‘Is there really that much danger?’I asked.If I’d known earlier, I could have armed myself before leaving my room.
‘There always is with their type.’
‘Even Raleigh?’
A small smile.‘Raleigh wasn’t always so noble.’Without elaborating, Moira spun on her heel and led me the rest of the way to the dining room.
Two men were at the table with Raleigh, goblets in hand, sprawled in their seats as though they, not he, were the masters of the castle.Several unmarked bottles lay around the table, most empty or near enough.Enrique stood stiffly to one side like the statue of a butler.Apparently even he couldn’t argue his way out of this.
I had been mistaken in assuming that all of the undead took the same care in their appearance as Raleigh.The men were both beautiful, of course, in the same ethereal way Raleigh was, but, unlike Raleigh, they didn’t seem to care.The one closest to me had let his golden hair grow longer than mine and had it tied loosely in a careless ponytail.The other had cropped his dark hair unfashionably short, in the style of a man who didn’t own a mirror – or, in his case, I suppose, a reflection.Their attire was as fine as Raleigh’s, but the styles belonged to eras long forgotten.Both had a careless elegance to them and the deep-set eyes of those who had lived for centuries.
While the guests reclined, Raleigh remained straight-backed in his chair, expression sombre, and, though a glass sat in front of him, he didn’t seem to be drinking.When he saw me he shot to his feet, then was at my side before I could finish blinking.
‘You made it, my love.’He slipped his arm around my shoulders, something I’d normally try to evade, but he held me in a grip so tight I couldn’t have wrestled my way out of it if I’d wanted to.As he dipped his head as though to kiss me, I closed my eyes, bracing for impact, but instead his lips brushed past my cheek.
His whisper was so low I thought I’d imagined it.‘Play along.’It was the first time I had ever heard English spoken aloud and it took me a moment to process.If his guests had overheard with their magnified hearing, they couldn’t understand what he said.
‘I couldn’t sleep anyway,’ I said, my voice higher than normal.‘I was consumed with thoughts of you.’It wasn’t technically a lie.
‘You need not suffer alone at night, my love.’Raleigh had his back turned to his guests.Only I could see his discomfort.‘I would love nothing more than to ease your loneliness.’
I did my best to look abashed, which wasn’t difficult.The thought of Raleigh warming my bed quickly shifted our pantomime of a conversation to something frighteningly electric.‘Your Serene Highness,’ I said in my most proper voice, ‘you know full well we’re yet to exchange our vows.’
‘You know I’d wed you this second if I could.’
‘Patience, my love.’I stroked his cheek.Raleigh swallowed, his muscles fluttering under my touch.‘We have company.’
‘Yes, of course.’He jumped, as though suddenly remembering we were not alone.He was a remarkable actor.As he turned to the others, his dazed expression of one drunk on love was perfect.‘Lukas, Yorik.’He gestured to them both in turn.‘Meet Clara, my lovely bride-to-be.Clara, Lukas and Yorik are’—he set his teeth and made it perfectly clear to everyone in the room that his next words were a lie—‘old friends.’
The one nearest me with the long hair – Lukas, I now knew – curled his lips into a grin that revealed every one of his bloodstained teeth.‘I can see what the fuss is about.’
The hand on my shoulder stiffened.
‘I can’t see any scars,’ the other one, who must have been Yorik, said, eyes raking over me in a way that made me want to run back to my room and throw on another four layers.‘Feeding from somewhere more exciting, are you?’
My breath hitched, which made both guests erupt into laughter.Raleigh didn’t join them.The casual hand draped on my shoulder became more than just a familial gesture.His grip tightened again, pulling me into him in a gesture that toed the fine line between possessive and protective.The peril of being at the mercy of a room full of vampires suddenly hit me.My body began to tremble against my will.
‘I’ve never so much as tasted her,’ Raleigh said, his words clipped.‘And when I do, it will only be on our wedding night.’
Lukas snorted.‘That’s not the Raleigh I know.’
‘Things change.’
‘You know’—Yorik’s smirk was something from a nightmare—‘I think we’d better check.Make sure you’re not lying.’
I felt like I’d stepped out of my body.In part, I wished I could.The men in Orlfen were far from gentlemen, but they never used their words as violence like this, gaining strength from my every tremor.Eyes trained upon me, Yorik began to stand and make good on his word, but Raleigh pushed me back and stood between us.
‘That’s enough.The next syllable of filth you utter around my bride will be the last you ever speak.’
Yorik stopped for a moment, exchanged a glance with Lukas, then burst into a renewed frenzy of laughter.He stepped slowly around the table, unfazed by Raleigh’s threat.‘Raleigh, Raleigh.You couldn’t kill us if you tried.’
‘Are you willing to take that risk?’
‘There’s two of us and one of you – unless you count the halfbreed and your two pets.’
Raleigh’s hand clenched into a fist.
‘Or are you jealous that our attention is no longer on you?’
