by Gayla Twist
Jessie frowned and then followed suit, climbing out of the coffin unassisted.
Once I was on stable ground, I tried to release the man’s hand, but he held firmly to mine. “Allow me to greet you properly,” he said, bowing over my hand and pressing it to his lips. “Welcome,” he said, looking up at me from his formal greeting. He was oddly handsome, like a movie star from some dashing swashbuckler. It made me uncomfortable, but also oddly fluttery in my belly to have him gazing at me with such delight. “This should probably go without saying,” Lord Vagnar said in a low voice after straightening up again, “but I am really quite enchanted.” He was still holding firmly to my hand and I was reluctant to jerk it away for fear of offending him. “Am I right in understanding that you and Mr. Vanderlind are engaged?”
“Yes, we are,” Jessie said, appearing at my side and then taking a half-step forward so that he was slightly shielding me from my apparent admirer. “And have been for quite some time.”
“Really?” Vagnar raised his eyebrows imperiously high on his forehead. “What’s the delay in sealing the deal? — If I am using that expression correctly.”
“There is no delay,” Jessie informed him. “We are proceeding as it suits us.”
“You should get married here, in my castle,” Vagnar said, waving his hand through the air with an expansive gesture. Turning to the crowd, he asked, “Would you like that? Shall we have a wedding?”
Everyone cheered.
Vagnar turned back to the two of us, beaming. “I think the idea is popular.”
I was stunned. What was going on? Did these people seriously just steal our coffin and then decide to throw us a wedding? I really had no idea what to say.
Fortunately, Jessie still had his wits about him. “We already have our plans set for a wedding in America with our families and friends.”
“Oh, the colonies,” Vagnar said with a sneer and then a laugh. “That doesn’t sound any fun at all. We’ll have a big wedding here and then you can have your little backyard barbeque — or whatever you do in the New World — if you return.” And then he corrected himself. “I mean, when you return.”
Jessie gave him a tight smile. “We thank you for your hospitality, but we have business with the Bishops that we must attend to immediately.”
“Oh, they can wait,” Vagnar said with a dismissive wave of his hand.
“I don’t think they can,” Jessie said.
“Of course they can,” the older vampire insisted. “I’ll make them wait. I’m a judge, after all. They have to listen to me. In fact, almost everyone has to do what I say. And that’s the way I like it.” With that, he released a large laugh and the entire room quickly joined him.
Jessie was trying not to show his annoyance with this handsome, flippant man who found it amusing to toy with our lives. He used the greatest care to show no frustration when he said, “Will you be so kind as to direct me to a phone? I must call home and learn where we are meant to stay during our visit. I had thought…”
“You staying here, of course,” the Lord interrupted him. “I thought I’d made myself clear.”
“We couldn’t possibly impose,” was Jessie’s reply.
“Why not?” Lord Vagnar waved a hand at the attentive crowd. “Everyone else is.” The crowd burst into another round of laughter, but to my ears it sounded a little forced.
A young woman stepped forward. She must have been turned when she was barely older than me. She had dark, lustrous hair piled high on her head and her outfit, a ruby red silk corset and netted skirt, was much simpler than most of the other guests. She said in a low voice to the lord of the castle, “I think your new guests must be feeling tired after their long trip in such cramped quarters. Perhaps they would like to refresh themselves.”
Vagnar gave her a surprised look, as if the idea had never occurred to him. “Of course.” He reached out, clamped both of his hands around her head and gave her a rough kiss on the temple. “That’s why I keep you, Yvette. You always think of everything that I don’t.”
When the young woman pulled away from him, I caught a brief expression that flitted across her face. She didn’t appear at all flattered or amused. In fact, I got the very strong impression that she didn’t like Lord Vagnar. I had to wonder what control he had over her to keep her there.
“Please come with me,” Yvette said to both of us. “I’ll show you to your room.”
