Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE

I wasn't sure how long I'd been in this coffin. From the kink in my neck, I assumed it had been a significant amount of time. The coffin was swaying, as if conveyed by a coach. The one I was used to sleeping in wasn't as nice, but it had suited me, abiding by supernatural rules I hardly understood myself. This one was free of dirt. Reposing in native soil was a requirement for a vampire, despite the inconveniences it presented, like the one time the dirt had become infested with fungus gnat larvae. How tedious it had been to have the correct soil shipped to my castle. I simply couldn't abide the thought of those squirming insects, so I'd had an entirely new coffin produced, yet I'd had to sleep in a different chamber to avoid the eggs being laid again by the lingering gnats, and the whole process beginning anew.

One didn't think of such things when ruminating on the realities of immortality, but it wasn't all glamorous. I would take this satin interior to that cloying earth any day, but until now, that simply hadn't been an option.

My mind was still clearing as I tried to grasp exactly where I was. I'd thought the sound I'd heard when I'd come to had been of breaking bones. It was one of my favorite sounds, and quite the music to awaken to. But alas, I now understood it to be the sound of a twig snapping beneath the coach wheels. How dreadfully mundane.

I was breathing hard, sweating, and I licked my dry lips as my hand strayed down to my left leg. The injury there was an old one. A clean break, but I'd never managed to run the same. For years it hadn't mattered—the dull ache only appearing after a short jog or with the change of weather—but it had vanished completely when I'd become immortal, and I was glad to find that it hadn't returned with my new situation. I was physically in fine condition, aside from being restrained in this capsule and carried off like a sack of grain. My fingers grazed the fine interior of the coffin that held me prisoner. It was too dark to see anything, which was strange for me, as I was usually able to see in the dark no matter how little light.

And then I realized what the steady tremors I felt reverberating through my body were.

My heart. It was beating.

My breath caught, and I realized that I was breathing. I'd often inhaled and exhaled out of habit, a way for my kind to blend in with humans, even though it was unnecessary. Now, it was keeping me alive. It would ensure my heart kept beating, bringing vital oxygen to my blood.

I laughed, the feeling like a tickle in my chest as my heart, recently just a cancerous lump of flesh in the center of my body, convulsed. It was like having a live bird at my core. I half-remembered the feeling from my past life, the sensation becoming familiar all at once in the same way that memory of my aching leg had come racing back.

I was human, just as Vrykolakas had promised.

As thrilling as the new feelings that washed over me were, I also felt a dread coiling unbidden in my stomach. I was mortal. Vulnerable. My senses were dull, like I was buried beneath the ground, everything muffled and far away. I could hear the wheels of the coach creaking, but that was all save my own breathing.

Who was driving the coach? Where was I going? I frowned, recalling how Vrykolakas had said something about delivering me to a friend. I couldn't fathom who that could be, but I was sure to find out soon enough.

I was preoccupied with my new body. Or was it my old one? If I'd been restored exactly to my old self before turning, surely the old ache in my leg would have returned. But it seemed that I had turned human from my vampire's perfected form. Vrykolakas couldn't simply turn back the hands of time then. Whatever he had done, it had been effective enough, draining my powers and returning my humanity to me.

A chill raced through my body, and I ran my hands over my limbs to generate some warmth, realizing that I felt more sensation than I had as a vampire, as if my nerves had awakened. They would make me more vulnerable to pain and pleasure. More human and open to manipulation. Without my heightened senses, this development made me uneasy, but I would need to adjust to my deficiencies quickly if I was going to complete the task set before me. If I ever hoped to return to that powerful form.

The carriage driver called something that I couldn't make out, and the carriage began to slow. A minute later, all was still. My breathing was so loud in my ears, my pulse quickening as the unknown lay before me. I did not enjoy this feeling of helplessness.

"You received the notice ahead of my arrival, I take it. You had a month." A man's voice. Probably the driver.

"I admit it took me by surprise, but I was able to secure accommodations," came the reply from a woman. An older woman. Something about her voice was familiar … or perhaps it was the cadence of her speech. "Are the … particulars of the communication accurate?"

"That they are. Would you like me to release him here, or inside?"

"Here will do nicely. The duke's staff need not see this. It would raise unnecessary questions."

"Very well, my lady."

