Page 66

“All right then.”

I stood and turned around before allowing myself a full-blown smirk.

Only when I was at the door did I think to pause and turn. “You should know,” I said slowly, “we’re not alone in the manor. My grandfather lives in the east wing.” Lamely, I added, “It’s his house.”

I half expected her to promptly leap to her feet and run away. I should have known better by now.

“Oh.” She frowned. “It’s a little rude to stay for so long and not introduce myself to the host. If he doesn’t mind the company, I could say hello?”

She wanted to say hello to my grandfather. The man who murdered hundreds of new bloods, people like her father’s family.

What was wrong with her?

“I can’t decide if you’re courageous or foolish.”

She shrugged. “If it wasn’t safe, you would have mentioned it before.”

Right. She was comfortable because she trusted me.

I decided to call her bluff, certain she’d back down, quick. “Shall I set the table for three, then?”

“Of course. I’m sorry I didn’t bring anything for dinner.”

Mad. She was completely mad.

“Nonsense. You made dessert.”

“All right. But I promise I’ll bring wine next time.”

I shook my head all the way to the east wing, knocking at the door of the greenhouse that had taken over the old ballroom.

The door creaked as it opened up. Inside, the dark plants seemed half threatening, half curious, swaying as though under the influence of a wind. “We have a guest,” I said without preamble.

The man seated on a sofa, feet flung over the arms, opened one silver eye, clearly wondering why, exactly, this concerned him. “She would like to be introduced to her host,” I added, still incredulous. “So, I offered dinner. She said yes.”

My grandfather had been alive thousands of years now, and sometimes, he acted like it—barely moving, like a statue long frozen into place, like every movement was painful.

Other times, he reminded us all that he was son of a Titan, and by every definition, a god. He was on his feet before my next heartbeat, his previously disheveled hip-length pale hair brushed back, and dressed in dark silk.

“My future granddaughter-in-law, I take it, then.”

I rolled my eyes. “She’s a valer, Cassius. And a Pendros, on top.”

That made him grimace. “That line. Nothing good comes out of it.”

It wasn’t the first time I’d heard him disparage them, though I’d never paid much attention. “Anything I should know?”

“The name’s a lie. A clever one. I can’t blame them—I certainly would have changed it too, in their place. Originally, they were Pandros.”

“All gifted,” I quickly translated.

He watched me in silence, with the familiar air of a teacher expecting more from his star pupil.

“You mean to say they come from fuckingPandora?”

“Precisely. Built by Hephaestus under the order of Zeus to doom humanity, breathed into life and taught in all arts by Aphrodite itself. My father’s general advice was to run away at the glimpse of one of them. Particularly a woman.”

“I’m sure her parents’ advice would be the same where I’m concerned,” I counter, rolling my eyes.