She’s fae, I can tell that much, but if I use Identify I could find out what kind, and I’m irritated enough to use it. I’m just not sure why I’m so irritated.
The count clamps a hand down on her shoulder and drags her back towards the room she came from. “Annabell, I am bound by law to protect Everly.”
It’s a warning and I wonder why. I didn’t get a vampire read from her and when she smiled, her fangs were the same size as mine.
She doesn’t look happy and eyes him. Then she flashes him a huge smile and says, “I just wanted to let you know that I’m refreshed now. Please come see me later.”
If the count were alive, and not undead, I’d bet he’d be blushing. There’s this sheepish look on his face as he nods. “I will seek you out after I know Everly is comfortable.”
“Good.” She pats his chest and scans me. “I hope you have a wonderful stay.”
Right. “You too.” My retort is lame and makes me feel even more inadequate than I already do. I mean, getting jealous over the count? There’s no way he and I could… nope. Not going there. I look away as her hand travels down his chest and doesn’t look like it’ll stop at his waist. Can vampires have sex? Aw, geez. I wrinkle my nose. I’m not supposed to be thinking these things, and especially not about my host.
Annabell slinks back into her room, and we continue down the hall.
“Girlfriend?” I ask him.
He looks at me and clears his throat. “No.”
“Oh,” I say and want to ask more but I don’t want to be rude and I don’t want to see that interested.
“I am responsible for Annabell. I provide her protection as well as her room and board,” he says.
“And she provides you her blood?”
He nods abruptly. I have a feeling that’s not all she provides.
“That subject is quite personal,” he says.
“I didn’t say anything!”
“I can read you like a book, if you recall.” He frowns down at me.
“Well, be that as it may, I’m not an open book so it’s your fault if you keep flipping open my cover.”
He looks at me and a smirk lifts his lips. “Aptly stated.”
Stregen opens a door and lets me step inside. And I don’t immediately know what to say. In fact, I’m kind of speechless.
The four-poster bed fills a good portion of the room, but the bedding almost sends me into a fit of giggles. Unicorns and hearts spread across the comforter, and the ends have ruffles matching the frills on top of the canopy. A bookcase, half-filled with weird dolls, sits next to a cute white desk. Boy band posters cover the walls—the “musicians” look like they’re twelve years old.
“Ummm… it’s very colorful,” I say cheerfully as I turn to face the count, who rolls his eyes again and shakes his head. Obviously he’s in the process of reading me.
Stregen slumps more than usual, and I feel like crap for not schooling my reaction better.
“Really.” I step closer to the ghoul and beam up at him, even as I try to hold my breath because the poor guy smells exactly the way you’d expect him to. “Thank you for trying to make me feel welcome, Stregen. I appreciate it very very much.”
The ghoul moves his eyes, and I can see past the dead film in them. What I see is compassion. It makes me wonder what kind of person he was when he was alive. But it also makes me wonder if he’s really dead or an extension of the count.
“This floor and the one below it should suffice for your needs,” the count says. “If you have any requests, ring this bell.” He reaches to a panel and pushes a button. “Stregen will come. When he does, tell him what you want. If you have any questions, ask him.”
I want to ask if Stregen will be able to answer me, but we’ll work it out. Besides, I won’t be staying here long. Hopefully tonight will be my first and my last.
“Thank you.”
I figure they’re both going to leave so I turn to face my bedroom, which looks like it was meant for a ten-year-old girl.
“Everly.” The count steps forward and I turn to face him. He grasps my shoulders and I swallow hard. I look into his eyes, and I see his dark irises swirling like a tidal pool. “You must, at all costs, never travel above this story or below the first level. Do you understand?”
“Why?” I ask, not able to help it.
“That is for me to know and you never to find out.”
“Okay, that’s cryptic.”
“Cryptic, perhaps, but it’s also for your own safety.”
“Got it.” I smile. His eyes are hypnotic.
He huffs. “If you leave Raven Night, you must have an escort. Preferably me.”
I appreciate the fact that he takes his job as my protector seriously. “Just ask Stregen, right?”
“Yes. Now, tomorrow, we shall leave to meet Riven at eight.”
“That late?”
He groans. “No. That’s eight a.m.”
“So, you won’t be accompanying me then?” I mean, I might not have met a vampire before but everyone knows they can’t be out and about in the daylight, right?
The count’s smile spreads, slow but wide. “Actually, I planned on bringing you to meet Riven, myself.”
My lips part, unsure if I should show my ignorance. His stance is a challenge, daring me to ask how a vampire can go out during daylight. Part of me doesn’t want to be naïve. The other part wants to give him a victory. Dryads usually side with generosity and humility.
“I’m guessing you either have ways of dealing with daylight or it
