16. Rina #2
The vampire winced. “I meant to tell you sooner. I just… didn’t know how to broach the subject. Vampire court politics aren’t all fun and games, and it’s one aspect of my life I’d rather not have to deal with.”
I hated that he didn’t feel comfortable enough sharing things with me, especially after I’d told him about my parents. “So does this mean there’s like… a king or queen of all vampires?”
He chuckled. “Yes. We have a queen.”
“Wow. And I thought Zain being the king of the demons was insane.” It had certainly been one change after another over the last calendar year. “Vampire queen,” I muttered to myself. “Who’d have thought?”
“Are you ready for your tour?” He asked, turning to face the door.
I looked at Ambrose, who’d made his way onto the bed and was currently curled up with my sweatshirt again. “He’ll be okay here?”
“No one will touch him, I promise.” He dipped his head, and with a deep exhale, I finally followed him outside. I knew he wouldn’t break the promise, even if it was still hard for me to trust his intentions.
The manor felt even larger on the inside than it looked outside, though I wasn’t sure if that was magic or some other trick.
Ezra guided me past a large ballroom that seemed capable of holding several hundred people, through a drawing room that contained a myriad of old, seemingly discarded hobbies—including a paint kit and a grand piano—and then swept us towards the kitchens.
“There will be someone on staff at all times who can feed you whenever you’d like.” I felt guilty thinking about the fact that they’d have to make meals just for me. That I’d be inconveniencing someone who probably had better things to do.
“Why do you even need a kitchen if vampires don’t need to eat?” I asked as he flicked the lights on; the entire room seeming to come to life. It was incredible, from the industrial sized refrigerators to the top of the line stoves and ovens.
Ezra looked like he was doing his best not to laugh. “I said we didn’t need to eat, not that we couldn’t enjoy it.”
“Right.” He’d mentioned that before, but it still felt crazy to me. I couldn’t imagine eating for the fun of it instead of hunger or necessity. It felt like a decadent, unnecessary expense. Though this whole place sort of was. “This place must cost a fortune to keep up.”
Ezra shrugged. “I’ve never really thought about it. My investments more than cover all of it.”
“Wow. Okay.” I couldn’t imagine having that much money that I never had to think about my expenses.
I’d always lived paycheck to paycheck, and working at the diner didn’t help with that.
It was part of why I’d stayed living with my Nana all these years.
I dragged my fingers over the granite countertop. “Where to next?”
“Want to see the library or the gardens?”
I perked up. “Library?” Ezra nodded at my enthusiasm. “Please.” I loved reading. He didn’t know how much of a nerd I really was. I’d been on the school newspaper in high school, but I spent almost all of my time in the library, researching and getting lost in new worlds.
Somehow, it felt like I was currently failing a test I’d never studied for. Which was maybe why I got increasingly frustrated every time Ezra withheld information from me. I’d always prided myself on my intelligence, on knowing what I was talking about.
Right now, I was wading through uncharted waters.
Following behind him, I took the time to appreciate the paintings in the hallways, baroque style that I had a feeling were authentic. “This place is unbelievable,” I muttered to myself.
He chuckled ahead of me. “Yeah. I know.”
“Did you grow up here?” It was almost impossible to imagine Ezra as a child. The man in front of me was too stoic, too high-strung. Had he sprung from the womb as a grumpy old man, or was this a more recent development?
Ezra shook his head. “No. Life back then was different.” He didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t ask either. It felt too personal. Too real.
“Here we are,” Ezra said, stopping in front of a pair of double doors. They were carved with various images, including bats.
I giggled at the motif carrying through even to here. “You vamps really love your bats, huh?”
He rolled his eyes, pushing the doors open. I gasped as my eyes trailed over the floor-to-ceiling bookcases. It looked like the library out of a fairytale, one I could spend months in, inhaling every book and piece of information that lay within these walls.
There was a brunette with bright red eyes and similar height to me standing right inside, a stack of books clutched in her arms.
“Vic.” Ezra’s eyes seemed to lighten.
She seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. “You’re home.”
He nodded.
“And?”
He shook his head. “No luck.”
