Page 7 of The Haunting
“Not going after them?” I asked James.
A smug grin crossed his lips. “Do I look stupid?”
“James!” Kate exclaimed.
“What? Sweetheart, I didn’t become as successful as I am chasing idiots,” he quipped. Kate rolled her eyes, and James sighed.
“Come on, girls. Are you coming?” James posed the question to Daniel and Vladimir. Daniel and Lucian swapped glances and nodded. Vladimir stuck close to his wife, and I couldn’t blame him. Most of those here, we knew. Daniel clearly had Lucian, but Vladimir and Emmaline had nobody.
“Let’s go,” Emmaline said. “We were idiotic enough to exit the cars in this weather.”
As if agreeing with her, a loud thunderous crash boomed over our heads. The women swapped glances with each other and raced forward just as the rain pelted down even harder.
“Christ!” Maggie exclaimed, and I couldn’t disagree.
Soaked, I rushed into the vast entrance hall of the mansion and skidded to a halt as Drake yanked me closer. Once everyone was inside, the woman banged the doors shut.
“This is Eden. She and her husband are staying here,” Nanci said, but had a puzzled look on her face.
Curiously, I glanced around and understood Nanci’s confusion. Huge curtains of cobwebs fell from the ceiling and walls. They draped over the grand curving staircase on either side of the hall and hung from the massive chandelier above our heads.
A good two-inch-thick coating of dust covered everything, and the furniture had turned into shapeless lumps under yellowing sheets. Where we stood, the puddles we were creating were giving the floor its first taste of water in decades. A man glided out of a doorway and gazed at us impassively. He was rather pale, as was Eden; in fact, they both needed to spend some time in the sun.
“Hello, I’m Jacques,” he said, and I cocked my head at his voice. It was beautiful, almost alluring, and Jacques smiled briefly as if aware of his impact. I wasn’t the only one affected, as I saw the other women react the same way.
“Interesting. I just read a book by my favourite author, Elizabeth N. Harris. It was called theDiary of the Vam’pir Jacques,” Nanci drawled.
“Indeed,” Jacques replied. There was a hint of an accent, but I couldn’t identify it.
“Yes, his wife was named Eden, too,” Nanci pressed, and Jacques raised an amused eyebrow. Vladimir and Emmaline shifted uncomfortably, and I wondered what their issue was.
“Are you calling us vampires?” Jacques asked.
“No! They don’t exist. Nanci’s merely commenting,” Inglorious replied, stepping closer to his old lady. He laid a hand on her waist, a claiming gesture.
I felt uncomfortable with the entire scene. Something was definitely off here.
“They were Vam’pirs, not vampires,” Nanci corrected, and Jacques elegantly inclined his head, accepting her rebuke.
“Why were you all outside?” Jacques asked.
“Took the wrong turning and a tree collapsed, blocking the road. The others have similar stories,” Drake said, his gaze contemplative as he swapped between Jacques and Eden.
“The road flooded behind us,” Daniel said.
“So, you’re stuck here? Sadly, we don’t have much to offer. We’ve only recently taken over caretaking, but a few rooms are clean. Some bedrooms are usable and should have towels and bedding,” Eden said.
She and Jacques exchanged unreadable looks. It seemed they didn’t want us here and were offering us a roof over our heads rather begrudgingly.
“Damn! We should have brought the cases in for dry clothes,” Lucian complained. He and Daniel glanced at each other and shrugged.
“Guess we’re getting wet again.” Daniel sighed.
“Be quick, and we’ll take you to your rooms. Please don’t wander the mansion; it is perilous here,” Jacques interjected.
“Dangerous? How?” Drake and Chance demanded together.
“The floors are rickety, and several have collapsed. The safe rooms are the bedrooms we’ll show you and a couple of others you may use,” Jacques offered, swapping a glance with Eden.
