Page 24 of House of Blood and Roses: Vol. 1

"Lord Fallmartin, no, Father, says that you're to return to our apartments now."

I stare at him. "Are you seriously going to call that man Father?"

Bastian grabs hold of my arm and pulls me over to the side of the room, pinching a little too hard. He's been doing that a lot tonight. Has he always been like this and I just haven't noticed? It's a horrible thing to consider, but surely one night in the castle isn't enough to make him cruel.

"Are you going to continue making this difficult?" he hisses. "What part of this is our life now don't you get? We're the heirs of House Rothorne now."

"You're the heir," I point out. "You traded my life of relative freedom for one of being bound to the whims of a man who will happily have you kill an innocent."

"Those people knew what they were signing up for," he dismisses the notion.

"They didn't." My voice cracks and I hate that it makes me seem weak. "They thought they were coming here for a chance of payment that could better the lives of their families."

"And they're going to get that."

"At the cost of their lives, Bastian. They're dead. You did that to them."

"We need blood to survive, Beatrice," he reminds me, a dangerous note in his voice. "This is just what nature intended."

"Maybe so, but we should be better than nature." I pull my wrist away. "I'm not going to cause any problems, but if you think I'm going to sit by and let you become a monster, then you're wrong."

He raises his hand, but doesn't strike me due to Lord Fallmartin clearing his throat. "Perhaps here isn't the best place for your current conversation," he says sternly.

I swallow hard. Not exactly the protection a man who wants me to call him Father should be offering.

"The conversation is over so long as Beatrice accepts her place," Bastian says, glaring at me.

"Consider my place accepted," I respond through gritted teeth. I don't particularly want it, but I know that if I'm going to have any chance to escape this situation, then the best thing for me to do is to keep my head down right now.

"Good," Lord Fallmartin says. "You should return to our apartments with your cousins, Beatrice."

I put on what I hope is a meek and demure smile, but I'm not convinced it quite hits the mark. "Of course."

"Bastian, there are some people you should meet." He claps a hand on Bastian's back and leads him over in the direction of some other vampires who are already deep in conversation.

"His favouritism is nauseating."

I look up to find Bella watching the two of them with thinly veiled contempt.

"I suppose that means we get left to our own devices, at least."

She gives a sharp laugh. "Get back to me in ten years with what you think about that. You'll probably have had your first marriage by then."

"My first?" I echo.

She shrugs. "Vampire politics can be deadly. I wouldn't expect your husbands to last longer than a decade." She turns around and stalks off.

It takes me a moment to realise I should be following and heading back to the apartments with her and Eliza.

My head races with everything I've seen and learned, and it certainly feels as if it's been longer than a few hours since I discovered what I was. At least the denial doesn't seem to have lasted very long, though I'm sure there's still going to be some of that to come.

And the more I find out about vampire society, the more certain I am that I don't want to be here.

THIRTEEN

The three of us walk back to the House Rothorne apartments in silence, giving me a chance to properly look around. It seems as if the castle I could see from the town is just a front to a much more impressive structure, and from the crests carved on the doors, there are dozens of noble families living at court.

Eliza shuts the doors behind us and lets out a sigh. "I'm glad that's over."