“Separate rooms,” Vagnar called after her. “They’re not married yet and I won’t have any bedroom hijinks in my house. At least not until after the wedding.” This comment sent the crowd into peals of laughter. Pressing a hand to my cheek, I knew that if I was still mortal my face would have been bright red.
Chapter 12
“My name is Yvette,” the young woman said as we trailed behind her up a steep flight of stairs. She was pretty, with wide set eyes and soft features. After we then introduced ourselves, she said, “You’ll have to forgive Lord Vagnar. He’s always at his worst when he has a large audience. Especially one filled with sycophants.”
“We appreciate his hospitality in taking us in,” Jessie assured her.
“Don’t,” Yvette said. “He’ll take anyone in, as long as he finds it amusing.” Pausing halfway down a very long hallway that was at a slight incline, she looked at us over her shoulder. “And he finds the situation you’re currently in very amusing.”
I very nearly said, “I’m so glad our troubles entertain him,” but I bit back my words. We didn’t know Yvette and we were in no position to trust anyone so easily.
Eventually the hallway came to an end and we entered the ground floor of Vagnar’s home. I’d never studied architectural history or anything, but I had to guess that Lord Vagnar’s castle wasn’t nearly as old as the Vanderlind’s home. Besides the authentic-looking dungeon, there were too many modern conveniences for it to have been built in medieval times. The Vanderlinds had to make do with trying to camouflage wires running along walls with baseboards and other decorative touches — there was no easy way to run wire through stone — but Vagnar’s home had a plentiful number of well-placed outlets, as far as I could see. All of the wiring was flawlessly concealed.
We entered a grand room with vaulted ceilings and heavily curtained Gothic style windows stretching toward the sky. I hadn’t visited that many homes of the undead, but it always amazed me that they incorporated windows into every modern structure. Things had been so turbulent since I’d been turned that I hadn’t had time to miss the sunshine, but I had no doubt that longing would eventually overtake me.
“Lord Vagnar’s home is so beautiful,” I said to Yvette while gesturing at a massive painting of the sun setting over Venice. “Is it very old?”
Yvette turned and began climbing a wide staircase that started out about a third of the width of one wall and then tapered so that the top was only about the length of a grand piano. She flashed me a knowing smile. “So you’ve noticed, have you? The little modern touches that let you know that it’s not quite as old as it’s supposed to be.” Yvette lowered her voice to a conspiratorial level. “He had it built in the eighties. Some of the color schemes give it away.”
“The eighteen eighties?” Jessie asked, sounding surprised.
“No.” Yvette gave an amused shake of her head. “The gag-me-with-a-spoon eighties.”
“But there’s a dungeon,” I couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Oh yes,” Yvette said. “What’s a castle without a dungeon? And he puts it to good use.”
I felt my stomach do a small flip, but decided it was better not to ask any details about how Lord Vagnar used the dungeon. It was probably information I didn’t want stuck in my head. I wondered again about Yvette and why she stayed at the faux castle. Her English was impeccable, but she did have a slight accent. If I had to guess, I would have said French, but I was probably being influenced by her name.
We followed her down a hallway that had numerous doors, all of which looked identical. Yvett
e paused in front of a room, gave a quick rap on the door and then turned to Jessie. “This is where you’ll stay,” she said. The door was opened immediately by a grave looking mortal man dressed in a black suit and tie with a plain white button down shirt underneath. “Your luggage was retrieved from the airport. Thomas here will be your personal butler while you stay. He’ll attend to all your needs.”
Jessie’s lips twitched. “I think I know how to dress myself. I won’t be needing a manservant.”
Yvette shrugged. “Whether you need him or not, this is his job and he is at your service.”
Jessie gave Thomas a frank look. “I’m afraid you're going to be pretty bored the next couple of days. I hope you don’t mind.”
The butler made a stiff bow. “As you see fit, Sir.”
“It’s no good trying to ditch him,” Yvette said. “He’ll only get in trouble for shirking his duties. And that’s not very fair to do to poor old Thomas, now is it?”
“I guess not,” Jessie said with a sigh.
