And then it dawned on me. “Oh. The kidnapping attempt on Maxwell. He was left bleeding.”
“You had me kidnapped?” Maxwell demanded, taking a threatening step toward his brother. “But why?”
Ambrose scratched the back of his neck. “It wasn’t so much a kidnapping as … an initiation ritual. Father’s club does this stupid thing, you see. You weren’t going to be harmed in any way. At least, not if you proved your worth in the ring.”
“The ring?”
I straightened. “Let’s not beat around the bush. Your family hunts vampires.”
Maxwell started, staring at first me, then Ambrose. “What are you talking about?”
The resignation in Ambrose’s face was all the confirmation I needed. He sent me an apologetic smile. “I should have known you would guess. Your skills grappling with that vampire certainly factored in to our decision.”
I raised an eyebrow.Ourdecision? That sounded a whole lot like the duke had selected me to hunt vampires.
“Father is a vampire hunter?” Maxwell shook his head. “You’rea vampire hunter?”
“Yes. Just before Emmett went missing, you remember my stay at the Rice’s for several days? I actually joined a raiding party at a distant castle. We’d received word from a spy about Thomas Grange’s internment there.”
I gasped, and they both looked at me. I covered it with a cough. Ambrose had been among the hunters who’d driven me from my home?Ambrose?
“But why the kidnapping plot?” Maxwell demanded. “Father could have just asked me.”
“Everybody must go through it,” Ambrose explained. “You have to drive a wooden stake through a vampire’s heart in our secret chambers. It isn’t very dangerous, but all initiates must be disoriented before the rite takes place.” He winced, glancing at me. “Of course, when your time comes, we may have to invent a new ritual. Although Father’s cryptic words tonight, and the accident in our chambers, could force us to reevaluate.”
My mind was whirling as I absorbed this information. “So, you truly don’t know anything about Emmett’s disappearance?”
“Not a thing,” Ambrose said.
Then was Emmett’s disappearance tied to the robed men at all? I had to reexamine the situation from all new angles.
“I can’t believe you’ve hidden this from me my entire life,” Maxwell said, shaking his head. “It’s all been a lie.”
“I felt the same,” Ambrose said. “I was only initiated into the society a few years ago, and my world was upended. Emmett certainly didn’t take it well.”
“Emmett is also a vampire hunter?”
Ambrose heaved a great sigh. “He refused to participate in any raids. I think he sympathized with the vampires.”
At least someone in this family had some sense.
The grandfather clock from inside the duke’s sitting room chimed the hour, startling us.
“This isn’t the place to discuss this,” Ambrose said, lowering his voice. “Anyone could overhear us.”
Maxwell scowled. “This house is full of spy posts. Anyone could overhear us anywhere.” He led us down the stairs, Ambrose grabbing my arm to stop me. He leaned in to me earnestly and whispered in my ear. “Hey, I’m not the bad guy here. Vampires are nothing to jest about.”
I met his eyes. I knew his views on vampires. I even understood them. But being on the other side of his raiding party would forever make him the bad guy to my kind. Or was that too simple a way of looking at things? He was protecting himself and his own, after all. Wouldn’t I have done the same? All I had ever done was kill humans to survive. Were his actions any different? He’d enjoyed hunting ghouls for sport, had likely enjoyed hunting down vampires, hunting downme.Yet I’d enjoyed the hunt as well, the pain, the suffering. I knew I was the bad guy. To humans, at least. But I was taking a hard look at myself in that regard. And what exactly, did Ambrose’s actions make him? Maybe not a bad guy, but not the hero either. Human, I supposed. Complicated. What they all were in the end. I sent him a shaky smile as my resolve wavered. “You’re right. Vampires are nothing to jest about.”
He seemed to relax at my words.
Maxwell sent us a backward glance, and I caught his eye before he looked away quickly.
When we reached the bottom of the stairs, Violetta was waiting for us, having seen our descent. She offered us a stiff bow. “Pardon the intrusion. I was wondering if I could have a word with Lucian?”
“Violetta,” Maxwell greeted. “You’re looking well.”
“As well as I can be, my lord,” Violetta replied. She sent me a hesitant look.
