Page 33 of House of Darkness
“I know what you’re thinking, and they aren’t like that. Most of their counts held personal vendettas against them, leading to their banishment for petty reasons. Just because I fail them and they’re starving and desperate doesn’t mean they’re evil, Estrella.”
“What about the vampire who attacked me?” I snapped back.
His jaw flexed, and a tense silence enveloped us as we stared each other down. Finally, he spoke, “was he evil, or just driven to evil by my failures as his tsar?”
My voice dropped, whether in disbelief or something else, I wasn’t sure. “You didn’t think he was evil, yet you killed him to protect me?”
“I did. And I’d do it again.”
The rest of the ride passed in silence, Roman’s gaze fixed on the window as if he stared at them hard enough, he could fix everything swirling around between those curls. Then he spoke,cutting through the thick silence like a blade. “We’re here.”
The carriage came to a stop. We had arrived on the outskirts of town, in front of a standalone building overgrown with ivy. Its low-lying roof was adorned with dilapidated gargoyles, and the front was composed entirely of windows. I stared in mute wonder.
Roman exited the carriage first, reaching up to help me down the iron steps. He linked his arm with mine and guided me around the front. We passed Avram, who tipped his hat politely, then the horses. I couldn’t resist patting each on their silken black noses, earning a whinny and a chuff. We stopped in front of the glass doors, and I froze. The interior was a vibrant green, as if a jungle had burst from the floors. Leaves of every shape pressed against the glass, serving as a backdrop for the gilded lettering spelling out “The Greenery.”
My hand tightened around Roman’s as I nearly skipped through the front doors, welcoming the warm, humid air. Plants of every color and shape spilled from every corner. I dropped his hand and approached a bushy plant with spade-shaped leaves that were... well, they were pink. Mixed with green, but definitely pink. Razvan would lose his mind over those bright colors.
The shopkeeper called out, “That’s known as the pink princess philodendron, sweetie. It’s one of our rarer specimens.”
I had no idea what those words meant, but I nodded appreciatively. A hand appeared beside me.
“I’ll hold them so you can keep looking,” Roman offered.
His face wore an expression I didn’t quite understand. There was a softness in those ruby eyes, a joy in the curve of his lips that I hadn’t seen before. It was like his usual smirk but... softer. I didn’t know how to feel about it, but it made my stomach twist into knots. I nodded and passed the plant to him.
I could have stayed in this shop for hours, indeed, I was pretty sureI had. Whenever I thought I had seen enough, my eye caught something new, and I was off again. Eventually, the shop owner wandered over and offered me a leather-bound book on basic houseplant care. I accepted it gratefully—maybe with this and a bit of luck, I wouldn’t kill them by accident.
All the while, Roman followed quietly behind me. He only spoke to murmur words of approval at every plant I showed him, that strange expression never leaving his face. I caught him watching me from the corner of my eye, his gaze piercing with a soft intensity I didn’t want to admit I enjoyed.
I had grown enamored with a shelf of spiky plants labeled as cactuses when he appeared by my side, holding a small pot in his hand. I turned to him just as he presented it to me. Inside was a small yet striking plant, with deep satiny black leaves that felt as soft as velvet, smooth and gentle to the touch.
“I like this one. What do you think?”
His tendrils crawled over his hand, wrapping around the stem and leaves, their edges evaporating like smoke in the air. They blended perfectly with the black leaves, as though they were one. Though intimidating, they were gentle as they moved around the plant—just as they had always been with me. I took the plant from him, cradling it against my chest.
“It’s my favorite so far,” I murmured. His cheeks flushed, and he dipped his head. The tendrils that had wound their way around my limbs warmed, and my cheeks heated to match.
Chapter 18
ROMAN
The moment her eyes sparkled with wonder, I knew I was done for. There was no turning back—not when I would willingly set this godforsaken city ablaze just to keep that smile on her face.
I couldn’t quite grasp what it was about her that unraveled me so completely. Perhaps it was the way her eyes transformed into exquisite aqua pools, shimmering with excitement. Or maybe it was how those perfect lips curled, illuminating her delicate features and making me yearn to fulfill her every whim. She remained blissfully unaware of my falling, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Now, we were carefully packing the carriage with her new houseplants. I wondered if Estrella and I would fit inside; if we did, it would be a tight squeeze. I turned to her, extending my arm. “Let’s start our way to dinner. We wouldn’t want to arrive too early, and there is still much I want to show you.”
If I had a heart, it would have melted at the sight of relief washing over her face. She was testing the waters of her newfound freedom, and I would do anything to protect her right to choose—even if it meant being buried under a mountain of plants in a stagecoach for an hour. I’d have to send poor Avram back to the castle with all hernew belongings once we returned to the Levis House, but I knew he wouldn’t complain.
The sensation of her heartbeat thrumming against my palm was electric. I was acutely aware of how easily I could destroy her—just one accidental squeeze. My mind flashed to my mother’s mangled body, a stark reminder that I would never, could never, hurt Estrella like that. So, I kept a tight check on my arm as we walked, steadying it as if it were a live bomb.
A light afternoon breeze floated through the air, ruffling Estrella’s starlight hair and enveloping me in her sweet scent. We passed an ancient stone cathedral, and I paused to point it out, more for my own distraction than to educate her.
“This is St. Drake’s Cathedral. Do you know the story behind it?”
She shook her head. “We didn’t spend much time on history.”
“It was rebuilt after the war between my grandfather, Asterios, and Mihal, one of the original vampires and the tsar at the time. Do you know what started the war?”
