18. Rina
EIGHTEEN
rina
My lady,” Alfred said, bowing to me as he led me to the dining room.
I scrunched up my nose. “Don’t call me that.” I was no one’s lady.
Even if the wardrobe of clothes in my room seemed to say otherwise.
After I finished showering, wanting to wash off the grime I felt from sitting in the car all night, I changed into one of my last outfits from my luggage.
I was almost out of clean clothes; but there was no way I was wearing what he’d provided, refusing to entertain Ezra’s thoughts on ‘appropriate’ fashion.
If he didn’t like the way I dressed, he could shove it. Fuck him.
Ezra’s butler frowned. “But… you are our master’s lady, are you not?”
“No.” I looked away, picking at a thread on my dark green dress.
I’d always loved jewel tones, favoring dark colors over light ones.
Maybe because despite seeing everyone else’s auras, I couldn’t see my own.
My aura wouldn’t be like Wendy’s, a bright, bubbly pink, or even like Eryne’s, a soothing, comforting green.
Somehow I knew mine was deeper, the same way depression and anxiety seemed to dull people’s auras.
Though so far, no one I’d encountered in the manor had an aura quite like Ezra’s, the way it twisted with secrets and darkness.
I didn’t know what to make of that. Especially because some days, I could have sworn it seemed…
brighter, somehow. Like when his eyes would flash gold as he looked at me, the emotion on his face too much to process.
“Rina?”
“Hm?” I looked up, only to find we’d stopped at a door. I’d clearly been so deep in thought, I hadn’t even paid attention to the walk from my room to the dining room. “Oh. Thank you.”
He nodded, bowing again as he opened one of the two large double doors. “The pleasure is all mine.”
Walking inside, I found Ezra—his burgundy shirt with several buttons undone and black slacks, no trace of the jackets he’d worn on our drive or his three-piece suits—and a group of five other vampires, one being the woman I’d met earlier today in the library.
I bit my lip, feeling like the odd man out, especially knowing I was alone with six vampires. Any of them could drink me dry in a heartbeat if they wanted to.
Was my blood as alluring to them as it was to Ezra? A spike of concern flooded my system, and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.
The redheaded girl moved so quickly my eyes could hardly process it—stopping directly in front of me.
She was a few inches shorter than me, with long hair tied back in a high ponytail and those blood-red eyes I’d found so unnerving on Ezra at first. Now, I was used to them enough that I could detect the minute differences in the shade of their irises and the striations. “Hello.”
“I—um—Hi?”
“Scarlet,” Ezra warned from the other side of the room, sounding like he was scolding the girl—woman? I wasn’t sure.
She looked younger than me, barely in her early twenties, but then again, knowing how old Ezra was, that probably wasn’t hard.
The redhead rolled her eyes. “Ignore him. He doesn’t know any better.”
“I can hear you, you know.” The vampire sounded annoyed, which only made me smile. I liked anyone who seemed to get under Ezra’s skin. Maybe because it was becoming my favorite pass-time.
“And what are you going to do to me?” She said back, arguing as though they weren’t an entire room apart.
“Sorry. It’s just so nice to meet another girl.
Tips the scale in our favor, you know?” She grinned, revealing her large canine incisors, and I blanched.
“Oops. Sorry. I didn’t mean to show you my fangs.
I won’t bite you, I promise.” She looked at Ezra, and her voice dropped low.
“Boss made us promise.” I hummed, tucking that information away for later.
I should have found it misogynistic that he’d insist on something like that, but I couldn’t help but find it…
endearing? Bah. Something was wrong with me. I needed to get my head checked out.
The redhead’s hand stuck out, and she smiled. “I’m Scarlet.”
“Rina,” I said, eyeing her hand with skepticism. Was I really supposed to shake it?
Another woman—one with a black bob and deeper red eyes—shoved her way in front of Scarlet. “Scarlet’s the youngest,” she explained. “She’s basically a baby. I’m Raven.”
“You’re only twenty-five years older than me,” Scarlet complained.
“If she’s a baby, what does that make me?” I asked, strangely aware of my mortality while surrounded by these immortal vampires.
I couldn’t help but evaluate their outfits as the women bickered in front of me. They weren’t in armor, but they weren’t dressed how I’d expected, either. Maybe because this manor felt so formal that I’d half expected to see them in ballgowns instead of leather and bustiers.