I was still in the hallway, with Jessie only halfway in the room that would be his accommodations. Looking up and down the hall, I noted that there were over a dozen doors and they all looked exactly the same. It was like a hotel, but where none of the rooms were numbered. The Vanderlind castle had numerous rooms, but there was a unique carving over each door, so that made things easy.
“How do you ever remember which room is yours when all the doors are identical?” I asked.
“A lot of guests don’t,” Yvette said. “Lord Vagnar considers that half the fun.” She stated it as fact, but she didn’t seem amused by it.
“And do you frequently find strangers stumbling into your room in the middle of the day?” Jessie wanted to know.
Yvette’s lips pinched together for a moment before she replied with, “My room is not on the guest floors.” Then, turning to look at me, she added, “If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to your quarters.”
As we moved down the hall, Jessie came with us. When Yvette gave him a questioning look, he said, “With so many rooms in Lord Vagnar’s castle, I’d at least like to know where I can find my fiancée.”
My room was up another flight of stairs, down a hall and then offset from the rest of the rooms by a dogleg to the right and another short flight of stairs. “Here we are,” Yvette said, stopping outside a closed door that had a design of a field of dragonflies painted above it.
I didn’t like the idea of being so far away from Jessie. “I hate to be ungracious,” I said to Yvette, “but isn’t there a way Jessie and I could be closer together?”
She gave a small frown. “Lord Vagnar likes to dictate the room arrangements himself. But I could tell him of your request.”
I thought that was a weird thing for her to say, considering Vagnar’s words as we were leaving the dungeon. “No, that’s okay,” I said, remembering the jokes Lord Vagnar liked to make at our expense and already feeling the sting of embarrassment on what he would say if he knew my request.
“I think you’ll find the room quite comfortable,” she said, opening the door.
It was a charming room with pale green walls, a canopy bed, cream colored duvet and matching curtains. “It’s lovely,” I said.
“You don’t have a lady’s maid assigned yet,” Yvette told me. “The girl that was supposed to attend you had…” Her words trailed away. “Well, never mind about that now. I can assist you until a suitable replacement is found.”
“I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” I told her.
“I insist,” was Yvette’s reply. “You’ll need help with your wardrobe, I’m sure. And besides, I was thinking it might be rather fun.” She added in a quieter voice, “Almost like having a friend.” She gave me a shy smile. I found it easy enough to imagine that someone like Yvette might be lonely at the castle, even in Vagnar’s crowd of followers.
“Okay.” I returned her smile. It would be nice to have someone to think of as a friend in such an intimidating place.
Jessie stepped into the room and began to look around. There was a shallow alcove to the right of the bed that led to a door. He tried the knob, but found it was locked. “Where doesn’t this go?” he asked.
Yvette glanced at the door. “It’s one of the little architectural quirks of the castle. I think it happened when they did an expansion in the nineties. As far as I know, it just wraps back around to the hallway.”
Frowning a bit, Jessie stooped and tried applying his eye to the keyhole. There mustn’t have been anything to see because he straightened up again and then continued pacing the room.
“I’m sure you’re famished,” Yvette said, moving toward a small bureau. “You have a refrigerator here,” she said, pulling on one of the drawers. The whole front of the bureau swung open on a hinge. “Everything is restocked in the mornings, but there’s always plenty for whenever the urge should strike.” She unconsciously lifted a hand to her own neck and I wondered if she was recalling the night she was made. After a moment, she pulled a carafe out of the modest refrigerator and said, “Let me pour you a glass now.” The bureau also, apparently, concealed some glassware because she easily produced two goblets.
“Won’t you join us?” Jessie asked, stepping forward to stand closer to me.
She regarded him for a moment and then replied, “I’m not sure what Lord Vagnar would think of that, but if you insist.”
“We insist,” he said, giving her a smile. “Don’t we, Aurora?”
I nodded my consent and Yvette filled the glasses.
