“When you put it that way, of course I don’t want you to leave me alone,” he went on. “We could have so much more fun together.”
His gaze purposely flicked to the single bed, lingering there to clarify his intentions. I’d completely forgotten my next question, as Thomas shifted I could now see brown paper covering the entire box. It was large enough to store a body. I inched closer, curiosity spinning wildly through my mind. What on earth could it be? I kept my focus on it, hoping to glean a clue.
“Though,” he added slowly, “I would prefer to roll around on something a bit more… accommodating to my size.”
I stopped moving. Nearly ceased breathing as his words batted my curiosity about the package away. I could not imagine what it would be like: lying in bed together, kissing without restraint… and—
Thomas smirked, as if he knew precisely the direction my wanton thoughts had taken and was pleased I hadn’t tossed him from the window. Yet.
Face burning, I pointed to the chamber behind me. “Get out of my bedroom, Cresswell. You may leave the box on the settee.”
He tsked. “Apologies, my sweet. But you really should act immediately when you read my body language. I saw you take in my foot. A decent job of collecting details, I must admit. Too bad you let those scandalous thoughts distract you. Though I can hardly blame you.”
“Take in your… Thomas!” Before I could charge at him, he swept the door closed with his blasted foot. I tried the knob, but he’d already twisted the key, locking himself in. I was going to murder him.
“For such a modest young woman,” Thomas called from beyond the door, “you certainly have an intriguing number of lacy unmentionables. I’m going to be imagining all sorts of improper things while you’re sawing up the next body in Percy’s class. Do you believe that makes me some sort of deviant? Perhaps I should be worried. Actually, maybe it’s you who should be afraid.”
“Cresswell! You’ve made your point, now kindly leave. If the headmaster discovers this impropriety while I’m on academic probation, I’ll be expelled!”
I pounded the door, jumping back a step when it creaked open. All humor was wiped from his expression as he cocked his head, staring down at me. “Did you say academic probation? What manner of mischief have I missed out on and what, exactly, does probation entail?”
I slumped against the wall, suddenly exhausted from the previous night. I’d barely slept, tossing and turning as if that might help sort out what I thought I’d seen. Were there really two people chanting in the corridor? Did they truly steal a body, or was that bundle they were carrying simply excess food stores, as Moldoveanu suggested? I no longer trusted myself.
Thomas mimicked my position by leaning against the doorjamb and I relayed each detail I could recall, knowing he’d find meaning in anything I might have missed, as he often saw things in a unique manner. I spoke of my adventure with Anastasia in the village, and the discovery of the missing young woman’s possible involvement with the Order of the Dragon. I even told him about my suspicions regarding Nicolae’s illustrations and how that might possibly tie in with his cousin’s death. I didn’t inform him that I’d also been featured in the prince’s journal, though. That I didn’t want to share for several reasons. When I finished, Thomas gnawed his bottom lip until it seemed it might bruise.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Nicolae was responsible for sending those threats,” he said. “But the why is a bit buried. I’ll have to watch him in class. Pick up on any tics or hints.”
“Regardless,” I said, “I have a theory someone is hunting Vlad’s bloodline. Making a statement. To what purpose, I’m not sure. In two of the murders it appears as if there’s a vampire hunter. The other murder definitely has the marks of a vampire attack. I think Prince Nicolae might be in danger. Unless he is the one who’s sending out the threats. What is the common bond amongst the victims? And how does the woman from the tunnels figure into it all?”
“Nicolae’s technically not one of Vlad’s descendants.” Thomas stared directly into my eyes, but I could see he was on another continent. “He’s part of the Dăneşti line. The Dăneşti and Drăculeşti families were rivals for many years. I’d say someone is targeting the House of Basarab—both branches of the family. Or perhaps one family line is being portrayed as vampires, and the other as the hunters.”
“So Dăneşti the guard is related to Prince Nicolae?” I asked. “I’m a bit afraid to ask how you’re so well versed on a medieval family.”
“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” He inhaled deeply. “I’m Dracula’s heir.”
