Chapter Twenty-Two
Stefan approached the Barrett mansion warily.
He hadn’t survived as long as he had by being careless.
He was about to lift the knocker when something gave him pause.
Dissolving into mist, he slipped under the front door and floated up toward the ceiling, surprised that Barrett hadn’t revoked his invitation.
Barrett stood in front of the fireplace in the parlor speaking to three men. Men who were hunters.
“His name is Stefan,” Barrett was saying. “I have no idea where he rests but the rogue held my Bryony against her will and I want him to pay for it.”
“I assume you want to take his head yourself,” one of the hunters remarked with a wry grin.
“If possible, Charles. But if any of you have a chance to destroy him, do it. Don’t wait for me. Don’t try to take him alive or bring him here. Just do what has to be done if the opportunity arises.”
The three men nodded. There were handshakes all around, then Barrett walked his guests to the door and bid them good night. When he turned around, Stefan was standing in front of the hearth.
Barrett cursed under his breath. Hands clenched at his sides, he stared at the vampire.
“What the devil are you doing here? How did you get in?”
“I was invited when last I came.”
“Be assured that invitation will be revoked when you leave. State your business.”
“I am in love with your daughter,” Stefan said. “I had hoped to win her heart and make her my wife.”
“I’ll see you burn in hell before that happens.”
Stefan looked up at the sound of familiar footsteps.
Bryony paused halfway down the stairs, one hand pressed to her heart. “Stefan! What are you doing here?”
“I came seeking your father’s permission to court you but since he knows what I am, I fear there is little hope of that now.”
Never taking his gaze from Stefan, Barrett said, “Bryony, go back to your room immediately.”
“No.” With her hand on the banister, Bryony hurried down the stairs and into the room. She glanced from her father to Stefan and took a place between them.
Her father glared at her.
Stefan smiled at her. “I have missed you, fair Bryony.”
“I’ve missed you, too.”
“Daughter, you don’t know what you’re saying,” Barrett exclaimed. “This man, this creature, is a vampire.”
“Yes. I know.”
“You know?” Barrett stared at her as if he had never seen her before.
“I care for him,” she said. “I might even be in love with him.”
“Love? Merciful heavens! Have you taken leave of your senses?”
“You promised I could marry anyone I wished if I promised never to run away again. What if I wish to marry Stefan?”
Barrett stared at his daughter, his face mottled with rage. “I assumed you would choose a man, not a bloodthirsty monster.”
“Stefan said he wants to court me. I want you to give him your permission to do so.”
“And if I refuse?”
Bryony glanced pointedly at the ornate front door and shrugged. “I want your promise that you will inform Lord Bloodworth that our engagement is off.”
Barrett paced the floor, sputtering incoherently as he glowered at Stefan.
After several minutes, he sank down on the couch, his head cradled in his hands.
If he continued to object to the relationship between Bryony and the vampire, she might very well sneak off with him and stay away for good this time.
On the other hand, if he went along with it, at least temporarily, it would give him time.
Time to find a way to get rid of the vampire once and for all.
“Very well. I will speak to Bloodworth. And Stefan has my permission to court you,” he said.
“But I want your promise, daughter, that you will not marry that damn vampire without my blessing.”
Bryony nodded, although reluctantly.
Barrett took a deep breath. Pinning Stefan with his gaze, he said, “I meant what I said the last time we spoke, vampire. Bear that in mind while you…you court my daughter.”
Stefan nodded. Turning to face Bryony, he said, “Will you walk with me?”
She glanced at her father, who gave the faintest nod of approval.
“Just let me get my wrap,” she said, and hurried up the stairs.
“My word is as good as yours, hunter,” Stefan said. “So you may believe me when I say I will not hurt your daughter or shame her in any way.”
Barrett snorted. “The word of a vampire.”
Bryony’s appearance put an end to their conversation.
Stefan helped her into her cloak and they left the house.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” she said, as they walked around the side of the manor toward the gardens. “Where are you staying?”
“At the Stone House in the valley.”
“Oh?” She wondered why he didn’t stay at the beautiful house in the mountains when it was so much nicer. But he didn’t seem inclined to tell her. “How did my father know what you are?”
