Page 22 of The Vampire Debt

I think about it for a moment before nodding my head. If I actually can or not remains to be seen.

The longer I retain consciousness the more strength returns to my muscles. I manage to get one arm under me, and he helps support me by my other.

As soon as I’m sitting, he moves across from me.

I take in my surroundings. We’re in a moving carriage, the inside is luxurious but simple. I look from the gold accents to his face, several times as things slowly click into place.

Vampire. And what in the Otherworld was I thinking?My eyes drift to his lips again before I can stop myself. I look away, focusing on his impeccable cravat.Is that the same one he was wearing a little while ago?

“What did you do to me?” I demand, my voice raw and dry. A pounding throbs at my temples from the effort.

“You’ve been asleep.”

Pain so sharp pain clenches at my middle that I almost bow over. I’m…famished. “For how long?”

Just as I think he won’t answer me, he says, “Two days.”

I look up at him. “Two…”

Now the slightest bit of fear moves in. With one word he kept me unconscious for two days. He could have killed me… so why hadn’t he? And—the carriage is moving.

“When did we start moving again?” I must be more out of it than I thought. I press the heel of my palms into my eyes.

“We never stopped.”

I look at him. He is insane if he thinks I’m going to believe that lie. Even in my current state I know he was talking to someone outside. But it’s not important. He can keep his secret. I’m about to say as much when my stomach growls embarrassingly loud.

“Are you hungry, Clara?” he asks, and if I’m not mistaken, he sounds almost repentant. As well he should for keeping me unconscious for so long. I also realize he called me Clara, notMiss Valmont.

I eye him suspiciously, not sure how to take his shift in attitude. “I haven’t eaten in over two days… so yes,Mr. Devereaux, I am.”

Ignoring my anger, he reaches for a small package at his side and hands it to me.

I take it and unwrap it. Inside is a chunk of bread, a few pieces of cheese, and some cured meat. The irony of this situation is not lost on me. He most likely thinks this is the worst meal he could offer up, but I don’t know the last time I had cheese or bread that wasn’t so stale it needed to be soaked in broth to be edible.

I’m not sure where this came from. Perhaps he stopped while I was unconscious. I take a bite of each and nearly groan. Of course, I’m so hungry that it could be worse and I would still eat it greedily.

When I finish I am feeling far more myself again.

It’s dark. It must be the middle of the night by now. The mournful cries of demons is thick in the air, surrounding us from all sides. I wrap my arms around myself as if that could ward them off.

“They will not harm us,” he says, noticing my nerves.

“What about the driver?”

“He, too, will be fine.”

I bite the inside of my cheek. There are no lights anywhere outside. We must be miles from the nearest town. “Will we be stopping tonight?”

“No. We will be reaching the estate tonight.”

The rest of our ride is passed in silence until the carriage pulls up a long, tree lined drive. I will be glad to get out of this carriage. I feel as though I might lose my mind if I have to spend much more time sitting in this confined space.

The carriage jostles to a halt, then a few seconds tick by before the loud squeal of heavy iron gates sound as they swing open. A few more seconds lapse then we lurch forward once more.

The trees give way to a large expanse of land with a lake to the south corner of the property. A palatial manor, grander than anything I’ve ever seen, or could have imagined, rises up like a spiny beast against the night sky.

We follow the curve around the massive fountain to the front steps. The doors open, letting out a soft flood of light as three figures, one man and two women, come walking out and lining up the steps, waiting for their master.