16. Rina
SIXTEEN
rina
Welcome to Darkmire Manor,” Ezra said as he pulled in the front gates.
My eyes widened as I took in the place—which felt more like a mansion or a palace, even. I turned to stare at him. “What are you, like, royalty?” How could he not be, living in a place like this? The gothic style manor was enormous.
“Something like that,” he muttered.
I turned, unable to decide what to focus on first. The giant fountain at the end of the driveway, embellished with… “Are those bats? A little on the nose, don’t you think?”
“Yes,” he answered, driving the car around the circle drive to the front of the house. “It’s an ancestral family home. We’ve long been associated with the creatures.”
That shouldn’t have been a surprise, given what he’d told me about being able to actually transform into one. “Can I see it?” I asked.
Ezra choked, like I’d just asked to see what was in his pants instead of his other form. “See what?” His eyebrows pinched together.
“You turning into a bat. Duh.”
He rolled his eyes. “You’re unbearable.”
I grinned. “You like it.” For the first time, he didn’t deny it. We both grew quiet, like neither of us knew what to do with that. We weren’t supposed to like each other—that was our whole thing.
“Sure. Whatever you need to tell yourself, Sabrina,” he finally quipped back, too late.
I’d seen right through him.
Ambrose let out a cry in my lap, and I reached down, rubbing his fuzzy little head. “It’s okay, buddy. You’ll be safe here, I promise. I won’t let any big, bad vampires hurt you.”
Ezra let out a grunt, muttering something under his breath that I didn’t quite catch. Something that sounded a lot like over my dead body.
I hid a smile. For as much as he’d protested, he’d seemed to warm up to the little guy.
In fact, I’d found him petting his head a few times, aura lightening as the kit purred from his touch.
The little raccoon seemed almost as bonded to Ezra as he was to me, and I didn’t know why I found that so endearing.
Dammit, I was supposed to hate the guy. He’d brought me along on this road trip and hadn’t told me any of his plans. I should have been pissed.
I shouldn’t have been excited to explore the building that looked centuries old.
History had always been my favorite subject in school, and I wondered how much was hidden away here.
Maybe there would be some clue here on how to sever the mate bond.
If what Archer said was true—that a vampire had broken his connection with his blood mate—maybe I really could be rid of him.
Though part of me wondered if going back to my sad, lonely existence in Pleasant Grove was the opposite of what I wanted anymore.
As much as I’d always wanted to be a bad girl, the one who went on crazy adventures and lived life on the edge, I’d been the girl who spent her days studying. Not that my 4.0 GPA had been enough.
What was enough to get someone to stay? I’d never even been in a relationship longer than three months.
My parents had packed up and left after my graduation, leaving me to move into my grandma’s house the summer before I moved to college.
I’d seen them less than a handful of times since, but that wound still ached.
Was I being just like them, running away from this thing with Ezra before it could ever even start?
“Rina?” That deep voice beside me asked, startling me from my thoughts.
“Huh?”
“You know I’ll keep you safe, right?” Ezra asked me, a concerned expression on his brow.
I nodded, grateful for the way Ambrose burrowed into my chest. “Of course.”
He let out a breath. “Good. Because while you’re here… No one can know what you are to me.”
I blinked. Was he serious?
Blinked a few more times. He didn’t move. Said nothing else.
“I’m sorry, what?” This was… not what I expected. “What are people going to think about you bringing some random witch home?” I held back a wince at the implications—that I was nothing to him. No one. After everything we’d been through together so far, that hardly felt right.
He winced. “It’s complicated.”
“Please don’t tell me you already have a woman waiting for you.” Gods, that would be awkward. Especially after I’d come from grinding on his lap while he drank my blood. “I’m going to die a slow and miserable death,” I groaned.
“I don’t have someone waiting for me,” he clarified, though his eyes told me he was still leaving something out. “But vampires… my people aren’t like yours.” Ezra’s jaw was tight, his aura giving off a familiar darkness. “There’s a few people you can trust inside, but other than that…”
“Alright,” I shrugged. “Fine. I won’t tell anyone about this.” I pointed at the mark on my sleeve. “Let the record state I think it’s dumb, though.”
“Duly noted.” He reached over, squeezing my knee.
