Istood on the porch of House Medeis, pleasantly surprised the sentient building had let me this far onto the property. (Granted, I had done my best to butter it up and give it many compliments on my way up the sidewalk. Still.)
I’d already rung the doorbell, but a minute passed before the door flung open, seemingly to no one.
I stared for a moment before a heartbeat caught my attention, and I looked down.
A child—a little girl, who couldn’t have been more than four or five—leaned against the door as she peered up at me.
She had her hair done up in pigtails and held a colorful pack of cards decorated with fish—which probably answered the question of who was responsible for the task force’s obsession with the game of go fish considering April was a member of House Medeis.
“Hello.” I smiled, trying to be friendly and not set off the House’s protective instincts.
“Hi,” the little girl said. “You’re not a Drake vampire.”
“No,” I agreed. “But I’m old friends with Killian Drake. I met him before he became a vampire.”
Still clutching her cards, she rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. “You’re his daddy?”
I managed to keep my smile on, even though I felt the intense need to break something from sheer disgust. “No. I’m not his sire.”
The little girl leaned harder against the door. “Really? But you’re handsome enough to be his daddy.”
Kids—they’re chaos in flesh.
“Thank you, but I’m not. Is Hazel Medeis here?”
The little girl abruptly turned her back to me and wandered into the house. “Adept!” she shouted, her voice ringing through the impressively sized mansion. “A handsome daddy vampire is here to see you!”
She plodded down the hallway and made an abrupt turn into another room, leaving me standing on the porch with the door open.
I cautiously took a step inside the House, then closed the door behind me. I stood on the welcome mat and didn’t venture farther than the boot tray pushed against the wall for visitor’s shoes.
Well…what now?
I was here because I was hoping to procure some leverage against Killian, packaged in the form of Hazel Medeis, Killian’s wife, his One, and the person he’d been hellbent on keeping me from meeting since I’d arrived in Magiford in early September.
I’m sure he’d hidden her because he knew I wouldn’t be enthusiastic about the relationship for the same reasons I’d resisted my attraction to Jade as long as I had: loving humans was only bound to end in heartbreak.
But that opinion had changed. Not that I didn’t still believe things would likely end in heartbreak—for both me and Killian—but at least everything was brighter. And there was a very slim hope that I could turn Jade into a vampire since I could survive slayer blood, and maybe she would stay with me.
“Who is it, Ivy—oh. Hello.” A petite woman who had her long blonde hair shoved up in a perky ponytail came charging down a nearby staircase. Her button nose and round face gave her an air of innocence that had probably misled a great number of people who didn’t look beyond her face to see the Japanese sword strapped to her back.
No wonder Killian likes her.
I put on a smile—careful to use a tempered one so she wouldn’t get suspicious. “Good evening. I’m Considine Maledictus—”
“The closest friend of Killian’s dead sire, Ambrose Dracos. Hello, Elder Maledictus.” Hazel hopped down the last few steps as she eyed me. “Killian told me to stay far away from you.”
“So you’ve heard of me, good. I’m delighted to finally meet you, given how important you are to Killian.”
The petite wizard rested her hand on the wooden banister of the stair railing. Judging by the way she seemed to look past me, she was communicating with her House.
I waited a few moments, but when Hazel offered no response to my greeting, I continued. “Killian warned you off from meeting me. What else did he tell you about me?”
Her gaze refocused, and she looked me over from head to toe. “That you’re ruthless, brutal, and the reason why his siblings are still alive and awake.”
I paused—I hadn’t been prepared for him to have said any kind things about me, much less something so poignant.
“And that caught you off-guard. Interesting.” Hazel drummed her fingers on the banister. “What can I do for you, Elder Maledictus?”