I was grateful I was already leaning against the wall for support. I stared at him, trying to unravel the confusion surrounding such a simple statement. I couldn’t possibly have heard him correctly. He waited, not uttering another word, tensed for my response.
“But… you’re English.”
“And Romanian, remember? On my mother’s side.” He offered a tentative smile. “My mother was a cel Rău, a descendant of Vlad’s son Mihnea.”
I rolled that information around my mind, choosing my next words with care. “Why haven’t you mentioned Dracula’s lineage before? It’s quite an intriguing topic.”
“‘Cel Rău’ means the Evil One. I wasn’t keen on exposing that. In fact, your friend Anastasia cornered me the other week and accused me of bringing this blood curse to the academy. She said Dracula’s last remaining male heir should not have come to this castle, unless I harbored a grandiose scheme of taking it over, or some other such nonsense.”
He dropped his gaze to the carpet, shoulders curving inward. My heart sped up. I realized Thomas believed that foolish moniker. Worse, he believed I’d think that of him, too. All because of which family he’d been born into. I had no idea how Anastasia discovered the truth of his lineage and didn’t care at the moment. I touched his elbow, gently encouraging him to look at me.
“Are you sure it doesn’t translate to the Foolish One?” He didn’t so much as crack a smile. Something in my core twisted. “If you’re an evil one, I’m equally so. If not worse. We both carve the dead, Thomas. That doesn’t make us damned. Is that why you didn’t tell me sooner? Or were you afraid your princely title would change my… feelings?”
He slowly lifted his gaze; for once he didn’t hide his emotions. Before he responded I saw the depth of his fear sketched across his face. All posturing and arrogance gone. In their place stood a young man who appeared as if the world might be breaking around him and there wasn’t a thing he could do to save himself. He’d fallen over a cliff so high all hope of survival had perished before he’d hit the ground.
“Who would blame you for not speaking to me again? The unfeeling monster who’s descended from the Devil himself. Everyone in London would love it. An actual reason for my reprehensible social behavior.” Thomas ran a hand through his hair. “Most people find me hard to be near under the best of circumstances. I was, if I were being honest, terrified you’d see what everyone else does. It’s not that I don’t trust you. I am selfish and don’t want to lose you. I am heir to a dynasty drenched in blood. What could I possibly offer you?”
There were a thousand things we needed to focus on. The possibility of the impostor Impaler being close to the academy. The growing number of murders. Our suspicious classmate… And yet, when I stared into Thomas’s eyes and saw the agony behind them, I could think of only one thing. I moved closer, heart racing with each step I took toward him.
“I don’t see a monster, Thomas.” I paused with a few inches between us. “I see only my best friend. I see kindness. And compassion. I see a young man who’s determined to use his mind to help others, even when he fails miserably at emotional matters.”
His lips twitched, but I still saw the underlying worry in his countenance. “Perhaps we can stick with all the ways in which I’m wonderful…”
“What I mean to say is, I see you, Thomas Cresswell.” I placed a gloved hand to his face in the barest
hint of touch. “And I think you are truly incredible. Sometimes.”
He remained perfectly still for a few, taut moments, his focus sliding over my features, gauging my sincerity. I kept my expression open, allowing the truth to reveal itself.
“Well, I am charming.” Thomas ran his hands down the front of his waistcoat, his tension ebbing with the movement. “And a prince. You were bound to swoon. Though Prince Dracula is the very gothic opposite of Prince Charming. A minor detail, really.”
I laughed full and rich. “Aren’t you technically from a displaced family? You’re a prince without a throne.”
“Deposed Prince Charming doesn’t have quite the same ring to it, Wadsworth,” he said, huffing faux exasperation, though I could see the twinkle now gleaming in his eyes.
“I’m charmed all the same.”
A different sort of light sparked in his gaze as it slowly traveled to my mouth. Very carefully, he stepped forward and tilted my chin up. I realized—even through ups and downs and mistakes—it wouldn’t be a terrible way to go through life, having him by my side while the world went mad around us. My eyes fluttered shut, ready for a second kiss… that didn’t come. Thomas’s hands were suddenly gone and my skin instantly missed his warmth.
