by Sofia Daniel
“Miss Stephens,” said the doctor, his eyes twinkling. “Have you come to feed Mr. Striga?”
“Ummm…” My gaze darted around at the four grinning vampires. “My blood’s a bit off this evening.”
“A pity.” Dr. Grannus walked to the other side of the infirmary and through a wooden door.
Nero placed both hands on my shoulders and lowered me to the seat next to Raphael. “We have a proposal.”
I glanced at Raphael, who shrugged, then turned my gaze to the others. Dante’s aquamarine eyes narrowed, while Nero remained expressionless.
My tongue darted out to lick my lips. “What is it?”
“Gossip travels fast in the vampire community,” said Dante. “I suspect that Lilin will demand the most promising frumosi female for breeding.”
“I see,” said Raphael.
My skin prickled into goosebumps. “I don’t follow.”
Dante’s handsome features twisted with distaste. I scowled back. How did he expect me to know the ins and outs of vampires after just a few weeks in this hell-hole?
Eventually, he spoke. “Despite what everyone thinks, you’re an unattached frumosi and one who has hurt more vampires than any other in the academy.”
“Lilin would want to breed an army of sun-walkers with your strange magic,” added Nero.
I locked eyes with a concerned-looking Raphael. “Magic? But I—” My lips clamped shut. If I let them know about the sunstone, I’d condemn the onion woman. “But I don’t know if it’s hereditary.”
“No matter,” said Nero. “We’ll tell Proust you’re an official concubine of the Kingdom of Stryx. Then Lilin won’t get his filthy claws on you.”
“Wh-what do you want in return?” I asked.
“One night,” replied Dante.
I jolted out of my seat. “One night of what?”
“Don’t play coy.” Dante shoved me down on the seat and knelt, so we were eye-to-eye. “I’m tired of these scars, and you’re the only person who can accelerate my healing.”
Heat pooled between my legs. “You’re going to—”
“Order you around a bit.” Dante raised his shoulders into a shrug. “Then stick you with my cock and fangs. All. Night. Long.”
His words sent a thrill of terror, and something else, skittering down my spine. The sensation settled into my quivering core. I glanced at Raphael, whose nostrils flared with excitement.
Nero huffed. “Someone has to make sure those two don’t drain you dry, but I suppose you could suck me off the way you’ve been yearning to.”
A flush burned on my cheeks. “N-no I haven’t!”
“Then am I imagining the arousal that fills my nostrils each time I say the word… cock.” The tiny trace of a smile played on his full lips.
“Something tells me you find the word arousing,” I muttered.
Nero winked. “Only when it’s on your tongue.”
“Alright.” I folded my arms, mind whirring. If a bunch of old vampires needed to supervise their spanking to make sure they didn’t get out of control, I sure as hell wasn’t going to get naked in a room with three horny, young vampires and let them stick their fangs into me. “The three of you can keep me away from Lord Lilin in exchange for one night. No fangs and no more.”
“During which we are free to indulge in any part of your body,” said Nero.
I folded my arms across my chest. “Without killing, maiming, biting, or exsanguinating me, yes.”
Dante pulled back, his face twisted with annoyance, but Raphael reached out and placed a warm hand on my arm. His soft, green eyes met mine, and he gave me the most tender of smiles. “Think about it. If Lord Lilin chooses you as a concubine, it will mean being bred every year of your reproductive life. And he’ll be free to bite you any time he wishes. All we’re asking for is one night with you.”
My gaze lowered to his large, pale hand. His suggestion sounded reasonable—one night of sex with three vampires in exchange for protection from Lord Lilin—but something about their proposal didn’t add up. “Why would you help me?”
Dante smirked. “Maybe I just want you on your knees, making you wish you had kissed my feet.”
“Who says we aren’t helping ourselves?” Nero raised a brow. “And a taste of your untainted blood is non-negotiable.”
Raphael gave my arm a comforting squeeze. “We’ll only take enough blood to get things going, and we’ll use enough bliss to make our bites pleasurable.”
