Chapter 17
Piper
Ididn’t get a winkof sleep that night. As soon as I got my wits about me, I packed my bag and waited until dawn. If they were vampires, they wouldn’t be able to go outside in the sunlight. Also, previous experience told me they wouldn’t be up this early anyway.
I grabbed my bag and moved at a snail’s pace toward the bedroom door. I hesitated before I flicked the lock and opened the door without warning. No one was waiting outside my door, but that didn’t make me relax. As far as I knew, someone was waiting to jump me at the front door.
Stepping out into the hallway, my eyes flickered to the spot I’d seen Drake biting that woman before. However, there was no sign that it ever happened. No blood, nobody. Just the empty hallway.
Part of me wanted to believe that I had imagined it. That it was all a bad dream, but deep down inside of me, I knew it hadn’t been. I was stupid to even think it might be some morbid fantasy conjured up by the book I’d been reading.
A smart person would have gone out the back, but my car was still parked in the front. If I went through the back, I’d risk the chance of running into Gretchen or Darren who were no doubt in the kitchen right now. I didn’t want Gretchen to know anything was wrong, and Darren would figure it out right away and might tell Antoine. I couldn’t risk it.
I winced at every creak the floor made as I made my way through the hallways and down the staircase. The bottom floor was still a mess from the party the night before. Glasses and plates sat on side tables. Clothing had been discarded without care at the foot of the steps.
My nose crinkled. Someone had been in a hurry.
Part of me was thankful that I was leaving. The mess would probably be on my list of chores to clean up today, but I’d left my room before they could leave me my little note. I so didn’t want to deal with the leftovers from last night.
Just thinking about seeing whoever they had taken to bed with them the night before made my heart clench strangely. I’d understand if it had only been Wynn I’d been thinking about, but even Antoine and Rayne came to mind.
Shaking my head, I chastised myself for letting myself care about those monsters.
Almost home free, my shoulders relaxed as my hand touched the doorknob. I began to turn it only to find that it wouldn’t move. I twisted it and jerked on the knob but nothing. I tried to unlock it, but there was a bolt I’d never noticed before that required a key.
Fuck.
My heart beat rapidly in my chest, and I realized I had to go through the back. I didn’t have a choice.
However, before I could head that way, a voice stopped me. Frozen to the spot, I wanted to pretend like I hadn’t heard Antoine calling my name. What was he even doing up this early? Every inch of me wanted to run, to scream for help, but I knew no one there would help me. I was on my own.
“Don’t make me ask twice, Piper.” Antoine’s warning tone told me I better come to him, or I wouldn’t like the outcome. Maybe if I pretended that I hadn’t seen anything last night, he’d let me go. Just heading off to take care of somethings on my day off.
Sitting my bag down on the ground, I turned around and made my way to where Antoine sat in the living room. My eyes locked onto where he lounged on the couch, completely at ease. On the coffee table in front of him was a piece of the vase I had broken on the first day.
I stopped at the edge of the couch not moving any further, my eyes flickering between him and the ceramic. “What can I help you with, Master Durand?” I decided to pretend like I didn’t know anything about last night, about what they were. No need to let him in on it if he didn’t know.
Antoine smiled slightly, no hint of the fangs I now knew were beneath those gorgeous lips. “Now, let’s not pretend here. I have far too much respect for you to do that.” He gestured to the chair across from him. “Please, have a seat.”
I glanced down at the seat and then back to Antoine. “I think I’ll stand.”
The smile on his face wilted slightly. “Very well.” He shifted in his seat and adjusted his suit jacket, his pale hair falling over his shoulders making him look even more sinister. “It seems one of my brothers has let our little secret slip. Now, you understand that I can’t just let you leave knowing what you know.”
My heart jumped at the implications of his words and my lower lip trembled. I slapped my hand over my mouth, not wanting to give away my fear. It was no idle threat. Just me knowing what they were made me a threat to their very being. I’d be disappointed if he didn’t want to kill me. It would make things kind of melodramatic if he just let me leave.
“Now, get that look off your face, I’m not going to kill you.” Antoine leaned back, throwing one arm over the back of the couch and crossing one leg over the other.
I squinted at him. “You’re not?”
“No,” Antoine answered simply and then sighed, rubbing his forehead with his forefingers. “You have to understand our situation here, Miss Billings.”
“Oh, I understand perfectly.” I snorted and crossed my arms over my chest as I rocked back on my heels. “You are a bunch of blood-sucking fiends that use your looks to get what you want.” Now that I had opened my mouth, I couldn’t seem to stop the outpour. “How many people have you killed? How many maids? Is that why you needed a new one?” I scoffed and wagged my finger at him. “I willnotbe the next one on your list of victims. I’d sooner snort garlic.”
Antoine stared at me calmly. “Are you quite finished?”
A bit taken back by his words, I paused and then nodded. “Yes, I suppose I am.”
“Good, now to answer your questions, zero is the number of people we have killed,” he began. “Unlike those ridiculous movies you humans are determined to burn your brains out with, we vampires need blood to survive, but we don’t drink until death. Our stomachs couldn’t handle that much in any case, and for another, if we killed everyone we bit, then we wouldn’t be able to stay under the radar.