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The inexplicable urge to stick my finger in the water hovered over me, but I refrained, putting my arms behind my back to watch the feeding frenzy. “Can I try?”
Selena walked over to me, and I grabbed the bag from her. “Who am I feeding to the fish?”
“A little bit at a time.” I let some trickle back into the bag. “I have no idea, could be anyone. Probably contains a little bit of the guard who backtalked Elijah last week but other than that, I don’t know.”
“You’re used to it? I mean, the violence.”
Her smile fell. “Well, I’m married to a vampire king. He used to throw women out his bedroom window after he fucked them or drank from them. I’d have to say I’m pretty used to it. But it makes sense, if you think about it. Maybe not for back home, but here, in this world, it does.”
None of it bothered me the way it did at first, and at this point I wasn’t sure if I was more bothered by it or bothered that I wasn’t bothered, when I thought I was supposed to be.
“The night I met Lukas, I’d caught my boyfriend cheating on me. We’d been out, and then I saw him in a closet with a girl. I went home and I was packing to leave and then he brought two girls home with him. Lukas and Kiam showed up in my living room during all that and he slaughtered everyone. And I mean slaughtered. Like brain matter on the walls and shit.”
Selena laughed a little and then smiled. “That’s... wow. Kinda hot. He really likes you, then.” She glanced at me. “I mean, they don’t go to that much trouble if they don’t care. I’ve never known or met a vampire that beats around the bush or dilly dallies. If they do, I feed them to the fish.”
“Good to know.”
“We can walk through the gardens to get to the road,” she offered.
Nodding, I followed her, the two ninja-looking men trailing quietly behind.
Everything was immaculately kept, neatly trimmed and brimming with life. I didn’t spot a wilting flower or browning petal anywhere. There wasn’t a single broken twig to be found, just like in Lukas’s Realm.
When we passed a fragrant white bush, Selena pointed it out. “That’s a gardenia. Bigger than what we’d see in the Third. That guy you met the other day at Juliet’s house, he planted it in remembrance of some chick.”
The scent of the plant was nearly overwhelming, even though it was beautiful. “Some girl who was a witch. He used to date her, I guess. That’s what they say, anyhow,” she added, pushing her hair behind her ear.
The bush was right near a door in the high wall that surrounded the castle. “Huh.” I didn’t really want to think about the guy Lukas blinded me over.
Our walk into the town was uneventful other than curious stares or little squirrels making me smile with their antics. My thoughts kept straying to Lukas, wondering what he was doing and hoping he and Elijah were getting along.
“They won’t kill each other, will they?” I finally asked.
Selena sighed. “They might try but they’ll be fine. I talked to Elijah last night, trying to get him to let you stay for a while. It's nice to have someone around from where I’m from.”
“What’d he say?”
“He said ‘over my dead body’ so then I offered him mine, and now, who knows.” She shrugged.
“Uh, well thank you for your sacrifice?”
She grinned at me. “Don’t worry, it was no hardship. I’m sure it’ll be fine. Elijah’s part pure blood so I think that’ll help.”
“Good.”
The town came into view, and we wandered through several stores. There were lots of dress shops and Selena convinced me to buy a few gowns. She said to just charge it to the castle. I had no idea how money worked here, but I did what she said. Lukas could deal with it after stealing my eyesight from me.
There were a couple of art stores we went into, and I stocked up on a bunch of supplies that would be delivered for us. It sure was nice not being loaded down with bags and boxes.
Our last stop was at a bakery with the strangest menu I’d ever seen, run by a very odd woman. Selena convinced me to try lavender spinach cookies, and I’m not sure I’ll ever forgive her for that.
“You’re no fun,” she grumbled around a mouthful when we stepped outside.
At least she wasn’t a fan of the literal mud pie. “I happen to value my intestines, thank you very much.”
She laughed so hard that she sprayed some cookie bits onto the sidewalk. “See, even the squirrels like it.”
Sure enough, the little scavengers were making off with crumbs. As I watched them scrounging around, a shadow fell over our heads and the hairs on my arms stood on end. The guards in black moved closer to us, scanning our surroundings and then peering up at the sky.
