Page 3 of Sleeping With the Vampire

I would not play his game.

But first I had to find out if what he said was true.

Chapter 2

Lucca

I am unable to relax until I see the turrets of Grey Castle appearing above the mist. The stone walls rise out from the forest, dark and forbidding. It has been the stronghold of my family for a hundred and fifty years and is supposed to intimidate and frighten.

There is a gate at the bottom of the valley, with a large iron door that is guarded at all times. Even should anyone overpower the security here, it would take them several minutes to reach the castle itself. My rooms, at the top of the eastern turret, look out over the valley and the road. I like to see everything. My favorite place is the Eyrie, a look-out from which I can see most of the castle grounds, giving me a good view of who is coming and going.

As soon as I am within the stone walls, I have two bottles of warm blood, at exactly the right temperature and feel my spirits revive and my energy levels rise. I was feeling a bit tired but I didn’t want to risk drinking just any blood. Our product is among the best and I enjoy the premium offering, which is the freshest and the strongest.

“You must be careful,” a voice comes from the window.

I turn and spot my Seer, in the shadows. She has entered through a side door and must have been waiting for me. Completely blind and older than I am, she is one of my most trusted counselors, able to see into the past as well as the future. Visions come to her but she cannot control it, cannot see more than she is given access to. This makes it difficult to interpretwhat she sees. Still, her counsel is invaluable and I have come to depend on her.

“I see great tension coming in the family,” she says in a low voice.

What else is new, I wonder to myself. There has always been fierce competition between my sons, who have each become powerful in their own right and demand respect for their roles in the family and the business.

She continues, “There will be death.”

I sit upright, taking note. “Whose death? Mine?”

“No,” the voice wavers and I realize her vision’s limitations. “But it is someone close.”

One of the sons perhaps, I think.

I wonder about this, what the implications are of her vision. She is telling me to reconsider investigating Tanata’s death, to stop my obsession with finding her killer. This has been the Seer’s advice to me before, but I can’t do that, mostly because I am convinced that whoever killed her, was really looking for me.

“The human girl is dangerous,” she says.

“In what way?” I ask.

She seems unsure. “I… it’s… not clear. But… when she comes into the family… she brings a dynamic…it upsets everyone.”

This is exactly what I want though.

I thought of my three sons, Ragnar, who was so arrogant and supercilious, Layrr who was too impatient and impetuous and even Sunil, who preferred to live in the city and be away from the castle. One of them would take over the business from me one day, perhaps become king and I knew each of them thought they deserved it more than the others.

The family’s fortune has become vast over the past few decades, mostly because of our involvement in the Syndicate,the top vampire families working together to run the blood bank, where humans willingly sell their blood. It is then treated, bottled and distributed. Following the Great War between humans and vampires, one of the stipulations was that unfettered hunting of humans be prohibited. This also ensured that there would always be a steady blood supply as well as provided income to humans. It gave us an uneasy peace in our world. Even though the rules were sometimes broken, mostly, vampires adhered to them.

“Will there be answers?” I ask, leaning forward.

“Perhaps not the ones you seek,” the Seer says. “This particular… I only see the family torn apart, your powers scattered. That is as much as I see now.”

She bows and takes her leave.

Her words disturb me, but I have no intention of changing my mind.

I take out my phone and check if she has called.

Nothing yet.

I lean back and allow myself the luxury of replaying our meeting.

Isabella “Izzy” Bonnici.

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