A cracking to my left made me flinch, and I scrabbled back as debris fell into the coffin, as did a faint glow of light. Despite the light, I could tell that it was dark outside. There was a flickering, like that of a lantern nearby. That fact did little to slow my racing heart. I had no idea what to expect when the lid was removed from the coffin. Whose mercy would I be entrusted to?

A crowbar lifted the cover slowly, coaxing nails out by the force exerted against it. In a moment, it came free, and the lid was shoved aside to reveal cool night air and the dark interior of a wagon.

I blinked as I slowly rose to find a long-faced man watching me with indifference. He seemed to be assuring himself that I was unharmed. When he turned to the woman beside him, he nodded. "Right as rain, he is. Delivered, as promised."

"Count, is that you?" a woman asked.

I hesitated. "You may have me at a disadvantage, I'm afraid," I said in a restrained reply.

A sigh. "That's him, alright. Thank you."

"Pleasure doing business with you," the driver said, reaching out to help me to my feet.

I found that I was unsteady, and I welcomed the hand as I was settled onto solid ground, where I took a moment to dust off a smart suit. I hadn't been wearing anything earlier, so this had to have been procured for me by Vrykolakas, as had the coach. Whether the driver was a servant of the vampire god, or merely under hypnosis, I wasn't sure. Whenever I utilized trance magic on a victim, it left them in a dreamlike state, able to accept only simple commands. The driver's actions seemed coherent, but that may have been a testament to the superior skills of Vrykolakas.

The driver was already pulling away when I turned to regard my benefactor, whose generosity I was so reliant upon.

I squinted at the woman. It was dark, and unlike the driver, she didn't carry a lantern. My vision clearly wasn't what it used to be, as previously I would have been able to make out the pores on this woman's face, no matter how little light. I drew closer and the woman hardly registered the movement. It took me a second to realize that it was because she was blind. My eyes darted to the cane at her side. "Do I know you?"

She scoffed. "Lucian. Don't be coy, you cheeky bastard."

And then I knew. Only one person dared speak to me like that. My former human assistant, Helena. I felt the tension melt from my body at once as I shook my head in disbelief. "You're still alive, you old bird. The devil must not want your soul."

"Then you two have something in common."

I winced as I took her in, her deep-set wrinkles, her milky, staring eyes. She had been beautiful once, when I'd first taken her under my wing. "Helena … I know what I promised you—"

"None of that now," Helena interrupted with a sigh. "I was angry that you didn't grant me immortality, once upon a time. But now that I've had time to grow, away from that damnable castle, I've seen that it was a mercy." She shook her head. "But there'll be time enough to discuss that. For now, let's go inside. Don't want the servants gossiping now, do we?"

We were several yards up the drive from a large manor. I reached out to thread my arm through hers, to help guide her, but she slapped my hand away.

"I do just fine on my own," she told me, beginning to walk toward the doors. "I may be old and blind, but I'm capable."

"You have always been capable," I said, a wistful smile crossing my lips. The scent of gardenia greeted my nostrils, and I relished the floral notes of her favorite perfume, still the same after all these years. Her being here almost felt like a homecoming. I didn't feel quite so alone in this endeavor. "One of the most capable people I've ever known."

"I can see you still know how to flatter. Losing your immortality didn't rob you of that, at least."

"Then, you know."

"Of course, I know. It was all explained to me in the letter I received from your master. In braille, no less. Would have been hard to explain if someone had read that aloud to me."

I paused, sucking in a breath. "My … master ?"

She shrugged. "That's what he claimed."

"I have no master." I scowled as we slowly climbed a set of stairs to the front door.

"No, you killed him long ago, didn't you?"

I shivered. Helena knew so much about me. That was what happened when one spent decades in the company of someone else. Even if she had been human while I'd been of a superior species. Until my protégée Raven had come along, I'd had no one to confide in. Helena had filled that role for me as she'd served me, my most faithful subject. I'd been loath to lose her, but once she'd reached her fifties, I hadn't been able to put off replacing her with a younger, healthier attendant any longer. Vampires were superior to humans in nearly every way, but we required someone reliable to watch over our coffins during the daylight hours. That was the only reason a human servant was necessary at all. I could retrieve my own meals, but that damnable sun kept me from complete self-sufficiency.

