House Of Vampires (The Lorena Quinn Trilogy Book 1)

by Samantha Snow

  He smiled at me, and I could tell I had amused him. I wasn't sure how. He moved past me and opened the door to my room. If he noticed all the doors hanging open and drawers half pulled out, he didn't say anything. He went to one side of the dresser and pushed a button I hadn't seen before. What looked like another part of the wall swung open to reveal the kind of bathroom you expected to find in a castle. Then again, maybe we were in a castle. I didn't know.

  “Wow,” I said, eyeing the bathtub that could have fit three of me comfortably.

  “Indeed. I shall prepare something for you. Do you have any dietary restrictions I should be aware of?”

  “I'm allergic to tree nuts,” I said, “I have an epi-pen in my purse just in... Wait, where is the box?”

  “The box?” he asked.

  “Yes, the box. My box of personal things.”

  “The box was placed in the library as most of the items were books. Would you prefer that it be brought up here?”

  “Yes, please.”

  He bowed his head. “I shall see to it. Take your time. Food will be prepared when you are.”

  He left as quietly as he had snuck up on me. I wondered if he was human. He looked pretty human to me. Were magical people allowed to be bald? I don't think I had ever seen one that was. Then again, that had always been on television, and TV didn't seem to like bald people either.

  I took longer in the bath than I should have, but it felt so good. There were ten different bath soaps and four jars of those beads that made the water feel silky. I tried a combination of stuff and sank into water than smelled like springtime and just sat there. Besides, it gave me time to think.

  So, I was the girl from the prophecy. I was supposed to take a vampire lover and give birth to a child who would wake magic up. I was also, apparently, a witch. If I was being completely honest with myself, I liked the idea of all of the above.

  I liked the idea of being a witch, of having a vampire boyfriend and a baby who was, from birth, special. But I didn't like all of these things being forced on me. I was tired of that. My dad had done that all my life. I certainly didn't want my adult life starting off the same way. I was just going to have to calmly explain that to the vampires.

  And then what? Go back to my grandmother's house where I had been attacked by strange magic I didn't know and things I couldn't fight? No, thank you. So what was I going to do? I used some fancy shampoo that smelled like fruit in my hair as I thought it over.

  I'd need to learn how to defend myself. I was not an athlete. I wasn't out of shape or anything, but I had always elected to walk a mile rather than run it. I was a bit on the busty side and even the best sports bras didn't stop the pain of the jiggle that came with running, jumping, and other forms of sports. I preferred my feats of strength to be done digitally.

  I looked at my grandmother's book, which I had left sitting on the toilet lid. I could learn magic. If I was supposed to be a witch, then shouldn't I at least try to learn? Yeah, I knew that this also sealed the deal on my being prophecy-mom, but that didn't mean I didn't want to learn of my own accord.

  So long as I didn't take a vampire on a ride, I should be perfectly okay, right? Right.

  Okay, so that was decided. I would learn magic. Cool. I'd call Jenny and talk to her about that after I got something to eat. I rinsed my hair and unplugged the tub. By the time I was dressed in my own clothes, a pair of skin-tight jeans and a Captain America shirt, all I had to do to find the kitchen was follow the heavenly scent of smells coming out of it. There was a massive table in the dining room, but a smaller table in the kitchen. I took the smaller one and watched Peter work.

  “Hello, Miss,” he said cheerfully.

  “Hey, Pete, what's on the menu?”

  “Eggs Benedict with a side of fruit and tea.”

  “Yum,” I said. I meant it. I was halfway through my breakfast when another door opened. Peter glanced past me.

  “You are awake.” Dmitri's voice was even more ragged now than it had been yesterday. Apparently, he did not wake up easily. I turned and discovered that I was right. He looked like a tousled bear, his curly hair all around his face. He wore a pair of loose pajama bottoms and nothing else. I was right; he was buff. Really buff. He had washboard abs and defined pecs and everything. There was a tattoo on one shoulder; it was old and simple, a series of interconnected lines and dots that I could make a picture of. “I had hoped to be up before you.”

  “Why?” I wanted to know, sipping at my cooled-off tea.

  “I had...” he shrugged, letting his voice trail off, “It does not matter. You are here now, and here you shall stay.”

  “Master Dmitri, forgive my saying so, but that is hardly the way to talk to a young lady.”

  Dmitri growled. “She is being difficult about the prophecy.”

  “She,” I said, pushing the rest of my food away, “is right here and she just wants to make her own life choices, thank you very much.”

  “Ah, are we breaking our fast together this morning?”

  Alan seemed to appear out of nowhere. No, seriously. One moment he wasn't there, the next he was. Unlike Dmitri, he looked as fresh as a daisy, or whatever the saying was. He wore a pair of expensive pajamas in deep red silk. Usually people that pale, like me, couldn't get away with wearing red. It brought out the flush in our cheeks or the random red patches of skin, but he managed it well. The first two buttons of his top were undone, showing the perfect marble of his chest beneath.