“How inconvenient.” He stood straighter, nodding at the door, and stepped away. “We have a guest.”
The maid I’d sent out with Thomas’s note earlier flushed so deeply I could see the dark hue from where I stood as she entered my chambers. It was not the first time I wished for Ileana to return. I had the urge to melt into the floor, positive she’d read the tension between Thomas and me, even though we were now a respectable distance apart. She lifted the wooden buckets she was carrying in response.
She mumbled apologies half in Romanian, half in English, but I understood.
“No, no, it’s quite all right. You weren’t interrupting anything,” I said, moving toward the now-open door. I did not want her making the wrong assumption. Or the right one. The scandal of Thomas standing in my chaperone-free rooms was already enough to ruin me were news of it to get out. Would this quiet girl ever do such a thing? The way she lingered at the perimeter of the chambers, not quite able to meet my gaze, was enough to incite panic. I did my best to speak in as much Romanian as possible: “We were on our way to the library. Please tell Ileana I’d love to speak with her later.”
The young maid kept her head down, nodding. “Da, domnişoară. I’ll be sure to tell her if I see her.”
I felt Thomas’s attention drifting toward the new maid but didn’t want to draw any more attention to our inappropriate position. I smiled at the girl, then walked with Thomas as swiftly as I dared to the library. We had a case to solve. Now armed with the knowledge of Thomas’s lineage, I feared Nicolae might not be the only one in danger, if my suspicion of Vlad’s bloodline being targeted was correct. Then again, perhaps Thomas was even more in danger since he was Dracula’s heir.
If one branch of the family tree was being impaled and the other drained of blood, neither was safe.
LIBRARY
BIBLIOTECĂ
BRAN CASTLE
14 DECEMBER 1888
“Couldn’t stay away from me, now, could you?” Noah beamed at me from behind a large tome standing upright on a small desk. “Why weren’t you in anatomy class?”
I exhaled. “Our mutual friend may have caught me outside after curfew.”
Noah shook his head and chuckled. “I hope whatever lured you outside was worth it. That man is more terrifying than any vampire haunting the academy.” Seriousness quickly replaced the levity in his tone. “You’re lucky Moldoveanu found you last night. That maid wasn’t as fortunate. Something got her.”
Thomas and I blinked at each other, and dread pooled in my veins. I hadn’t seen Ileana all morning. In fact, I hadn’t seen her in nearly two days.
“What maid?” I asked, stomach twisting. “What was her name?”
“One of the girls who was assigned to Prince Nicolae’s and Andrei’s chambers. Moldoveanu and that guard are questioning them both right now. Canceled both Percy’s and Radu’s classes this afternoon and everything. We’re supposed to be back in our rooms by three.” Noah eyed us. “I’d consider listening to the headmaster today. Erik, Cian, and I are locking ourselves in to study. That maid’s body was drained of blood. I’d like to keep mine.”
“You don’t truly believe a vampire attacked her, do you?”
Noah shrugged. “Does it matter if it was a real vampire or a fake one? Either way, she’s dead and her blood is gone.”
I couldn’t corral my thoughts fast enough. If now both this maid and the girl from the tunnels had been murdered, perhaps I’d been wrong in my assumption that only members of the royal family were being targeted. The village girl didn’t have any apparent royal ties, and I still didn’t believe she was a member of the Order, regardless of Anastasia’s cryptic note.
“How do you know the blood is missing?” Thomas folded his arms neatly against his chest. “Did anyone see the body? Where was it discovered?”
“After anatomy class, the twins found her in the corridor outside the science wing. Apparently they were hurrying back to their rooms for lunch. That’s when they found her body. Said she was paler than Wilhelm. No postmortem lividity present.” Noah swallowed hard. “She also had no outward signs of trauma. No obvious wounds besides two punctures in her neck. Strigois might be myth, but whoever’s killing these people doesn’t seem to know or care.”