The blood tasted so good. I could feel it revitalizing every cell of my body. It suddenly occurred to me that we had not packed any food for our flight, which seemed odd. Viggo and Gloria had obviously been distracted when making the preparations. I decided not to mention anything to Jessie. We’d survived and I saw no reason to get them in trouble. It also made me wonder if I was getting better at controlling my appetite. Or maybe I was just distracted by my close proximity of Jessie.
I downed my glass almost instantly and Yvette cordially refilled it. She sipped from hers, but Jessie barely touched his glass to his lips. I knew he must have been hungry, but I had no idea why he was showing such reserve.
After a few minutes Yvette said, “It’s late, but I should probably rejoin the revelers.” She looked at me. “Can I get you anything before I go?”
“No,” I assured her. “I have everything I need. I’d just like to rest for a few hours.”
“Of course,” Yvette said, crossing the room to the door. “There will be a banquet tomorrow in your honor, so you’ll want to dress.”
“Dress?” I said, feeling my stomach drop. I’d only packed a few sweaters and some nice-ish clothes for facing the Bishops, but they were the kind of thing I would wear to a job interview.
My new friend suppressed a smile. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I’ll have something sent up.” She ran an appraising eye over my figure. “Lord Vagnar keeps a large wardrobe selection on hand for just such emergencies. I’m sure I can find something pretty in your size.”
I felt a small wave of gratitude toward Lord Vagnar. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.
After Yvette left, Jessie pulled me close to him and looked me in the eye. “How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Okay,” I told him. “Tired, I guess, but in general I’m okay.”
“Good.” Jessie released me and then quickly downed his glass of blood.
“What’s that all about?” I asked as he filled his glass once more. “Why didn’t you drink it before?”
“I wasn’t sure if there was something in it. Lord Vagnar is not quite what I expected and…” He shook his head while thinking it over. “And I just don’t know about him.”
“It’s is kind of odd, his taking us in like this.” I had to agree. “Do you think he is who Viggo called to pick us up?”
“I doubt it,” Jessie told me, taking another large gulp from his goblet. “I’d assumed — if the Bis
hops didn’t send someone to the airport to immediately lock us in chains — that the Csorbos would take us in, but I know Gloria was having trouble contacting them.
“I hope nothing’s wrong.” I felt immediately alarmed. The Csorbos had sheltered us on our last visit to Budapest and I knew that had bent out of shape quite a few members of the undead. I wasn’t exactly popular in many vampire circles when I was a mortal. I wondered if being an actual member of the undead would help with my social status.
“I’m sure they’re fine,” Jessie said. “Probably just on holiday.”
I had to wonder for a moment where vampires went on vacation. If things turned out well with the Bishops, then hopefully I would eventually find out.
“I guess I should go back to my room,” Jessie said, reaching out and giving my hand a squeeze.
“Oh,” I exclaimed. “Please don’t leave me here all by myself. I’ll never be able to even close my eyes.”
Jessie gave me a suspicious look. “Aurora? Is this another one of your tricks to try to…?” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, you know.”
“No,” I assured him. “I’ll be good. I promise. I’m just… nervous. This isn’t at all what I was expecting.”
“Me neither,” Jessie said, looping his arms back around me. “Once we’ve rested a bit, I’ll dig my phone out of my luggage and call home. We need to know what’s going on.” I had actually dragged Jessie into the modern age by getting him a cell phone, but he couldn’t keep it in the coffin with us. Sometimes airlines x-rayed coffins and a corpse with a smartphone always looked a little suspicious.
“Do you think Lord Vagnar was serious about hosting our wedding?” I asked. It was a weird thing for him to offer after only knowing us for a matter of minutes.”
Jessie thought it over. “I doubt it,” was his reply. “I think he’s just a bit of a blowhard and like to show off for his guests.”
“Good,” I told him. I wanted to marry Jessie as soon as possible, but I didn’t want to do it in some faux castle in front of strangers. We would have to have a night wedding, of course, but I would be damned if I was getting married without my mom to walk me down the aisle and Blossom as my maid of honor.”