Page 17 of Dishonor Among Thieves
“Please, Neo, Rain, one of you. Start at the beginning.” Rain’s wife walked up to me, her hand extended. “I’m Gia Lestalinn, wife of Rainieri Oderisi,” she said. “I’m so very sorry to meet you under these circumstances. If I only knew what the circumstances were!”
I shook the lovely girl’s hand. “Thank you for your hospitality,” I said, silently praying that my pillow crime wouldn’t soon be discovered.
“Enough,” Neo sighed, a bit less bark in his tone. “Brexia, you now know the household. Antonia and Dale, my butler and her husband. Rainieri is my younger brother.” He closed his eyes, as if withholding some complaint or insult, and then continued. “Gia is Rain’s wife, and Odile her sister.”
“Ah-hem.” A throat was cleared from the doorway, and the redheaded boy from last night waved at me. “I’m Flynn,” he said. “Part-time cart driver, all around apprentice to the needs of this fine enterprise.”
“Enterprise?” I echoed.
“Flynnie…” Gia said, her voice heavy with warning.
A warning to be quiet about their business? The longer I stayed among these people, the more I realized their secrets were many.
“Flynn Serlo, out!” Neo pointed at the door. “You have work you should be attending, do you not?”
Flynn scrambled away, closing the door behind him. “Nice to see you again, miss!” he called through the closed door.
“That boy has a weak spot for pretty faces,” Gia said, shaking her head.
“Enough,” Neo boomed, pointing a finger at his brother. But I was certain his eyes trailed over my face when Gia called me pretty before he angrily looked away. “To summarize, my brother decided this morning to drink from Miss Eloise’s horse, who I understand suffered injuries before she was rescued from some rather unfortunate circumstances.”
“I believe the mare was abused,” I clarified, a sincere frown on my face.
Gia’s hand flew to her mouth, and she nibbled nervously on a nail.
“And then this morning, our guest decided to escape from the sitting room like a thief in the night. She happened upon my dear brother just as he was drinking the horse’s blood.”
Gia gasped, her face drained of its color. “She saw that? She witnessed it?”
“I’m terribly sorry,” Rain said miserably. “I had no idea she would be awake.”
“I am furious at your carelessness, brother, but that is a matter for another conversation. The situation we find ourselves in is not solely your fault.” Neo glared at me, his long hair falling in menacing panels over his face. “She is a guest here! She should never have been sneaking about the property. Who knows what dangers she might have encountered! Even worse, after a night of hospitality, who slips away without so much as a goodbye?”
“Neo, that’s ridiculous.” Odile shook her head, her lack of patience with the man matching mine. “She is a guest here, not a prisoner. It was simply an unfortunate accident. She might have stumbled into any of the rooms and seen something else that…” She looked from Rain back to his brother. “Something else better kept private.”
Neo pointed at his brother, his golden eyes flashing dark. “Nonsense. She’s a thief and she’s trouble. And now, thanks to you, sheknows.”
Gia joined me and her sister on the settee. “Brexia,” she said gently. “You seem altogether too calm for someone who’s just seen what you have. Are you all right, truly? Are you in shock?”
Before I could answer, Odile scooted closer to me. Surrounded by the sisters, one on each side of me, I could see the resemblance. While Gia’s coloring was dark and Odile so very fair, there was no denying they were sisters. The likeness and their obvious bond made my chest ache with longing.
“You knew, didn’t you?” Odile asked. “This isn’t the first encounter you’ve had with vampires?”
I nodded and looked down at my lap, my hands nervously reaching for my necklace.
“I have known such creatures exist. I’ve known for many years.” My voice was steady, but I avoided looking at Neo as I spoke. “I of course had no idea there were any here.” I looked at Rain and then back at his wife and her sister. “Are you…? All of you?”
Antonia barked a laugh. “Oh, girl, would that I were a vampire.” She patted her forehead. “What I’d give to get rid of these lines!”
Dale walked over to his wife and kissed her cheek. “The lines are the best part. Each one is a reminder of the many years we’ve been blessed to share.”
“Only my brother and I are,” Rain offered. “My wife and her sister… They’re not, but they’ve had trouble over the years from our kind. And now that we’re family”—he nodded at Odile—“we are bound together by blood as well as love. We’re fortunate to have absolute trust in Antonia and Dale. They are as close to us as family. No, theyarefamily. Such loyalty and discretion as we’ve enjoyed with them since we were young boys are among the rarest of qualities. I trust you know too well how the common folk view our kind. What dangers there are for those like us, if our truth were to be discovered.”
“And what about me!” A muted voice filtered through the door. “You have my trust as well!”
Rain shook his head, a grin on his lips. “And Flynn, of course. He’s part of this household now, but he’s all human.”
“A bumbling one at that,” Neo grumbled. Then he turned his attention back to me. “Now that we’ve played the who’s a vampire game, I’d like to know a little more about you, Miss Eloise. How are you so unafraid? How do you know of our kind? Are you one of us?”