“I believe the murderer is using a mortuary apparatus,” I said. “Does the headmaster take inventory of the academy’s equipment?”
“Don’t know. If he does, I’m sure he’s already investigated, though.” Noah closed the book he’d been reading and eyed the librarian, who’d come in and taken a seat behind a large desk. He slid his gaze over each of us, smiling politely. Noah dropped his voice and leaned in. “Though I doubt he’d tell us if one was missing. Moldoveanu isn’t really the sharing type. If someone sneaked into the academy and stole a device that’s being used in murders…” He lifted a shoulder. “That wouldn’t be a popular thing for people to know. The academy would be ruined.”
As we all considered the new information, the librarian caught my eye again and smiled.
“Bonjour,” he said. “Je m’appelle Pierre. May I help you find anything?”
“No, thank you,” Noah said, shouldering his satchel. “I’ll see you both in class. Whenever that is. This assessment course might get canceled. At least that’s the rumor.” He shook his head, disappointment etched into the movement. “I traveled a long way to get here, and pretend vampire or not, I’m not giving up on earning one of those spots yet. Like I said, Erik, Cian, and I are studying later—you’re both welcome to join.”
“Thank you.” I smiled. It was a sweet offer, but there was no way I’d be permitted to stay in a room full of young men for an entire night, no matter how innocent the reason. I could see Aunt Amelia crossing herself at the mere thought of my sullied reputation.
Thomas bid Noah good-bye and inspected the librarian with microscopic precision. He was a slender man with curly brown hair and wore an oversize jumper. “Where might we find a book on the Order of the Dragon, marked with Roman numerals in any way?”
Pierre steepled his fingers, gaze calculating before he stood. “This way, please.”
A stack of books sprawled over nearly each inch of the aisle Pierre had instructed us to search. The librarian reminded me of a hermit crab, reluctant to come too far out of his shell before retreating into its depths. I had a suspicion that he hid from Radu whenever he heard him coming.
Thomas flipped another tattered text shut, sneezing at the handful of dust motes shooting into the air. Undeterred, he selected another. We’d been doing the same thing for hours. Sitting quietly, sneezing, and scanning each old journal. There must have been hundreds at my feet alone. We were more determined than ever to tie some of these seemingly random clues toget
her. Someone was quite gifted with peppering the trail with false leads.
“Let’s pretend as if we’re in Uncle’s laboratory, Cresswell.”
Thomas glanced up, bemused. “Shall I don spectacles and mutter to myself, then?”
“Be serious. I’ll offer my thoughts and theories regarding the murderer first, all right?”
Thomas nodded, though I could see he wished to be the one to act out Uncle’s role. If given an opportunity, he would have rushed to his rooms and donned a tweed jacket.
“I believe our killer has a very good grasp of forensic practices and how to cast suspicion elsewhere,” I said. “The manner in which the crimes have been carried out suggests meticulous planning, or more than one killer. Which then leads us back to the Order of the Dragon and their potential involvement. But why them? Why would they stage vampire crimes?”
Thomas shook his head. “They’ve been around for centuries, and from what little I know, they have had lots of assassination practice passed down through their ranks.”
“Perhaps they murdered the missing girl from the village to use her home for its proximity to the castle. Or maybe her death was ritualistic in nature.”
Thomas considered that for a moment. “But why would the Order of the Dragon want to hunt students at the academy? If they were created to protect the royal line, why destroy members of it?”
“I can think of one reasonable explanation,” I said. “What if they’re loyalists who want to put Dracula’s heir back on the throne? Maybe they are slowly working their way through anyone with a claim to the throne, distant or otherwise.”
Thomas blanched. “It’s a good theory, Wadsworth. Let’s see what else we uncover about them, though.”
We went back to pulling books we could find off the shelves—the Order’s association made obvious by their multiple insignias and crosses. Their sigil was a dragon coiled around itself, and a recurring theme was a cross with flames. There was something familiar about that, but I hadn’t a clue where I’d have seen it before.
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