowls in sight.
Two chairs pulled free of the table, distracting Kira as they scratched along the floor. “Sit,” Aldrich said before walking to the head of the table, this time using his hand to move his chair.
“I hope the candles don’t bother you,” he said casually and leaned back in his seat. “I can’t stand bright electric bulbs. Call me old-fashioned.” He waved his hand absently through the air as if dismissing the thought.
“Where is my mother?” Kira asked. She was here for her mother and that was it. No more pretending that Aldrich was an old friend they hadn’t seen in a while. It was time to get down to business.
“She’ll be down in a moment, Kira. Patience,” he chided her as if she was still a little girl.
But patience wasn’t really her thing. The longer she sat, the more frustrated she became. And the more frustrated she became, the more Kira could feel her body heating up. Her blood began to boil. Fire stirred in her chest, sparking to life. Kira tried to breathe evenly and calm herself, but she was done with waiting. All she had been doing, ever since Diana had mentioned her mother to escape Kira’s hold, was wait. Wait to wake up from a coma. Wait because of Sonnyville. Wait to find Diana. Wait to visit Aldrich. She was done with that whole game.
“Why is it taking so long?” Kira said smoothly. Her voice was calm, but that was about the only part of her that was. Clenching her fists to keep her fire from jumping out of her body, Kira tried to sit still and remind herself that throwing a ball of flames at Aldrich’s smug face wouldn’t accomplish anything. Sure, she might laugh for a moment, but then he would be angry, and Kira didn’t want to know how he would retaliate.
Tristan put his hand on her shoulder. His arm jerked slightly at the touch, and Kira knew her skin stung. But the cool note of his hand helped calm her flames, and she continued to focus on her breathing.
“She wants to look perfect for you, Kira,” Aldrich said, still as relaxed as ever. Either he couldn’t sense the storm brewing in Kira’s chest or he wasn’t afraid of it. For some reason, Kira couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was up there shaking her mother out of
a trance and forcing her into a pretty dress. Just like the Asian servant from before, Kira couldn’t help but imagine her mother with vacant eyes, a lifeless walk, and bruises across her skin. She couldn’t help but imagine two holes permanently poked through her neck from overuse and two lumps of scar tissue where a smooth nape should be.
“I told you I never harmed her,” Aldrich said as if sensing Kira’s thoughts. Kira spun to stare at him in anger, wondering if her own eyes were bright blue like Tristan’s when he was mad.
“I’m sorry if that’s a little hard to believe, seeing as we’re mortal enemies and everything.” Kira forced the words through her teeth.
“Mortal enemies? I’m sure Tristan is happy to hear that,” Aldrich said with raised eyebrows.
“Don’t twist my words around, you know what I mean.”
Aldrich sighed. For a moment, Kira couldn’t tell if it was heartfelt or more of an act. “Is it so hard to believe that I might have changed after a century?”
Kira snorted.
“Yes,” Tristan said from the chair next to her. His eyes were narrowed, and his lips were curled almost into a snarl.
“Tristan,” Aldrich chided, “you of all people should understand that all it takes is the right girl to change a man.”
“Excuse me?” Kira asked in disbelief. “Are you trying to say my mother is, well, is like your girlfriend?”
“My wife, actually,” Aldrich said calmly, “and here she comes.”
Kira spun in her chair, eyes wide in disbelief. His wife? Seriously? What about her father, what about love will prevail, what about forever? They had given everything up to be together—friends, family, the only society they had ever known.
The Complete Midnight Fire Series Page 44
