CHAPTER 27
Dawn was fast approaching; Caroline could tell from the stars disappearing from the sky. She was sad this night had to end as she lay with her head in the crook of Valeria’s shoulder.
“Cara, we need to get up.”
“Why? It’s almost dawn. We can sleep through the day.”
“We have to deal with your husband first.”
Caroline shot up. “Oh God, I forgot about him entirely. What are we going to do?”
Valeria chuckled. “Luckily, I have some experience with disposing of bodies.”
“I just married him. People are going to have questions if he disappears. Diya knows we went upstairs; my parents probably do as well. Are we supposed to say he left? No one will believe it because he’s wanted to marry me for so long.
There will be so much gossip, and who even knows what will happen with his estate.
We were married, but they’ll want to know if we consummated. ”
“Okay, calm down for a minute. Let’s think through this for a moment before you have a breakdown.”
Valeria sat up and took her hand, stroking it gently as Caroline bit her lip, deep in thought of what they should do next. She wanted to be with Valeria above all else.
Though she still was herself, she felt the weight of her responsibilities return.
Her family still needed money. The house needed a new roof, and her parents needed somewhere to live.
The one line she had was that she refused to give up Valeria.
If they couldn’t accept her and who she loved, then she would leave without looking back.
Even though she was a vampire, Valeria was Caroline’s vampire now.
“Can you hear if the reception is still going downstairs?”
“It’s been done for hours. Mrs. Thomas had the food put away, but said the rest of the clean-up could wait until morning. It seems like everyone had a late night. Why?”
“Because I think we should speak with my parents and I don’t want an audience.”
* * *
It didn’t take them long to dress. Caroline wouldn’t waste any additional night.
There would be plenty of time to speak with her parents during the day, but she wanted Valeria to be part of the conversation for as long as possible.
She placed a sheet over Edgar—a clean one from the linen closet—and then went to her parents’ wing.
“Are you sure we should tell them everything?” Valeria whispered.
“Positive.”
Caroline heard her huff and knew she didn’t agree, but there wasn’t time to argue.
She loved her parents and couldn’t imagine life without them.
She couldn’t keep something like this, start a division between the three of them that would only grow wider with every passing day.
She needed to give them the chance to understand at the very least.
Arriving at their door, she knocked and waited, her heart pounding. She was determined, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t nervous. She waited until her father blearily opened the door, sleep still evident in his eyes.
“Caroline, what’s the matter, sweetheart?”
“I need to talk with you and Mam. You can get ready, but it’s important and can’t wait. We’ll be waiting for you in her sitting room.”
Her father blinked at her and frowned as he understood what she was saying. His eyes flicked to Valeria and his frown deepened, but he didn’t argue. “Let me wake your mother, and we’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Caroline let out a breath after he closed the door, and she grabbed Valeria’s hand as she led her to the other room.
Her mother’s sitting room was as familiar to her as her own bedroom.
Possibly more so since it had rarely changed from when she was a child.
Her mother was frugal, preferring to repair what she had and only replacing things when necessary.
Years ago, her father tried to convince her to redecorate, saying she deserved nice things for herself, but she said this room was her nice thing.
That she didn’t need to spend a lot of money to have something nice.
“This room is nice. It’s homey,” Valeria said as she settled onto the plush couch, looking around.
“And my sitting room isn’t homey?” Caroline teased.
“No,” she snorted. “It has the feel of someone incredibly particular who won’t be able to sleep if something is even a millimeter out of place.”
“So, you saw Edgar touch my porcelain collection?”
Valeria laughed. “I know you’ve been itching to fix it ever since.”
Caroline sat on the other side of the couch. The piece of furniture was big enough that they weren’t even close to touching, but she still felt comforted by Valeria’s nearness. Her leg shook as she waited for her parents. It was easier to be brave when she was still putting her plan into motion.
Valeria leaned across the couch to place a hand on her knee to still her, and of course that’s when her parents walked in. Both wore dressing gowns, but they looked wide awake. Her mother looked worried, but she couldn’t read the expression on her father’s face. She shook off Valeria’s touch.
“Caroline, what’s the matter?” Her mother asked with a tremor in her voice. Her eyes quickly flicked to Valeria before returning to Caroline.
