That bastard. “I can’t believe he’s engaged and didn’t tell me.”
Liv shrugged. “Who cares … unless.” She spun on me. “You totally like him!”
I winced. “I mean, he’s charming and sexy, so yeah he got to me for a hot minute, but I’m over him.”
She grinned. “He got to you how?”
“Shut up.”
“You kissed him!” She pointed an accusing finger at me. “Holy crap, you kissed a bloodsucker.”
I rolled my eyes, my cheeks heating up at the memory. “One kiss. It wasn’t a big deal.”
Liv stared at the rolling green hills and thick trees as a city in the distance grew larger. “Does this mean we don’t have to stay virgins?” she queried.
I chuckled. “I don’t know. I still think it would be nice to wait until my wedding night. Save it for the guy I’m going to spend the rest of my life with.” She had a point though … I think what made me the maddest was that Maz used God to control us. My relationship with the creator was an important thing to me. Praying brought me comfort, helping others gave me joy, vanquishing evil in God’s name was my purpose. But Maz distorted all that with theHunter Scriptures, handpicked verses from the Bible that proved our cause was to hunt the demons of this earth.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.Ephesians 6:12
Maz had built an entire religion on that one line in the bible … a book that was supposed to be read in its entirety and not cherry picked to fit her narrative.
I am such an idiot,I thought.
I’d never even read the entire Bible, but I knew theHunter Scripturesby heart. Shame burned deep inside of me as I warred with my own spiritual collapse and what this meant for my beliefs.
“Holy crap,” Liv breathed. “Is that Vampire City?”
Tossing my inner turmoil aside, I followed her gaze. “Whoa.”
I hadn’t expected it to be so … old. It was beautiful, but didn’t feel like it should be in the middle of Northern Idaho. Gothic spires shot up from the tops of stone cathedrals. Smaller buildings dotted the landscape, but at the very top of the hill there was a giant castle with a stone wall surrounding it. Outside the wall sat many other stone outbuildings, all with the same Old World European look.
There were no farmlands, just rolling green hills and trees, and then I remembered vampires didn’t need food, they drank only blood. A small village off to the east had some more modern looking houses and I wondered if that’s where they kept their feeders. We passed through a village but there weren’t many people out and about. Cute, old English-looking cottages dotted the village roadside. It was odd to see a brand-new Mercedes parked along an old cobblestone road. Vampire City reminded me of Rome—not that I’d ever been, but I’d seen pictures of it.
We reached another set of gates at the high stone wall surrounding the castle. They let Luka’s limousine through, but this time had me roll down the window to speak with someone.
“Hello, Miss Rose. Luka has requested that you and your sister be brought to his guest quarters on his estate while he attends a meeting.”
I just nodded. I was too tired to care about anything right now. A man dressed in a suit, who resembled some type of butler, suddenly appeared before us in a black golf cart and waved for me to follow.
I pulled through and the giant white stone castle rose up to an incredible height as I drove around the back of it to a smaller house. There was a stone sign in front that saidDrake Guest Cottage II.
I shivered. That Drake name was synonymous with murder, rape, and all things evil. I had a hard time believing that Luka was from such a wicked family.
The butler dude pulled into a little space in front of the cottage and I parked to the side of him. After getting out and grabbing our duffle bags, Liv and I walked across the simple yet beautiful garden and into the open front door of the small home. All vestiges of Old World vibes were gone the moment we entered the home. Dry wall had been put up over the stone and there were granite counters, flat screen TV’s and all the modern comforts you could ask for. The furniture was plush and comfortable in creams and grays.
The butler stepped inside and turned to face us, bowing deeply.
He wasn’t a vampire, that much was clear. From the tips of his pointy ears I would suspect he was fey or at least part. Now that I knew that was a thing…
“Good afternoon, ladies, my name is Gunner and I will be at your service during your stay here.”
We both waved at him awkwardly.
He gestured to the flat screen TV. “On your TV, you will find an app calledHome Assistant, from which you can order food, house cleaning, medical and emergency assistance. You can even call me directly.” He held out his phone. “Anything you want, I will bring to you.”
Whoa. Okay, that might be cool.
“Burger King?” Liv raised an eyebrow.
