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Katya has been sulking about since Magda will no longer allow her to tidy up my room, therefore limiting her interaction with me. Magda handpicked another hotel maid to take up Katya’s former duties. It has been a relief not to endure the girl’s constant attempts to seduce me into feeding from her throat.

Adem seems amused by Magda’s determination to ensure I am as comfortable as possible. Frankly, I find it endearing. She is my ever faithful companion and sleeps on a small bed in the corner of my room. When the terrors of my dreams befall my slumber, she comforts me. I could weep with thankfulness when I awaken to find her at my side with her soothing hand stroking my hair until I am calm.

Though I have not found Erzsébet, Ignatius’s whereabouts continue to be a mystery, and I fear Vlad entering my dreams, I have found some measure of solace now that Magda is at my side.

As I rose to sit at my dressing table to compose myself after feeding, Magda escorted the guard who had served as my meal to the door. I glanced toward the departing guard while I wrapped my robe about me and watched as Magda whispered a few words of thanks to him.

When the door opened, I glimpsed Katya lingering in the hallway, her golden hair a halo in the candlelight and her eyes glittering with yearning as she regarded me with despair. The guard bowed, departed, and cast a wondering look upon the girl as he passed.

Magda regarded Katya for a long moment, her shoulders set with

determination. Katya buckled beneath her scorching glower and hurried past the room with a sad little cry. Satisfied, Magda shut the door and locked it.

“She is trouble,” Magda declared.

“Yes, I know. ”

“Perhaps we should do something to contain her obsession with you,” Magda suggested as she drew near.

“Vlad has made that extremely difficult. He has tampered with her mind and I cannot influence her. I attempted to do so and failed. ” It had been quite frustrating to try to bend Katya’s mind to my will only to find that I could not.

Magda exhaled with frustration. “Nothing is ever as simple as it should be. ”

She began to untwist the ends of the strips of paper entwined in my hair to create proper curls. Before her arrival I had been fashioning my hair with a comb, using the natural curl of my hair to form the ringlets around my face. Magda quickly dismissed this as unsatisfactory. My long red hair was now braided and rolled into a fine ornate fashion on the back of my head and the curls fashioned with the strips of paper would be much tighter and fashionable than my natural ones. I only wished Ignatius could see me appearing elegant once more.

I fussed with the colorful bottles of fragrance on my table. Though he had never presented them as gifts and merely set them on my dressing table for me to discover, Vlad had purchased the perfumes. One in particular stood out among the ornate bottles as I rearranged them on the silver tray. It was the only perfume he had placed in my hands. The aquamarine glass of the bottle perfectly matched my eyes. It was his sole reason for purchasing it. Now holding it in my hand, I was tempted to crush it.

“How long do you think we will stay in Bistri?a?” Her hands were gentle as she drew the bands of paper from my hair and arranged the curls.

“However long it takes for the hunters to leave Buda I suppose. ” I opened up my powder box and peered at its dwindling contents. I had brought it with me from England, but rarely used it until I was a vampire. It tended to understate my ethereal appearance when I dabbed it on my face. “I do wish to return as soon as possible and rebuild the estate. I miss having a proper home. ”

“It’s not suitable for you to be living in a hotel for an extended period of time,” Magda agreed. “I worry that you are vulnerable here. Not only to the hunters, but. . . ” Her voice trailed off as she set down my comb. Her fingers lingered over the ivory teeth as she hesitated in speaking. At last she asked very quietly, “Why is he not here?”

She had not dared asked the question before. I had seen it lingering in her eyes since she had arrived, but had kept quiet. I cast down my gaze as I clasped my hands in my lap. Fear filled me and I could not find the words to speak. I trusted her, yet I was afraid. I knew she was hoping I would answer, yet was resigned to the possibility I would not. Her long fingers plucked an ornate comb with tiny emeralds from the table and began to arrange it in my tresses.

Reaching up, I took hold of her wrist and raised my attention to her very dark, very beautiful eyes.

“I have done something so terrible, I dare not speak of it,” I whispered.

“Is he dead?” she gasped, hope struggling with despair in her expression.

I shook my head, releasing her. My ring flashed on my finger as I reached out to open my jewelry box. I drew out a hatpin and picked up one of the long strips of paper she had used to curl my hair. I thrust the hatpin through the paper and into the wood of the dressing table. Peering up at her, I pointed to the paper.

“Imagine that is him. . . ”

“Oh, dear!” She gasped, her hands covering her mouth in horror. Falling to her knees, she grabbed my hands. “And he is not dead?”

I adamantly shook my head. “He is banished to his coffin, unable to move or feed. He is in limbo, not alive, not yet dead. ”

“That’s good,” she said in a voice harsh with emotion. “That’s very good. Then he cannot hurt you. ” Despite her relief, her eyes were brimming with tears. “You are not a cruel person. I must ask, what drove you to do such a terrible deed?”

“Cneajna tried to murder me. He would have killed her and the other two Brides had I not impaled him. ” Tears fell down my cheeks as I clutched her hand to my bosom. “I could not bear to see him murder my vampire family as he had my mortal family. Even if the sisters loathe me and wish me dead, I could not endure their deaths. ”

Magda pressed kisses to my fingers before resting her forehead against them. Her fear and despair were tangible. “I am grieved because it is he who has given me a long life with his blood. But I am gratified at the thought of you being free of him. He is vile. He is evil!”

My blood tinged tears fell upon my white flesh as I leaned over her. My voice low, I spoke, “I could not bear it. I could not. Though his blood is my blood, his legacy my legacy, I could not allow him to destroy those I loved. When I struck him down, it grieved me, yet I was right to do so. For all he is to me is pain. ”

Flinging her arms around my neck, Magda crushed me close. In that moment, we were sisters of Vlad’s house for though she was not a vampire, she was imbued by his blood and bound to him. Though she feared and hated him, she was also loyal to him. She trembled as her emotions churned within her.