My senses registered more vamps beyond this pair, out there in the night watching us.
I shuddered, stifling the instinct to kill every single one of them.
I moved up to Silvanus’s side. “Always good to have a backup.”
“Indeed.” He didn’t sound happy.
The guards opened the gates, allowing us through. On the other side, the path continued, ending at a glass porch sticking out of the hill—and another two guards.
Medusa spoke to them this time while Silvanus waited for them to open the door.
My fingers twitched. Should I pat him on the back for reassurance?
Why would I do that?
Once the door opened with a beep from a keycard swiped on a panel fixed to the porch’s right side, a guard handed Medusa a spare card and left us to it.
Backup was one thing, but Aidan was another. Reality slithered back in now that the initial awe from the city had subsided.
I drew luck down my chest, taking some huge gray concrete steps down into the house.
We have to beat him.
The décor of Vaughn’s holiday home was all gray concrete with splashes of white-and-chrome. Super clinical and terribly modern. Too many clean lines for my taste, with no plants in sight, although I felt their energy from somewhere in the house.
Not even a bookcase. Ornaments would be a sin in this place.
Even the sofa and the chairs in the living room looked like hell for the butt cheeks.
Dammit. What couldn’t the lord own a cozy cottage?
Oh, well. Better than a kick in the balls, I guess.
The living room was the biggest space, followed by the kitchen. There was an indoor pool on the east side of the house, blue-and-purple lighting illuminating the water, sealed away from daylight like the rest of the house.
“Take five minutes to prepare,” Silvanus said. “Then we will head into the city proper. Choose a bedroom in case we must stay over.”
“Noted, sugar,” Medusa declared.
I went to follow her and Elio down the corridor linking the living room to the bedrooms and bathrooms on the western side of the house.
The king stopped me.
“What’s wrong?” I questioned.
“I want to talk to you.”
Elio glanced back before he vanished out of sight.
“Oh? What’s up?”
He smiled, his body taking on that vulnerable mortal vibe again. “What do you think?”
Is it too hot in here?“Of the house?” I nibbled my bottom lip.
“Yes.”
“Not for me, but we’re not here for fun.”