Helena paused as we reached the short staircase that led up to the door and turned back toward me. "The story is that you're my great-nephew. You lost your family in a fire, and inherited an admirable estate last year in wake of the tragedy."

"Oooh. Very dramatic. I like a touch of the grisly."

"It will also keep people from probing too deeply. It's distasteful."

As Helena began to make her way carefully up the stairs with the aid of her cane, the door opened, and a man stepped outside, squinting into the dark. He was old and wiry with wisps of black hair atop his head and a pencil-thin mustache. "Pardon, my lady. I didn't hear the carriage until it was pulling away."

"Just as I'd planned," she said softly enough that only I could hear. Helena cleared her throat and raised her voice. "It's just as well, Percival. No need to bother you at such a late hour."

"Is this the great-nephew then?" a rotund woman asked from behind the butler, squinting at me through spectacles. She smiled kindly and gestured to me. "Come in, then. Don't want you to catch cold."

Percival held the door open for us, watching me from the corner of his beady eyes as I paused on the threshold. Of course, I no longer needed an invitation, but it was difficult to ignore the rules I had been so accustomed to. I stepped through an imagined barrier, gliding through unimpeded, and smiled at Percival triumphantly, as if he could fathom my inner machinations. I imagined suspicion in the butler's gaze. This was a rather unconventional manner to enter a house, especially one as grand as this one. Yet I met his stare with a challenge. How dare he question me. I was Count Lucian Cross. If I had half a mind, I could rip out his throat with my teeth and … I took a breath to calm myself. No, I couldn't do any such thing. I was human now, and humans exhibited strength through restraint and decorum.

Restraint. Ugh.

"That will be all, Percival," Helena dismissed the man. "We can take it from here."

"Very good." Percival bowed before retreating, sending one last questioning look my way.

"Is it very late?" I asked.

"Just past midnight," the maid answered. "Of course, the duke's family will greet you in the morning."

"Of course."

"Is the fire still going in the library?" Helena asked as we began to walk deeper into the room.

I glanced up at a massive chandelier overhead, the grand staircases leading up to the second floor, and side tables boasting statues and vases overflowing with flowers. This was a fine home, indeed. My castle had been large, but little warmth could be found in its drab stone walls. This was a place that was lived in. What I had been doing was … the opposite of that, I supposed. Un-living. My heart gave an unexpected twist at the thought that I'd squandered my time in that remote abode when lovely houses like this were within reach. It was certainly easier to escape notice away from society in my secluded location, and nice houses like this were hard to come by in such places, yet … I'd had the means. Why hadn't I bothered? Was this a … human feeling? Envy? Wanting nice things? Such materialism was beneath an immortal vampire's life, I supposed. The excess I'd enjoyed had involved pain, blood, and reveling. What I felt walking through the lavish rooms of this manor with its rich carpeting and carefully decorated walls was … comfort.

I rushed to catch up to Helena as she swung her cane gently before her, following the clicks of the maid's shoes as she walked down a side hall. She stopped before a heavy oak door.

"Here we are then," the maid said. "Percival just put another log on, so it should do for some time."

"Very well," Helena said as she opened the door. "Some tea for Lucian and myself."

"Of course." The maid curtsied, then offered me another smile. "The name's Nancy if you'll be needing anything while you stay."

"It's a pleasure," I said, with a slight tilt of my head.

Nancy blushed, then rushed from the room to fetch the tea.

"Close the door behind you," Helena told me as I stepped into the library. Bookcases lined walls twice as tall as me, with ladders to reach the higher shelves, all brimming with leather spines. A sofa set at the back of the room stood before the aforementioned fireplace. There was a table near the door, but as I pulled out a chair, Helena clucked her tongue. "One thing to know about the staff here, Lucian, is that they're reliable, good workers, but they are gossips. If I didn't know better, I'd say they were listening at the keyhole even now." She nodded toward the back of the room, to the sofa set.

I watched Helena navigate her way across the room. She hardly needed the cane at all here, just enough to tell when she reached the sofa before she seated herself.

I took a seat across from her, admiring the warmth of the room. "Are there many servants here? This is a large house."

"Over a hundred rooms. I believe it takes over seventy servants to maintain. They will no doubt be kept rather busy with the season about to commence. You arrived just in time. The other guests will arrive tomorrow with the first ball." She sniffed. "Of course, I have only two servants in my own home. I brought Nancy with me. But I am well off, thanks to your generosity."

