“Good, now that that’s settled, let’s go get some shut-eye. I’m wrecked.”
When we reached the room, I stripped off my jacket and T-shirt and threw them on the bed. It was big enough that it shouldn’t make Alora too uncomfortable sleeping with me, and I wasn’t enough of a saint to offer to sleep on the floor. Not after the night I’d had.
Alora put her hand on the wall, feeling her way into the room. I walked to her and took her hand in mine, leading her to the bed and helping her settle down on it.
“Do you want to shower first?” I asked her, straightening up.
“Oh,” she replied, the offer seeming to take her off guard. “Yes, actually, a shower would be great. My feet are filthy from running on the road.”
“I’ll go set everything up for you.”
Just as I was about to disappear into the bathroom, she asked, “Is there a bath?”
I nodded and then reminded myself that she was blind. “Yeah. You want a bath instead?”
“Please. I haven’t had one since I was taken. I was always showered by Ridley’s maids.”
The idea of some paid help actually assisting in keeping a woman captive made me grit my teeth. I took a deep breath and tried to relax. “A bath it is then.”
I filled the tub and set out some towels and a bathrobe for her. Once it was all ready, I went to fetch Alora, who was still wearing my work shirt over her dress. I guided her into the bathroom.
“Okay, so the tub’s here,” I said, placing her hands on the edge of it. “You can just climb in, and the towels are here.” I placed her other hand on the rail by the tub before letting go. “Call me if you need anything.”
She nodded her head, and I left quickly. I flopped down onto the bed in exhaustion and closed my eyes. I didn’t realise I’d fallen asleep until I felt someone nudging my shoulder.
“Finn. Finn,” called a soft, feminine voice.
I was flat on my stomach, so I rolled over onto my back, rubbing my eyes and opening them. “What is it?”
Alora stood over me, her hair wet and her body wrapped up in a white towel robe.
“I thought you might want to shower,” she whispered.
“Oh, yeah, right. Thanks.”
She moved past me and crawled into the bed, pulling back the covers and climbing under them. She rested her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. I made quick work of showering and returned to bed in my boxers and T-shirt. Alora was sleeping soundly now, her chest rising and falling gently.
The last woman I shared a bed with was Tegan, and we all knew how disappointingly that ended. Instead of getting under the covers with Alora, I lay on top of them. Maybe I wasn’t prepared to sleep on the floor, but I was still a complete stranger to her. Also, I tended to gravitate towards spooning whoever was in bed with me, so best to stay on the safe side.
The events of the last twenty-four hours ran through my mind before I eventually fell fast asleep.
3.
Tegan
Ethan insisted I sit with him in his living room while he met with the vampires lined up outside. Apparently, he was going to talk to them in their family groups, which was how it worked in the vampire world.
I asked him why I had to be there, since it wasn’t exactly something I was over the moon about.
“Because,” he replied, “I need to show them that you are mine.”
“I’m not a possession. I’m a person,” I argued.
“I apologise. That was the wrong choice of words. They have to know that they cannot touch you. They all saw how I transformed on that roof, and they know that the only way a vampire can become what I have become is to drink from a human with your blood. Since you were the only human present, it doesn’t take too much deducing to come to the right conclusion. I’ll show them that any attempts to steal you will be severely punished.”
“Oh,” I breathed, my anxiety building. I hadn’t even thought of that.
“I want you there to see how they react. After I have observed them, I’ll know who wishes to take your blood for themselves and who is truly loyal to me.”
“But how will you be able to tell?”
He came and knelt in front of me, taking my hands into his and rubbing the insides of my wrists with his thumbs.
“I’ll switch on my sensory overload, as you put it,” he grinned. “With your blood in me, my senses are now far superior. I’ll be able to read every thought that goes through their heads simply from the expressions on their faces, including whether or not they are loyal.”
My eyebrows shot up. “You can do that?”
“It’s one of my new abilities, yes.”
The first person Lucas ushered into the house was an older vampire, one of the oldest I’d ever seen. Ethan introduced him to me as Nicu Arcos, an old friend of his father’s. I shook hands with the dark-eyed man as he took me in with interest.
Two females and one male vampire, Nicu’s daughters and son, followed Nicu into the room. They took seats on the couch, while Ethan stood by the mantelpiece.
“I asked you in before anyone else because you’re the only person I know I can really trust, Nicu,” Ethan said. “So, I’ll cut to the chase. If I’m to lead our people I want you in a prominent position by my side. I know you don’t usually partake in politics, but this new era isn’t going to be like any that have come before it. I want to rule differently. I want to end the wars.”
Nicu waved him off. “I’m a businessman, Ethan. You know I don’t involve myself in these things. I came here to ensure that none of my dealings would be affected by the change in leadership.” His accent was a thicker version of Ethan’s, and I wondered if they knew each other back in Romania.
“Of course, you may continue your dealings as you have been doing,” Ethan replied. “But I would like you to work with me, too. I’ve never met anyone with a better head for numbers, and I want you to be my treasurer. Whitfield left behind a lot of wealth, which goes to me if I’m to lead. You would have the top job in deciding how it should be spent.”
Hearing this, Nicu’s eyes lit up a fraction. He rubbed his chin, considering it, and then laughed. “You’re being sly, Ethan. You know that is an offer I can’t refuse.”
“I need you with me in this,” Ethan said.
Nicu looked to his son, who had an eager expression on his face, as though urging his father to say yes. None of this made any sense to me. The vampires had a treasury? I mean, it wasn’t like they were a country. What exactly did they spend it on?
Seeing as they were constantly being attacked by the DOH, they probably used it to buy weapons. Though with Pamphrock’s death, the DOH was now basically defunct in Tribane. I didn’t see how they’d need any more weapons. I’d witnessed with my own two eyes that guns didn’t work against magic, so it would be useless when facing Theodore.
There was a long stretch of silence as Nicu thought through his options. Ethan seemed to consider him a friend, so it wasn’t like he couldn’t say no.
Finally, the old vampire spoke, “I will take the position provisionally and see how things progress. As I said before, business is my area. I’m not certain I’ll be cut out for this job, but I’ll give it my best shot.”