  “Good morning, ma cher,” he said, taking my hand and kissing the back of the knuckles, “I trust you slept well.”

  “Well enough,” I answered, “Do vampires sleep?”

  “We...rest,” Dmitri answered. He slid into one of the other chairs at the small table and poured himself a glass of juice.

  “Wait, don't vampires drink blood?”

  “So?” Dmitri asked, “That doesn't mean we don't like to taste other things.”

  “How does the blood drinking work?” I wanted to know.

  Alan's arm slid around my middle, I found myself scooped towards him as if we were dancing, his eyes, bright as rubies, glittered down at me. I felt a mixture of interest and uncertainty rush through me. My heartbeat jumped right up into my throat.

  “I could show you,” he whispered.

  I opened my mouth to tell him to back up, but I never got the chance. There was a flurry of movement, and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground and Dmitri was holding Alan against the wall, his hands around the other man's throat, as he shouted something in a language that I was guessing was Russian. The very nice painting behind them was ripped in three places as Alan scrambled to fight back.

  Dmitri, I could tell, was the stronger of the two, but Alan was slick. Claws formed where once there had been oval fingernails, and he swept at the larger male. Dmitri relented just enough to allow Alan the space he needed to push away from the wall. Peter put one hand on my shoulder and drew me away from the fight.

  Without the wall to keep them in place, they moved with a speed I could barely follow. They were a blur of dark clothes and darker clothes that rolled over one another, one spouting French and the other Russian. I didn't know either language. I had taken German in high school and American Sign Language in college, but I was pretty sure that none of the words were pleasant.

  “Are they fighting over me?” I asked.

  “It would seem so,” Peter answered.

  I rolled my eyes. Some girls wanted a bunch of guys to fight over them. More power to those chicks, may they see the most epic of battles. That wasn't me. I just wanted one guy. Just one who liked the things that I liked and thought I was awesome. Was that so much to ask?

  ‘Yes,’ I thought as Dmitri dropped Alan through a table, ‘apparently it was.’

  “Stop it!” I shouted. No one listened. “Hey! Stop it.”

  I didn't even see Wei coming. Like Alan, he just seemed to appear out of nothingness. He wore a robe, belted around his middle, and nothing
else. I got a pretty good glimpse of thigh as he pulled the other two apart. I might have appreciated it more if he held up both men at the same time as if they were nothing but misbehaving children. His long hair came out of the coiled style it had been in and fell around him like a sheet of night. I swallowed and took a step back. I might be offended, but I was also intimidated.

  “You will cease this stupidity.” Wei's voice was completely and totally calm.

  “He-”

  “No.” Wei interrupted whatever Dmitri had been about to say. He looked between the two of them. “You both wish to be accepted by the witch, and yet you behave like idiots.”

  It was true, but he didn't have to say it like that.

  “It was...my fault,” Alan admitted, “Lorena showed interest in understanding the intricacies of blood feeding and I took a chance.”

  “Did you feed on her?” Wei asked. The way he said it made me think that the answer would be very important.

  “No, Dmitri...intervened.”

  “Okay,” I said, finding my voice, “Does someone want to explain to me why this was a big deal?”

  Wei dropped the two men. He gave me a look that let me know he thought very little of me for not already knowing. “You are not aware of the power that a vampire's bite can have?”

  “Nope,” I said, refusing to be ashamed. Until last night, I hadn't even known that vampires were a real thing. I wasn't going to feel bad for not knowing everything a few hours later.

  He narrowed his dark eyes at me. “Stupid.”

  I might have waived him off, but he had just gone all Superman on the other vampires. I didn't feel like testing those waters. “Rather than call me names, how about you educate me?”

  “It is not my job to relieve you of your stupidity.”

  “If you aren’t willing to bother, then don't be surprised when I don't know something.”

  He frowned at me as if I had finally said something interesting. I don't know what it was, but I was just happy he wasn't being a jerk anymore.

  “The bite from a vampire can be hypnotic,” Alan finally said, “It is...intoxicating. If done well, and over a period of time, a human can become enamored of it.”

  “So, it's like a roofie.”

  “A poor comparison, but not without merit,” Alan bowed, “Forgive me, I lost my senses for a moment. While the bite is intoxicating to humans, for us it is...maddening.”

  “Oh,” I said feeling as stupid as Wei seemed to think I was, “good.”

  “We should discuss these things,” Dmitri said, rubbing the back of his neck, “and others,”

  “Shall we have breakfast?” Alan asked, trying to look cheerful.

  “What is there to discuss?” I wanted to know. I was serious. What exactly did they want to talk about, because I was getting the distinct impression I wasn't going to like what was being said. Heck, so far nothing that I had heard made me feel any better about anything.