I blinked. "Are you now?"

Helena lifted an eyebrow. "But of course. You may not have gifted me immortality when I left your service, but you did bestow riches upon me. The gold and those paintings … they paid for a comfortable life. Before I lost my sight, I was even, dare I say, a socialite. The queen herself gave me the title of baroness."

"You've met the queen?" I was impressed.

"We ran in similar circles for a time. Which is how I'm acquainted with the duke and his family. That's the reason you're here, I've come to understand?"

"It is," I said. I closed my eyes, sighing as the encounter that had changed my life washed over me. It had occurred just after I'd been driven from the only home I'd known for decades. It wasn't a story I relished revisiting, but for Helena to understand my predicament completely, she would need to hear of it.

I managed to grab hold of a rock near shore as the raging river calmed several miles from my castle, hoisting myself onto dry land, wet and weary. The cold didn't bother me much. Temperature never did, but the running water had sapped my strength. I would need to feed to regain it.

I climbed the mountain for ten minutes before I came across a ledge that wound up the side, barely wide enough for my feet to find sturdy purchase, and it was another twenty minutes before I reached a clearing that allowed me a generous view of the surrounding area. I could see the lights of a village off in the distance to the west, but it was too far to reach in the little time I had before daylight. The sky was brightening far too quickly, chasing away the cool midnight hues. I likely had only minutes before the first slivers of sunlight broke across the horizon.

But then, as if willed into being, I spotted a cave in the mountainside, dark and inviting. I could tell before I reached it that it ran deep. If a bear or some other creature lurked inside, they would be a welcome meal before I rested until the next dusk.

I tarried in the entrance to the cave, head cocked to listen for sounds from within, but all was still and quiet. I would have expected bats or insects stirring at the very least, but even they left this space well enough alone. That gave me pause. I did not, however, have the luxury of another option. It was the shelter of this cave, or the sun's wrath as it peeled back my skin, layer by painful layer.

I ventured into the cavern, my undead eyes well accustomed to the company of darkness and thus able to discern the loose stones at my feet. I watched as the sun began to lighten the cave entrance, but I could also hear it: The subtle creak of earth as it warmed, birds cheerfully beginning their day, and blades of grass and leaves shifting, as if reviving from a deathlike slumber to greet the splendor of the sun's embrace.

I'd forgotten long ago what a sunrise looked like, what it felt like to have its rays kiss my skin. For many years in the beginning, I'd tried to cling to those memories, hold them close so that I would never forget the feeling, grasping desperately to them as if they held the secrets of my ever-fading humanity. And perhaps they did. But I cared nothing for humans any longer, save for the convenience their ingenuity created to make my life more comfortable, and the pleasure they offered in their flesh and blood.

"And yet they managed to best you tonight." A voice came to me from deeper in the cave. It seemed to echo against the walls, until it sounded as if a dozen voices had asked the question.

I blinked, staring into the darkness, but distinguished nothing in the shadows. "Who's there?" I demanded. "Tell me at once."

A chuckling reply caused the hair to rise on my arms. I didn't scare easily. I was an apex predator. The apex predator. But I had also just been driven from my home, and I was vulnerable in an unfamiliar place. And … how had this taunting voice known what I'd been thinking?

"Oh, I know all about you, Count Lucian Cross. Come. Deeper into this cavern. I wish to see your face."

I stood still for a moment, debating. I did not take kindly to commands, but I was curious. Whatever this was, I couldn't very well escape it. The only exit meant certain death. I was trapped in here with whatever was beckoning to me, and I might as well face it head-on with dignity rather than cower in a corner like some … human.

"You were human once too, Lucian," the voice said as I cautiously made my way down the tunnel. It seemed to narrow with each footfall. "Or have you forgotten?"

"It's been a while," I murmured, reaching out to touch a stone wall and scowling at the mold growing there.

"Perhaps that's how you became so … complacent."

I bristled as I pushed onward, suddenly aware that the tunnel had opened into a large room. Stalactites and stalagmites jutted into the cavern, many meeting like teeth in a giant's mouth.

"Where are you?" I asked as I strode into the room, scanning the space with narrowed eyes. "Show yourself, coward."

