Page 85 of The Vampire Court

Clara

She rubs her hand,giving me a disapproving look as though I was playing outside in the mud and tracked it into the house.

“What do you want?” I snap.

Mother glowers. “I want to talk with you.”

“We’ve already tried that, and I have nothing more to say to you.” I turn sharply from her and start to walk away.

“I was wrong,” she says. Those three words echo through the hall, ringing in my ears. “I never should have left like I did, and I never should have dismissed you when you told me what happened.” Her words grow softer as she approaches cautiously.

She places a hand on my shoulder. That simple touch releases the gates on the emotions that have been compounding for the past several weeks.

I can’t find the words to respond.

“Clara, I never meant to hurt you. I thought… without me there, Gerhard would be able to provide a better life for you girls. There would be more money for food, the pretty dresses the two of you would always ask for, and your dowries.”

My throat thickens. For the first time since learning she was still alive, I feel like she is finally being honest with me. I squeeze my eyes shut and count to three, composing myself, then, I turn to face her.

“It didn’t quite go like that,” I say.

She nods. “I see that now.”

“We missed you,” I admit, “every single day.”

A light draft riffles the stands of my hair, lightly brushing them against the side of my face.

“I missed you too, my dear girl. I’m so—” She stops in mid-sentence, her brows scrunching together. Her mouth opens and shuts like a fish out of water.

“Mother?” I reach out to her.

A small bead of blood forms in the corner of her mouth, staining her teeth. The drop slides down her chin.

I take a step back, staring at a dark spot on her chest through the light green of her dress. The spot grows, blooming like a macabre flower, spreading until red stains the front of her dress.

She collapses to her knees and crumples into a heap on the floor, but my gaze doesn’t follow—snagging on the man behind her.

The vampire from the reclaiming, the one who compelled me into beheading his competition.

“If you know what’s good for you, you will refrain from screaming or making any other loud noise intended to alert others.” He pulls out a white handkerchief as he speaks. His eyes glow red, never leaving my face as he wipes down a long, thin blade before placing it into the top of a cane and twisting it back in place.

I back up. My instincts scream for me to run, but if I take my eyes off him for even a fraction of a second, I will be dead before I’m aware of what’s happening.

He drops the handkerchief on top of Mother. It flitters down, landing in the red nimbus forming around her. It soaks into the cloth until every stitch of white is saturated in dark blood.

He steps over her unnaturally still body, prowling toward me.

“Mr. Hughes…”

An unpleasant smile forms, stretching his thin lips. “Please, call me, Alexander.”

“What do you want from me?”

He adjusts his jacket and cuffs. “I couldn’t help but notice that your master is nowhere to be found for the past week.”

Alexander moves lightning-quick, grabbing my wrist. He looms over me, flashing his fangs.

“I wonder if you are even claimed or if that was all an act, like everything elseour dear princedoes.” His voice is full of disdain. “He struts around pretending as if he’s stronger than the rest of us when he is far from it.”