Page 5 of The Vampire Debt

Xander’s family is well off enough that I will never have to worry about Father again. I can escape him and live to a ripe old age with the man I love in peace. With Kathrine in my care, she will never have to worry about an empty belly ever again. And maybe I can finally get her the medicine she needs to be rid of her affliction once and for all.

“Come on,” I say, pulling him into the bakery with me. “Let’s get those sweet rolls.”

We go in and I gladly hand over the coins in exchange for two large pastries. Then the two of us retreat to the side of the building to enjoy our snacks. I savor each bite, forcing myself to go slow. Xander is completely finished by the time I have eaten half. I take out a handkerchief and wrap the remainder in it, then stuff it in my bag.

“How’s Kitty doing?” Xander asks, knowing exactly why I’m saving it.

I toe the ground with my mud covered boot, kicking a pebble and watching it skitter away. Glancing up out of the corner of my eye, I say, “She’s struggling. The damp is making it harder for her to breathe.”

He nods. I adore him for asking because I know the subject makes him uncomfortable.

“I’d better get going,” I say, pushing away from the mist-slicked brick side of the building.

I step out into the cobblestone street, but his hand catches mine and pulls me back.

“Meet me tomorrow night at the usual place?” he asks.

It’s hardly romantic meeting each other in the old barn behind my house. But it’s our spot. The one we’ve been going to for years. I nod and he presses his lips to mine, kissing me hard. I straighten the lapels of his cutaway morning coat.

Stepping back, I break the moment, moving out of his reach and throwing a wicked smile over my shoulder.

“Be careful,” he says, all teasing and playfulness vanishing from his voice.

I raise a brow at his uncharacteristic concern. He always cares, yet this is over the top even for him. “Aren’t I always?”

“I’m serious, Clara. Tonight is the first day of the claiming.”

The claiming.Shit. How could I be so stupid as to have forgotten? My timing killing that abomination couldn’t have been worse. I need to get home and fast. The blood drains from my face so quickly that it makes me dizzy. I turn away from Xander, but not before he sees.

“Are you all right?”

I nod, plastering a smile to my face. It’s false and it pains me to be less than genuine with him. But he mustn’t find out. No one can. It seems to put him at ease because he returns the expression. Then turning, I run out of our hideaway and into the crowd.

Slowing to a walk, I near the edge of the town when the unmistakable clatter of a carriage and hooves on the cobblestone road halt me in my tracks.

I swallow the lump of dread back down as a single carriage, led by two dappled grays, heads my way.

It turns from the main road and heads into the square. I stop and push back up into the stone of the nearest building, dropping my chin.

I don’t move a muscle… I barely so much as breathe as I wait for it to pass. It’s only a brief moment but it feels like an eternity as the memories of my arrow finding its mark keep flashing though my mind over and over again.

The clatter of hooves stops in the center of the square opposite the fountain. While everyone else inches closer, I turn and run. I don’t make it far down the road before another carriage is headed my way, followed by another and three more behind it. They’ve all come. Every vampire royal, plus whatever others accompany them.

I shudder at the thought of so many untamed monsters in our midst.

In an effort to avoid them, I cross the road and jump the fence running through the Bennet’s field. He’d throw a fit if he found out, so it’s a good thing that he, like the rest of Littlemire, is currently distracted by vampires.

As I near the weather worn house, no bigger than a cottage that I call home, I slow to a walk, easing my panting breaths to a slow, natural rhythm. Smoke curls from our tilted chimney and, for a second, I can almost believe that Mother is inside preparing to start dinner, that Father is in his office working on his books, and Kathrine is curled up in a chair before the fire, reading.

I hear voices inside, Father’s and… another I’ve never heard before. I look around, there is no sign of hoof prints near our home or any leading to the barn.

A feeling of unease settles in my gut as I approach.

Chapter Three

Clara

Approaching the door,I hesitate for a long moment. Butterflies flutter in my gut and my nerves are on high alert. I shake my head, telling myself it’s fine.