Page 14 of The Midnight Order (The Thorngray Vampires Duet #1)

Silver

“Rock a bye, baby…” I hear softly in my ear. The tone causes a rancid shiver to worm through my bones, and I slog my eyes open to look around.

Red, glowing eyes stare back at me as a menacing smirk lifts over sharp fangs.

My scream curdles through the room as I shoot upward in the bed.

It’s dark, still early morning, and I don’t know when I fell asleep, but I know I was sleeping deeply.

“Lowell,” I breathe shakily, wringing tension out of my hands, eyeing the door with hope gnawing at my stomach like a hungry dog. “Why are you in here? It’s not your time…”

There’s an inkiness to how it feels to be in Lowell’s presence; there’s also a spike in anxiety.

It’s as if he’s teetering on the edge of sanity, and I’m the one trying to balance him.

One wrong move could tip him in either direction, and I don’t want to be the one to do so.

“I was singing you to sleep,” he says, climbing over the bed toward where I stand on the other side.

When he’s off the bed and before me, I swallow audibly.

“I was asleep.”

“Well, you’re not now. Come, let me hold you and sing you back to sleep. I promise I have a good voice.”

Is he insane?!

“No, I’m quite capable of getting back to sleep on my own; plus, it’s Jasper’s time with me, and I wouldn’t…”

His baneful hiss cuts off my words, and I jump as he grabs my shoulders, his firm grip holding me hostage.

“I’m not ignorant, little lamb. I know what time it is, but you’ll be with all of us soon. I want to get to know you. To comfort you.”

“This is comfort?” It’s out of my mouth before I think twice, and then I brace for whatever behavior will come next because of my words.

He softens, his eyes growing weary behind his mask as he lightens his grip on me. “I’m sorry.” His words are muttered as if he’s realized he’s done it again.

“It’s alright,” I offer, not truly knowing why I do so. “I’m fine.”

Something about him is unbalanced, and I don’t want to send him into some manic spiral.

“You’re Lowell, right?” I ask, even though I know his name. I try not to let my tone seem as though I’m speaking to a child, but it softens despite that.

“Yes. The one and only,” he adds.

There’s an edge to his glare as he licks his lips, and I spy a piercing on it.

“I’m Silver.” I put my hand out to him, hoping it’s not the wrong move.

“We’ve met.”

“Not officially.”

He narrows his eyes before lifting my hand to his mouth. His soft lips press into my hand as he flicks his eyes toward me. “A pleasure.”

Everything these men do thrills me, and I need to keep myself in check.

It’s like meeting a man from the turn of the century.

I remind myself Lowell is a threat and clear my throat. “Same.”

“Same?” he prods.

I nod.

He scoffs, rolling his eyes. “You’re supposed to say, ‘the pleasure is mine’ , not, ‘same .’”

I’m confused about whether he intended to come into my room in the wee hours of the morning and teach me etiquette, but I go along with it, anyway.

I know Jasper said Asher is the one to look out for, but Lowell feels like the scariest person I’ve ever met in my entire life.

“Well then, the pleasure is mine.”

“Better. Now, get into bed.”

I startle. “You’re worried about my greeting when you’re about as rude as an ass.”

“Don’t compare me to farm animals. Get into bed.”

“You’re the one who scared me out of bed,” I blurt, realizing the harsh edge to my words far too late.

“It’s not my fault that you’re sensitive.”

“Sensitive?! To men looming over my bed, singing children’s songs? I think so.”

“It’s a lullaby. I just wanted to sing you something nice so that you’d have sweet dreams. You looked a bit perturbed in your sleep.

You were tossing and turning and crying out.

I was only trying to help, and you’re making it seem as if I came in here like some psychopath hellbent on instilling fear. ”

His words shut me up, and I realize my heart thrashes because of them.

My belly flips, and I try to quell the feeling causing the disturbance.

“I was having a night terror?”

He shrugs, and it’s the most modern thing I’ve seen them do. “How am I to know what the fit you were having was called? I only know lullabies worked when I had nightmares as a child.”

I hang my head at his admission. “I’m sorry.”

I’ve had night terrors since I was a child. My aunt took me to every specialist known to man, and none could explain why I had them.

I rarely recall my dreams or why I’m screaming; I only know that people wake me up because of how I behave during them.

It’s why I prefer to remain alone.

What man is going to sleep beside a woman who screams and kicks during the night?

“Why are you sorry?” he cocks his head, and it makes him look more inhuman than he already does with his red eyes and alabaster skin.

“For how I behaved toward you. I have nightmares, and I can’t control them. With everything going on, I’m sure they’ve gotten worse.”

“What are the nightmares about?” He steps into me, his eyes filling with intrigue, like the answers to the universe might lie in what I say next.

“I don’t know. I usually don’t remember them.”

“We might be able to help with that.”

My heart skips a beat. “How?”

