The Vampire's Pet

The Vampire's Pet Chapter 3

3.

The castle wasn't actually a castle. There were no towers, no turrets, and no moat, though there were decorative ponds and streams and walls protecting it from the town commons, and plenty of stone. Its proper name was Sparrow Hall, named because from above it resembled a bird flying, wings outstretched forward and tail fanned out.

Briarvale was the capital of the vampire territory on this continent and Sparrow Hall was where the court lived. The vampires had a king, because they had both ego and a desperate need for a powerful hand to keep their monstrousness in line.

Lincoln pulled to the head of the sparrow, a grand, intimidating entrance past a fountain large enough to swim in and a wall of windows, stone, and scrolling ironwork. Then he continued along the drive, to the right wing, curving around the tips and along the back.

The rest of the mansion was no less grand than the front. There were no lies in the presentation of the vampires' homestead. The place was full of the rich and powerful and made no effort to be subtle about it. The tenants of the garage Lincoln pulled into alone could have run the city budget for a decade.

Jackson dropped his glamour. Vixen studied his real face, but didn't gasp or draw back in horror or otherwise react at all. Lincoln pulled up to an opening in the breezeway, grounded by an iron work gate dripping with vines and guarded by a vampire in black and a blank face. Jackson exited and held out a hand to Vixen. After a moment she took it and let him help her out.

Jackson slipped his arm into Vixen's. She stiffened, but allowed him. He could taste her fear at the back of his throat. But stronger than it was the anger.

Being here scared her, as it should. But something enraged her too. Was it him? Or perhaps this place? Part of him wanted to know. But he couldn't.

"I'm sure I don't have to tell you," he whispered to her, as they strode past the courtyard. "But you cannot trust anyone you meet here. Their loyalties can never be to you."

She smiled up at him, as if he'd whispered something amazing. "Not even you," she said sweetly.

Oh, he wasn't supposed to like her. But he already did.

The plush carpet concealed their footfalls over stone. But the creatures around them could smell them, practically taste them in the air. There was no way to walk through the manor unseen. Even with vampire gifts, speakers and cameras watched every inch.

The vampire king was a paranoid old git. One didn't stay the vampire king for two hundred and fifty years without caution.

Most of the creatures milling about eyed them with some curiosity, but left them alone. As they slipped from the public areas to the private wings the crowd became thinner. Yet also more dangerous.

A woman stalked openly toward them on gold heels. Her long red hair was pulled back in a perfect twist, the red threaded through with gold chain. She wore a turquoise and purple sundress that curved around her breasts and fell to her ankles in a waterfall of graceful silk. With her tall stature and poise, she looked as if she could have stepped out of Golden Age Hollywood. It was a look she cultivated carefully.

"Jesse." He acknowledged her with a polite nod. He moved to walk past, but her presence seemed to fill the hall. So, she wanted a scene then.

"Who is this delicious thing, Jackson?" Jesse stalked around the pair of them, studying Vixen with predatory eyes.One long-fingered hand reached out and nearly touched the collar at Vixen's throat. "So you've purchased another pet. So soon? And I thought you truly cared for Vanessa?"