“Good night, Sarah.”
“Sleep well,” she sniffed, flipping backward a few pages to something she’d just finished reading.
Charlotte pushed away from the doors and started up the stairs, keeping her steps measured. She didn’t want her footfalls to sound too hasty or too loud. The quieter she was, the more Sarah would forget she was even home at all.
The double doors to Valek’s bedroom were left cracked, which was very out of character for him. He liked things a certain way: His bedroom doors shut—out of habit for the many years Charlotte wasn’t allowed beyond them. His office desk neat, all his papers filed and his schedule pushed to the upper left corner. Exactly four good-sized logs in the hearth—the fire should always be going when he was home (and alive). No books were to be left scattered. She recalled how he used to scold her when her room wasn’t tidy enough, primarily if she left her graphite around.
“This is the fourth time it’s marked your bed sheets….” The memory of his stern voice echoed in her mind.
For Valek to be distracted enough to keep his doors open…well…something was vexing indeed.
Crossing the threshold into his chambers still felt naughty, even now that she’d spent nights (and days) sleeping next to him. She still wasn’t used to it. This shift. This exciting change. This delicate new love. But it would all slip through her fingers if she didn’t come up with a way to save herself. She would be a liability—she would risk all their lives if she didn’t find answers.
The uprising during Aiden’s enthronement was only the beginning. Much more was coming and Charlotte refused to slow the coven down with her mortality. She wasn’t worth it. Sarah and Valek were already too distracted.
The air in the room was too still. His bed was made up perfectly, the sheets pin-straight like he hadn’t rested in days. The curtains were drawn wide, letting the night in. Until the Light blood wore out in his system, there was no reason to hide from the dawn.
Chewing on her lip, Charlotte exhaled through her nose. If I were Valek, where would I hide it?
The room had a way of sucking her in. The bedclothes were black. The curtains were black. The upholstery of the dramatic Victorian headboard stretching up and over the ceiling was black with blossoming gray detail. In the heavy dark, even the wood of the floorboards and the rest of the furniture looked black. On the largest wall, near the windows, Valek put up Charlotte’s Yule gift. He’d framed the drawing in elaborate silver, illuminated by an accent light, making her work seem like a prized fine art piece won at auction.
Her heart melted.
The space was steeped with a musty sort of stale scent. It was sweet, like his cologne, but ancient and stuffy, like the inside of a coffin. In the far corner of the room, a quill sat aligned with a stack of parchment on a writing desk. Nope. That was too obvious.
And then something else caught Charlotte’s eye. It was the only splotch of color in the whole room; Valek’s crimson scarf was draped over the knob of his mirrored armoire. He’d worn that scarf just the night before. It meant he’d been there, rifling through his various articles…or perhaps…rifling for a good hiding spot.
Charlotte gasped and dove for the little oak knobs, tearing the doors open to reveal a collection of pressed suits smelling thickly of cherry tobacco and more of Valek’s earthy sweetness.
“I know you’re in here,” she whispered.
She needed to take care because if anything in that wardrobe was shifted even a single touch out of place, Valek would know. She dropped to her knees, fingers hovering over his polished boots. There were small drawers at the bottom where he rolled up belts, other scarves, cuff links, and such small things. She chose the middle drawer, carefully sliding it open.
And there it was. Glaring back at her. Challenging. “Valek, I swear, I know you like the back of my hand,” she said in quiet triumph.
Carefully, and without making any noise, she wrapped her hands around the thick smooth cover of Anatomy of Vampires: Volume Two. At last. Her heart jolted when she touched it. She wouldn’t have much time to read it right then. Instead, her only objective was figuring out who the hell C.D. was.
She opened the book wide and flipped through the scarlet-lined pages. They fluttered, creating a soft wind over her nose and cheeks. It only smelled like a new edition. There were no other distinct colognes that might give off any clue about the gift-giver.
But then she reached UNIT SEVEN: THE FATED and the small crimson envelope slipped out, landing in her lap.
Her mouth fell open. Her pulse was on her tongue.
She placed the book next to her on the floor before unfurling the lip of the envelope, sliding out the almost-translucent card. This time, she could focus on the looping garnet words.