I felt a movement in the shadows behind me and turned quickly, hands at the ready to gouge at the flesh of any threat.

My eyes widened at the shape that towered over me, and I backed away, truly shaken for the first time in my immortal existence. The creature I regarded was three times as tall as me, and just as wide. Red eyes bored into me from a massive head, as I attempted to comprehend the majesty of who, or rather what, I was looking at. The giant head shifted slightly, opening a mouth that revealed rows upon rows of sharp teeth, like a cross between my canines when they slid from their sheaths and a shark's teeth. They continued well into its mouth, perhaps down its throat. The beast's nose was flat and spread across the majority of its hair-covered face, its ears tilting this way and that as if registering something that even I, with my superhuman hearing, could not detect. Red eyes continued to glare at me as the creature pulled itself closer to me on bat wings, for that was exactly what it looked like—a giant bat.

"Don't tell me the great count is afraid of his god," the monster said, its toothy mouth pulling into a hideous grin.

"My god?" I asked, taking another involuntary step back before I realized what I was doing. I was startled by what had presented itself to me, but I would not let it intimidate me. I clenched my jaw and lifted my head defiantly. "The old gods are dead."

"No. They are not."

I didn't know how to respond to this. I wracked my mind for what my creator had taught me about the god of vampires. He could appear as a man, a wolf or a … a bat. Vrykolakas, who sustained our eternal lives, who thirsted as we soaked the earth with blood in his name, whose power provided us with the tools to hunt.

"If you are Vrykolakas, then why are you squatting in this cave?" I asked, unsure.

Vrykolakas's gaze never once wavered from my own, his red eyes as deep as blood and passion, and glowing with an unearthly energy. "My children are losing the battle for the dominance once seen as a foregone conclusion. As one of a handful of notable rulers of this territory over the past century, you are a standout among my strigoi, my moroi. I have taken a special interest in you, to see how you fare in this climate." He shook his head. "It appears you fare no better than the rest. The humans are too powerful when they are organized."

"I let my guard down," I said, then winced as I noted my defensive tone. I straightened. "It won't happen again. Humans are foolish creatures, but there are some among them who are capable of more than we give them credit for. I lost sight of that."

"That you did." Vrykolakas studied me for a moment. "Perhaps this was inevitable, our fall. Or perhaps this is an omen. Many of you have forgotten what humans are like. I think there's an opportunity to learn something significant from this portent, rather than see it as the beginning of the end. Perhaps … you will prove yourself worthy of being a vampire yet."

I swallowed hard, dread curling in my stomach. I didn't like the sound of what Vrykolakas was saying. "What do you mean?"

Vrykolakas nodded to himself. "It is decided. A test of your worth. A test of the best of the children of the night."

"I hardly think—"

"It is decided."

I shrank back, finding myself shaking, and forced my nerves to settle. I loathed to show weakness to anyone, and I certainly wasn't about to show fear before one so important.

Vrykolakas tilted his head as he looked me over. "You have been too long removed from the human world. You will prove to me that you can be as clever and shrewd as the humans."

When he didn't continue, I ventured, "How?"

"You will become human again. You will maneuver among them and blend in without them becoming suspicious of what you are in your heart."

"Human?" My eyes widened. "You can't be serious. I will … play act to move about with them? You would have me enter society with them?"

"Play act!" Vrykolakas chuckled, a deep rumble that could turn even my blood cold. "Not at all, my count. You will become human. It won't be an act. Blood will once more beat through that undead heart of yours."

I blinked. No. This was some sort of test. He couldn't mean what he was saying. It was only meant to scare me into agreeing to something. He didn't have that sort of power.

"Oh, I have the power. And I'm going to use it on you, Lucian. Mark my words, I will withdraw my gifts from you. You will return to the way you were … before."

Before. I didn't want to think about that time, when I was weak and lost, like … like all the humans I stalked across the mountainside. They were little more than animals.

"And if you succeed in your quest," Vrykolakas continued, "I will return to you your powers. You will become a vampire once more."

Before I knew what I was doing, I was on my knees before Vrykolakas, grasping the fur of his arm. "Please, have mercy on me. Give me another chance."

