“That’s a lie.”
“I know. Why don’t you come in?”
I gestured for him to follow me to the sitting room on the first floor. He came with me, and I glanced over to see a few humans coming into the mansion. They were carrying bags, and they were dressed in nice clothing, but their eyes looked sullen and downcast.
“Are those your employees?” I asked.
“They’re my humans,” he answered. He worded it in this way, and that made me a little bit uneasy. My brother had a penchant for dishonesty. I didn’t exactly want that kind of behavior here. If he was going to lie – and I knew that he would – I didn’t want it to be about something that mattered. The life of a human might not hold much value to most vampires, but it did to me. It held a lot of value to me.
“Your humans?”
“Yes.”
“Are they here willingly?” I asked, eyes narrowing. My brother knew perfectly well that I didn’t support keep humans as blood slaves.
“Brother, brother,” Norman shook his head and a sickly-sweet smile spread across his face. “You’re always so suspicious.”
“Well, you’re always so secretive,” I countered.
“Don’t you trust me?”
“You know perfectly well that I don’t,” I told him.
“Well,” he shrugged. “There isn’t much I can do about that.”
I looked to the humans and let my eyes roam over them again. Neither one of them was bruised, which was good. They didn’t appear to be beaten. If Norman had been feeding from them, he’d hidden it well. They weren’t too skinny, so they didn’t look like they’d been overused or overfed from. Still, I disliked the fact that I’d worked to get extra blood for his visit only for Norman to bring these humans with him.
What was the catch?
There had to be one.
I didn’t know if he was planning to feed from these humans instead of the blood that I offered him while he was at the mansion or whether there was something else going on. Had he brought other vampires with him, as well? Norman did like to make an entrance. Maybe he planned to bring an entourage with him.
“I am a bit tired, brother,” Norman said, changing the subject. “Perhaps one of your servants can show me to my quarters.”
“Your quarters?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
He nodded, as though this was the most perfectly normal thing to ask someone. At the same time, I couldn’t help but think that Norman was something of a relic. We were the same age, he and I. We’d been turned by a set of sisters who had wanted to sire a set of brothers. We’d killed the sisters long ago and gone our separate ways. Neither one of us had felt like being tied to each other for all of eternity, yet there we were.
“I’ll show you myself,” I said. I didn’t really like the word “servant.” I didn’t like that he had referred to my fellow vampires that way. I didn’t employ humans in the house, nor did I keep them around as snacks. Instead, I had other vampires who lived with me. Some of them were officials, as I was, while others simply made sure that our dwelling kept running smoothly. I had Ida, who cooked and handled all of the household things. Alice handled shopping and home maintenance. I had a few other vamps who took care of the grounds and made sure things stayed running smoothly.
What I didn’t have was a weirdo brother causing trouble. I still didn’t know the true meaning or purpose of his visit, and I had a feeling that I wasn’t going to like it. Whatever had brought him to our city wasn’t anything good. Darkvale was a beautiful place to live, and we’d been doing a wonderful job keeping it running well.
I didn’t want my brother to fuck anything up.
“Fine,” he said.
“Ida will show your friends to their rooms,” I said, nodding to his humans.
“Oh, them?” Norman said. “They can stay with me.”
“No, it’s fine,” I said. “I don’t mind giving them their own space. We have plenty of rooms, and we have a few that humans might find a bit more hospitable.”
Was it just me, or did my brother’s little pets look relieved? It must be nice to know he wasn’t going to be able to feed on them at all hours of the night. The best part was that Norman couldn’t say anything about it. He couldn’t admit that he wanted them in his room to serve as a late-night snack. In the end, he decided to save face, and he said nothing. I waited a moment, but Norman’s mouth was clamped shut. Good.
Finally, he nodded curtly and took a step forward. I turned, leading him back up the steps I’d just descended from. There were a few wings in the house. I kept one to myself, but that was where I was placing my brother. I wanted him close to me. If he was going to cause trouble, which I knew he would, then I wanted to be the one to catch him.
The other vampires I lived with had their own problems and issued. They had chores and tasks and business they had to attend to. They didn’t need a whiny vampire giving them grief while they were trying to work. None of us needed that.