* * *
Dear Miss Charlotte,
You’ve been cordially invited for council in the Silver City. We can save you. But we need your help.
Most sincerely and with much haste,
--
C.D.
The Parliament
Abelim, One Thousand Meters Under Prague
* * *
Charlotte gasped. Still no answers. Only new questions were raised. And still no clues as to just who “C.D.” was. What was The Parliament? Abelim? Under Prague? How could a place be under another place? What did it mean? Her mind swam. But they were of the Occult. That was clear. And they needed her help. With what?
“Satisfied?”
The chill off his voice launched her stomach into her throat. Her heart froze into ice. She held her breath and dared not peek back at him.
Oh. Shit.
She bit down so hard over her lower lip she thought she might bite it off. Her fingers trembled as she slowly pressed the note-filled envelope back into the book, closed it, and slid it back within its hiding spot in the drawer.
“D-didn’t know you’d be back so soon….”
He didn’t say anything.
Charlotte stood up over her wobbly knees and closed the armoire. There, in the mirror-plated doors, was the dark reflection of the angriest Valek she’d ever seen.
His eyes weren’t black. Instead, they were wide frost-daggers piercing straight through her skull, paralyzing her.
“How long have you been standing there?” She grinded her teeth.
His glare hardened still. “Valek…I know you…like the back of my hand,” he mimicked her with perfect accuracy.
Hearing her own words come out of his mouth sent a zap of horror up her spine. All of the blood drained from her face and into her feet. At last, she turned to face him. Her pulse was so mighty she could feel it beating against the top of her skull.
“Thought you should know the Central European Magic Regime has taken a temporary leader. Cinder Price. She plans on hunting me with every resource in her arsenal. I wanted to tell you—to let you know everything was going to be all right—that I have a plan. But here I find…you…nosing through my belongings…against my wishes.”
His seething was slight, almost unnoticeable, which made it all the more frightening. Why was he so furious over this?
“Why?” He blinked hard at her, hearing her mind.
She bit down hard on her tongue. She forgot to check her thoughts.
“WHY AM I SO FURIOUS?” His voice shook. She flinched.
Sarah’s brisk footsteps approached. She appeared right behind him in the doorway. Her eyebrows were slanted, her expression grim. She shook her head, almost like an apology for not warning her.
“What’s going on?” Dusana asked from the entry of the farthest bedroom. Ana and Aneta were quick to appear next at the top of the stairs. Charlotte’s entire face scorched.
“I only wish you could comprehend the danger we are all in. I only wish you would respect me when I tell you something is off-limits. When I tell you not to do something.” His voice was a low whisper, but he spoke very quickly, annunciating each word with razor-sharp precision. “But, no. Nothing is ever off-limits for Charlotte
. Because Charlotte always takes matters into her own hands—because Charlotte never needs help—never heeds to warnings. You are not allowed in my chambers, Charlotte. You are not allowed to watch me feed, Charlotte. YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE NEAR ME DURING THE BLOODY SUNRISE, CHARLOTTE!” He spewed and she recoiled, tears burning her eyes. “Do my words mean nothing?” He barked. “What is the next boundary you’re going to push? What is the next line you are going to cross? Please. Tell me!”
“I…I—”
“You only want to help, right? You only want a fairy tale ending, right Lottie?” He went quiet. Charlotte’s whole body felt numb. His usually beautiful face became twisted and mangled in fury. “NONE OF THAT IS REAL! HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN YOU ARE ONLY HUMAN? DO YOU NOT UNDERTAND THAT I AM TRYING TO PROTECT YOU FROM THOSE OUT FOR YOUR BLOOD? THOSE WHO WANT TO KILL YOU? This is the last time I am going to say it. You are sick. You are limited. AND FOR GOD’S SAKE, THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN HELP IS IF YOU LISTEN! You are not allowed in this chamber anymore! You are not allowed to be outside without one of us, and until you are well, you are not, by any means, ALLOWED. NEAR. ME!”
