Lexa looked back at me, raising an eyebrow. “Well? Aren’t you going to come in?”
Would that do? Was that an invitation?
I took a step inside, the invisible barrier having disappeared. I released a sigh.
“Who …?” My father stood, eyes widening. “Lucian? It can’t be. We received word about your school.”
Lexa frowned. “What are you talking about?”
My mother was staring at me, face white. “Lucian?”
I felt my resolve waver. These were my parents. They’d raised me. They loved me. “Mother?” I ventured, taking a tentative step forward.
My father searched me, eyes lingering on my leg as I took another step with my bad leg, no longer having to shift to accommodate its broken past.
“No,” my father’s countenance darkened. “Lexa, get away from it.”
Lexa frowned. “Dad?”
I dropped the firewood, all but one log. They fell to the floor with hollow thuds, rolling across the hardwood. How could he call me that? His own flesh and blood? He’d been the one to send me to that boarding school. This was all his fault.
Lexa scowled down at the dropped bundle. “Lucian, you’re getting the floor filthy. You’re cleaning that.”
Adrenaline coursed through me as my eyes found the throbbing artery in her neck.
“Strigoi,” my mother breathed, eyes wide. I felt a sting at her words. The way she looked at me was painful. It wasn’t with love or joy to see me. It was with horror. She was terrified of me. Well, perhaps she should be. If she could turn on me so quickly, her own son … Konstantin was right. These humans had no ties to me any longer. They were something else entirely. Something weak and small-minded. If I ended their existence now, it wouldn’t just serve to cut any lasting ties to this world, but it would end their mortal torment. They wouldn’t age and die horribly. They would no longer have to suffer, as they wereclearlysuffering from the loss of their beloved son, so quickly forgotten that they hadn’t even bothered to tell Lexa about the vampire attack at my school. How quickly they’d moved on, a happy family of three.
“I’m your family now,” Konstantin’s voice whispered in my mind like a soft caress. “You are nothing like them. You are much, much more.”
My father stepped in front of my mother protectively, mouth set. How very noble of him.
I smiled. “Allow me to show you what I’ve learned since you sent me away.”
I dismissed Stuart the next morning. I was exhausted after staying up well into the night listening to the men in the distance as they’d worked tirelessly to put out the fire in their secret chambers. I hoped they’d managed to salvage nothing.
I woke in the late afternoon after a restless sleep to scratching at my window. I lifted my head from my pillow, squinting at the sunlight streaming in through the curtain Stuart had managed to half open before I’d banished him.
“Shut up,” I muttered, turning my back to the window and stuffing the pillow over my ears. It was persistent, however, and I choked down a yell as I tossed the pillow across the room and rolled out of bed. I threw the curtains wide and glared down at Beezle, who was scratching furiously from the outside. When he caught sight of me, he stopped and stared up at me.
“Well?” I demanded, pushing the window open. “Are you just trying to irritate me, or are you going to come in to eat?”
He sat back, tail swishing behind him.
“Really? After all we’ve been through together, you’re going to just sit there?” After a moment with no reaction, I scowled and stormed back to my bed, whereupon he took up his scratching again. “Fine!” I shouted. “I’m getting up!” I slammed my wardrobe open and grabbed the first suit I saw. When Beezle still hadn’t let up, I stomped to the window and shut it hard in his face, causing him to scurry away with a yelp of protest.
Jaw clenched, I proceeded to get ready for the day, my mind a storm of anger and resentment. How would I be able to converse with Ambrose after what I knew? I was so mad I just wanted to strike him, wipe that smug grin right off his well-proportioned, sanctimonious face. But, given what I’d discovered, I was so very close to meeting Vrykolakas’s demands. I had even more names for him, and multiple people to pry the rest from.
I bristled as a knock at the door interrupted me, only half-dressed. I zipped up my trousers, grabbing the shirt I’d selected and throwing it over my shoulder as I hastily yanked the door open. “It’s about time, Stuart. I—” I stopped short, blinking back at Maxwell, whose startled eyes were glued to my chest.
I leaned against the doorframe, unable to help the grin slipping into place. His mere presence was enough to shift my mood all at once. “Usually Stuart helps me into and out of my clothes, but I suppose you’ll do.” I nodded inside and Maxwell obeyed, saying nothing, but hastily turning away as I closed the door behind him. I watched him for a moment as he avoided looking in my direction. “I’m afraid to say I’ll need help into my clothes, not out of them at the moment.”
Maxwell swallowed hard. “Of course. Happy to help.”
I snickered, throwing my shirt at him. “This should be easy for you. Stuart is besotted with me, you know, so it’s always a challenge for him. Can’t even meet my eyes, the poor fool.”
He lifted his gaze to me as I’d intended. “Shall I fetch him? I’m not sure I’m …”
“You’ll do fine,” I said. I turned my back to him. “It’s simple really. Just line up the sleeves with my arms and help me into it. I trust you can manage that much.”