The man with dark brown hair approached next. “I’m Julian.” His voice was deep—deeper than I expected—with a slight accent I couldn’t place.
“It’s nice to meet you all,” I finally squeaked out.
“You’re all overwhelming her,” Ezra muttered, standing in the back with his arms crossed over his chest. “What did I tell you not to do?”
“Come on, Ez. It’s been years since we had someone new in the manor. And she’s so pretty.” That was Victoria—the vampire from earlier.
That left only one who hadn’t spoken to me yet—the black-haired vampire at Ezra’s side, who had a contemplative look on his face and a scar running through his eyebrow.
“That’s Aldric,” Victoria whispered. “He’s a bit grumpy, but you’ll get used to it.”
“I’m not grumpy,” he said back, crossing his arms over his chest.
I was overwhelmed with names and the new auras I’d never been around before.
So overwhelmed, I didn’t even consider reaching out to brush my magic against them as I’d been trying to learn to do the last few days.
Overwhelmed enough that I forgot about the dagger I’d shoved into my black riding boots before coming down for dinner.
Not that I planned to use it on these vampires that Ezra clearly… trusted. It just felt right in my hand.
It was obvious these were the people he felt closest to. Would he divulge our secret to them?
Our secret. The thought made my heart flutter, like bats flying around in my chest, and I tried to push it down. He wasn’t anything to me—despite what it felt like when he drank my blood and our cursed mating bond. Despite the ever present knowledge that he would need to drink from me again.
And soon. I noticed he looked more pale than he had when we’d arrived. If I offered my blood to him again, would he take it? While I had no sense of obligation to the man—no need to give it to him—I still couldn’t help but want to. He looked bone-tired.
Maybe because despite being an asshole, he’d been a gentleman the last few days. Something had changed after we’d met the angel, even before we’d rescued Ambrose. I didn’t know what it was, but his attitude had changed. Like he was trying to make me like him—but no. That was impossible.
Ezra moved to the table, pulling a chair out and then looking at me.
I raised an eyebrow. Were we really doing this now?
Pretending to act like two civilized people, instead of something more akin to enemies who couldn’t stand each other?
Ignoring him, I sat at the other end of the table, sandwiched between Victoria and Scarlet, the latter of whom was all too happy to talk my ear off as course after course of decadent food was delivered to us.
He’d been right—the vampires loved to eat.
It was strange, knowing none of them really needed it, watching them all devour the food.
Even Ezra, who hadn’t eaten a morsel on our trip, drank wine and ate a steak, though it was bloodier than my stomach would have liked.
He’d also been glaring at me over the table for the entire course of the meal, something that satisfied me more than it should.
I smiled, listening to Scarlet babble on to me, something I hadn’t even heard because I was too busy locked in a staring contest with the broody vampire at the head of the table.
He raised an eyebrow, fist curling around his utensil, and I pursed my lips.
Ezra’s entire being seemed to prepare for something, but I wasn’t sure what.
Everyone to leave, so he could have me alone?
Unlikely—he’d done his best to abandon me as soon as we’d got back to his giant, over-the-top manor.
It was the largest bedroom I’d ever seen, and the bed had been so comfortable when I’d sunk into the mattress that I’d almost told Alfred I was never leaving, but he made it clear when he’d stuck me in it: I was nothing to him.
He had, hadn’t he? Except… none of this made sense.
Not really. Because he’d also given me the silver dagger—one that felt old, with secrets buzzing inside I only wished I had my coven member Gretchen around to tell me about—and he’d insisted on my safety.
Even if in doing that, he’d inadvertently told me this place would be my new prison.
But he cared, didn’t he? Swallowing my wine roughly, I tried to ignore the bitter taste in my mouth, the sour feeling settling into my stomach. The feeling that somehow I’d read the whole situation wrong.
Don’t catch feelings for me, I’d told him. He’d promised.
So why could I not keep my eyes off him?
I bit my lip, eyes still locked with Ezra’s. It was getting harder to deny that I wanted him—that my body craved his in ways I couldn’t explain.
I was the one who’d asked him to break this damn curse, the one who wanted out.
So why did I wish he’d asked me to sleep in his bed, to stay in his room—to be his?
I didn’t want that.
I didn’t. Maybe if I repeated it enough, it would be true.
Because it was getting harder and harder to keep lying to myself.