“By hypnotizing you. We have that power. It’s how we take away memories.” He realizes he’s said too much and worries his bottom lip with his fang.

“How I scream, I wonder if I want to know what’s in the dreams,” I admit to him, and he reaches for me, hesitating before he rests his hand on my bare arm.

The same itch I feel when they all get near spreads from beneath his hand and through my body.

It’s like it’s trying to tell me something, but I don’t know what.

Could it be a warning?

A warning to run?

Or could it be fate alerting me to my found purpose?

The only way to know the answer is to remain at Thorngray and try to riddle it out.

That is, if I pass its tests.

Lowell left as soon as I settled back into bed after thirty minutes of pleading with him not to sing me lullabies meant for babies.

It was a nice sentiment once I realized he wasn’t trying to be as weird as I initially surmised.

It’s nearly eleven in the morning, and I’m jonesing for coffee in any form and something starchy.

The kitchen has been fully remodeled and has new fixtures and appliances that look as if they have never been used, even though a plump woman in a maid’s uniform is scrubbing them down with a rag and spray.

She turns, and her red eyes gleam in the recessed lighting. “Didn’t hear you come in.”

“Sorry, I was just looking for coffee and maybe a bagel. Could you please point me in the right direction? This kitchen is massive.”

“No.”

Well, then.

“I only mean,” she says, turning and placing her cleaning rag and spray down on the island, “there’s no food in here. They don’t eat. We don’t eat. Well, we do, but…” she sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose.

She’s awkward, and I like it. It’s refreshing to know that even as an immortal, she can be a hot mess, just like some humans.

“I’m Silver.” I step toward her and offer my hand, recalling the moment with Lowell and wondering if it was the right thing to do.

She takes it and shakes it correctly, though. “Milly.”

“Pretty name.”

“As is yours,” she says.

“They keep no food here? Where has my food been coming from? The ice cream I found in the freezer the other night?” Come to think of it, it was the only carton in there…

“They bring food in for you, and I think Lowell was the one who said you liked black cherry ice cream and made a big deal about having it here for you, even when Master Jasper said that wasn’t a necessity.”

“Ice cream is always a necessity.”

She smiles, her fangs glimmering and calling attention to themselves.

I clear my throat. “So, am I allowed to go into town, then? Where is everyone?”

After showering this morning, I made my way downstairs, but now I realize I haven’t seen anyone save for Milly.

“Who knows, with them? I’m sure you’re allowed to do as you like, being the lady of the house. There are cars in the garage; I can show you the way if you’d like.”

I know wholeheartedly that I’m not the lady of the house or allowed to take off with one of their cars, but I still nod at her to show me to the garage as I run and slip into my shoes quickly.

She leads me into a space that resembles a mansion for cars more than a garage.

The sprawling room lights up one area at a time as Milly clicks on the lights on the panel to our right.

“Whoa.”

“Mm.”

“Who needs this many cars?” I whisper, walking forward and running my hand over the side of a fire engine red Ford Thunderbird.

“Well, there are four of them, and they have been alive for a very long time,” Milly offers.

Smirking, I nod as my eyes cast a few cars over, finding a car I know all too well because I’ve had my eyes on one for years, but haven’t had the nerve to spend the cash on it.

A Bugatti Divo.

It’s silver with a teal blue trim, and the windows are too dark to be legal.

“Fuck, she’s pretty,” I mutter, more to myself than Milly.

She clears her throat awkwardly. “I wouldn’t touch that one.”

I turn on my heels, and my eyes land on her in question.

“That one’s Master Jasper’s.”

I bite my lower lip and open the door before sliding across the leather seats that cup me perfectly. It’s like the car was made for me.

“I’ve always wanted to drive one of these,” I admit as she pads closer, holding the door wide and looking at me apprehensively.

“If you’re sure, the keys are under the visor. But I’m telling you, this is the wrong one to take. Maybe the Audi in bay four would be better. That one’s Lowell’s, and his sensibility runs cooler than Master Jasper’s does…”

“I’m taking this one,” I tell her.

I know she’s probably right, and I should listen, but the thing is, they stole me.

The least they can do is allow me to live out a long-time dream of mine while I’m their captive.

And besides, it’s not like I can go far.

The town is like a fucking fishbowl I can’t swim out of.

If everyone’s watching me, no matter where I go, I might as well have some fun.

The engine cranks to life once I push the start button, and a thrill races through my veins.

“The garage door?” I ask Milly.

She sighs, pointing toward the visor again. “The middle button opens the door to this bay. Please, ma’am, be careful.” Her timid eyes plead with me, and I give her the flash of a grin as I hit the button and reach for the door, closing it as I rev the engine.

I speed out of the garage, not bothering to close the door behind me as the tires crunch on the gravel drive.

I find my way off the property and to the winding road as I let the windows down and gun it, screaming at the top of my lungs when the car hums and vibrates beneath me.

“Fuck yeah!”

I’m going to be in so much trouble.