* * *
I woke up back in the mansion. Suitcases sat around the bed, but I was alone. They must have brought me back. I tested swallowing.Yes, better. Much better.Sitting up didn’t cause dizziness, and I rubbed at my eyes. Coffee would be wonderful. Did we have any or had Caesar thought that wasn’t on my healing plan?
As the sun streamed through the window, I couldn’t ask him anytime soon. Where had they put themselves? I stared down at myself. One of them had dressed me, too. It should have been humiliating but maybe getting my throat torn out by a vampire I used to pay meant I was above things like embarrassment.
I padded down the hall wearing my yoga pants that had a hole in the bottom and an old tank top that had seen better days. Most of what I owned was worn out in some way or another. The gifts the guys had given me had been taken away. I had no idea what happened to them.
Stacks of books littered the counter, and I glanced at them while I walked to the fridge. What I saw in there made me grin—Caesar clearly thought ahead. There was a turkey sandwich ready to go for me and a glass of orange juice. I grabbed the plate.That is really sweet of him.
I jumped onto the counter to eat and grabbed the book on top of the nearest stack. I hated reading these things. The old language was hard to comprehend. Still, I’d been a good student before it had been ripped away from me, so I’d give it a go.
Maybe it was the turkey sandwich, but it didn’t take me long until I could understand what I read. When I’d tried with Caesar, the books had been dense and mostly about counting blood supplies and feeding servants. This book was more interesting, a history of great vampires. That seemed familiar to me, though I had no idea why.
How interesting.Vampires sometimes did things besides feed and ruin lives.According to the book, some of them made art, wrote books. They lived lives.Of course, they were all men. The vampire females were never included. I flipped through a few more pages, but I didn’t spot any record about anyone getting sexually aroused by feeding.
That’s too bad. If one of these great vampires went through this, it would be helpful.
I didn’t know who’d authored the book, but the way the wording kept changing, I wondered if it was more like a diary that got discarded and then picked up by others, with the narrative changing authors every so often. I chewed and swallowed.
Pages were missing. I flipped through more of the book. A whole chunk was missing, like someone took a section of pages from the book.Weird.
It probably doesn’t matter.I kept reading. We were almost to modern times when everyone stopped writing.Well, that isn’t surprising, since there aren’t any great vampires anymore.
Caesar placed a hand on my shoulder. “Hello.”
I jumped. “You startled me.”How much time had passed?
He picked up the book. “Worthless book. It’s staying here. You’re well?”
I wrapped my arms around him. He didn’t return my hug, but I hadn’t expected him to. Vampires weren’t affectionate, not even when they cared about me like I was sure he did. “I’m well.”
“I wish I could have killed him. Let Griffin kill him, but revive the son of a bitch, so I could kill him again.”
I did, too. He could kill him every day if he wanted.
Five
“You’ve eaten?” Caesar stepped out of my embrace and headed toward the garage. “If you have, you should wait in the car. I’ll bring Griffin and the bags outside.”
Well, that makes no sense. “You’re going tobringGriffin? What’s wrong with Griffin?”
“He’s not awake yet. He’s a later riser than me. I’m actually among the earliest. It’s dark outside, so the sun won’t hurt him. We don’t need to wait for him to awaken. I’ll simply put him in the car. Go wait for me there.” He stopped and turned toward me. “Lock the doors and unlock them when I get to the car.”
I sighed. “I don’t think I’m going to get in trouble in the car. I mean… granted, I got attacked in my apartment, but it’s not like there are a whole lot of people after me. I probably don’t have to lock myself in like my life depends on it.”
Caesar tilted his head in the vampire way. “People will be after you. Soon. I think we can guarantee that. As soon as anyone important gets wind that you’re with us, they’ll be after you. My only hope is that we can get you home before then.”
Dread filled me and goosebumps broke out on my arms. I rubbed them away. “Home?”
“We’re taking you close enough to come and go and no one will notice. We’ve bought you a house where we can be with you, but we’ll show up for every meeting, so no one will ask any questions.”
I grabbed his arm. “Caesar, why would anyone come after me? Why would they bother? I’m just a human girl they got the better of. Why bother?”
“I don’t understand everything happening and neither does Griffin. We agree on two things. One, Rowan had no idea what happened to you when he sent you away. I think he thought he was owning the promise he made to you? I don’t know, and I can’t ask him. I can only go by what he said, and he doesn’t lie. That doesn’t mean, as you know, that things don’t get twisted in what is not said.”
Okay. I had to dwell on that. Was it possible Rowan really didn’t have ill intent when it came to me? I’d sort of settled into the thought that he was mean, as his father was, and that was all there was to it. Of course he’d absolutely not been mean when he was a human. Maybe he was a little bit tempered in his meanness? Really, I had no idea.
I needed to focus. “And the second thing that you agree about?”