Eternal Night

(II) Chapter 18: Secret Passageways

"What did you do?"

"It was an accident!" she whispered, but before he could glean more information, she disappeared when Gigi's shouts grew nearer.

"Vesper! Vesper, where are you, you infuriating hurricane of destruction?!"

There was some shuffling about in the neighboring chamber as Gigi apparently tore through Francesca's room before a gentle knock came at Vlad's door. He answered the summons with a certain degree of caution, surprised to find Alayna on the other side. The woman's smile was pleasant, but the look in her eyes was full of apology.

"Good afternoon, Vlad. I'm terribly sorry for the interruption," she said, offering him a small curtsy.

"It's no trouble. Is everything all right? Your sister sounds a little..." he was interrupted by Gigi marching out of Frankie's otherwise empty bedroom, slamming the door behind her, "...vexed," he finished.

"Have you seen Vesper anywhere?" the eldest de Chacier demanded, making her way over to her sister.

Vlad could sense the dhampir's growing anxiety. There was a sadistic part of him that wanted to see what would happen if he revealed the girl's hiding place, but his thoughts – as they so often did of late – turned to Francesca, and he found himself lying on the teenager's behalf as if it were instinct.

"I'm afraid I have not," he confessed. "Did something happen?"

"Nothing that warrants this kind of temper tantrum," Alayna muttered under her breath, but her disapproval hadn't fallen on deaf ears.

"She castrated one of the statues in the garden," Georgine announced, holding out a set of granite testicles for him to see. "Again!"

"Again? This has happened before?" Vlad looked to Alayna for confirmation. The woman was biting her tongue to keep from laughing, apparently finding all of this most amusing.

"It's just that statue in particular. This isn't the first time he's lost his balls." Georgine's growl killed her sister's chuckled snort and the woman cleared her throat to regain her composure. "The statue of Apollo was one of Gigi's first major sculptures."

"It's almost three centuries old!"

"And Vesper's managed to accidentally maim his greatness a number of times in the past, ever since she was a small child. His nose, his fingers... though of all the appendages, his manhood is usually the one that takes the most abuse."

"Makes one wonder if there's some deeper psychological issue at play there," he suggested with a bemused grin and Alayna giggled in spite of her sister's disapproving glare.

"This isn't a laughing matter," Gigi snapped. "We will have more guests descending on us by the end of the week. I don't have the time to plan a party, entertain company, and repeatedly reattach Apollo's cock every time that demonic teenager decides to lash out against the patriarchy!"

"For the love of God, Gigi, would you fucking let it go? Some of us are still trying to sleep. The sun hasn't even set yet!" Rémy shouted from the down the hall, head peeking through his partially opened door. The man was in a state of undress, save a bed sheet wrapped rather flimsily around his waist. He scrubbed the lingering fatigue from his face with an irritable hand, scratching the scruff on his chin.

"Not all of us have the luxury of resting until dark, Reynaud!" Georgine snapped.

"Except for the part where you do have the luxury, you just choose to work yourself to the point of insanity, leaving the rest of us to suffer under your stress-induced tirades. You're the one that agreed to organize the summer masque, Gigi. No one forced your hand."