Grimsby chuckled as he turned his attention forward. “At least your parents didn’t fail you completely. Don’t worry, young master. I won’t ask for anything outside of your capabilities when the time comes.”
That time could be in a minute or centuries from now. A cold stone dropped into Zack’s stomach. Forever seemed like fun, but it also stretched ahead into an infinity of consequences.
“Here we are.” Grimsby opened a door. “I can bring your guest now, or I can give you the chance to clean up first.”
Were all questions rude to the fey? Zack suddenly wasn’t sure. But if the “guest” was someone he would wind up killing, he wasn’t ready for that. His hunger was a growing ache, but the woman’s limp body came to mind. He had panicked in the moment. Would he have given her his blood to try to save her? If he bled someone else without supervision, would he wind up making an accidental vampire? He didn’t think so, but he hadn’t felt like himself when he fed. What if every time was like that?
Grimsby was a servant and treating Zack like he had some control over what happened in the house. So if he followed along those rules, then some questions shouldn’t be in the realm of disrespectful. In fact, Grimsby might be the one to break etiquette if he didn’t answer.
“Who is this ‘guest?’” Zack asked.
“I can’t say, young master.” Grimsby’s smile became strained.
That was an odd reaction and specific wording. Zack tilted his head. Was there some magical condition on Grimsby? He’d have to find out. “Okay. Do you think I want to see this guest?”
“I imagine you’ll be pleased and distraught.”
Seamus kidnapped me. Something must have happened to Kit, Vincent, Roger, and Takashi. The guest could be one of them. Zack steeled his nerves. “Then go ahead and bring the guest here, please.”
Grimsby gave a nod-bow and then headed back down the hall from the direction they’d come, though he made a turn they hadn’t taken.
Preparing for the next level of mindfuck, Zack walked through the open door of his suite.
The first room was a living room, complete with couch and multimedia setup. A large flat-screen was mounted to the wall, and the cabinet underneath it housed every latest-gen gaming consoleanda VR headset. Along with a Blu-Ray player, there was a bona fide VHS machine. Tall cabinets on either side of the big screen held dozens of 4ks, Blu-Rays, a couple VHS tapes, and two whole shelves of one cabinet were dedicated to hard copies of popular video games.
On the other side of the room was a record player and a slew of cellophaned vinyl records. In addition to the long, dark brown leather couch in the center of the room, there were a few deep chairs. Each of theTwilightmovie posters was framed on the walls, one in each corner of the room, and there was a basket of orange-scented potpourri sitting on an end table beside a chair.
What captured Zack’s attention were the three bookcases on the wall next to the door leading into the bedroom. A good percentage of the spines didn’t have titles on them; their bindings led Zack to believe they were older texts. He did spot Sun Tzu’sArt of Warand Machiavelli’sThe Princeand other titles from mortal war strategists.
There were also books that had been written by supernaturals for supernaturals. One was written bytheDracula—or supposedly written by him—detailing methods for blending into modern society and taking it over for vampire kind. Hunters had always assumed it was a myth.Mom claimed it was the vampire equivalent ofMein Kompf. Was it? Or had everything his family ever told him a lie?
Holy crap, the bedroom was just as awesome as the living room had been. The bed was a four-poster king bed with curtains and was made of a beautiful dark wood. The dresser and desk were made of the same material with elaborate, decorativewoodworking. On the desk was an onyx leather journal. He explored the room further to discover a closet filled with fine, handsome clothing in his size. Most of it was black.
The dresser had boxes of accessories on top and more clothing inside. Again, black was a predominant color. One black hoodie was soft and had a graphic of a pair of fangs and the words “I Bite” written in the shape of teeth between the fangs. Two little illustrated blood drops were dripping from the fangs. It was funny, and a little too on the nose, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh, cry, or ruin everything in the elegant bedroom.
He had just a little more left to explore. Besides the closet door and the living room door, there were two more doors in the bedroom. One led to his own bathroom, fully stocked with high-end products. The shower was big enough for three or four people, and the claw-foot tub was deep and could easily fit two.
The other door led to a small closet with a coffin in it. The black wood gleamed in the low light coming from the bedroom.
Had the one he’d been buried in looked like this? It was sleek and stylish for being something to hold the dead. Slowly, Zack lifted the lid and felt the satin inside it. The touch of it was the same. It had to be a duplicate; he’d ruined the one he’d actually been buried in.
When he closed the lid again, he caught the subtle glimmer of paint near the head. He let his fingertips drift along the smooth wood as he moved to take a closer look.
Vampires had a heraldry system, though not all vampires had a crest. Having one seemed to go in and out of fashion, and only old, arrogant vampires made their own. They had to be given, though some vampires eventually updated theirs as they went, adding little symbols of accomplishments in the image.
The crest on Zack’s coffin was a stylized dagger, tip pointed downward. A snake was wrapped around the hilt and the blade, its head near the hilt with the mouth open wide in a hiss. It hadlong fangs. Above the dagger was Seamus’s crest, a snake eating its own tail with a crown over its head. It had one red band near its head, marking Zack’s connection to him as a first generation.
Zack had been obsessed with vampire heraldry when he was a preteen. Blades were an uncommon image—the hunter theory was that since vampires had fangs, any sign of weaponry was a weakness—and he wondered what it meant among vampires. Snakes were commonly interpreted as traitors or as very clever vampires. The dagger snake’s tail was just starting to curl up, as if it, too, might eventually grow and twist around and up to form an ouroboros.
The design was beautiful. The whole fucking suite was what he’d dreamed of.What, in your entire existence, have you chosen for yourself?
I shouldn’t want this, a small voice whispered.
Why not? Zack lightly touched the edge of his crest.What’s wrong with wanting to be young and immortal and powerful?
You know, the Cal voice said.
There were footsteps in the living room. Whoever his guest was had shown up.
