Chapter 18
I wasn’t afraid to admit that I stayed hidden in the bathroom until Fran came back, knocking on the bathroom door.
“Mistress? Are you alright?” Her voice was low and filled with concern. “Is there something I can get you?”
Blowing out a breath, I pushed myself to my feet and opened the door. Hoping she couldn’t see mortification on my face, I gave her a polite smile. “All good. Did you find the book you wanted?”
“Yes,” Fran drew out. “Did you and master resolve the clothing issue?”
Pushing past her, I moved over to the sofa and picked up one of the remaining books. I started to sit down and then hissed, trying not to wince as I settled onto the cushion.
Fran watched me with curious eyes.
“I’m fine.” Forcing a smile on my face, I patted her hand. “Really, I am. Let’s see about breaking... vase.” I winced at the substitution.
Fran thankfully let it go, and we continued the day as if nothing happened.
When Blackthorn came to bed that night, I pretended to already be asleep but made extra sure that I was on my side of the bed. I didn’t want a repeat of that morning, nor did I want him to know how much his punishment affected me.
Something clinked on the nightstand beside me. I forced myself to keep my eyes closed.
“I can hear your heartbeat. I know you’re not sleeping.” Blackthorn chuckled as he brushed my hair from my face. “But I’ll let you pretend for now. Put this on in the morning, it will help the sting.”
After a moment, he moved away from my side of the bed and then, a few minutes later, his side of the bed dipped. Feeling it was safe to open my eyes, I peeked at what he’d placed on the nightstand.
It was a jar of some type of cream.
I was tempted to give up the charade of sleeping in lieu of the cream — my backside still stung from earlier — except my pride wouldn’t let me.
Scowling, I slammed my eyes shut and pretended I was just back at the factory.
Rumple had punished me once again for being late for an order, or I’d stepped in the way of him punishing one of the younger ones.
This was just like that. Nothing else. Certainly, not what Blackthorn thought it was.
Breathing out heavily, I settled in for a long night of tossing and turning, wondering when the next part of my plan could be put into play.
The next few days, I avoided Blackthorn as much as possible. Every time I ran into him, he’d have a slight smug look on his face that irritated me so much that I would just turn on my heel, abandoning wherever it was I was going.
Fran gave me increasingly curious looks, but didn’t say anything otherwise. We still hadn’t found a way to break my spell, and I was getting desperate.
All that would change today.
Today, I would implement the next part of my “annoy Blackthorn into releasing me” plan. I waited partly because my butt still smarted from his spanking, though slightly less with the cream he’d given me, and partly because I needed time to think of something else that would drive him crazy.
Back at the factory, one thing that bothered all the adults was when the little ones would smack their lips and slurp their food really loudly. To top it all off, they would talk with their mouths full and ask a million and one questions in a row before you can even answer the first one.
I figured if it drove humans crazy, then it should do the same to Blackthorn. After all, why would you want a slobby jabber mouth living with you constantly?
Anxiety ate at me the entire day until it was time to dress for dinner. Fran kept giving me little glances here and there as she helped me tie the back of the emerald gown I allowed her to choose for the night’s dinner.
“Mistress, is something wrong?”
Pressing my lips into a thin smile, I shook my head. “Nothing at all. Just ready for dinner.”
Fran arched a brow, but didn’t say anything else.
I arrived at dinner before Blackthorn. Seeing his empty seat made me slightly on edge. Was he not coming to dinner tonight? He always came to dinner. It’s been almost two weeks and not once had he missed an evening meal.
My fingers fiddled with the wine glass in front of me, the building energy needed some outlet before I burst at the seams.
Finally, Blackthorn appeared, and I almost sagged in relief.
The vampire swept into the room looking as dashing and dangerous as ever. I’d almost stopped getting a slight chill every time I saw a flash of his fangs now. That either meant I was becoming braver or had just become desensitized to them at this point.
Either way, I felt good about myself and what I was about to do to my captor.
“Good evening, Mara.” Blackthorn’s eyes locked with mine across the table where he sat. “I trust your day went well?”
“Yep,” I popped the last letter, fiddling with my knife. I picked up on its side before letting it fall back onto the table over and over again.
Blackthorn’s gaze darted to my hand and then back to my face. “Anything interesting of note to mention?”
“No.” I shrugged, just as Baylen entered the room with my plate of food.
“This looks so good,” I cooed, salivating over the grilled pork and vegetables covered in a creamy sauce that I knew would be absolutely delicious. “Thank you, Baylen. Tell Cookie he out did himself tonight.”
“I’ll pass the message along.” Baylen beamed, his gaze lingering on me for longer than was polite.
“Baylen,” Blackthorn snipped. “I need your services.”
Balyn’s lips turned down. “But Daphne was next in the rotation. I’m not until tomorrow night.”
“Daphne isn’t feeling well, you will take her place,” Blackthorn said with no room for argument.
