A room finally opened up ahead and Violetta gasped, hurrying forward to meet the half dozen coffins lying beneath a layer of dust and cobwebs.
“A family crypt?” Ambrose asked, surprised.
One of the coffin lids was slanted, and with a slight touch from Violetta’s hand, it was sent crashing to the floor with the sound of splintering wood. She winced. “Oh, I do hope they don’t hold that against me.”
I peered into the coffin, lifting my lamp high to better see the figure within. “I’d say any grudges would extend to others before you.”
The skeleton within was dressed in a man’s faded clothing, arms crossed over his chest. A fat wooden spike was driven through his ribs, filling the space where his heart used to be, while his mouth was stuffed with cloves of garlic.
He had no fangs. He had not been a vampire.
I swallowed hard as Ambrose lifted the lid of another coffin, this of a skeleton in women’s dress. She had been left in the same fashion.
“They killed humans,” Maxwell observed.
“Or they found graves of potential vampires,” Ambrose said. “People were dying from mysterious ailments. They had to act.”
“This is the family crypt,” Violetta said, gesturing to the family crest on the wall. “You know as well as I the story of the townspeople killing this family ofvampires.They killed them and put them in these coffins.”
I sighed. “Humans do terrible things when they’re afraid. Or angry. They can become violent, especially in a frenzied mob. Are any of you truly surprised they killed an innocent family?”
“We can be capable of terrible things,” Maxwell agreed. “Perhaps as terrible as vampires themselves.”
I cocked my head. At least one of them understood.
“Maybe they were going to turn,” Ambrose suggested. “The ailments did stop after their deaths.” But I knew that vampires turned overnight. There was the exchange of fluids, the human death, the burial, and when the vampire blood had overwritten the human’s system in death, they arose a vampire.
“So, we find someone to blame when there’s an illness going around. We let hysteria dictate how we conduct ourselves.” Maxwell said flatly. “Great.”
Ambrose scowled. “Don’t blame this on Father or the society. We don’t kill humans. This can’t be what it looks like.”
“There’s another door through here,” Violetta interrupted, at the back of the room.
I wandered after her and helped her push an iron gate open. Then we were walking up a staircase, out into the night air.
I blinked. How long had we been traipsing through these ruins? Long enough for the sun to set without my noticing. I glanced back as the others filed out after me, and I noted Gramercy House in the distance, while the structure we had just exited stood on the brink of the cemetery.
“The ball will be starting shortly,” Ambrose said, checking his pocket watch.
“But we haven’t found Emmett yet,” Maxwell protested. “We’ve barely begun searching the house.”
A new voice cut through the darkness. “Yes, by all means, stay.”
I froze, raising my head slowly toward the form that lay casually across the roof of the mausoleum. Raven grinned down at me lazily. “Lucian, I don’t believe you’ve introduced me to your other friends.” She sat up to regard us.
I clenched my jaw. She was going to play with me and inform my companions exactly who I was. Very well. Two could play this game. “We barely knew each other when you were alive, foul demon. We certainly aren’t friends now.”
She leapt down gracefully like a cat just feet from where I stood, the others taking cautious steps back. She wore a lime green silk pantsuit, gold bracelets clinking on her wrists, matching her hoop earrings. She pushed out her lower lip in a pout. “Oh, Lucian. You say the most hurtful things.” She chuckled, gaze flickering to the others briefly. “Shouldn’t you be at a ball right now?”
“What do you care?” My eyes narrowed. “Is this where you’ve been hiding?”
“Did you do something to my brother?” Maxwell demanded, pushing in front of Ambrose. I noticed that Violetta had disappeared. At least one of them was smart.
Raven crossed her arms. “You let the humans speak for you, Lucian? That’s not like you.”
“Answer him,” I growled. “What did you do, Raven?”
“I’ve been keeping a low profile. I’ve seen the vampire hunters roaming the neighborhood. I’m not stupid.”