“Fine, but the invitation to taste my blood is only for one night and is valid only after you’ve saved me from falling into Lord Lilin’s hands. And you can’t consume more than three swallows each.” I held out my hand.
Nero was the first to shake, then Dante, and then Raphael pressed his lips to my knuckles. It was a pity he didn’t approach me on his own. I probably would have agreed to anything, but after the spanking ambush, I didn’t for one second trust his asshole brothers.
Nero and Dante shared satisfied smirks, and I exhaled a long sigh of relief. Dante hadn’t brought up the favor I owed him for his protection, and I hoped he would forget about it.
I returned shortly after to Frumosi Tower and hid in the cupboard until pale, winter sunlight streamed in through the shutters. Downstairs in the kitchen, a knocker dressed in white overalls pushed open the door to a separate chamber I didn’t notice on my first visit and attached plastic pipes to hairless pigs that lay on their sides. I clapped my hand over my mouth and turned away. So, this was what the vampires added to their sangria.
“What are you doing here?” The onion woman emerged from a storeroom, holding a bag of garlic. “Did anyone see you?”
My mouth went dry. I still didn’t know anything about the woman’s agenda. “I came down for help, and I made sure I wasn’t followed.”
She narrowed her eyes. “What do you want?”
“Um… Who are you?”
“Someone in a position to help if you don’t keep asking pointless questions,” she snapped. “What do you want?”
The story spilled from my lips, starting with the incident with Gates transforming into a werewolf, and when I kissed Raphael with a mouthful of sunstone-infused blood in revenge.
Her brows rose, and a look of grudging respect crossed her features. “Did they ask how you did it?”
“I kept silent. It’s why I was away for so long. The headmaster had a guard watching me.”
Her eyes narrowed. “And where is this guard?”
“He’s stopped, now. But because of the sunstone, some think I have a unique power that might attract the attention of Lord Lilin.” I told her about my deal with the Stryx Brothers’ offer of protection and what they wanted in exchange.
Her lips thinned. “Not a shred of decency, those vampires. I expect you want to make your blood unpalatable.”
“Yes, but I don’t want to hurt anyone.” I glanced at the knockers spooning out a grayish gruel from a huge, metal tureen. “Can I eat some of their porridge?”
“Not unless you want to become a vassal of the headmaster. It’s infused with his blood.”
My brows drew together. “I thought you only had to ingest a vampire’s blood once to become his vassal.”
“Who told you that?”
“A vampire.”
She barked a laugh. “They’d like you to believe that, but if they don’t top you up at least once every new moon, it wears off.”
My hands balled into fists. I’ll bet one or more of them were planning to feed me their blood during my night of pleasure with the Stryx Brothers. “I need to be repulsive by the end of term.”
“The more subtle you are about it, the less they’ll notice of your subterfuge.” She walked over to her stainless steel work table and grabbed handfuls of herbs, explaining that they were used in the knocker porridge to make their blood unappealing.
Together, we chopped the herbs and created a pinch I needed to put under my tongue before I went to sleep. Over the next few days, the scent o
f my blood would become weaker and eventually smell like rotten to vampires.
“Are you sure it works?”
She nodded. “I’ve accessed most areas within the academy, and no vampire has given me a second look.”
“Are you a knocker?” I asked. When her eyes hardened, I quickly added, “I-I mean a sanguinary servant?”
“You and I will get on a lot better if you didn’t ask so many nosy questions.”
With a gulp, I gave her a sharp nod. “It’s just that no one knew about the sandstone—”
“Therefore, no one knew to take it off you. I’ll bet they thought you had some protective magic you could switch on and off.”
“How did you…” the question died on my lips. If I continued annoying the woman with my curiosity, she might not show up the next time I went to the kitchen.
“Wait here.” She bustled away into the storeroom and emerged a moment later, holding a transparent baggie of ashes. “One of the servants found the remains of a girl an hour ago and put them aside to show the headmaster, but I took the most important bits.”
