“Andrei, you are impossible.” Lilith gestured toward the dining room. “I assure you all that no vampire here will drink from you. You are perfectly safe.”
He grinned at Rebecca. “Indeed, you are, my friends. Come. Let us feast.”
Spencer walked by Lilith’s side into the biggest dining room he’d ever seen. Seriously, the place was as big as his entire apartment, and a long mahogany table stretched down the center. Eighteen chairs lined the massive hunk of wood, with place settings for five at the far end.
Andrei took a seat at the head of the table, and Lilith sat next to Spencer, with Alan and Rebecca across from them. Two servants scurried in to fill their glasses with red wine, though Andrei and Lilith’s “wine” looked more like blood.
Another set of servants brought plates covered with silver domes, and they set them in front of everyone, including the vampires.
Rebecca cocked her head. “You eat food? I thought you only drank blood.”
“I enjoy a rare steak every now and then,” Lilith said.
“You’re all predator shifters, so I trust none of you are vegetarians,” Andrei said, and the servants removed the domes, revealing massive sides of beef and piles of potatoes.
Spencer’s mouth watered until he glanced at Lilith’s plate. Her meat was so rare, it looked raw, and as she cut into it, blood oozed onto her plate. His abdomen clenched, and he expected his stomach to roil. But as she parted her red lips and brought the fork to her mouth, his own blood rushed to his groin.
Strange. The sight of blood had never nauseated him, but it also had never turned him on. Then again, he’d never been head over tail feathers for a vampire before either.
Lilith swallowed the steak and rested her hand on his thigh, breaking the mini trance he’d succumbed to. He glanced at his friends, who were chowing down on their meals, and he picked up his fork.
The meat was medium rare, savory, and so tender it practically melted on his tongue. The potatoes tasted of cream and black pepper, and before he knew it, he was scraping the final forkful from his plate.
Alan wiped his mouth with a napkin and dropped it onto the table. “That was an amazing meal, Andrei. Thanks.”
“Delicious,” Rebecca added.
“Best meal I’ve had in a long time,” Spencer said.
Lilith tightened her grip on his thigh. “Perhaps we should turn in for the night and get a fresh start tomorrow.”
Spencer placed his hand on hers and squeezed. He couldn’t wait to get her alone.
“Are you kidding?” Alan said as the servants cleared their plates. “It’s only nine o’clock, and my adrenaline is peaking. Let’s uncover the corpse tonight, and then you love birds can have all the alone time you want.” He rose to his feet.
“I wouldn’t mind doing the hard part now.” Rebecca stood next to Alan. “Then we can relax tomorrow. Maybe Andrei can give us a tour of the castle?”
“It would be my pleasure.” Andrei stood and gestured toward the foyer.
Spencer let out a slow breath. When Alan got this excited, he wouldn't take no for an answer. If he wanted any peace on this excursion, it was best to give in and get it over with. “All right. Let’s do it.”
They gathered their gear and headed toward the back of the castle.
“I should warn you.” Andrei stopped at the door as Spencer and his team stepped onto the portico. “Real vampires are also buried in the cemetery as well. Be respectful when unearthing the grave.”
“But they’re staked, so they’re dead, right?” Spencer adjusted his gear bag on his shoulder.
Andrei cast Lilith a sideways glance and spread his hands as if to say, “Obviously.” At least, that was how Spencer took it. He still wasn’t sure what to make of this guy, but at least he didn’t feel the churn of jealousy about their past relationship anymore. Not now that he knew how Lilith felt about him.
He still had a hard time wrapping his mind around how a woman of power and notoriety like Lilith—a woman who could have any man she wanted—had chosen a man like him. His owl had no trouble believing it, of course. He was determined to make Lilith his mate, and Spencer knew better than to ignore his owl’s instincts.
The last time he ignored his bird was five years ago. It had been days since he’d hunted, and his owl was starving, but he ignored his avian instinct to hunt and spent the night with his human girlfriend instead. His owl had taken over in his sleep, shifted right there in the bed, and devoured her pet ferret. Whoops.
On the plus side, his girlfriend had slept through the entire ordeal, and he’d convinced her the animal had escaped through an open window. He’d learned his lesson, though. His owl wanted Lilith, and he would do his damnedest to figure out a way to make it happen.
A nagging little voice in the back of his mind tried to remind him how he’d let a powerful woman destroy him before, but he squelched it. Lilith was different. She was his fated mate; she would never hurt him.
“Through the garden and take a left before the maze,” Andrei said. “The cemetery lies half a mile to the east.”
