Page 2 of The Vampire Curse

“Victor Connors.” He holds out his hand.

It takes a long moment to understand what the reptile’s presence means.

Rather than taking his hand, I step back and gesture for them to enter.

“Did you drive the horses with demons?” Lawrence asks. “I only arrived a few hours ago myself. You were a good two days behind me.”

The door clicks shut, silencing the night song of demons.

I walk through the manor, knowing they will all follow. I don’t trust the lot behind me with my life—or anyone else’s for that matter—but it would be a show of weakness to watch them. So I keep my head forward.

Cassius lets out a hearty laugh. “We did find some minor demons to possess them,” he admits with hubris. “We didn’t want to miss anything…interesting.”

Fifty years spent as Elizabeth’s lapdog has done nothing for his arrogance.

The next few days will be long and tedious.

Mrs. Westfield hurries out of the drawing room as we near, careful to keep her eyes downcast, and hands clasped before her.

Once we have all settled, I serve each a glass of blood. Not enough to be considered a meal. Being several hours old, it has lost its warmth and is not up to my standards. I do not pour myself a glass, but it’s enough to tell them—you are not welcome here.

Lawrence sits in one of the two wingback chairs, Della lies spread across the chaise lounge looking as though she awaits many servants to cater to her every whim and desire.

Victor glares down at his glass, wrinkling his nose in distaste. That doesn’t stop him from throwing his head back and drinking it in one swallow. His tongue darts out to lick up a stray drop lingering in the corner of his mouth. He runs a finger along the inside of his glass and sucks the last bits of blood.

I will need to test his weakness. How far can he be pushed before he gets close to his breaking point?

“We should have brought our own humans with us,” Della whispers to Lawrence loud enough for everyone to hear. She sips from her glass, the blood staining her lips. Everyone in the room can hear her, though no one acknowledges her words. She walks a thin line of disrespect for a lesser vampire.

Cassius stands stoically before the fire, drinking his glass like it was a finely aged brandy.

“Where is the fresh blood?” Victor asks.

Della and Lawrence stare at him in horror, or perhaps they are just surprised that anyone would voice such an insulting question to someone who could rip him apart with little effort. He is indeed newly sired if simple games are beyond him. Elizabeth was a fool to send him.

“If you are not pleased,” I say, straightening my cuffs and infusing as much disinterest into my voice as possible, “you are free to stay at one of the local inns instead, or leave and return to Nightwich.”

Cassius crosses the room to stand by my side and throws an arm over my shoulder. I want to push him off, but doing so would be a direct insult to Elizabeth, and she is already causing me enough of a headache all the way from her miserable castle in the Sunfall mountains. She is in everything that is said and done since Lawrence arrived on my doorstep.

“Do not be upset, Victor didn’t mean anything by it,” Cassius says.

Lawrence watches on, silently sipping his drink and looking amused. He is of no help, so I walk to the window to remove Cassius’s arm from me, unable to stand this man’s false attempts at niceties. It is a favor to us both, as neither of us would pass up the chance to rip the other’s throat out if the opportunity presented itself.

The wind picks up, whipping through the trees of the forest. Above, the moon is bright in the cloudless sky, splattered with stars.

“What possessed Elizabeth to send all of you? Surely Lawrence is more than capable of bringing any news she could want to send?” I turn my head slightly to eye Lawrence meaningfully.

Cassius sneers, but the expression vanishes just as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a predator’s smile.

“We were all eager to meet this delightful human snack of yours.” He looks around as if she has been in the room, hiding the entire time. “Whereisthe little morsel anyway?”

I narrow my eyes at his transparent attempt at speeding up protocol.

“I am afraid that she is retired for the evening.”

Victor growls, drawing our attention to him. He sits with his legs crossed before the fire, dragging his finger along the inside of his glass.

Fuck. He is stillverynew, and his blood lust is stronger than I could have anticipated.