Page 29 of Dark Embers

“This is the greatest day of my life,” she exulted.

My eyes widened, and I shot Hadrian a worried glance.

She laughed, but the sound resembled a pig’s snort more than anything. “I’ve been waiting six months for this, Mr. Asher. Six. Whole. Months.”

I scratched awkwardly at my head with my free hand, wondering when Piper would let go. “I don’t know exactly how I’m supposed to react, but one thing we’re going to start with—don’t call me ‘Mr. Asher’. Julian will do nicely.”

Her eyes filled with wonder. “I can call you by your first name?”

“Um, of course?” I muttered. “That’s what everyone else calls me.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Hadrian bring a hand to his forehead.

“You see us as equals,” she said, her amazement increasing.

“Far from it,” Hadrian interjected. “You’re an Initiate. Julian is a century-old vampire. You have much to learn and master before you’re even close to being on the same level as he is. His preference in how you refer to him has nothing to do with your status.”

She bowed reverently. “Yes, sir. Pardon my assumptions. It won’t happen again.”

“Excellent,” Hadrian said, giving her a look down his nose like she was the scum of the earth. “You two will be working with each other for the next six months. A review will then begin to see if Piper is ready to be turned. If it’s decided that she is worthy of it, Julian will be the one to take that action.”

My stomach turned at his declaration, and I set my jaw firmly to keep my grimace internal. I would do everything in my power to keep that from happening. I’d made it this far in my long life without turning a human, and I wasn’t about to start now. Even with a willing victim.

Which meant I needed to extract the information from Hadrian as quickly as possible and desert this cursed place once and for all.

“If you are found unworthy, Julian will drink every last drop of blood flowing through your body,” Hadrian said carelessly, making bile rise in my throat. “Now, I will show Julian to his new quarters. When he’s ready, he’ll come down for you, Piper.”

Again, the Initiate bowed. “I will wait patiently for him, sir. Thank you for this opportunity.”

She gave me an excited glance, then stepped back to the chair she’d been in, picking up the tablet she’d left there and sitting down.

Hadrian turned around, and I followed him out of the Initiate common room and onto the staircase heading back up to the main floor of Heritage Prep.

“I thought you said she was smart,” I deadpanned.

“Don’t label her quite yet,” Hadrian said. “Her excitement masks her intelligence. This is every Initiate’s dream. You’ll see just how smart she is as she gets used to shadowing you.”

I detected the warning in his words. Hadrian may have assigned me toPiperfor a reason, but I knew that the vampire leader had assigned Piper tomefor other reasons.

“Sounds like she’ll keep me on my toes,” I said.

“Indeed.”

We passed the main floor and continued through the main staircase, making our way up the front tower.

“There are several projects underway, and many teams of vampires and Initiates are working hard to increase our rightfuldominion over the world. You and Piper have an important assignment.”

Great. I’d have to get my hands dirty. Increasing vampire dominion was exactly the opposite of what I wanted.

“What would you have me do, Hadrian?”

The vampire leader came to a stop between floors.

“We’ve been experimenting,” he said, drawing his blue eyes on me. Set in them was exploratory awe, which deeply disconcerted me.

“On what?”

“Hybrids,” Hadrian replied with a flare of his eyebrow.

---