Page 199 of Vampires of Eden

“We did,” I agree. “That was the day when you got underneath my skin and touched something deep inside of me. Youunlocked a feeling I didn’t think I was capable of having anymore.”

“Meanwhile, I was shocked that you invited me inside to watch TV—and then I felt like an asshole for eating all of your crisps.”

Playfully, I bump his shoulder as we move onto the tree-lined path that leads to the conservatory.

We round a corner and the conservatory looms before us like a glowing glass house hidden within the forest. The structure is tall and surrounded by twisty trees covered in giant blush-colored magnolias. Vines trail up the sides like fanciful snakes made of shadow.

Alexander slows as we approach. I think he’s taking in the sheer splendor of the scenery—this house of glass adorned with flowers and juxtaposed against a midnight-blue sky.

But when I sense his anxiety rise like a returning fog, I know it’s something else.

“What is it?”

“My mother is inside,” he says, then takes a deep breath. “And some other vampires that I don’t recognize.”

Alexander had thought that his mother wouldn’t come tonight as a kind of protest against our relationship. Apparently, he was wrong.

Ranked vampires aren’t nearly as good as honing in on other vampires’ energies as purebreds are. And I’m especially shit because of my weakened state. But I try now, narrowing my eyes and senses to see if I can pick up?—

“Ah!” I turn to him, smiling as my pulse races. “My mothers are here!”

CHAPTER 47

Alexander

The night, the ambiance and Daniel beside me looking opulent and with his hand in mine had swept me away. My heart felt overwhelmed with wonder, love and joy.

The emotions hit so hard that there was no other choice but to relent and absorb the moment. To sink and relax into the truth that I’m bonded with this vampire that I deeply love. That we’re walking through this beautiful and romantic grove on a warm spring night—something that I had fantasized about so many times.

I was still floating in the whimsical haze of that revelation as we approached the conservatory. But then my mother’s vampiric essence assaulted my senses. My head cleared immediately, as if she’d slapped me again.

“My mothers are here, too,” Danny says excitedly at my side. “They invited my mothers!”

Squeezing his hand, I smile. I’m pleased that they’ve done this, but now I’m worried about what my mother has potentially said tohismothers. Has she been fucking rude? Is she snubbing and ignoring them? Is it possible for me to keep Danny away from her for the duration of the party?

“Rabbit, come on.” Daniel steps forward, pulling me towardthe double glass doors. “We’ll be okay. You’d finally relaxed and now you’re stressed again.”

“I know, I’m sorry.” I roll my shoulders. It does little to ease the anxiety gripping my body.

When you spend your entire life listening to someone—doing what they say, being respectfully obedient and trying to please them,trustingthem—and then they turn around and slap you because you’ve finally made a healthy decision for yourself? I can’t shrug that off.

Not that Daniel is asking me to do that. He’s not. But it’s like, my mother offends me now, and I don’t know if I’ll ever see her the same way again. I don’t quite know how to reconcile these feelings.

As we approach the doors, they swing open, washing the stone walkway before us in warm light. Two servants from my family’s house hold the doors. They smile as we approach and the gesture isn’t fake at all.

One of them offers a generous bow. “Welcome, Prince Alexander. Lord Daniel.”

“Lord,” Daniel says under his breath in a sarcastic snort that only I can hear. Well, he does very much look like The Lord of Something tonight. I nod and thank them for the friendly greeting and Daniel follows my lead.

The conservatory is built so that the main entrance is on the second floor. A wide stone staircase with an ornately-designed railing curves down to the bottom level. The entire space is open and with a high glass ceiling.

We step inside and onto the large balcony that overlooks a lush array of plants, flowers, fountains and shrubs. Everything within the conservatory is native to Eden’s diverse landscape, like an encapsulated garden of all our natural flora and fauna. The cozy, dimly-lit space is neatly arranged in whimsical semi-circles and beautifully lined pathways. The air is warm, a little balmy and smells like flowers and clean, healthy earth.

The main attraction is the one-hundred-year-old fig treethat towers over everything and reaches up to the high ceiling. Its luscious foliage lines and hugs at least half of the upper balcony, and its trunk twists and stretches down to the main floor like an art installation.

When Daniel and I step up to the railing to peer down onto the main floor, we’re met with at least a dozen vampires’ vivid eyes.

Without a moment’s hesitation, they clap. The hall is suddenly filled and echoing with warm applause and some cheering (definitely Sebastian), and I am truly taken aback. I look out at them looking back up at me, frozen in a kind of trance.