Page 76 of The Vampire Castle in the Sky

I was already lost in my mind, listing all the things I planned on doing to him later tonight when, all of a sudden, Espen veered to face me, his sharp-edged attention dissolving both my smile and my filthy reveries. “Can I ask you something, Thea?”

“Sure,” I croaked.

“Why did you come back?”

The question was unexpected but easy. “To be with my husband.”

Espen’s dark brows drew closer, doubt flaring in his honey-speckled eyes. “Weren’t you afraid?”

I laughed at that. “Of course I was. I’m only a human.”

He thought for a moment, and my eyes darted to Hector, who seemed as baffled by this exchange as I was. “You know,” Espen said, “vampires are absolute creatures. You can’t know us in fragments. To understand a part of us, you have to understand the whole. Perhaps humans are like that too.”

“I guess we both have a lot to learn,” I mused.

He smiled a little as he turned again, wrists crossed behind his back. “Hmm. It’s nice that I still have things to learn. Makes me feel young.”

???

The corridor outside our bedroom no longer looked like it had escaped out of a nightmare. The roses along the ceiling were once again in bloom, the chandeliers were dazzling, and the pale tapers on the candelabras were twinkling like tiny stars.

My own appearance had undergone significant improvement as well. My reflection upon the intervening mirrors verged on unrecognizable, and I found myself slowing down to admire the way the pearls on my bodice caught the light and the way my curls swayed against the satin laces at my back.

“The gods really do have their favorites, don’t they?” Arawn whistled, coming out of his bedroom just as I was about to pass it.

I curtsied, making a show of my sparkling skirts. “Well, thank you, Lord Celestine. You cut quite the arresting figure yourself.”

Arawn grinned like a demon, despite the clear apology in his eyes. “Does that mean I’m forgiven? You know, for the whole knocking you out and taking you away from the Castle without your consent thing?”

“Does that meanI’mforgiven?” I countered. “You know, for the whole knocking you out and abandoning you in the forest an hour before dawn under the care of an exiled sprite thing?”

His dashing smile broadened, his arms opening at his side. “Come here, you little rascal.”

I hugged him tight around the waist, and he was careful not to mess up the swoop of my curls by setting his hands on my shoulders.

“If Hector finds us embracing like this, do you think he might have my head?” he wondered.

I pulled back a little, passing my gloved fingers over my lips. “Certainly not,” I decided. “He might have your balls, though.”

Arawn bristled under his breath. “How is this any better?”

I chuckled, reaching up to fix his slightly crooked… cravat.

A swift, thin chill swept through the corridor, the most terrible coldness swishing over my bones.

“How strange,” I whispered as I ran my fingers over the burgundy piece of silk, following its subtle pattern of the same color thread.

“What is it, darling?” asked Arawn, his face shadowing with worry.

“Your cravat. It looks very familiar.”

His hands on my shoulders tightened. “My gods, Thea, you look faint.” Quickly he pushed his bedroom door open and ushered me inside. “Come. Come sit down for a moment. Have you eaten anything today?”

His room was similar to ours, elegant and warm. But I was socold. I was shaking from head to toe, my teeth chattering. Befuddled, I wrapped my arms around my midriff and dragged myself before the fireplace. Unlike ours, the mantel was bare of pretty little knickknacks. There was only a slender, silver vial glinting orange in the firelight.

The coldness set deeper inside me, ice spreading through my stomach. My mind strained, twisted to bring something it didn’t want into focus.

The cravat, the vial…

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