“What is it?”
She shifted the baggie to reveal two metallic items. “Look carefully.”
An eight-petaled flower brooch I’d seen on the twins emerged from the ashes, then an owl tie pin that also looked like an upside-down bat. My stomach dropped. “Are you saying that one of the Stryx Brothers killed someone?”
“It certainly looks that way. This evidence will provide you with more protection than any scent-dampening herbs.” She pressed the remains into my hands. “Hide it well, and use it wisely.”
Palpitations rocked my heart. With this, I might be able to force the boys into helping me escape. They’d even give me the money I needed to start a new life somewhere the hunters won’t be able to find me. Warm gratitude filled my heart. “I-I don’t know how to thank you.”
Her fingers closed around my shoulder. “If you can escape this place and never get involved with a vampire, I’d consider your debt repaid.”
I left the kitchen feeling like I was floating on air. In one move, the onion woman had solved all my problems. And if I phrased things correctly, I might even be able to save Zarah.
After a futile search for the exit Gates used to escape the castle, I gave up and returned to the cupboard. I slept through the breakfast gong but made it in time for Etiquette class. Our teacher, a russet-haired vampire called Lady Cachtice swept into the room, wearing a ballgown.
She spread her arms wide. “From today until the end of term, we’ll focus on the etiquette and manners for a debutante so that you will comport yourselves appropriately for the Winter Solstice Ball.”
Squeals filled the room. Kat and Annette held each other’s hands as though praying for a good match, while some other girls clapped. I slumped into my seat and glanced across the room at Zarah. She sat with her chest on the desk, probably too weak to prop herself up.
Lady Cachtice went through the history of vampire balls. In the past, human nobles presented their daughters to vampire lords for a blessing. Her cheeks pinked. “But these traditions are only held by the highest echelons of our kind. Those who lead the clans and noble houses, and those vampires who have worked their way to the most elite levels in human society.”
I tuned her out and considered the best way to leverage the blackmail material. Approaching the teachers would be a dumb idea, as they would escalate the matters to the twins’ parents and to Lord Stryx. Because of how fucked up things were in this academy, the blame would probably fall on me.
Lady Cachtice made us pile our tables and chairs in the corner of the room, and she demonstrated the basic steps of the waltz. I scratched my head. If I wanted help escaping, I’d have to approach one of the Stryx Brothers with my evidence, but which one?
“Miss Stephens,” said the teacher. “Do you have a question?”
I snapped out of my reverie and blinked. Every frumosi in the room glowered at me. Had I forgotten to do one of the steps? “Um… What happens if a vampire chooses one of us before our education is complete?”
The corners of her mouth curled into a smile. “If anyone can attract the interest of the kind of vampires invited to this ball, they don’t need any further tuition in vampire etiquette.”
Giggles filled the room. I blew out a frustrated breath through my nostrils. At times like this, I wondered if I’d stumbled into a parallel dimension where being a broodmare was good and wanting freedom was wrong.
At lunchtime, I sat in my usual seat at the front and watched everyone chat about the Winter Solstice Ball. Micalla’s table was unusually quiet, as Ponytail slumped in her chair with her eyes downcast. So, the broach from the dead vampire had belonged to Pigtails. Juno sat next to her and placed a hand on her shoulder, but Ponytail shook the other girl off.
I bit down on my lip. As much as I hated Pigtails and believed her responsible for Zarah’s terrible state, my heart couldn’t help aching for her sister. I wasn’t a twin, but if anything happened to Daniel, it would break me.
I bit into my chicken liver parfait tart and sighed. The removal of Pigtails removed a layer of stress that had plagued me since the incident with the werewolf.
Dante approached my table, his posture regal and stiff. “May I sit?”
Before I could say no, he turned a chair around, lowered himself onto it, and leaned on its backrest. He struck a pose worthy of Teen Vogue, and I would have asked him if he had practiced it in the mirror, but remembered that vampires didn’t cast reflections or show up on camera.
