Page 77 of Volik

She must have gone back to sleep and just woke up again. I have never been woken up by an alarm clock before, but I have seen the reaction in movies. She was probably startled out of sleep.

My mate is fine.

Needing to keep my own pulse steady, I drop onto my bed and stare up at the ceiling.

The rock above me arches smoothly over the room. Small pin lights dot the surface, filling the room with a warm glow.

I wonder if Nix will like my home.

No one has ever been in here before. Other than the workers who helped create it.

It took time to find people to work for me. The project was unique. And I, the scary vampire, would be on site all day, every day, overseeing the process. But I eventually found a good crew and the perfect piece of land.

The land was the most important part. Because the house is built into the earth.

The forest I am in is dense with trees in all directions. But the natural rise of the earth in this spot was clear.

And under the dirt was rock.

Lots of rock.

Which is why I needed sculptors. Not builders.

From outside, it looks like the front of the hill was sliced off, but instead of a retaining wall to keep the shape, there is a wall of glass.

Or what looks like glass but is far more impenetrable.

And once you get close enough, you can see that one of the panels is actually a door. Which still makes it seem like maybe there is just a room carved into this hill.

Then you step inside.

There is a normal room to start, with minimal furnishings and a domed ceiling above.

But then you see the first of many hallways.

And the first hallway angles down.

The floors, the walls, the ceiling. Everything. It’s all carved from stone.

The depth keeps my home cool, and hidden airways tunnel up through the ground above for circulation.

As for heat… I am the heat.

Not all vampires run hot. Some run incredibly cold. But my bloodline runs scorching. So when I’m home, my body heat warms the whole structure.

And if I am gone for long stretches, my living spaces are below the frost line. And my water comes straight from a well underneath the home, so nothing will freeze.

I blow out a breath and sit up.

This house took a long time. And a lot of money. And I really like it. But if Nix does not… Then we will move. Anywhere in the world. As many times as she wants.

Standing, I start to make my way back to my office.

I take the curved staircase up. Turn through the reading room, into the library. Another turn past the kitchen. Past the next hallway up, which leads up to the front door. Down another curved hall.

There is not much for security in the house, aside from the high-tech front door. But that’s mostly just to keep the humans out.

Curious fools don’t deserve to lose their lives.