Page 110 of Stalk the Dark
“I hate to admit it,” Hemlock said, “but unless you plan to stop her drinking too much wine or dancing too much, I don’t think there’ll be much need to take care of her at all.”
He was right. The ball was just that—a ball. AndEzekiel was the perfect host, laughing with a small group of humans now. The way they looked up at him, as if he was some kind of god…In a way he was. He was the first of his kind. The maker of all the vampires in this room, in some way or other.
The music ebbed then died, and Ezekiel addressed the gathered. “My noble kin, please follow me. I have a gift for you. My human subjects, please remain and enjoy the festivities.”
What was this?
He locked gazes with me across the room, his lips tipping in a wicked smile, and my stomach dropped. “We need to go with them.”
“Agreed.” Ordell cut a path through the crowd to the side exit that the nobles were slipping through. We entered a dark corridor that led us down a short flight of steps and into a part of the castle I was unfamiliar with.
Don’t go,Ingrid’s voice whispered in my ear.Don’t see…
But she was nowhere near me, not that I could see. I was penned in by Hemlock and Ordell with vampires ahead of us and behind.
The air grew chill, and finally we stepped into a large stone room lit by lanterns.
The buzz of excitement ramped up.
I couldn’t see much else because there were so many vampires between me and whatever everyone was ooohing and ahhing about.
“Ordell?” I tugged at his arm. “What is it? What’s happening?”
Ordell turned to me and gripped my shoulders. “We should go. This isn’t for us.”
“What? What do you mean?”
He gently pushed me toward Hemlock. “We need to leave. Now.”
“And miss the fun?” Ezekiel appeared beside us, and the vampires blocking our view stepped aside. “You want to see?” Ezekiel took my elbow and tugged me toward him.
“No!” Ordell growled.
A multitude of snarls and hisses filled the room as the nobles exhibited their true feral natures—eyes ringed in crimson, lips pulled back from fangs.
“Now, now,” Ezekiel crooned. “The hunters are under my protection. They must not be killed, but theycanbe incapacitated should they attempt to interfere with our evening’s entertainment.”
The last time he’d used that word, an innocent man had been torn to shreds by his bat boys. Ice gripped my nape. “What have you done?”
He pulled me close, peering down at me with a manic gleam in his eyes. “I feel that if you are to remain here, under my roof, Miss Lighthart, then there is a large misunderstanding that must be cleared up.”
I shook my head. “What are you talking about?”
He dragged me across the stone chamber, and I got my first look at what everyone else was seeing. Wewere above another room—a smaller replica of the ballroom. There was even a table decked out with finger foods.
Music played, soft and lilting, and at least twenty young women stood about sipping flutes of wine. Each woman was dressed uniquely in a fancy creation of silk and lace, but they all had similar facial features—thick, dark hair and wide gray eyes and…Oh God. Agatha.
Agatha was down there.
I tried to pull free of Ezekiel, but he gripped me harder. “You seem to think that you can control me. That you can bend me to your will. But you see, Miss Lighthart, it isyouthat has bent tomywill. It isyouwho have been manipulated.”
The stone room we were in began to empty out.
My stomach trembled. “Ezekiel, whatever this is, please, don’t do it.”
“There you go again, thinking that you haveanycontrol over my actions.”
Vampires filed into the room below, and a numbness settled over me. The women moved away from the predators, instinctively congregating together like herded sheep.
