Page 51 of Vampires of Eden

The town square, where we’re setting up the market today, is also surrounded by clipped hornbeam trees shaped in fanciful archways. A garden with a huge, moss-covered stone fountain is situated at the edge of the village. The structure stands in the center of a walking path that winds through the outer grove and toward an impressive conservatory.

Leoni has been to this market before and it shows. Before we’re fully set up, several villagers stop by to greet both her and Daniel. They introduce me—even though most residents know who I am—and I receive a warm welcome.

Just like in Seze, the booth gets crowded as soon as the market opens. There’s hardly any down time as the three of us coordinate our efforts to offer wine tastings, fill orders and keep our inventory stocked. I find myself laughing and smiling a lot as I converse with the locals.

I genuinely enjoy talking to the townspeople in Eden’s villages. They’re mostly comprised of second-, third- and lower-ranked vampires. We haven’t had any true humans in Eden for decades. Once the vampire population started taking over during the clan wars, all the humans fled to the mainland of the European continent.

By one o’clock, we’re practically sold out. These village vampires love their wine.

“Why don’t you two take a break before we start packing up?” Leoni offers. “Since Puercoespín stayed behind last time, I’ll stay and finish these last orders. You two go and enjoy.”

“I don’t need a break,” I say, shrugging. “I’m fine. If youwant me to start packing everythingahh—” Leoni pinches my side, which makes me jerk and almost crash into Daniel.

“I said go walk!” She shoves me while I’m still recovering and I do fall into Daniel, pushing against him and inadvertently setting off a flash of sparklers across my chest and shoulders as he laughs and grips my arm to steady me.

Why is this tiny vampire woman so unreasonably strong? “Alright,Jesus.”

Daniel grins as his palms fall from my upper arm. I’m annoyed as we leave the booth and stroll toward the outer perimeter of the square, among the stately brick shops and houses.

“What the hell is her problem?” I ask.

“Personally, I find that it’s best to do what she says.”

“I guess.” I roll my shoulders as we pass under one of the naked hornbeam archways. Today’s weather is overcast but the temperature is mild. Winter is definitely thawing across Eden. “Did you want to look at the other booths, or should we walk to the fountain?”

“There’s a fountain?” Daniel asks. “I come into this village for groceries all the time. I’ve never seen a fountain.”

“Really? It’s at the entrance to the walking path that winds through the grove. There’s a conservatory tucked deeper into the woods, too. I’ll show you.” We walk along the narrow alleyways, past beautifully designed stained-glass windows and flower-boxes lined with daffodil stalks getting ready to bloom.

“How do you know about this fountain and walking path?” Daniel asks as he strolls beside me. For the first time, I notice that we’re not the same height. He’s an inch shorter than me, maybe?

“We did a tour here when I was sixteen,” I recall. “Hollywick is far out from Central, so my parents didn’t bother coming back. I’ve always wanted to, though. It was summertime when we visited and it was beautiful and green.”

We turn a corner and the space opens up to a large courtyard in the shape of a circle. The grove lines the perimeter—gnarledtrees as far as the eye can see. When I look closely, there are tiny buds dotting the branches. Another sure sign that spring is coming.

“Beautiful…” Daniel walks forward, taking in the scene and the large fountain that sits in the center. The stone sculpture reaches high into the sky, almost as tall as the surrounding trees. There’s no water flowing since it’s still too cold out.

“It’s even better in summer,” I say, trailing behind and smiling at the memory. “The brush is so thick with leaves that you can’t see this far into the grove from here—it looks like the entrance to a maze, or like a scene fromTheSecret Garden. When the fountain is on, all you hear is water splashing and birds singing. They also string faerie lights in the trees along the perimeter so everything is lit up at night.”

“That all sounds magical.”

“It is,” I say, caught up in my reverie as I sit on the wide base of the fountain. “It’s really romantic. I always imagined that I’d bring Ollie—” I snap my mouth shut like the lid of a clam. What am I thinking? Get ahold of yourself.

Standing not too far away, Daniel turns to look at me. “What were you going to say?”

Heat radiates in my neck and cheeks from embarrassment. “Nothing,” I say, taking a breath. I’m about to change the subject when Daniel starts walking toward the fountain.

“Alexander,” he says softly, sitting at my side. “Just tell me. What were you going to say?” For some reason, my stomach clenches at the sound of my own name. I stare down at my hands in my lap because I can feel his intense lilac gaze focused on the side of my face. Waiting.

“It’s not important,” I say. “I just… I wanted to bring Oliver here in the summer, after we were mated. There are so many picturesque places around Eden that I wanted to show him because his stupid father never let him go anywhere. But I… Obviously, that won’t ever happen.”

Sighing, I look up and toward the wide opening that leadsdeeper into the grove. The graveled path swirls with dew and mist. It looks like the entrance to a mysterious new world. “I could have made him happy,” I go on, unable to stop myself. “If he’d given me a chance.”

“Why do you think that Oliver’s happiness is your responsibility?”

Daniel asks the question with such razor-sharp precision that I blink as I glance over at him. “Um… because that’s what a relationship is—you make each other happy.”

Daniel shakes his head. “No.”