Page 28 of The Pureblood Princess
“Well,” Charlie says, casting a glance back over his shoulder, “I believe that’s everything. Though I’m sure we’ll discover we’ve forgotten something along the way. It seems we’re unable to remember to pack all our shoes.” He casts Contessa a knowing look, and her red lips quirk up in one corner.
“The troubles of married men,” she says, exchanging a smile with her mother.
Nadia feels momentarily left out, and it makes her even more eager to be united with Theodore and finally call herself a wife. Though she’s not yet one and twenty, she’s more than ready to shed the mantle of maidenhood and step fully into womanhood. The thought makes her want to reach for Theodore, to pull him in close and nuzzle her head into that warm space just beneath his jaw, but she resists the urge.
“Let’s be on our way, then.” Lord Rosetti tucks Lady Rosetti’s arm through his, and they lead the way toward the carriages.
Contessa pulls away from Charlie and steps up next to Nadia, stealing her away from Theodore.
“I do hope you don’t mind,” she whispers. “The children can be... tiring. And it’s quite a long ride.”
“I don’t mind at all.” Nadia smiles, but her eyes are on the children as they four of them, all varying ages, clamber into one of the waiting carriages. Their energy, while perhaps tiring, is vitalizing to her. The Rosettis have such a beautiful family, and she can only hope to have one of her own someday.
Lord and Lady Rosetti take the nicest of the three carriages, and that leaves one waiting carriage for Nadia, Theodore, Contessa, and Charlie.
A footman opens the door and helps Contessa in first. Charlie gestures for Nadia to follow, and she takes the footman’s hand gratefully. He braces her as she steps up into the plush interior, and once inside, she takes a seat across from Contessa.
“I’ve been looking forward to this ride,” Contessa says as Theodore and Charlie step into the carriage and get settled.
“Why’s that?” Nadia asks. Theodore is seated beside her, his thigh touching hers just barely, and even that small sensation is enough to send her thoughts back to the dining room in Veilstead House, to his fangs in her neck, his face between her legs. In an effort to calm the heat coursing through her, she focuses hard on Contessa.
“Because it will be an opportunity for us to get to know each other better.”
The men seem to barely repress eye rolls, instead opting to exchange a humorous look, and Contessa narrows her vibrant green eyes at them.
“Is there something funny about what I said?” she asks. “Why shouldn’t I be eager to get to know my new sister?” Her sharp gaze and the puckered line of her crimson lips seem to subdue them once and for all. When they both look appropriately rebuked, she winks one eye at Nadia, her mouth turning up coyly in one corner.
The footman, having closed the carriage door, climbs up onto the bench beside the driver, and with a lurch, the carriage is off.
Nadia leans closer to the window and watches the Rosetti manor grow smaller as the horses carry them away. And somehow, though she’s only been here a short time, she feels homesick already.
“All right, there’s something I must absolutely know,” Nadia says, cutting through Charlie’s and Theodore’s laughter. She was surprised to discover that Charlie has a sharp tongue and a bawdy sense of humor, and he’s had them in stitches of laughter for the better part of the carriage ride. Upon first becomingacquainted with him, she wondered how his quiet nature appealed to the tempest that is Contessa, but now it’s become clear that there’s more to him than an easy smile and an affinity for cigars and novels.
They’re some hours into their journey now, and a light drizzle patters atop the carriage as they roll through the country. Outside the window, a low mist hovers near the ground, casting a gray veil over the rolling countryside and small distant hamlets.
Nadia glances over at Theodore, who has fixed her with his intense stare, and a pleasurable shiver goes down her spine when she meets his eyes. “Lord Rosetti, younevertold me how you came to have that lovely owl.”
She asked about Celeste in one of her many letters to him, but he never answered the question; now that she thinks back, he answered very few of her questions. She’s not ceased wondering, however.
“Ah, Celeste,” Contessa says before letting out an irritable sigh. “Little brother Theo always had a way with animals.” She puckers her lips and arches one dark brow.
“Come, Contessa, don’t sound so covetous.” He smiles, then turns his attention to Nadia. “It’s a vampire trait. Some of us”—his eyes cut playfully to his sister—“are able to connect on a more intimate level with a number of creatures. Not all animals, of course, but owls, foxes, and even bats seem especially drawn to us, and we can communicate with them through focused intention. I found Celeste in the woods of Graystone when she was just a hatchling. After nursing her back to health, I had every intention of releasing her, but she didn’t want to go.”
Nadia perks up. Her mother never liked having animals in the house—too messy, she said, and they got hair everywhere—but she always longed for a small companion of her own. Only when Octavia came into her life did she finally feel that connection,that spark of intuitive understanding, and hearing this from Theodore’s lips makes her heart swell for him.
“That’s . . .”
“Wholly obnoxious?” Contessa says, cutting Nadia off before she can find the right word. “My thoughts exactly.”
“Your envy is showing, dear sister,” Theodore says, and then he leans toward Nadia. “Contessa never made the connection,” he whispers. “Too inhospitable.”
“Inhospitable?” Contessa snaps. “Me?”
“No, of course not.” Theodore straightens his overcoat and sits back. “You’re the picture of warmth and nurturance.”
Charlie bursts into laughter, and Contessa turns toward him sharply.
It’s beautiful, Nadia says to Theodore in her head, making use of Charlie and Contessa’s distraction.Can you teach me?
