Page 27 of To Vanquish Darkness

“I wouldn’t dare.” Theo straightened, keeping her collared with his fingers and nudging her forward. “Lovely to see you all.”

Clémentine glared at Amalie, then disappeared into the shadows. Etienne and his pets joined three other vampires watching from the far side of the street, but Ren stood with his eyes still fixed on hers. He watched as Theo led her up the cobbled street, and she felt his eyes on her well after they ascended the stairs.

“What was—” she started, but Theo squeezed and shook his head. Amalie clamped her mouth shut and followed, her arm still looped around him. His muscles flexed under her palm each time he took a step.

She peered into the dark, forcing her eyes to trace the intricate carvings on the stone as they spiraled upward into the pinks and oranges of sunrise. What had she seen? Was his glamour strong enough to put images in her head?

She needed to move away from him. Her lips felt seared where he'd kissed her, and his scent still bathed her in calm, willing her to be compliant. With her feet still stinging and her muscles burning, it was becoming more difficult to want to pull away.

Amalie reminded herself this was necessary. She had to play a part. She needed answers, and this was the only way to get them. Then she raced to remind herself why she hated this man. He'd taken her mother. Attacked her in her bedroom.

The only reason he'd taken her in and warmed her by the fire was so he could use her as a tool. That’s all humans were to his kind.

She would kill him.

Just as she’d planned to do the first time. Because what she felt and what she chose were two different things.

She would fight his glamour. She would play this game a little longer until she could take information back to her friends, until she discovered her own fate, and until she knew each step it would take to rid the world of Theo Vallon and every last vampire like him.

12

1836 NORTHERN NORMANDY, FRANCE

Theo guided her through a gothic archway, its stone protectors glaring down at them with grotesque faces. A gust of wind swept through the stone corridor, toying with the ends of her hair as they finally ascended the steps of the stone, turreted building that sat atop the rocky island like a crown. Amalie looked up, stretching her neck to see where the spires scraped the sky.

They strode through wooden doors similar to the ones at the lower gate, and Amalie blinked to clear her vision in the dim interior. Her eyes widened. Rich tapestries hung on the walls. Carpets covered the stone floors, and vases of fresh-cut flowers sat on tables mirroring each other on either side of the entry. She didn't know what she'd expected. Something like a dungeon, she supposed. Gloomy, dark, and cold. This was the opposite.

"This is where you live?" she asked as Theo walked toward a central stone spiral staircase.

He nodded, maintaining his grip on her as they ascended. She soon saw why. The staircase opened wide at each floor, revealing richly adorned sitting rooms where vampires lounged and fires crackled in the hearth.

"How many of you are there?"

"Only one. I thought you would've recognized that by now," Theo murmured.

Amalie hated that she almost laughed. "You know what I meant. How many vampires?"

"Not all vampires are created equal, so you can imagine my confusion." Theo exited the staircase on the third level, pulling her with him through another common room to a door on the left. They entered a hall that forced them to turn right, then stopped in a large, open room with dark wood paneling on the walls. A sprawling desk and upholstered chairs sat on polished wooden floors.

Amalie's heart sank. "You don't sleep in beds." She longed to curl up on a mattress but now had visions of cold stone floors and potato sacks.

Theo shrugged. "Not always, but they can still be incredibly useful." He dropped his hand, and Amalie's skin immediately cooled. She shuffled away from him, ignoring the hairs on her neck standing at attention. "These are my quarters." Theo strode across the room and motioned to a door at the back. "Everyone will expect?—"

"I'mnotstaying with you." She’d done as he asked, and one game was more than enough for her.

He gave her an amused look. "I assumed as much, which was why I was about to say you could have this room if you’d prefer. If you would've let me finish." He pointed to a second door next to the first.

Amalie fingered the hem of her shirt. It had come loose during their trek across the sand flats. She reeked of sweat and dirt from the floor of the shed, and she hadn't eaten more than the bread and cheese Theo had offered her hours prior. All she wanted to do was bolt through that door, strip off her clothes, and take a hot bath. But she didn't know if vampires did that. If there would be a wash basin, or food, or?—

"They won't ask questions if that's what you're concerned about. My lifestyle has always been a bit odd. They're used to it."

Amalie swallowed hard. His lifestyle. This place. It felt like she was drinking from a bucket. "You play with your conquests before you kill them?"

"If only all of us could be as morally pure as Amalie Clermont." Theo pushed off of the wall, his expression clouded. "I'll have food brought up to you. If you need anything, you can knock." He pushed her door open. “I don’t recommend you leave your room.”

Amalie stormed past him, her chest tightening with each breath.How had he known her name?‘Amalie’ was simple enough, but she hadn’t gone by Clermont since she was seven years old. She’d been Amalie Allard since they’d come north.

I didn’t kill your mother.

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