He stared down his perfect nose at me. “We want you to wear a cocktail dress at the ball instead of one of the regulation gowns.”
My mouth dried, and I inhaled several deep, calming breaths. This wasn’t what we had agreed. “I thought you were keeping me away from the ball?”
“It’s a statement. You belong to the Stryx Brothers.”
“Can’t you demonstrate that without parading me in front of Lord Lilin?” I hissed. “What happened to our agreement?”
He leaned into me and sniffed. “Are you wearing a new perfume?”
My body stilled. Were the herbs working already? “I changed my soap.”
“It doesn’t suit you. Change it back.”
I shrugged. “Whatever you say.”
Micalla strolled by, wrinkling her nose. “What’s this about a new perfume? Eau de Knocker?”
Dante’s face twisted into a rictus of hatred. Through clenched teeth, he growled, “Leave her.”
Flaring her nostrils, she placed her balled fists on her hips. “Have you forgotten that I still—”
Dante shot out of his seat, grabbed her arm, and hauled her out of the dining room. I rested my hands on my chin, watching them leave. It had been a while since Micalla had flexed her muscles against any of the Stryx Brothers. I wondered whether she and Dante had dated before. He seemed to despise her, all three brothers did, but she seemed fixated with Dante in particular.
Something on the table caught my eye. My old smartphone lay wedged beneath my plate. I sucked in a sharp breath through my teeth and glanced around to see if anyone else had also spotted it. My phone had disappeared from my room. What was it doing here? With the swiftest of movements, I slipped it into my blazer pocket, rose from my seat, and walked to the dining room exit.
I stepped into the marble hallway, heart thumping hard. There was no way I would wait for the end of lectures to inspect my phone, so I dipped into the nearest store cupboard. My hands trembled as I pulled it out, hoping there was at least a signal for me to send an SOS, but everything had been wiped except for one item. A video of Mom and Daniel leaving the house, looking downcast. Steve, my stepfather, stood at the door, his brow creased with worry, watching them leave.
Every ounce of blood drained from my face, and my hand dropped to my side. I hadn’t shot this footage. This had to be a message from Micalla. But when had she left to record my family and why?
Chapter 17
My knees trembled, and I propped myself up against the wall of the storage cupboard, staring at the video of Mom and Daniel leaving the house. It played over and over until my vision blurred and the light from the smartphone’s screen made the walls close in like the walls of a coffin. Shallow, rapid breaths forced their way in and out of my lungs, and the lining of my stomach trembled with worry.
This video was Micalla’s doing. Another vampire might have sped past and placed the phone under the rim of my plate, but they wouldn’t have done so with Nero watching my back. She probably slid it there while Dante had jostled her away.
I don’t know how long I stayed in that darkened space, watching the video loop itself. It was as though hiding here and not leaving to attract a vampire’s wrath would keep my family safe.
The cupboard door opened, and Micalla stepped inside, her silver hair shining like polished swords, teeth bared in a parody of a smile, and her eyes as dark as death. She held one hand behind her back, presumably to keep the door shut.
My heart jumped into my throat, and I clutched the phone to my chest.
Her grin widened. “Did you enjoy the family reunion?”
“W-what…” I gulped, barely able to get the words out with the membranes of my dry throat sticking together. “What do you want?”
“Lord Lilin,” she said, her tone businesslike.
“Huh?”
“My mother,” she spat the last word, “wants agents loyal to House Mantis in every major vampire household. She’s offered me to Lilin as a consort.”
“But what’s that got to—”
“I want to join my sister in Stryx.”
The cupboard walls spun, and dark spots danced before my eyes. How the hell could someone like me influence vampire politics? I gasped out, “Why did you show me that video?”
“So you know who will pay if you don’t approach Lord Lilin at the ball and convince him that he needs an army of day-walkers to wage his war against the hunters. Then tell him you’re the girl to give it to him.”