Baylen offered me an apologetic smile before walking to the other side of the table. He unbuttoned his cuff and rolled up his sleeve, offering Blackthorn his arm.
The vampire took hold of his wrist, knife in hand, and cut a line, making Baylen hiss. No one else had complained about the cutting except him. Had Blackthorn cut deeper than he needed to this time?
My brows narrowed as Blackthorn let the blood that welled up drip into his glass. The desire to start with my plan came roaring back in full force. With a prim little smile on my lips, I picked up my knife and fork.
When I cut into my meat, I made sure to scrap the bottom of the plate, making an annoying squeal. It took a lot of effort not to wince myself at the sound. Baylen’s face scrunched in pain while Blackthorn arched a brow.
“You know...” I began, shoving a large piece of meat in my mouth, making sure he could see every juicy bite as I chewed it.
“I’ve never met a vampire before. I have to admit I don’t know much about your kind.
Like obviously, you don’t bite people all willy-nilly.
If you don’t have a house full of servants willing to feed you, how do you eat? ”
Blackthorn opened his mouth to answer, but I didn’t give him the chance.
“And are you born a vampire or are you turned? Fran mentioned you being a baby, so if you are born a vampire, how do you make more vampires? There aren’t a lot of you just lurking around, right?” I asked my questions as I cut and sliced and chomped away.
My plan was clearly working... on Baylen. The look of disgust on his face was the exact one I had hoped to put on Blackthorn’s face.
“I mean...” I paused to swallow.
“Thank you, Baylen,” Blackthorn said before I could start up again. “If you would allow me to—”
“I mean, you never see any vampire babies,” I continued before he could speak further. “So, if you are born a vampire, do you have to be with another vampire, or is it a need a human thing? Maybe it’s more of an egg thing. Do you lay eggs?”
I had started to get ridiculous even by my own standards, but I could tell from the controlled tap of his finger on the table, his eyes locked on me, lips pressed into a thin line, that I was getting to him.
“If you aren’t born a vampire, do you make them?
Like you bite them, they bite you kind of thing, or is there a spell involved?
Is it like rabies? I know someone who got rabies, and they were not fun, let me tell you, and if you really think about it, it’s not much different than becoming a were — Argh! ”
Vines wrapped around my body, covering my mouth as they bound me to my chair. I grunted and tried to talk around the vine, jerking back and forth as I glared at Blackthorn.
The vampire sighed, stood from his seat, and walked down the length of the table until he was at my side. He sat on the edge of the table and peered down at me, his hands laced in his lap.
“I wish I could believe you actually wanted to know about me and vampires.” He reached out and twisted a piece of my brown hair around his finger. “Unfortunately, I fear that is not the case.”
I tried to argue with him, but the vine muffled my voice.
“Am I not spending enough time with you?” Blackthorn cocked his head to the side.
“I admit I have been giving you your space. Not wanting to push you too far too soon.” He tipped my chin up, eyes flicking down to the vine covering my mouth and then back to my eyes again.
“No one has shown me the sort of compassion and kindness you showed me that day in the woods.”
Something in my chest tightened at his words.
“Many would have left me to die even before knowing I was a vampire,” Blackthorn continued, letting the vines slip away from my face. “But not you. Why did you save me?”
I rotated my jaw, peering up at him. How did this get turned around on me?
I thought my plan was working. Blackthorn must have the patience of a saint for none of that to bother him.
If someone had done that to me, I would have snapped.
I wouldn’t be this cool, collected understanding person that Blackthorn was right now.
Licking my lips, I glanced off to the side, not sure how to answer him. “I... don’t know. You needed help, so I helped you.”
“But why?” Blackthorn pressed. “There was nothing in it for you. In fact, you could have gotten stuck in the fudge pit with me and died.”
I shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to help others. It’s one of the things about me I don’t like sometimes. When someone asks for help, I can’t say no.” I gave a self-depreciating laugh. “Even when it means I end up in the bin instead of them.”
Blackthorn’s brows furrowed. “The bin?” Realization filled his face and his expression darkened. “Have you been put in this bin often?”
I avoided his gaze as I shrugged again. “A few times.”
Blackthorn lifted my chin, and I could feel his eyes burning a hole in my face. “Look at me.”
Slowly, I lifted my eyes to meet his gaze. The intensity behind his eyes made me instantly want to look away. His hold tightened slightly as if he knew what I was thinking.
“You will never be forced to be in that bin ever again.” Blackthorn’s voice was hard, promising justice, then it softened again. “I will protect you, Mara. Even from yourself.”
The vines released me as Blackthorn stood and walked back to his side of the table. He lifted his chalice of blood and sipped from it as if nothing had happened.
I stared at him for a long moment and almost jumped out of my seat when Baylen appeared next to me with a new set of silverware.
“Thank you,” I murmured, still trying to figure out how the vampire across from me worked. Clearly, my actions were not enough to make him reject me. I would have to come up with something far more drastic.
The only problem was a part of me didn’t want to do it.