Page 102 of Fang Fiction

“All right then, what should we put on the friend-inspection agenda?” he asked genially. “Do you want to meet some of my clan mates? Or we could tour the castle, or dance if you like?”

“Oh, a tour sounds wonderful!” Tess effused. “The castle is so beautiful, I’d love to see more of it.”

This wasn’t part of the plan—she wasn’t supposed to leave the main room with Felix so Callum could stay close by. But meeting other hostile vampires seemed like a bad idea, and letting Felix lay his hands on her long enough to feel her human pulse seemed worse—while a tour could lead Tess directly to Isobel’s rooms. She couldn’t turn down that opportunity, could she? All she had to do was get back to the ballroom as quickly as possible, and then she could tell Callum exactly where to go to steal the diamond.

Felix led Tess through a labyrinth of hallways, many of them curved and twisting because of the castle’s circular shape. Tess could hear footsteps somewhere behind them; she hoped that meant Callum was following. She tried to remember everything they passed on their route: a waterfall running down a wall of crystals here, a larger-than-life mermaid statue made of pure coral there. Before long, they reached a spiral stairway, and Tess followed Felix as they started to climb. After a dizzying number of stairs, they finally arrived at an arched wooden door near the top of the tower. The keyhole had an intricate, octagonal shape, and Felix removed a necklace from beneath his shirt to unlock it—the pendant fit perfectly. He opened the door and held out his arm to welcome Tess inside.

“After you, milady.”

“Why, thank you, good sirrah.”

The room was like something out of a dream: a circular chamber made of stone, with a mammoth four-poster bed, a writing desk, shelves stuffed with books and boxes and all sorts of treasures, and huge windows and a terrace overlooking the forest, where the sky was almost dark and stars were beginning to appear. Tess recognized a few objects on the shelves from Blood Feud, including an intricately carved silver dagger—Tess was almost certain it was the same one Felix gave to Isobel in book one.

“This is so beautiful,” Tess said. “Where are we?”

“Isobel’s room,” Felix confirmed, and Tess got chills. This was it. “She loved books, like you. And she kept journals every day of her life—hundreds of years, all documented right here.”

Felix led Tess to the shelves that covered nearly half of the room’s curving walls. Tess traced her fingers along the books’ leather spines; in other circumstances, she could have spent hours in this room, reading Isobel’s journals and learning everything she could.

“You must really miss her,” Tess observed.

“I do.” Felix took a step toward Tess. “Do you mind if I take my mask off?”

“Of course not,” she said, but something about his tone was unnerving her. She put her own mask down as he removed his. “It’s nice to be able to see you better.”

He took a step toward Tess. “Would you like to see Isobel’s jewelry?”

Tess fought to remain calm, but something felt terribly off. This was too easy—was it possible he was really just going to hand her the red diamond?

“I’d love to,” she choked out. He slipped past her and opened a small wooden chest on the shelves behind her, extracting a worn gold ring with a scuffed red stone.

“It’s lovely.” Tess kept her voice low to keep it from quivering. “Is that the red diamond you told me about?”

He held up the ring, and even though the room was dim and the stone needed cleaning, it caught the light so brilliantly it looked like it might be possessed of its own inner fire.

“Indeed.” His voice was cold. “That’s what you came for, right, Tess?”

Tess felt her blood turn to ice water and her stomach dropped. She turned toward the door, but it was too late, Felix was already grabbing at her wrist.

“Stop it!” she shrieked. She tried to pull away, but of course he was so much stronger—

“The fact that you thought I didn’t know exactly what you are from the second I met you.” He smirked. “How stupid do you think I am?”

“Please, I’m not here to harm you—I—” Tess searched wildly for an excuse, any excuse. “This will sound crazy but there are these novels? They’re called Blood Feud, and—”

“Tess, please stop embarrassing yourself.” Felix ran his thumb over her wrist, massaging her pulse, which was thrumming so fast Tess thought she might be having another panic attack. “I know what Blood Feud is, I know that Octavia is back in New York, and I know exactly what you want with my ring.”

Tess’s head was swimming—was it possible he really was August Lirio?? It didn’t matter—all of this was a trap—she was going to die in this castle—

“Callum, run!” she screamed, but it was too late, he was already in the room wrestling Tess away from Felix.

“Don’t you fucking touch her,” Callum seethed. “Just give us the ring, and we’ll leave without any bloodshed.”

“Mm, no. I have a better idea. Hey, guys?” Felix called out to the terrace. “You can come in now.”

On Felix’s command, a dozen vampires filed into the room—all masked, all huge, hulking men whom Tess felt quite sure could destroy them without a second thought. Maybe Callum would have a chance against one of them, or even two, but twelve?! Callum and Tess moved closer together on instinct, Callum keeping himself between Tess and the other vampires. Tess almost wished he wouldn’t; she really, really didn’t want to stay alive just long enough to watch him die.

“Now, Tess, since you’re such a Blood Feud fan, let’s play a little game. Do you know who killed Konstantin Adamos?”