Valek shook with his lividness. The empty veins in the sides of his neck were mottled and pressed against his skin, but he grew quiet at last. His seething stilled. The storm had passed. And it was a lot worse than she could have ever anticipated. By the time he was through, her face and all the way down to the collar of her dress was drenched. Tears. Her gaze remained fixed on his. She couldn’t even bare to look Sarah in the eye—so shamed it hurt.
“Absolutely,” Charlotte breathed. “Keeping away from you should no longer be a problem.” At last, she dropped her glare to the floor. “Excuse me.”
But then Lusian stomped in, a large, fanged grin playing on his jagged face lined with dark, rugged stubble. A miasmic smear remained at his chin.
“Hello, hello! What’s for desert?” he drawled, scratching lazily at the side of his face.
Valek looked back at Charlotte.
She slanted her eyes at him. Perfect. Revenge was convenient and on time.
He mashed his lips together, narrowing his eyes at her before turning back to Lusian. “I’d say you’ve had enough to drink tonight. Get out.”
“I’ll tell you when I’ve had enough. I’d ask you to hit me, but I fear you might take that request too literally,” Lusian snickered. “Brought home some leftovers.”
He shoved forward another figure, sending whomever it was stumbling into the room. Valek and every other blood-drinker in the vicinity went rigid at once. In the dim midnight, Charlotte could see it a mortal woman, frantic and panicking like a hunted rabbit, collapsed onto the floor. Sniveling, her mascara-streaked gaze bounced from one horrible face to the next. She clutched her chest as her wide watery eyes finally rested on Charlotte.
Charlotte held out her hand to the woman. “Don’t try to run,” she whispered.
“Don’t be a hero,” Lusian responded, though he locked his glare on Valek.
Valek moved toward the woman then, who shrieked with surprise for his abrupt agility, her arms jetting up in front of her face, as if she meant them for a shield. Charlotte needed to remind herself that humans weren’t generally used to the unearthly grace and stealthy movements of the undead.
Gently, Valek closed his hands around one of her wrists as perspiration collected in silvery beads on her forehead.
“Trust me,” he murmured to her.
Slowly, she lowered her arms and blinked up at him, her mouth gaping. Struck with his impossible beauty, no doubt. She was moderately attractive. Around thirty years old, Charlotte assessed. She smelled strangely of garlic. She narrowed her eyes at her. Had she attempted to escape Lusian’s capture by utilizing some ignorant hundred-year-old legend? Charlotte snorted.
Quickly, Valek stood and shoved the mortal woman behind himself, blocking her from the others.
“If you’ve fed to your satisfaction, I bid you a good evening, Lusian. Get out.”
“I am sustained. However,” Lusian began again, taking two steps deeper into the room. “As I said before…I did not have dessert.” His glare shot to Charlotte’s face and quickly grazed the level of her shoulders and breasts as he grinned. Her cheeks heated. “And you know what a horrible sweet tooth I have.”
Charlotte’s stomach tossed with her longing need to be fed from again…by any of them. The scar was positively sweltering now with so many Vampires crowding the small room.
“Not tonight, Lusian.” Valek blockaded him from Charlotte as well. “I think you both have had enough satisfaction for one night. Consider this my last warning.”
“Don’t worry, friend,” Lusian said confidently. “I’ll be gentle.” He swiftly darted around Valek, and before Charlotte could inhale again, he was behind her, cupping the bottom of her chin, pulling her back against his chest. “After all, she is such an innocent thing, isn’t she?”
“Lusian, don’t!” Dusana pleaded from the door.
Charlotte’s back arched out of human instinct, though her horrible suffering argued back about how badly she needed this.
Lusian sank his fangs deep and drank.
Charlotte let out a little sigh as relief rolled down from the top of her head to her knees. She slit her eyes to peer at Valek, watching as he watched her, a stony façade, though she knew he was burning inside.
The mortal woman shrieked as she watched with both her hands pressed to her mouth, though Valek kept his grip tight around the top of her arm. He wasn’t about to let her go anywhere.
As Lusian finished, Charlotte groaned and Valek turned his back on her. “You are insatiable.”
Lusian tore his mouth away, the ichor dripping from his chin, and grinned. “Who? Me or her?”