“You will have to ask him.” He took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze. “You have no idea how much I have missed you.”
“I’ve missed you, too.”
“Will you come away with me?”
“I thought you wanted to court me.”
“Do you not think we are beyond that?”
“Maybe. But I’m not ready to leave home so soon. I think I should like to be courted with flowers and candy and kind words.” She looked up at him with a teasing grin. “Do vampires do that sort of thing?”
“Have I not done so in the past?”
“Yes, you have.” She stopped walking and looked up at him again.
Unable to resist, he drew her into his arms. Her sky-blue eyes were luminous in the moonlight, her golden hair touched with silver, her lips slightly parted.
Lowering his head, he kissed her hungrily, his tongue dueling with hers, while in the back of his mind, he wondered what future treachery her father was undoubtedly planning.
Barrett tossed and turned the whole night, unable to sleep as he imagined a dozen scenarios, all of which ended badly for his daughter.
What foolishness had prompted him to agree to let a vampire court his youngest child?
What idiocy led her to believe she loved the monster?
What had the vampire done to her? He knew vampires were capable of mind control.
Had the vampire made Bryony believe she loved him?
Was it possible the vampire had toyed with Barrett’s own mind?
Was that why he had agreed to let the ungodly creature come courting?
Earlier, he had stood at his bedchamber window and watched the two of them strolling through the gardens. It had turned his stomach when the vampire took Bryony in his arms. How could she let that damnable creature kiss her? Did she know what he did to survive?
When he finally fell asleep, his dreams were haunted with visions of Bryony becoming a vampire. Dreams so vivid that Maida had to wake him several times. Locked in her arms, he wondered if he should tell her what kind of man was courting their daughter.
The Guild, he thought. His only hope was the Guild.
Stefan came calling every night for a week. Bryony made sure that her parents and Stefan spent a part of each night together, even if it was only for a quarter of an hour, in hopes that her father would see beyond Stefan’s being a vampire and view him as a man and not a monster.
“I know what you are doing,” Stefan remarked as they left her house at the end of the week.
“What do you mean?” she asked innocently.
He laughed softly. “You are hoping that your father and I will learn to tolerate each other even if we never become friends. It will not happen. He will never see me as anything but a monster. Nor will your mother, if he ever tells her the truth.”
Bryony huffed a sigh. He was probably right but she couldn’t give up hoping that the two most important men in her life would find a way to get along.
How could she stay with Stefan and alienate her parents?
How could she choose her family over the man she loved, for love him she did.
She had tried to talk herself out of caring for him while they had been apart, listed all the reasons why being with him was wrong, but to no avail.
Yes, he was a vampire. Yes, he drank human blood.
Yes, he had killed people in the past. But he had been forced into becoming a vampire.
He needed blood to survive. She knew he had killed to preserve his own life, and perhaps for other reasons.
But none of that seemed to matter when they were together. Did she wish he was human? Yes. Did she want to be what he was? No. She just wanted them to be together and for her parents to accept him.
But, deep down, she feared Stefan was right. Her father would never see him as anything but a monster.
Bryony was all atwitter when Stefan came calling the next night. After a tense few moments spent with her parents, she took his hand and led him outside. They walked in silence for a time, not stopping until several tall hedges shielded them from view.
“We’re celebrating my mother’s birthday tomorrow night,” she said, tugging him down on the grass beside her. “You’ll come, won’t you?”
“If you wish.”
She smiled. He had never denied her anything other than refusing to let her go. “How are Mrs. Mulgrew and the maids? And James and Hawkins?”
“They are no longer at the house in the mountains.”
“What happened? Did you dismiss all of them?”
“They were no longer needed.”
“Why not?” she asked, her brow furrowed. Had he sold that wonderful old house?
“I burned it down the night I sent you home.”
She stared at him in stunned disbelief. “Why? Why would you do such a thing?”
“You were no longer there.”
“But…it had been yours long before we met.”
“After I sent you away, I thought I would never see you again. I could not bear to walk the halls knowing you were not there.”
“Oh, Stefan.” Cupping his face in her palms, she kissed him.