Page 27 of The Vampire Curse
“You are already planning my future!” She swats playfully at my arm, laughing, and I laugh with her.
“Is he good to you?” I ask.
“Yes, he and his whole family are wonderful.”
“Do you love him?”
She blinks at me, and I freeze. I don’t know what possessed me to ask that. Kitty wrinkles her nose. “You know that love doesn’t matter when it comes to marriage.”
Idoknow. It has never concerned either of us before.
We sit on the edge of the bed. Kitty leans into my side and rests her head on my shoulder.
“That is very unlike you to ask, Sister.” She pokes my nose, then sighs. “But… I think in time I will. I don’t see how I couldn’t. They are nothing like Father. And he’s so kind and handsome.”
Love has never mattered… though with Xander, we had always been an exception. His family is beyond our reach, but he had believed we could circumvent his parents’ expectations if we just waited until his brothers married.
Perhaps now, with Kitty marrying into such a prominent family, it will be easier for Xander and me to finally marry.
I tug on the edges of my sleeves, conscious of the thin wraps that cover my arms. “Have you heard anything from Xander Callowell?” I ask.
Kitty straightens and looks at me entirely bewildered. I suppose it makes sense. My relationship with Xander was the one secret I kept from her.
“Callowell? Why would you ask about the Callowell boy? You mentioned him in your letters, but I assumed it was some sort of coded message I wasn’t able to decipher.” Kitty scrunches up her mouth, but there’s more to her tone than her words imply.
My heart skips. I can’t be angry with her because I have not been entirely honest either. But this is about Xander… and my future.
I have only been away for a month and a half, not much could have changed… then again. Sitting in the Morgan’s manor, with Kitty engaged to their eldest son, is as far as we could be from the life we had before I was claimed.
Kitty gasps. “Was it code? Tell me, I must know what you meant.” She claps a hand over her mouth as if finally realizing. I like this version of her—energetic and animated. “Oh! He was one of your market friends, wasn’t he? Why didn’t you just say so?”
Market friends… she and Father both knew most days I hunted and sold the pelts of what little I caught to the butchers and clothiers in the market. Still, they both talked about it as though I worked for a reputable business. I suspect at least Father knew I picked pockets, but Kitty only ever wanted to believe the best about me.
I open my mouth to explain my relationship with Xander, to explain that the letter wasn’t written in code and that we have a relationship—but a knock on the door interrupts the moment.
The older woman from earlier, Mrs. Smithe, who I have since learned is the head housekeeper, opens the door and pokes her head in.
“Pardon my intrusion, young Miss, but the guests will be arriving in an hour.”
“Thank you,” Kitty says energetically. Her excitement at being treated as if she always belonged here is apparent.
She jumps to her feet, facing me, and I know our conversation is at an end.
“We must get you ready!”
And just like that, I am swept up in a whirlwind of silks and accessories as Kitty goes about picking out our clothes.
Chapter Ten
Clara
“Clara,”Kitty says. “You must wear this one to the party tonight.”
I lower the dress I held up for her to examine. She has the rich olive material pinched between two fingers of one hand and is stroking it with her other.
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier about the dresses he gave you?” She lifts the material and strokes it against her cheek then murmurs, “Perhaps being taken by a vampire might not be as bad as we thought…”
My heart nearly stops in my chest. While it’s true that Alaric is not as we always thought vampires to be, his guests are proof that he is a rare exception.