"This is me giving you another chance. You should be grateful for the opportunity." Vrykolakas pulled away as if by touching him, I'd sullied him somehow. "You should find your quest satisfying, for it gives you the opportunity to seek revenge against those who drove you from your castle tonight. My spies have traced this groups of hunters to an area in England that has been without vampires for too long. There happens to be a duke about to bequeath his dukedom in the vicinity, a family close to the queen, very influential in political circles. It's the perfect opportunity to uncover information about these hunters, when members of all of the most influential families gather together in one place to seek the future duke's hand. The mob must be funded by someone noteworthy, with the means. Uncover them, and we can destroy this threat once and for all. You, Lucian, could be our one chance to secure our future. You are tasked with courting the future duke and participating in these marriage games until you ferret out our enemy."

I blinked. "Court a duke? Me?"

"Do you not think yourself up to the task? Do you not profess yourself to be more clever than the humans?"

"Of course, I am."

"Good. The duke's heir has announced his intent to wed. You will be up against men and women of rank and standing. If you manage to insinuate yourself into his life and retain his interest until you uncover this threat to our existence, well then, there's nothing that can stop us. Prove to me that I'm right about your aptitude, Lucian."

I lifted my chin. "I believe you underestimate me. Such a menial task seems beneath me."

Vrykolakas drew closer. I could see the fine hairs inside his cavernous nostrils. "Oh? Do tell."

I licked my lips. "I will certainly be able to accomplish your task, but I'm capable of more than fetching a list of names for you. These humans aren't as clever as you suppose. In fact, I could win the entire competition if I so chose—the future duke's hand. Wouldn't that be something?"

Vrykolakas's nose flared. "It would be. Very well, Lucian. If you think so highly of your prowess, let us sweeten the pot. Get me those names and win the future duke's hand, and I will grant you the honor of tracking down and draining every last hunter who disgraced you tonight. The influence and means that you acquire through the duke would be an interesting advantage."

I felt a thrill of pleasure at the thought of draining the men who'd stormed my castle, but I wanted more. I sighed. "I thought you were all-powerful, Vrykolakas, god of vampires. I'm sure you can spare more than blood for my trouble."

A chuckle reverberated from deep in the bat's throat, where I could make out the clicking of those teeth down his gullet. "Since I find your brashness so amusing, I will consider it. Name your prize."

A smile pulled at my lips. "I want power. I want to be the most powerful creature to ever set foot on this earth. Can you offer me that?"

Vrykolakas considered. "Complete your tasks, and when I restore your powers, you shall be more powerful than before. You will have no equal."

"No equal," I echoed, my mind racing with the challenge set before me. Me, a human. It was laughable. I hadn't the foggiest idea of how to navigate that world, I was so long removed from it.

"Then you had best figure it out, and quickly," Vrykolakas advised. He narrowed his eyes as he regarded my uncertainty. "I will give you a gift to get you started, Lucian. When you awaken in a month's time, it will be at the doorstep of the duke's residence. One whom you trust is a guest there currently, someone in the duke's circle. You will be granted residence alongside your competing suitors. The rest, however, will be solely up to you. Do you understand me, Lucian? I will not lift a finger to help you after you awaken. If you are discovered, the humans will surely kill you. And I will let them."

"I understand," I replied, numb.

"Good. Then you also understand that if you fail in this test, I will not restore you to a vampire. It is all or nothing. The hand of the future duke and those names. Without both conditions met, you will remain human, with all that comes with it. You will grow old, your body will fail you, and you will die an insignificant mortal death."

I swallowed hard, imagining myself coughing up my own blood as I lay feverish in bed. Would that truly be my fate? Weak and feeble, lying in my own piss as my mind faded? No. I would not die like that. Count Lucian Cross would not die a cautionary tale for other vampires. I was going to meet the challenge of Vrykolakas, and I would come out the other side triumphant, stronger than ever. Nothing was going to stop me.

"Good," Vrykolakas said, grinning at me. "That's very good. And Lucian, if you fail to get me those names, I will torment every waking moment of your human existence."

Before I could respond, Vrykolakas was on me. He was a blur as his jaws snapped at me, teeth puncturing my right torso so deep that I felt them graze my bones. I was in a state of disbelief, petrified as I felt a wet tongue lap at the blood escaping from my wounds. His saliva numbed me, a cold coursing through my body that I couldn't shake. It slowly invaded my flesh, bones, and blood, cutting me off from every part of my body.