Her parents both sat down in the chairs across from the couch, her mother taking her father’s hand in hers.
“Edgar is dead.”
“Oh my God,” her mother said, crossing herself.
Her father leaned forward. “What happened?”
She took a deep breath. This was the hard part.
“First, I need to tell you something. I’m in love with Lady Valeria.
Valeria.” She reached for her vampire’s hand across the couch, and Valeria grabbed it and gave it a squeeze for support.
“I started loving her when we were sixteen, but that love has amplified since she’s been here. ”
Her mother’s eyes were wider than she had ever seen, and her father looked taken aback as well. Her heart raced as she waited for them to say something. Anything.
“Oh,” her mother finally said quietly. It wasn’t much, but at least she wasn’t crying.
“Obviously there are…obstacles to this. Besides the obvious, of course. That’s why I didn’t say anything yesterday when you were both kind enough to give me an out. I didn’t think this would be possible.”
“Which is why you married Edgar,” her father said, and she still couldn’t read his tone. “But what has happened to him? How did he die?”
She squeezed Valeria’s hand so tight she worried for a moment she was hurting her before she remembered she was a vampire with strength far greater than her own. A little squeeze from her wouldn’t do much damage.
“When Edgar was on his business trip to London, he got sick. I thought he got better after he returned home, but he was actually worse than I thought he was. Much worse. Which was why Valeria came back. She knew how ill he was and wanted to save me. So, that’s why he died.”
“What are you talking about? He seemed fine at the wedding?” Her mother’s brow furrowed, and her tone turned shrill. “If he died of some horrible illness so suddenly, are you going to get sick?”
“Let me help you explain this.” Valeria squeezed her hand and smiled again before sitting up straight and facing her parents.
“Edgar was working for my family, and he was tasked with returning here and marrying your daughter, but then he was supposed to kill you both and then bring her back to The Count.”
Her parents stared at them slackjawed, her mother’s already pale complexion losing more color by the moment. Caroline worried she would faint.
“We aren’t doing a very good job,” Caroline sighed, scrubbing her face with her hand as she thought of what to say next. “Okay, Valeria and I carried out an affair while we were here in the house. Alone.”
“I gathered that,” her father responded dryly.
“Obviously, we thought we wouldn’t be able to be together.
I still needed to get married, and Valeria had to do…
other things. Edgar came back and…” Caroline trailed off as something clicked in her mind and she whipped towards Valeria.
“Did The Count return with Edgar? Is that why you left that night? Without a word.” Her eyes narrowed.
“Yes, he came to fetch me when it was clear I wasn’t doing what I was supposed to.”
“So, you weren’t the one who let him out of the hospital?”
“No, that was Edgar. He waited until nightfall because his power is weaker during the day, and with the iron he didn’t have much power. He was furious Dr. Murnau caught him. He hasn’t been captured by a human in centuries.”
“What are you talking about?” Her mother screeched.
“Oh. Right. Well, see, Valeria is a vampire. As is The Count, and he…what did he do to Edgar, exactly?”
“He made him his familiar. It can last for years and is impossible for humans to fight. Edgar was compelled to kill you, except there wasn’t a timeline on it, so it could have happened at any time. Either tonight or twenty years from now. So I couldn’t let him live.”
“You killed Edgar?” Her father asked.
“Yes.”
Neither of her parents said anything, nor had an outward reaction. They only stared at Caroline and Valeria. She wasn’t quite sure what she had expected, but she thought there would be more of a reaction. For better or worse.
Finally, her father sighed and stood up, tightening the knot on his dressing gown. “I need to get my tobacco for this.”
“Will you bring me back a dram, darling?” Her mother said.
They remained silent even as her father returned with his tobacco and two glasses of whiskey. She supposed it was good that neither of them was yelling.
“So you two are in a relationship. Are you going to be together now?” Her mother asked carefully.
Caroline blinked. She was surprised this was what her mother was curious about instead of the vampirism. And murder. “Yes. Luckily, it isn’t difficult for women to live and travel together. We’ll be seen as companions in public and such, but…together in private.”
Her face burned with embarrassment, but it was important for her parents to understand. She never wanted to pretend to be someone else in front of them.