Page 241 of Blood Curse

Three months later, I finished a work call in Leeds at nine seventeen in the evening and closed my laptop.

The flat had changed in small ways. Blackout curtains covered the windows. The refrigerator held more sealed blood than food. Stellan’s two drawers were full, and three of his shirts had migrated into my half of the wardrobe as if royal entitlement led inevitably to stealing storage space.

The outer lock was new.

My landlord still believed he authorised it.

I left the flat with my laptop bag over one shoulder and sunglasses in my pocket in case we returned after dawn. Stellan waited beside the car. He had learned to wear modern clothes without looking as if he was granting them an audience, though the long dark coat and silver hair still made strangers look twice.

He took the bag from me and kissed me against the car door.

The kiss deepened before either of us remembered the driver. Hunger stirred low in my body, much warmer than the need for blood and far easier to enjoy.

“Harrowmere first,” I said against his mouth.

His hand closed on my hip for one last second. “For now.”

We reached the estate before midnight.

The main gate stood open. It stayed that way from sunset until dawn unless the security team had a reason to close it, and even then every resident carried a key.

Lenora was leaving the gatehouse as we arrived. Her coat was buttoned, her bag was packed and her expression warned anyone against discovering an emergency in the next thirty seconds.

“You’re nine minutes late. Mara has the west gate, Elias is in the lower court and I am off duty.”

She walked through the gate without waiting for permission.

Stellan watched her go. “She enjoys that part of the job.”

“She’s earned it.”

Inside, Harrowmere carried life instead of waiting for it. Music reached us from the Night Hall. Doors stood open along the lower passage, showing rooms made personal with books, clothes, mismatched lamps and objects collected during lives lived far from this house.

Several rooms were empty again.

Their keys hung on the board by the gate. The people who had used them had left for flats, families, work or somewhere they preferred. Two had returned for visits. One sent postcards addressed to the entire court and wrote very little anyone could read.

Mara crossed the passage with a rota in one hand. Her security team included vampires who volunteered for nights and humans who were paid for hours worked. Refusing a shift cost nobody a bed.

She gave Stellan a brief report about a damaged section of wall, then asked whether he wanted the repair authorised.

“What do you recommend?” he asked.

“Repair it before winter.”

“Do it.”

The decision took ten seconds and involved no throne.

Elias had claimed three rooms near the lower court for medical care. One held supplies, one held beds and the third had become his office despite his insistence that he didn’t need one. Tonight, he was teaching two younger vampires how to manage stored blood for a new arrival whose hunger still outran her control.

He looked up as we passed. “Bryony, your appointment was yesterday. Your veins remain inconsiderate of your calendar.”

“Tomorrow night.”

He pointed at me, accepting the answer without liking it.

The Night Hall was full.