“Our turn….” Ana and Aneta pushed beyond the threshold as well, both sets of almond eyes black. They rushed to either side of Charlotte, pushing her backward onto the mattress, each taking a wrist.
“Get away from her!” Valek roared, lunging, digging his talons into Ana’s shoulder, and sending her hurtling into the east wall. Aneta released Charlotte and gnashed at Valek, who quickly wrapped his arms around the Vampire’s head, threatening to snap her neck.
Fear completely overtook the other mortal in the room, her shrieks and cries deafening. She shriveled up into the furthest corner and commenced sobbing. She knew she was going to die.
Lusian swiftly tore Valek away from Aneta before he could act on his impulse to destroy her. Valek’s body crushed his bedside table to splinters. Lusian and the twins regrouped on the other side of the room, smirking, readying for round two, their backs hunched, their claws sprawled like fighting alley cats.
“So, tell me, Valek. She gives you a piece of that every time you come crawling?” Lusian chuckled. “Lucky bastard.”
Valek sprung for him again, a terrible roar breaking from the center of his chest. They were going to rip each other apart. The two of them tumbled to the floor, the sound of their fury rolling deep like thunder as another battle cry spewed from Valek into Lusian’s face.
“I WILL RIP YOUR HEART OUT!” he threatened as Lusian rolled on top of him.
“Not in this lifetime.” Lusian mocked, pulling Valek up by the material at his shoulders, throwing him a few feet away.
But Valek was graceful enough, and he caught himself with one hand to the floor as he skidded backward. Quickly righting himself, adjusting his military coat, not taking his eyes off Lusian for a moment.
Ana and Aneta just watched, completely entertained, a mirrored grin playing on each of their pointy, alabaster faces.
“If I wanted to kill you, Lusian, believe me, I could do it in an instant.”
“Why don’t you try, then?” He opened his arms wide in invitation.
“Stop!”
Valek adjusted his focus, remembering Dusana standing there in the threshold.
Lusian rolled his neck, the joints cracking. Charlotte guessed how ecstatic he must have been to be able to act on some of hi
s pent-up aggression and could tell that he wanted to go again.
“And they say Vampires don’t have reflections. Just look at her! She’s the spitting image of you, Valek,” he chortled. “Right down to the dead soul inside.”
“Lusian, can’t you contain yourself for one night?” Dusana’s voice cracked. “Why is it that every time I come looking for you, you’re trying claim yourself as some sort of alpha?”
“Don’t compare me to some stupid Lycanthrope!” Lusian’s playful words turned venomous and angry.
The tattooed, raven-haired Vampire flitted toward him and grabbed his hand, her face turning a pale shade of green. Her glacier-colored eyes locked with Valek’s. “We apologize for being so careless.”
Valek widened his stance and folded his arms over his chest. “And might I say how despicable the act was.” This part of his statement was directed straight for Lusian, who merely chuckled and rolled his eyes. Valek heard the curiosity peak in Charlotte’s mind as she wondered exactly what Lusian had done. “You are absolutely disgusting. A poor excuse of what we are.”
“Not as disgusting as your warped little trampire with daddy issues.”
Valek roared at him again.
Dusana glowered up at Lusian before shooting an apologetic glance in Valek’s direction. “We know how you feel about us. We hear it in your mind. I apologize if we seem like such an intrusion, but we didn’t have anywhere else to go. If you want us gone, just say so. But please know we’d do anything for you and the girl. I think we’ve already proven that.” Dusana’s words were sorrowful, though they carried an edge of anger. She silently nodded her “goodnight” before pulling Lusian out of the room.
The twins simultaneously turned to Charlotte with matching wicked grins. “Dobrý večer.”
The bedroom door clicked shut and they were (mostly) alone again. Valek wheeled around to face Charlotte.
The mortal woman had since stilled in the corner, her knees hugged tightly to her chest as her wide eyes bounced between Valek and the doors.
Charlotte frowned and wrapped her arms around her middle. A large stain of blood remained drying at her throat and ruined one sleeve of her dress. Guilt had taken her prisoner.
Of Blood and Magic Page 24
