As if there was far more to Ariana’s situation than he was telling.
CHAPTER 3 – VAMPIRE
As Ariana sat stunned at the Barone Quindici DaPonti’s insinuation that she was a Dark Fae – a rare kind of Fae she’d never even heard about – and that a life among Vampires could possibly benefit her, he suddenly came to stillness before her. It was a stillness so perfect and deep that Ariana could feel a cool breath of graves sigh from him now as he regarded her with his onyx eyes. Beautiful as a marble statue and terrible as the darkness itself, she saw a deep swirl of shadows around him; the same black nimbus that had devoured the light at the Pitti Palace when they had met. She knew suddenly that he was something her parents had warned her about – a Vampire, a creature of the Night. Fae belonged to the magic of the Light, but Quinn belonged to the magic of darkness as Ariana watched him regard her quietly now with a glimmer of crimson in his ultra-dark eyes, his black nimbus of power seething through the room and devouring the daylight.
As Ariana wondered where she fit between Vampires and Fae now – a Fae with the magic of both the Light and the Night awakening inside her.
“You’re a Vampire. And this is a Vampire-run hotel.” Ariana breathed quietly now as she digested this new information about her host. She vaguely recalled her Fae Prince Lucca Bellari saying that at the palace, but her fugue had been intense at the time and Ariana hadn’t remembered it until now.
Drawing a deep breath, she swallowed, leaning back against the pillows. Controlling her breath and reaction to him even though her entire body spiked with adrenaline, Ariana knew not to make any sudden moves. Arousal for escape in a Vampire’s presence would put them on the hunt against a Fae, she knew. But she could not control her racing heartbeat as Quinn regarded her back quietly with his dark onyx eyes. Suddenly, something about a Vampire sitting so calmly with her in the late afternoon sun made Ariana blink. “How are you sitting here with me during the day?”
“I am a Master Vampire, and have the ability to daywalk,” he answered, not perturbed in the least by her question or her response to him as his dark eyes pinned her. If he was aroused to hunt by her racing heartbeat right now, he wasn’t showing it; merely regarding her calmly with his slow black mist curling all around the bed and his dark eyes alert. “Daywalking is a unique Vampire gift, and happens rarely. I can walk in the day and sleep when I wish to, rather than when my fading blood calls me to like other Vampires. My Dark Haven acquire that unique ability from me, since they are bound to my power.”
“Every Vampire who runs this hotel I’m at now can daywalk?” Ariana swallowed suddenly, a deep fear churning inside her as that strange sensation of bright-darkness within her flared more.
“Yes.” Quinn spoke with a slight frown now as he cocked his head at her. As his gaze slipped to her chest, Ariana could practically feel him listen to her heartbeat; and despite trying to control her reaction, her heart was hammering hard now, her breath high with tension as she wondered whether or not she should stay here at his Vampire-run hotel or simply bolt and take her chances against her Summer Fae King.
But Quindici DaPonti softened then, a sad smile wisping over his lips as he sighed. “I can see I have upset you. Please know that wasn’t my intention, Ariana. You are safe here with me, I promise, and I do not make promises lightly. My Vampires are not the animals Fae think we are; we are people just like anyone else, and no one will harm you here at the Red Letter Hotel Florence. We will discuss your situation at a later time, when you are feeling more hale. For now, please rest and regain your strength, and know that this hotel is a safe haven for you. You should begin to recover quickly now that your fever has broken, and I will send someone soon to escort you around and show you how beautiful our culture truly is. We Vampires may be creatures of the Night, but we are not unholy terrors like other Lineages believe. Or else, why would your Summer Fae Prince send you here into my care to save you from his tyrant father? It is something worth considering… as you rest and recover your power and enjoy your stay here.”
With that, the Master Vampire Quindici DaPonti slid his hands from his thighs and rose from his chair. Standing, he gazed down at Ariana for a long moment as something moved through his onyx eyes, his dark aura of power curling all around him. But with a genteel smile, he went to a gilded breakfast table in her suite, fetching a tray of broth and eggs with coffee. Settling it across Ariana’s knees, he gave her a small smile before moving to the doors of her suite. Stepping out, he closed the tall gilded doors behind him.
Taking his dark nimbus with him and leaving Ariana alone.
Gazing at the food, Ariana’s stomach constricted at everything she had been hit with today. It was all far too much to process, but she knew she wouldn’t re-gain her strength if she didn’t eat. Staring at the broth, she sighed, figuring Quindici DaPonti had no reason to poison her after saving her life and caring for her for three days.
Dutifully, she started eating the broth in its gilded china bowl. As she set the spoon to her lips, however, she found it was so vastly flavorful that she couldn’t stop eating. It was almost the best thing she had ever tasted; and blinking, Ariana lifted the bowl, drinking it down. Digging into her scrambled eggs next, she found them the same and by the time she got to the coffee, her body felt like it beamed with ease and vigor.
