CHAPTER FOUR
Before I went to bed last night, I called for Elsie to ensure I woke at a decent hour every morning. No matter what. She could douse me in ice water if she had to, whatever needed to be done to stave off suspicion.
I was up and ready in time for breakfast. The demon had let me sleep, and I was grateful I appeared well-rested, given the circumstance.
“You left the ball early last night.” Elsie’s eyes roamed over me as if she could find the reason there.
I knew what she was asking, but the horrible-awful of last night would stay with me.
I sighed. “You know how I feel about the initiation ritual.” I grimaced dramatically.
She laughed. “Well, it’s for a good cause. You are greatly protected.”
“Yes, I just don’t like the blood.” I didn’t like any of it really.
I knew it all had to be done. The vampires would kill me before I could even blink.
Those that are the child of a member are highly privileged, and I was the child of the leader.
I had to get better at hiding my discomfort.
Everyone worshipped the members. Maybe I should give in and court one, that would certainly appear normal.
As I entered the dining room, I was met with a scowling Lillian; my mother donned it so well. Olivia smiled sympathetically, and Father’s eyes never left his journal. I sat beside Olivia, and she patted my knee for moral support.
After I filled my plate, I finally met my mother’s glare.
“Thomas parted early last night. He wished us well.”
I cringed internally. We all knew what that meant.
“Charlotte.”
Ice burned through the length of my spine.
“Have you been feeling well?”
“Yes, of course. We just had ... different interests.” It certainly was not a lie.
“Are you sure?” Her words came out slow, methodical.
Olivia squeezed my knee. I had drifted from the room until then, and her warmth grounded me once more.
A twinge of pain shot through my chest at the memories that would never grace me with enough distance. I could feel the silver burning through me. The next exorcism would kill me. I was sure of it. But they didn’t see it that way. They thought my agony was a normal part of the process.
I fiddled with my scrambled eggs, pushing them around with my fork.
“Perhaps ...” I took in a breath before I forced out the words. “I should court with a member. We would have a lot more in common.” That was certainly a lie.
Father finally lifted his head from his journal, meeting my eyes with a grin. He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his stomach.
Mother glanced at him and back at me with a furrowed brow.
“That could be arranged.” He smirked.
My mother lifted her brow and returned to her food. “Very well.”
I had always been so vehemently against the idea, and they gave up a long time ago. So, I was not surprised that they didn’t push for answers. They were just happy that I finally came around.
Though my eyes widened slightly at the slice of grapefruit I turned to as I remembered last night, who was to monitor me closely. I maintained my composure as I realized who my father would arrange me with.
* * *
I crouched behind a giant porcelain planter that was bigger than my body, wedging myself between it and the wall.
It was placed in front of a set of double doors that were no longer in use.
There was a crack between the doors, just wide enough for the perfect glimpse into the member’s dining room, where they held all of their meetings.
I had been spying on the Society since I was a child. As soon as I could register the threat to our world, I wanted to know everything about the vampires. I managed to read through every book on vampires in Father’s study whenever he was away on hunts.
A hand poked through the foliage of the planter, holding a dinner roll.
I snatched it and turned back to the crack.
The staff had always known I eavesdropped, and they always let me be, never telling anyone.
As a woman, they didn’t believe I could do much with the information anyway.
I nibbled on the roll as I watched the members settle in for dinner.
They had their meetings far later into the night.
Mother and Olivia were already tucked in bed by now.
“I’d like to welcome our newest members to their first Society meeting.
” My father raised his crystal glass to the room.
The burgundy liquid sloshed towards the edge.
Everyone else raised their glasses as well.
There were five grand tables in the room, my father at the center, of course.
The Society consisted of about three hundred members, ever-growing each month.
He placed his right hand over his left breast, over the amulet.
“May silver reign.” They all repeated the same words and drank in unison.
I rolled my eyes as I bit into the roll.
I’m not sure when the disdain started. It could have been when I was a teenager and Jeremy Evans tugged my hair and said, “Don’t worry, once I kill the demon that did this to you, your hair will turn to a normal color.
” I nearly gagged when he winked at me. They were all so arrogant.
I glared at him as he already drained his glass and held up the empty crystal for a refill.
James’ eyes met mine through the crack, where he knew I’d be.
He also knew that I eavesdropped ever since he caught me one day.
He tried to make me promise that I’d never listen in again.
He didn’t want me to hear all of the terrible evils of our world, but I begged him to let me.
I needed to know what was going on. No one would tell me otherwise.
I deserved to know. He relented on one condition—that I came to him if it ever became too much.
No one should process this sort of information alone.
I suppressed a giggle as he mocked my father’s stern expressions as he went through the usual speech of the Society’s importance. James’ face quickly fell flat with one glance from my father.
My eyes landed on Sebastian. He was to the right of my father at the center table.
Even sitting, he loomed over the entire room.
He was far bigger than everyone else and far more menacing.
The back of my neck pricked at the sight of him.
He seemed so still, as if he were carved from the stone of an immovable mountain.
“Tonight is a little different,” my father continued.
“The newborn numbers are increasing everyday, at an alarming rate. We had been able to keep their numbers below ours, but as of yesterday, they have surpassed us. The king has released an emergency decree. Losing this many citizens to the demons is a horrific tragedy. We are living through a dark plague.”
I blinked through my father’s chilling words.
I had always thought he had things under control.
He certainly behaved as such. The vampires that came through from the underworld were turning humans, which meant we had to kill our own.
Our people were dying everyday. And apart from what he would have everyone believe, I wasn’t sure my father knew how to stop it.
“Because of this, I’ve decided that tonight is the night for another purge.
” Everyone in the room went rigid. The air itself stilled.
“A tincture with powdered black tourmaline has been added to each of your drinks, which you all have now consumed. If there are any demons among us, we will know now.” His blue eyes glowed as he surveyed the room in anticipation.
I looked to Sebastian, to his cold exterior.
I waited for the slightest crack. He was so indifferent, I almost wanted him to break.
But he appeared to be fine, bored even. The sudden clink of glass from one of the far tables caught my attention.
A member I did not know clutched the white tablecloth, his entire body seizing.
The member next to him raised his dagger without a single thought.
I squeezed my eyes shut and didn’t open them until my father began speaking again.
“That’s one less informant.” He grinned, raising his glass again. Everyone else did the same, though more hesitantly this time.
* * *
I pulled on my cream-colored silk nightdress.
It was lightweight with thin straps, and the hem sat at my upper thighs.
I was brushing my hair, looking out the window to the darkened expanse beyond.
I could not watch myself through a mirror because they were all covered with white linen.
Any reflective surface was covered right before sundown, which included windows.
The vampires could come through reflections but only at night.
I should have had the curtains drawn, but I extinguished all light in the room, banishing any threat of reflection.
The moonlight poured into the room, bathing me in silver.
As my eyes rested over the slumbering gardens, movement caught my eye.
I squinted, trying to make it out through the dark.
I gasped. My hairbrush slipped through my fingers to the floor.
He was on his hands and knees. His head hung low.
I grabbed a cloak and rushed out the door.
Perhaps, I should have called for help and let someone else handle it, but all thought escaped me. I fled down the dimly lit hall. The flames of each sconce stretched after me as I trotted by. Even when someone needed help, I was still afraid to run.
I made my way to one of the back doors leading to the gardens. I stopped abruptly as I exited the door, pausing a moment, looking him over. He was still on the ground. As I neared closer, I could see his back heaving as he took in ragged breaths. I took cautious steps forward.
The quiet night swallowed up my soft voice. “Sebastian?”