  I didn't say anything, but I took my seat in front of a breakfast that had long since gone cold. I frowned at it. I hate cold eggs. Peter, who seemed to understand my predicament, picked up the plate. His long-fingered hand wove over the top, and when he set it back down, my breakfast was as good as new.

  Definitely not human.

  “The first thing we need to discuss,” Alan said, taking the seat on my right, “is what we are going to do about Lorena.”

  “Lorena has decided that you guys aren't going to do anything about her,” I said, cutting into my eggs. “She has also decided that she isn't impressed with the way you keep talking about her rather than to her.”

  “Women were not so...outspoken...when I was alive,” Dmitri said.

  “Welcome to the twenty-first century.”

  “They were plenty outspoken when I was alive,” Alan put in, “wildly so.”

  “Good for them,” I shot back, “But what is it you guys need to decide?”

  “We need to keep these fights from happening. I will not always be here to break them apart,” Wei said. He hadn't sat down. Instead, he stood there with his arms across his chest.

  “How about they get it through their thick skulls that I have no interest in being with any of you?” I asked.

  “That is not true,” Alan retorted, “I felt the way you shivered when I held you. And, while I do not like to admit it, I saw the way you looking at the impressive chest of Dmitri, and if I am not mistaken, you are even impressed by our implacable Master Wei.”

  I blushed. I didn't want to admit it, but they were all very attractive men. Yes, they were all different, but attractive. I'd have to be blind not to see that. And yeah, if I was being honest, I was a little flattered that they were all vying for my attention, but that didn't make it okay.

  “I'm human,” I said by way of defense.

  “Indeed.” Wei's nose crinkled in disgust.

  “Grow up,” I snapped, “So what if I think you guys are all hot? I know the difference between 'ooo pretty' and 'I want to go to bed with you'.”

  “I request that you give us a chance,” Alan offered, “All of us.”

  “What?” I asked. Queen of the snappy replies, that's me.

  “We would like to court you, date you if you will.”

  “All of you?”

  “Not me,” Wei supplied. I had pretty much figured that out.

  “If Wei wishes to be as foolish as he proclaims everyone is, that is entirely his decision. But for myself and Dmitri, I request that you allow us both time with you to show you that while there is a prophecy involved, you may enjoy our company in spite of it, not because of it.”

  It was carefully phrased, worded just enough that I felt like I had a choice in this. “And if I don't? Will you just throw me to this Cult?”

  He sighed, placing his hand over his heart as if I struck him. “I would never let a woman be hurt simply because she does not find my company charming.”

  “Me either,” Dmitri grumbled.

  “Okay,” I said. I don't know who was more surprised, them or me. I hadn't even realized that I was going to agree until the word was out of my mouth. So I'd go out on a few dates with a couple of super-hot vampires. So what? I'd have fun, and when the time came to move on, I would. Dating did not equal sleeping with.

  “Really?” Dmitri asked.

  “Why?” Wei demanded.

  I said the first thing that came to my mind. “I'm young. They are hot. I've never had the chance to have one boyfriend let alone two. Besides, what do you care? You have no interest in me anyway.”

  His lip curled up in a sneer as I pushed my now empty plate away. “We can start tomorrow. Alan gets first date.”

  “Why?” This time it was Dmitri demanding.

  “Because his name starts with an A,” I answered, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I sent Jenny a text letting her know I was awake and ready to learn some magic. Her response was a couple of confetti emojis. I was going to take that as a good thing.

  “Where are you going?” Wei wanted to know as I pushed past them.

  “To learn magic.”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The red hatchback that I had spotted in the parking lot the night before carried Jenny, Connie, and myself back to the house my grandmother had left me.

  “Why there?” I asked when Jenny had told me where we were going.

  “Because, it's got books and wards.”

  “The wards didn't keep us safe last night,” I said, passingly familiar with the idea that a ward was supposed to protect things.

  “Naw,” Connie said, “but it'll keep us from blowing up.”

  Well, I thought, that was good enough for me. Besides, after deciding that I'd date both Dmitri and Alan, I needed to get out of the house. Just saying it had changed the way everything felt. Alan and Dmitri both looked at me as if I was...available. Wei did not. Neither did Peter, come to think of it.

  Jenny pulled her hatchback into the parking spot and we all piled out. It was a nice night, colder than
the one before, but the moon and the stars were out. The three of us headed in, and I felt a rush of guilt for having left the place so messy. The bags of candies and chips were still cluttered everywhere, mixing with the more organized clutter of my grandmother's home.

  “So,” I said after I apologized thirty times and picked everything up, “what do we do?”

  “Did you bring the book?” Connie asked. She was wearing a hoodie today, done in pink camo. Her jeans were torn in several places.

  I looked at my purse, which was barely large enough to fit a paperback much less my grandmother's great big magic book. “Uhhh, no.”