Feeling well enough to rise now after such amazing food, Ariana moved to the wrought-iron windows of her opulent room, throwing them wide, then stepped to a broad balcony accessed by crystal-latticed doors. Cinching the robe of blush silk and white lace closed over her negligee, Ariana stepped out into the late afternoon light. As she took a deep breath in the golden evening, a fierce heat waning from the midsummer day, she saw her third-story suite had a view over the sun-kissed city and the street below. The city of Florence looked almost normal as she gazed around at all the stone walls and red-tiled roofs, the beautiful wrought-iron details, city parks, and cobblestoned streets.
Though there were no modern buildings here like in the human world.
As Ariana admired it all, truly understanding she was in the Twilight Realm now, she suddenly noted a blockade in the street below – and knew they were the Summer Fae King’s Brightwatch waiting for her. Wearing ornate silver-gold Fae armor with winged helms and massively tall spears etched like Prince Lucca Bellari’s blades, some idled in the shadows of trees in the golden evening, while some stood at attention near the Hotel’s entrance watching every soul who came and went.
As Ariana emerged on her high balcony, they glanced up. Though a tense thrill moved through her to be noted, she saw how they merely eyed her without rushing in to come take her. Quinn’s hotel truly was off-limits to them for some reason, and Ariana saluted them with her coffee cup now, cocking one eyebrow. A few of the younger soldiers grinned up at her while their superiors crossed their arms and scowled. But she saw they were intrigued as she turned and went back inside.
Those Summer Fae soldiers as curious about her as she was about them.
As Ariana moved to her breakfast table, picking through a bowl of ripe strawberries, she ruminated on her predicament. Though her immediate situation was dangerous, the Barone had been generous in a situation that seemed dangerous for him also. That strange dark-light sensation still burned inside Ariana as she finally began to unwind, taking her coffee around and gazing at beautiful paintings of Italian Twilight Realm masters upon her walls – not so different from human world Renaissance art, she realized.
This Fae realm she had only heard about but never visited was strange, yet also somehow normal as she toured her opulent room, admiring the gilded artworks and decadent Florentine baroque cupolas and vaulted sitting-niches with their padded benches. All of it felt so known, even though the air seemed clearer here, the sky cleaner, and the colors more bright. Shadows seemed darker too; as if everything was both more vibrant and more terrible in a world of magic than the world she was used to.
But before she could ponder further, there came a quick rap at Ariana’s doors, a woman pushing briskly in. Statuesque like a Victoria’s Secret model with curves in all the right places, she was instantly intimidating as she gave Ariana a quick glance and lifted a dark eyebrow over her perfect Italian bone structure. Whisking to an enormous walk-in closet in Ariana’s rooms without so much as ahello, she threw the gilded doors wide. Wearing a sleek charcoal pencil skirt and a corset-waist shirt, her blush patent-leather stilettos gave her an extra six inches of height, her long dark hair so expertly curled that she looked like she’d stepped out of 1950’s Hollywood. The woman’s crimson lips pursed as she glanced at Ariana.
And then she snapped her long fingers with their ultra-red nails, rolling her dark chocolate eyes as she beckoned. “Well? Don’t just stand there. We need to get you presentable to tour the Hotel.”
“Excuse me?” Ariana blinked, setting her coffee aside as she recoiled from this gorgeously intimidating woman, even as she realized this must be the escort Quinn had promised to show her around. The woman’s accent was Italian, her voice a decadent alto though clipped like Ariana was already late for twenty meetings she knew nothing about. As Ariana hesitated, the woman rolled her eyes again, then strode to Ariana, gripping her shoulders and staring deep into her eyes.
“Wake up, Dark Fae,” the woman intoned now as Ariana felt a deep, sultry wind lift all around her, caressing her like ferocious talons. “Get with the times, because your life is changing quickly now, and you need to change with it.”
“Hey! What are you doing?” Ariana blinked, feeling herself get pulled into that deeply suggestive state by the woman’s dark energy – but also feeling her new moon-silver energy resisting it, as if battling back.
“The Hotel Head, my Sire and Master Quindici DaPonti, has asked me to get you outfitted so you may see the Hotel tonight, so I am doing just that.” The woman spoke brusquely now, scowling at Ariana though it was just her Italian ferocity. “Not only am I his Second in the Dark Haven of Florence, I am his Associate Head for this entire Hotel – Devina Scarlotti. And my time is far more valuable than yours, so do not waste it, little Fae.”
“You’re a Vampire also.” Ariana blinked, so much about the beautiful yet scary woman making sense as her almost crimson-dark energy swirled around Ariana.
“In the flesh.” Devina teased now as she lifted one dark eyebrow and smiled, showing fang. Her fangs were smaller and more viciously delicate than Quinn’s, but before Ariana could consider the difference or even recoil from the vastly intimidating woman, Devina was tugging her to the walk-in closet. As the Associate Hotel Head shoved opulent gowns of intricate beadwork, fantastic lace, and feathers carelessly aside on their hangers, Ariana found herself stunned; not just because the Vampire woman didn’t seem to give two shits about harming her, but that the couture was vastly finer than anything she had ever seen in the human world. It was a wealth of opulence, everything dripping with real gemstones as Devina Scarlotti pursed her scarlet lips and shoved gowns aside. Raking mercilessly through incredible fabrics and designs the likes of which Ariana hadn’t even seen in couture magazines, she finally settled on one.
“Ah! This will do.”