My eyes rolled back in my head as my face went numb, a pathetic grunt escaping my lips—the last sound I would make as a vampire.

Just as I was finishing my tale, Nancy entered the room and set a tray of tea before us.

"I made cucumber sandwiches just in case you haven't eaten," the maid said kindly as she poured a cup for Helena and stirred in two sugar cubes.

"That was very thoughtful," I said, eyeing the sandwiches with curiosity. I hadn't eaten since I'd become a vampire, but I supposed this was how I would be absorbing my nourishment as a mortal. It was so much simpler when it was just blood, but I had to admit that the idea of eating different things was enticing. I vaguely recollected enjoying eating and the variety it offered. As a vampire, if I'd consumed anything besides blood, I couldn't keep it down. Vrykolakas had given me the rare opportunity to experience several things I'd never thought I would again. Food was toward the top of that list.

As soon as Nancy left the room, I took a sip of tea. It was warm and strong. It didn't leave me tingling with the euphoric afterglow of blood, but it was pleasant in its own way. The cucumber sandwich was something else entirely. As soon as the bread passed my lips, I moaned with pleasure. The cucumber was crisp, and the mayonnaise creamy and decadent. After I'd shoved the second slice into my mouth, Helena cleared her throat politely, and I paused as I recalled myself. I chewed what was in my mouth carefully and swallowed before dabbing at my lips with a kerchief.

"Pardon the scene, Helena. I haven't tasted food in …" I let the thought trail off as Helena shook her head with a grin.

"To think, I would be introducing you to new experiences," she sighed. "The tables have turned, it would seem."

I straightened. "To be fair, you're reintroducing them. I was human once, you know."

"I can hardly imagine it. Did you torture the other children you grew up alongside?"

"You'd be surprised, my dear Helena. I was a rather sensitive boy, I think. Immortality … does things to you."

She nodded slowly. "Yes, I suppose it would. One more reason why I'm grateful for how things turned out."

"You truly aren't … upset?" I was surprised to find that I cared what her answer was.

"I'm not. I won't lie and say that growing old hasn't had its challenges. But I'm … at peace with myself in a way I don't think I could have been had I been changed. I'm happy with where I am and how I will leave this life."

"I'm glad."

A moment of silence hung in the air between us before Helena nodded to herself. "I'll help you as best as I can in your task, Lucian, as I'm sure you'll compensate me handsomely for my time, but are you sure this is what you want? Perhaps you would enjoy being human once more."

I laughed. "Enjoy being a fragile bag of meat scared of my own shadow? Hardly. Really, Helena, it's almost as if you don't know me at all."

"Yes," Helena agreed coldly and I winced. Of course, I'd insulted her. But she should have known my feelings on the matter, given how many years she'd spent in my company. "We can't have you being weak and vulnerable, my count. It doesn't suit you."

"Precisely."

"Very well. I have secured your place in the marriage games as a suitor for the future duke. Expect stiff competition and, as a stranger here, it might take more time to earn the esteem of the family than your peers who have lived in this neighborhood their entire lives."

Peers. It was almost unfathomable to consider humans as peers, but I would heed her advice. After all, she knew more of this world than I.

I shifted in my seat. "Helena … what can you tell me about this duke?"

Helena lifted her teacup to her mouth and blew at the steam before sipping. She held her cup there for a moment after, as if gathering her thoughts. "Duke Harclay is very sick. He likely won't last the season. His eldest son Ambrose will inherit his title and everything worth having. They are a bit isolationist when it comes to their politics, or I would say more. I have a feeling it stems from their relationship with the queen. They're likely privy to information of the most sensitive nature."

I nodded slowly. "So, Ambrose decided to find a partner before his father died."

"I believe Flora—that's the duchess—wanted Duke Harclay to be able to see his son wed. I'm not sure that will happen, even if Ambrose does find a worthy match, but at least the duke can rest assured that his legacy will be in good hands."

"And I suppose every gold digger within a hundred-mile radius is participating in these games."

"If not more. It leaves a bad taste in one's mouth. But then again, you have your own ulterior motives for pursuing the future duke. Is that really any better?"

I slapped my chest. "You wound me, Helena. What if I told you that I was doing this not for myself, but for the good of the world ? Can my intentions not be noble?"

Helena smiled sweetly. "Well, I suppose there's a first time for everything."