Page 92 of The Vampire Court

“How do you feel? Are there other injuries you didn’t tell me about?” When I don’t move or say anything, he presses the back of his hand to my forehead. “Clara, talk to me.”

I blink, not understanding why he sounds more worried now than he did minutes before. I sit up and go through the motions of flexing my muscles and bending my joints. “I’m fine. I feel like I haven’t slept in a year, but nothing hurts.”

“You didn’t seem bothered by the process.”

“I wouldn’t say it was pleasant… Perhaps it didn’t bother me because everything else was worse?” I offer.

He seems doubtful but doesn’t press the issue.

I jump when someone knocks.

Cassius glares at the visitor through the door, then rising to his feet, he says, “Go in the bathroom and get cleaned up.”

My heart hammers in my chest as I wonder if it’s Alaric at the door. “But—”

“Go now, Clara.” He rips off his shirt and tosses it into the fire.

I don’t understand his sudden mood shift, but I really do need to wash this blood off me. I turn and make my way to the bathroom, stopping just inside the threshold. I strain to hear the voice of whoever came by, but they are talking too low. Giving up, I sit on the edge of the bathtub and wait.

Minutes later, Cassius walks in wearing a new shirt and frowns.

“Was that him?” I ask. I don’t have to say Alaric’s name for him to understand.

“I told you to get cleaned up.”

His tone grates on me. “I don’t have my clothes here. They are in my old room.”

“Then, I will send for them later, but for now, you need to wash. Help yourself to anything you can find here.”

I need clothes, not towels or bedsheets. I can’t imagine that he would have women’s clothes lying around. Even considering wearing something of his twists my gut. There aren’t many options other than washing my clothes and laying them out as I bathe.

“You didn’t answer my question,” I say. “Was that Alaric?”

He grinds his teeth then bites out, “No.”

If that had any semblance of truth to it, there would be no anger, no hesitation. Anger and sorrow mix in an ugly combination of feelings. He was so close to me, and I missed him.

“This is why I don’t trust you,” I snap.

“Let him go, Clara.”

“Let me go.”

Cassius stalks closer, his speed and posture sending me on the defense. I jump to my feet. Cassius takes me in from my fists to my defensive stance then backs up a step.

“Do you understand why so many vampires seek you out and not any of the other hundreds of humans in this castle?” he asks.

The question is unexpected. I pause, scrunching up my nose and think. “Is it because I’m chosen by the demons and saints of the Otherworld?”

“Clara, this isn’t a joke.”

I fold my arms over my chest and, not having a genuine reason to offer up, shake my head.

When I don’t answer, he says, “It’s because they don’t respect him. Elizabeth is offering Alaric more power than any of us could dream of, and yet he refuses. He doesn’t want it, and not a single one of us understands why.”

I swallow thickly. My head starts to pound but not from the day’s events.

“I must leave for the evening. That is no small mess to clean.” He turns and walks away, stopping in the doorway to look back. “Please stay inside until I return.”