Apparently it was a dismissal, because the lady inclined her head at him again and led her two sons away without another word. And then a new, small group of vampires stepped up to Warin’s makeshift throne.
While at first I was fascinated watching the vampires interact, it quickly became incredibly boring. A few made enquiries about my presence—enough to make it obvious that the vampire elite were surprised to see Warin with a companion—but no one ever spoke directly to me. And the line of questioning always led to the same results: no one had heard anything, no one knew anything, and everyone would do their utmost to look for similar cases in their own territories.
By the time a black-haired man with golden eyes stepped up, the first vampire without an entourage, my knees were aching and I’d just about murder for a pee and a glass of water.
“Lord Warin,” he said like all the others had, but something in his voice made me look up at him. There was just the faintest hint of a purr in it, like a satiated panther. He was beautiful, with his high cheekbones and sensuous lips, but that wasn’t what kept my attention—they were all beautiful. Cold, but beautiful. No, it was the sheer power radiating off him in nearly tangible waves. Every hair on my body stood on end when his gaze briefly flickered down to me. “Miss Green.”
“H-hi,” I croaked, taken by surprise by finally being acknowledged.
His lips curved in a devious little smile. “You should let your pet drink something. Humans require constant hydration, or they simply… wither and die. Like delicate orchids. Isn’t that right, my lovely?” Though he was speaking to Warin, he didn’t take his disturbing eyes off me.
“I was not expecting you, Lord Zet. London is far away, and my notification was only sent out to the North American Lords and Ladies,” Warin said, ignoring his comment about me.
The black-haired vampire’s gaze finally moved from me back to Warin. I heaved a sigh of relief. “I go by Zeth these days. It’s so much easier to conduct oneself with a modern name—you should consider it, Lord Warin. And I am here simply because I was looking after some business in the West when I got wind of your call. I figured I best stop by—you know how fast trouble travels these days. Blasted internet.”
“I take it you are unaware of any similar occurrences in London and the rest of the islands?” Warin asked.
“That would be correct, young Lord. But then again, nothing happens in London without my knowledge. You new continent Lords have some years to go before you will have established a similar rapport, so as long as I am here, my power is at your disposal, should you require any help with these pesky witches in your territory.” He nodded at Warin with a small smirk and then walked off, not waiting to be dismissed like the other Lords and Ladies had.
I looked up at Warin, catching his eye for the first time during his talks with the other vampires, and mouthed “wow” at him. Lord Zeth was one cocky bastard, that was for sure. I might not have been tuned in to vampire etiquette, but it didn’t take an expert to realize he’d snubbed Warin pretty hard.
“You may go to the kitchen for water, my dove,” he said, neither his face or voice betraying if he shared my thoughts on the golden-eyed vampire. “It’s just past the foyer and down the hall.”
“Great, I’m a bit parched. And, um, where’s the bathroom?”
“At the northern end of the house. Continue past the kitchen, take two lefts and a right, and it’s at the end of the hall.” Warin held out his hand again, and when I took it, helped me to stand.
I wasn’t exactly sure which direction was north, having not been in a house that required navigation via cardinal directions before, but I figured I’d locate the kitchen first and take it from there.
No one paid me much mind as I made my way through the foyer and down the hall, and I noticed that the further I made it from the main room where Warin held court, the fewer vampires were around. When I finally found the kitchen, there wasn’t a single undead in sight.
Which was probably natural enough, I mused as I walked into the large, but somewhat barren room. Vampires wouldn’t need a fridge for their dietary needs—at least not if they liked their dinner fresh. I eyeballed the large two-door fridge and wondered if it’d be filled with donor blood. Not that I was curious enough to check.
There were a few humans in the room, all with completely blank expressions as they went about sipping water and nibbling on the spread of finger-food that’d been put out for the humans. The realization that Warin, despite having me sit at his feet like a pet while he played lord of the manor, had cared enough about the human companions to ensure they were well-fed, eased some of the discomfort I’d harbored since entering his house. Even if he was forced to act cold and uncaring like his peers, he was still the thoughtful man I’d gotten to know these past few weeks.
“Nice spread,” I commented to the room in general as I grabbed a couple toothpicks with cheese and olives. “Who knew blood drinkers knew how to pick out a good caterer, eh?”
Eerie silence met me. When I glanced up, the five other humans in the room weren’t even looking at me.
“So creepy,” I muttered. It was a bit like being the only living person in a wax museum.
Wanting to get out of there as quickly as possible, I downed a pint of water in a few gulps and brought the cheese sticks with me to snack on while I went to hunt down the bathroom.
It took me so long to find the damn thing, with plenty of wrong turns along the way, and it soon became quite clear that the kitchen wasn’t the only room vampires never needed to use. I made it in time, even if my quick drink of water hadn’t slowed my urgency any.
I took a few moments in front of the mirror once I’d done my business to splash water in my face and reapply lipstick. I wasn’t exactly in any hurry to get back to being bored out of my skull by Warin’s feet, and since the bathroom was nice and quiet and void of brainwashed humans, I decided Warin wouldn’t miss me for a bit longer.
* * *
I was three levels deep in Candy Crush when I heard a murmur of voices on the other side of the door. I swear, I didn’t mean to spy, but the excitement of finally meeting other humans still capable of thinking an independent thought made me close down my game and listen more intently to the conversation.
Only it wasn’t humans.
“—what you’re playing at, but you have no business here, Zeth.” It was Aleric’s voice—clipped and agitated.
“Since when do you presume to know my business, young one?” Zeth drawled. “Your brother invited the Ancients on the continent to come tonight. I’m an Ancient, and I just happened to be on the continent. So I came. You should be pleased—did I not offer you invaluable assistance during the Civil War? Maybe young Warin would appreciate my help with this matter as well.”
“Stay away from him, Zeth,” Aleric growled. “Our deal was that you’d never get involved with him again, in any way.”