Page 35 of The Vampire Castle in the Sky

“I missed you guys,” I sighed, my hand leaving my stomach to rest on the small space between Hector’s body and mine.

Hector dropped his hand as well. “We missed you too,” he whispered.

Slowly, secretly, his little finger curled around mine.

My heart thumped erratically. I twisted my neck, searching for him, but he was staring at the ceiling, his profile golden against the glow of the fire, his disordered hair like the edges of a gilded afternoon.

“So,” said Arawn, his voice a distant murmur, “whose idea was it to pretend you’re married anyway?”

“Mine,” I blurted out. Then sheer, bloody fright swept through me, and I jolted up. I stole a panicked glance at Hector, but he remained perfectly unperturbed. He trusted Arawn with his life, and he would have told him about our little secret from the start had I not insisted upon the danger of implicating him in such a ruse. “How did you know?”

Arawn snorted. “Oh, please. Hector doesn’t have the balls to actually propose to you.”

“Yes, fuck you, too,” said Hector dryly.

“Your wife won’t mind?” Arawn retorted with a wry little smirk.

I tutted at them, shaking my head. “Why do men show their affection by verbally abusing each other? For the love of the sky, you’re adults.”

“Okay, but seriously now,” Arawn persisted, “howdidyou manage to get yourselves in this situation? Actually, no, let me guess.” He narrowed his eyes theatrically. “You learned about the Aventines, came to check on our darling Hector, the Castle took off, you refused to leave his side, and, of course, he refused to refuse you.”

I gaped at him, genuinely impressed. “You’re good.” I turned to Hector, who was looking at us through amused, half-lidded eyes. “He’s good.”

“Well, it helps that we’ve known each other since we were all this tall,” drawled Arawn, holding his hand only a handful of inches above the pink rug.

“Thea has barely grown any taller,” Hector taunted.

“What?” I squealed, skittering up to my feet to tower over both of them. “I’ll have you know I’m among the tallest women in the Thalorian Court.”

The bastards exchanged an incredulous look before they burst out laughing.

I crossed my arms over my chest, seething, “Bloody vampires.”

Suddenly, the crystals on the sconces stirred, and the shift in optics produced an unsteady rainbow edge, kaleidoscopic light flickering over us. The colors were radiant, uncanny; the forget-me-nots in the vase atop the table were blushing under their brilliance.

We were all together again. And the Castle was alive.

13

Hector

Arawn’s demeanor shifted the second Thea left the room, his smile falling away like a veil.

Wordlessly, he got up to his feet, untucked his shirt from the waistband of his trousers, and used the hem to wipe the sweat off his brow. I was disturbed to see how thin he was under his clothes, how the skin around his stomach clung so closely to his bones that it looked translucent, a fragile piece of cloth marbled with purple veins.

Before I was able to ask him about it, he turned, quick anger rising in his eyes. “So how does pretend marriage work, exactly? Do you pretend-fuck her as well—”

On sheer instinct, I grabbed him around the collar, sending us both in a tumble against the wall. “Watch your damned mouth when you speak of her.”

He tried shaking me off, but he was too weak, his muscles too stiff. I could tell he hadn’t fed in a while. I just couldn’t tell why.

I took his jaw in my hand and shoved his head against the wall, forcing him still. “What in Tartarus is wrong with you, huh? Why would you say something like that?”

“Get off me,” he growled, digging the heels of his palms into my shoulders.

We struggled against each other, our breaths growing ragged, until he finally relented. “I’m sorry, okay?” he gritted out. “I was out of line.”

I pushed off him, my bewilderment complete.

---