Page 57 of After Darkness Falls

Inside, the walls were painted dark green and hung with paintings that seemed both old and masterful, the sort of art one saw in museums. But instead of a pretty smiling lady or a Romanesque couple walking through a park, the portraits depicted men and women armed with weapons, scenes of battles against demons. The huntsmen had their own history.

"You like?" Jack asked, seeing her pause in front of an oil painting.

A vampire, if she wasn't mistaken. A very handsome man with silver hair and bright blue eyes. His fangs weren't extended, but the painter had ensured that the light on his skin was luminous, unnatural.

"Who is this?" she asked. "It's strange to see a vamp here."

"Strange if you don't know our history, I guess. This is Eirikr. The guy the others were talking about in the car."

Chloe was startled and confused. "But they said he was insane and murderous."

"That's one point of view," Jack replied, chuckling. "Eirikr was hell-bent on eradicating vampires who drank human blood and killed their victims. In his days, that was almost every vamp. Now, they have synthetic blood—and besides, they've learned to control their thirst, evolutionarily-speaking. Back then…it wasn't pretty." Jack's jaw was set. "Eirikr founded the huntsmen."

Now, her jaw hit the floor. "Seriously?"

Jack smiled. "He trained a bunch of humans personally. Those who were strong enough, fast enough, he changed. He had a witch with him; one drop of his blood, a hell of a lot of magic, and here we are. He only used a very small dose of his own blood to ensure we wouldn't turn. But it's here, in our veins. It's been passed down through every generation of huntsmen, hence why we have a chance against sups."

The more she heard about their founder, the more intrigued she was. Eirikr sounded complicated. But also something else. Not mad, or cruel. Passionate. Purposeful.

"So you're part vamp," she teased him.

Jack grimaced. "I'm part Eirikrson. Different."

Suddenly curious, Chloe asked, "What about the coffers? Cat says only an Eirikrson could get to them. Have you guys tried?"

Jack shook his head. "No. We have no interest in his wealth. He provided us with plenty of heirlooms, anyway. If we had any control over what happens in Oldcrest…let's just say Eirikr wouldn't be rotting in a cave."

Though his tone was light, Chloe was starting to understand the divide between huntsmen and vampires. The reason behind the unfriendliness, the tension.

The land she loved was a divided faction that could easily turn into a battlefield.

"Let's get that tea, shall we?" Jack said lightly. "I think there might be some chocolate in the cupboard if you prefer."

The man was starting to know her well.

27

Blood and Cashmere

Chloe woke to find a folded package on her bed. She opened it, and inside was a checked scarf with white, blue, and baby pink lines. It was so warm and soft.

The package wasn't signed. Chloe sighed. When would she cease to seem so pathetic to her friends that they bought her expensive stuff? It wasn’t like she couldn’t afford to clothe herself, especially now that she’d worked as an accountant for three months. She didn’t spend much in Oldcrest, so most of her salary was sitting nicely in her bank account, waiting to be spent.

Maybe whoever had bought it would let her pay them back; then she could keep it. It was so pretty, she would be loath to part with it.

Her bladder demanding her attention, Chloe dropped the fabric back on the bed and got up.

The tall three-story house had several small bedrooms to house huntsmen as they traveled to London. No en-suite. She peeked out the door and, finding the corridors empty, dashed to claim the bathroom on her floor. She didn't stay long under the hot shower, knowing all twelve of them had to share one boiler. After her ablutions, she got dressed, then put on her leather boots and her coat, along with Cat's gloves.

Then Chloe glanced at the scarf. Recognizing the label, she shivered, wondering how much it had cost—and who had spent that sort of money on her. Her mind went to Levi, but he was all the way up in Scotland. That left everyone else here.

She took the scarf with her downstairs. A delicious smell was beckoning her to a large formal dining room.

Bacon. There was bacon in the air.

She stopped as she got to the door, finding a lot more people than she'd expected.

In addition to the nine huntsmen and her two witch friends—the vampires were patrolling somewhere outside; they hadn't come inside the previous evening—there were new faces.

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