“It may not seem like it, but my lord only wishes to keep you safe. Lord Valerian’s way since he left his birthplace has been to shutter himself away from the world. Which means that he hasn’t trained himself to resist the call of fresh blood.”
“You said ‘our kind’.” I whip my hand from Reginald’s cool grip. “You’re one of them! A— a—vampire.”
Reginald raises his hands in surrender, as if I would have any chance against him. “I assure you that you have nothing to fear from me, Ms Preston. I am like you, but also not entirely like you. I do not drink human blood to survive. But nor am I entirely human, like you. I am what’s known as a Thrall, a human kept by a vampire to run their household, watch over their slumber, and perform such duties during the daylight hours as will keep them alive. In return for my services, Lord Valerian allows me to sup of his blood.”
I screw up my face. “You … drink Alaric’s blood?”
“Oh, yes. It is his gift to me. Drinking gives me youth and vigour. How old do you think I am?”
I study the lines at the corner of Reginald’s eyes, the scattering of grey hairs along his forehead. “Late forties?”
“I’m nearly ninety years old.”
“That’s impossible …”
“I assure you it’s not. I look after Lord Valerian – with the modern world moving at impossible speed, he needs someone to guide him and make certain he doesn’t reveal himself through his more anachronistic habits. I’m the one who has the electricity installed,makes sure he pays the council tax, arranges for a beautiful professional organiser to help him with his mess …”
“Install the internet?” I ask, as my heartbeat begins to return to a normal rhythm.
“Exactly. All these jobs I do happily, for they are trifles compared to what he offers in return. His blood …” Reginald closes his eyes for a moment, his body humming with the memory of his last feed. “You have never tasted anything so exquisite.”
“Gross. No, thanks.”
“I’ve seen the way he looks at you. I’ve watched him torture himself ever since you arrived at Black Crag, torn between his yearning for you and his desire to keep you safe. I told him to show you his truth, to give you a chance to understand him.” Reginald tilts his head to the side. “Humans and vampires are forbidden from becoming … entangled. But more than that, Lord Valerian believes he is a monster beyond redemption, and that no one can know what he is and love him. He has not been treated kindly when people have found out what he is. Secrecy is survival to him and his kin.”
I think of some of those paintings hidden in the dining room. “He was tortured, wasn’t he?”
“Humans don’t wish to live in the shadow of a vampire,” Reginald says softly. “They prefer to burn and stake and curse rather than try to understand, to co-exist. That is why they cannot know that they’ve been co-existing alongside the vampire courts for all of human history. And things were not always as they are now. Lord Valerian only employed me fifty-two years ago. Before then, he did his own hunting, and things could go wrong. A vampire hunting has always been at risk of being exposed. Now, at least, he doesn’t have to worry about this.”
He’s talking about the wine bottles in the cellar.Another piece slots into place. “You keep blood for him so he doesn’t have to drink from people.”
“Fresh blood is always best for vampires, but Alaric abhors the hunt. He calls it ‘a violation’. Most of his kind don’t agree. There were times when vampires killed indiscriminately during the hunt – draining their victims dry, or ‘husking’. But this resulted in humanscoming after them and staking them while they slept. New vampire laws allowed for a mutually beneficial feeding relationship, where human Thralls do their bidding and keep them safe and fed in exchange for the long life and vitality of their blood. The bite of a vampire is an ecstasy unrivalled, so I’ve been told.” Reginald frowns. “I won’t get to experience it myself. I’m unique among Thralls because my lord will not drink from me, not even these past weeks when he’s been weak and suffering in your presence. He doesn’t trust himself.”
I swallow.
“Most vampires wouldn’t react the way he did to human blood. But Alaric has always struggled with control. He’s locked himself away because he doesn’t want to hurt anyone, but hurt can still find him. You caught him unawares, in more ways than one. By the time I bandage you up and take you back to the castle, he will be in control of himself again.”
I’m too terrified to consider such a thing. “I’m not going back to the castle.”
Reginald sighs. “I understand. What do you wish to do?”
What do I wish to do?
I have no choice. I have to leave. I can’t keep going with the job now that I know what Alaric is. I can’t stay at Black Crag with a vampire. I have to go back to London. But maybe first …
“Take me to the village,” I say. “I’m going to a meeting of the Nevermore Coven.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
WINNIE
Faye: Winnie, I’m so happy you messaged me your new number. You won’t believe what’s happened! You know that lunch I had with Jennifer the ITV producer? She wants to make a Clutter Queens TV show! The Winnie Wins System will more popular than KonMari! I’ve got a contract for squillions of dollars, but she needs to meet you ASAP – how soon can you finish up the dusty castle and get back to London?
“Winnie?” Isis throws open the door to Nevermore Bookshop. “You’re early. Mina and Dora and I were just having a cup of tea?—”
“You were right,” I burst out. “Alaric’s a vampire.”
Instead of doing what I expect her to do, which is to dance around the room yelling “I told you so”, Isis gathers me under her arm and ushers me inside. She calls into the gloom, “Mina, Winnie’s here. We need emergency tea, stat!”