She looked at me then, and her mouth curved into a smile, giving me the smallest view of her fangs. “Hi. I’m Victoria. Nice to meet you.”
“Rina,” I offered, looking between the two of them. Ezra had reassured me he was single, but finding a woman inside his house was something I didn’t expect. “Who, exactly, are you?” I cocked my head to the side.
She let out a warm laugh. “Oh, gods, Ezra, you really didn’t tell her anything, did you?”
I shook my head. “Barely. It’s like pulling teeth to get two words from him.”
“Sounds like our Ezra.” Victoria grinned at me, and it felt like we were sharing our own little inside joke. “I’m his second.”
“That makes it sound like you’re part of a vampire mafia or something.”
“Well…” she hummed.
Ezra growled. “Don’t believe anything she says, Rina.”
Victoria pouted. “Come on. Let me have some fun with your female, hm?”
“I’m not his,” I insisted.
She eyed my arm—the spot where I knew my mark had become exposed. “Are you sure about that?”
The man at my side groaned. “We’re going to fix this, Vic.”
“Alright, but in the meantime…” She frowned. “You’ve fed from her more than once?”
I nodded. “Twice. I had to force him the second time.” My cheeks were warm. I didn’t like it when people talked about me like I wasn’t there.
She hummed. “May I?”
I let her inspect my arm, her fingers tracing over the red lines. “I’ve never seen one like this,” she murmured.
“Is that… bad?” I asked, wincing.
“Oh! No. All blood mate marks look different, reflecting who you—and your mate—are, as well as the nature of your relationship.” I frowned. Ezra hadn’t mentioned that. “Why, has something strange happened?”
I looked at Ezra and then back at her. “It grew after he fed from me the second time. Do you think… is that normal?”
“Huh.” She looked between the two of us. “It’s certainly not impossible, but I’ve never heard of it happening before.” Victoria seemed to think about it for a moment before continuing. “It’s possible it’s because you delayed the bond. Most vampires don’t have the willpower to resist that.”
Ezra’s jaw was tight, and he walked towards the windows, covered in the same thick curtains as downstairs. It seemed the entire manor was outfitted in such a way to keep the sun out, protecting them from its harmful rays.
I wondered if the trip had taken a bigger toll on him than he was letting on, then even I realized.
After a few more cordial words—and promising to see me at dinner—Victoria slipped outside the library, once again cradling a few books in her arms.
Ezra showed me around the library, explaining the different sections to me before leading me back out into the hallway. We took different stairs down—ones that sat at the back of the house. When we exited the building, the large, overly manicured gardens sprawled out in front of us.
“I feel like I just walked onto the set of a regency movie,” I admitted.
For the first time since he’d started showing me around, he cracked a small smile, though his eyes didn’t drift from mine as he said, “It is exquisite, isn’t it?”
My eyes found his lips for a moment, and I tried to shake away the desire to know what they felt like against mine. I nodded, looking away, not sure why my cheeks felt warm. It wasn’t like he was calling me beautiful.
“There’s one thing I need you to promise me, Rina.”
“You mean besides not letting Ambrose destroy the house and not telling anyone what I am to you?”
He let out a huff. “Yes. I need you to promise that you won’t ever go outside alone,” he warned me.
I frowned. “Are you seriously telling me I’m on house arrest now?”
Ezra’s voice dropped. “I’m trying to keep you safe. Inside these walls, there are people who can protect you. Outside of them, I can’t guarantee what happened that night won’t happen again.”
I blanched. “You think a werewolf would come here?”
“I can’t rule it out. And there are worse creatures out there. Wraiths, undead, banshees—not to mention the blood demons.”
“Next you’re going to tell me Santa Claus is real.”
He waited a few beats before responding, but changed the subject. “The gardens are—”
“Ezra,” I interrupted him.
The man turned to frown at me. “What?”
“Santa Claus is fake, right?”
He shrugged. “All myths and legends started as fact at one point. You’re a witch. Is it really so implausible that a man with magic could fly around the world at night, delivering presents to the good little boys and girls?”
I frowned. “I suppose not.”
After everything I’d seen this month, nothing really felt impossible anymore.