Page 38 of Rejected Mate

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“Areyouready,Wren?We need to leave now, or we’re going to be late.”

I glanced at the reflection of Violet, who stood behind me by the mirror. Instead of a glamorous dress, she was wearing athletic clothes just like mine. Maurica and the other vampire maid let us know that tonight’s activity would be more physical. My mind reeled with the possibilities.

Last night had been, in a word, disastrous. Not only had I not gotten any more information about vampire and shifter lore, I’d also made out with Ares, gotten kicked out of his room, and been forced to knee Callan in the balls.Way to make friends all over the castle, Wren!

A good “day’s” sleep didn’t help clarify things. Sleeping soundly during the day was tough with a clear mind, let alone with one swirling around with puzzles. I tossed and turned all day and was up long before Maurica came in at twilight to wake us.

After “breakfast” at nine PM, we were told to dress in athletic gear and wait for our vampire guards to escort us to the event. I’d picked at my eggs and bacon, knowing that poor sleep and poor diet were going to catch up to me at some point, but what could I do?

It had been a full day since my mother’s letter letting me know my grandfather was ill. My first attempt at asking to go home had been disastrous, my plan to get more info in the library had been horrendous, and I was fresh out of plans. Maybe I would think of something during whatever this was they were about to put us through.

“I wonder what they’re going to have us do,” Violet whispered as we walked to meet the vampire guards in the hallway. “I’m not very good with feats of strength or speed. I’m really more of an indoor girl.”

I snorted. A shifter female who was more of an “indoor girl”? Violet frowned as if I’d insulted her, so I tried to smooth things over.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Stick by me. They can’t have us doing anything too dangerous. They say they want to mate with us, not send us out in wheelchairs.”

She nodded, looking relieved. Sober Violet was much different from Drunk Violet. Drunk Violet was the life of the party. Sober Violet, beside me, appeared delicate and lost, about one loud noise away from bolting. Still, it seemed my words had set her at ease. At least I could make someone else feel better, even if I couldn’t do it for myself.

I expected our vampire guards to walk us to the gymnasium again, but we began heading in the opposite direction. Curious, I gazed down the hallway to see a set of patio doors thrown wide.

“We’re going outside?” I asked the guards.

Neither one replied.

“Super helpful as always, fellas. Whatever they’re paying you, it should be doubled,” I mumbled, realizing I was going to have to wait and see.

We did indeed stop at the open patio doors. The cool night breeze blew in, stirring my hair and igniting all my senses. A half-moon hung over a lush garden that was lit by more torches than I’d ever seen in one place. Down the stone steps, sculpted hedges outlined a large rectangular area where the vampire suitors waited.

I inhaled the scents of the garden, realizing how much I missed the outdoors.

“We’re going outside?” Violet asked, her voice trembling.

“Give me your arm,” one of the vampire guards grumbled.

Frowning, I turned to see them latch a cuff onto Violet’s wrist. Ah, so that was how we could go outside of their magic force field. They’d found some other trick to keep us pinned, but maybe this was one trap I could break free from. I could certainly try.

I didn’t put up a fight when they fixed the metal cuff on my wrist. Instead, I wrapped my hand around it, testing it for weaknesses. It was tight and seemingly unbreakable, but that didn’t mean there weren’t other ways around their control.

“Head in,” the vampire guard said. “The game is in there.”

Game?

Violet and I walked down the stone steps, past rows of torches, and made our way to the grassy rectangle. The seven vampire suitors stood in the center watching us approach. I felt Ares’s and Callan’s eyes keenly as I stood beside Violet and the other girls. Callan gave me a narrow glance, letting me know he was still pissed about the blow to his tender bits. Ares wouldn’t meet my gaze. I wondered if he was embarrassed or upset or some other emotion I didn’t have a name for. He had revealed something crucial last night. I didn’t know why or what it meant, but it was clear not all was well in Raith’s paradise.

I shook my head. Instead of thinking about Ares, I needed to focus on discerning what we might be doing out here.

The vampires wore athletic clothes like we did. The other females who had gathered behind us were also in stretchy, breathable outfits. That meant something physical for both groups. I was both pleased and worried about this. Physical challenges would be right up my alley, but doing too well might put another target on my back, and I already had plenty of those. Laurel and her group, the girl named Nanette, and another named Loba, were already nearby giving me dirty looks I chose to ignore.

There were ten females in attendance. It seemed they hadn’t sent three home like I’d wondered and they were going to give them another shot. I’d finally learned everyone’s names, a feat I’d patted myself on the back for many times since it was often a fault of mine. They were Violet, Laurel, Nanette, Loba, Silvia, Justice, Paulina, Kaylie, and Savanna. I didn’t know most of them, but I knew that, at the moment, they were like me, worried about how this would look to their families at home.

As if I’d conjured them with my thoughts, the cameras rolled from their places, the ever-seeing eyes that were so easy to forget.

“Welcome back, ladies,” a male voice said.

When I turned my head, I spotted William walking toward us from the far end of the field. He, alone, wore a sports jacket and dress shirt as if he were unable to shed his business attire, even at a sporting event. He wore the suit like armor, a costume to remind us all who was in charge. I remembered Ares’s words about William turning him into a vampire because of his lack of human offspring and their resemblance, and it made me regard the elder vamp differently. It was one thing to live as a vamp, but it was another thing to purposefully create someone whohad todrink blood and live in darkness for the rest of their unnatural life and all because of some misguided parental deficiency.

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