We’d touched so few times since we’d first met that the action made me jolt slightly. His hand was so large, so warm against my skin, pale against tan. I hated how it felt right when he touched me. Like his hand was supposed to be there.
Hated that I felt anything at all towards this vampire who was supposed to be my enemy.
The manor doors opened in a sweeping gesture as we approached, seemingly parting all on their own. He’d left the car out in the front circle drive, though I wondered if there was a garage he parked it in. The vampire loved his car too much to not have one.
“Well, that’s a little eerie,” I said to myself. “Spooky place you got here?”
Ezra shot me a look as a man with dark hair stepped into the foyer. “Welcome home, Lord Ezra.” His red eyes, just like Ezra’s, scanned over me.
I held Ambrose in my arms, cradling the baby raccoon like my life depended on it.
Lord? I mouthed at Ezra, only getting a shrug in return.
Apparently, he was some sort of vampire royalty then.
I didn’t really know what to do with that.
I was just Rina, a small town witch who could barely defend herself against a werewolf, let alone being mated to someone who was evidently pretty high in the vampire hierarchy.
It made the desire to gloat to him about being right turn into a lead ball in my stomach.
The entryway featured a grand, sweeping staircase, and I’d never seen so much opulence in one room, even with the amount of witches’ homes I’d been into.
Windows were covered with thick, red velvet drapes—likely to keep the sun out—and the ones at the top featured red tinted glass, giving the entire room an ominous atmosphere.
Every wall featured gilded paintings and crystal chandeliers, plus sconces that I could only imagine once held real candles, but were now fitted with electricity.
It was hard to tear my eyes away to look back at the two vampires standing in front of me.
“Greetings, miss…”
“Sabrina Hallow,” Ezra offered.
“Rina is fine,” I said, smiling at the dark-haired vampire.
“Will you be staying with us long?” he asked, though I noticed the question was mostly directed at Ezra.
“Miss Hallow is my personal guest.” Ezra’s voice brokered no argument, though I noticed he didn’t answer the first question. Probably because he didn’t have an answer. “Show her the finest guest rooms—and make sure that everyone here knows she is off-limits.”
I scrunched my nose at that. Really? He was going to act like this now, when he’d told me in the car not to expose our matehood? Fate had an interesting sense of humor, putting us together.
The other vampire nodded, his eyes trailing over me, stopping at my neck like he was looking for something there.
Something that showed I’d been claimed, to give some reason for Ezra’s warning.
He’d find nothing—the blood mate mark was hidden under my long sleeves, and he’d been so careful to heal my bites each time he drank from me.
He turned to me, leaning in close enough that his lips brushed over my ear.
“Do not let anyone drink from you, my sweet belladonna.” His eyes flashed gold and darkened as he looked at who I could only assume was his butler.
“They will not like what happens if they do.” I got the sense that the other vampires would be the ones who regretted it, just like the werewolf that attacked me.
Was it just me, or was that kind of hot? Maybe I’d been hit on the head, because suddenly, his growly voice seemed a lot more arousing than it had a few days ago.
“Okay,” I murmured in response.
Ezra’s eyes swept over my bags at my feet, then to the raccoon against my chest. “Get settled in, and then I’ll show you around the manor.” He turned to the older man. “Alfred, can I have a word?”
Ambrose was currently running around the guest room that Ezra’s butler, Alfred—and yes, I did giggle over his name being Alfred knowing Ezra could turn into a bat—had shown me to.
It really was more like a suite than a guest room, considering it had a private ensuite bathroom, complete with a large clawfoot tub and a small sitting area.
A candelabra decorated the top of the large dresser, candles perched inside like they were ready to be burned.
“What do you think?” Ezra asked, leaning against the doorway.
He’d changed into a loose fitting maroon top, the top buttons undone, and a similar pair of black dress pants.
Somehow, he looked even more polished and dignified than usual, though maybe that had more to do with me knowing he had a title than his actual appearance.
He’d combed back his blond hair, and it made me want to drag my fingers through it and mess it up, just a little, to annoy him.
“It’s way more than I need,” I said. “To be honest, this is all a little overwhelming. A week ago, I didn’t even know you, and now I’m staying in this place that’s basically a palace.
Not to mention finding out you’re a Lord?
” My face scrunched up. The title just didn’t seem to fit the man in front of me.