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I have to say, I appreciate that dig at him, even more so that Kaleid just stands there and takes it.
“Though I suppose,” Skarde goes on, “that he’s trying to prepare you for what life with me is like.”
I blink up at him, caught off-guard once again. “What?”
Then his smile turns into something dark and cunning, pure evil, and for a moment I’m able to see beneath his skin, see that he has another face underneath, his real one, red eyes, and inch long fangs, no lips, no gums.
I stare in horror and then that awful underbelly fades away and he’s back to his handsome self. But now I know that’s not his current self, and if it is his real self, it’s what he looked like before centuries of being the king of evil took its toll on him. Because that’s what he is. He’s the king of evil, I feel it permeating every pore he has, and he knows it, that’s why he’s doused in cologne. He’s pulling out every stop in the vampire playbook in an attempt to glamor me.
He grins. He knows what I saw and he’s loving it. “You’re mine now, Lenore. I oughta thank my son for finding you in the first place.”
I glance at Kaleid, but Skarde continues. “No, not him. Absolon. My first made. Oh, don’t worry, he would never willingly give you to me, but he discovered you all the same. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened to you had he never taken you away from your parents. Would you have turned and killed them? Would they have killed you? Or would you still be in America with them, making it work, never coming across my radar? Fortunately for me, it was Absolon who found you and because I’m always watching him, always aware of what he’s doing, I then found you too. My bride to be.”
His hand tightens on my arm. “You don’t seem to be protesting. Perhaps because none of this surprises you. Perhaps because you think you have the upper hand because of these fools that you came here with. But you don’t. Not in these walls, not with any meager magic you can muster.”
“I destroyed your Dark Order,” I say through gritted teeth.
“You did!” he exclaims. “Oh, I forgot about that. Job well done, Lenore, and your first time too. Wow. That must have been quite the feeling to harness your father’s power the way you did.”
“It was my own power,” I tell him, narrowing my eyes, as if I can intimidate this monster in some way. “And Solon’s too.”
“Ah yes, Absolon and his parlor tricks. Those can get rather tedious, can’t they? No matter, it is what it is. And you’re here because you’re meant to be. The vanha väki foretold it. Your light will be pushed away in exchange for the darkness, the very darkness your father passed down to you, the one that flows in your veins. Even if you don’t see to it now, you will. I promise you that. I can be very persuasive.”
Then he turns his attention to Kaleid and Natalia, all while I’m staring at his hand as it holds onto me. I swear to god his nails are growing longer and sharper by the moment until they’re puncturing my skin. It’s like being held in place by a giant eagle.
“Natalia,” he says to her. “Why are you here? To beg forgiveness? To win me over?”
I glance up at her as she nods, her chin raised high as she stares at her father in the eyes. “Yes, sir,” she says.
“Sir? Oh, I like that. I’ve missed that. God how I’ve missed that, Natalia. Ever since you left, things haven’t been right in my life, you know? You are the last daughter I have.”
Her brows knit together. “What happened to Anna?” she asks in shock. “Elena? The rest of them?”
He shrugs. “Marianna went mad and had to be destroyed. Piirko broke the rules and created a vampire, so she was dealt with accordingly. Anna was killed by a slayer. Elena got her head chopped off. It’s on a pike.” He jerks his thumb to the rear of the building. “Oh, I forgot, you haven’t been here before. I moved the heads to the shorefront. That way when you look out the bedroom window, you just see nothing but heads for miles. Elena is there. So is your lover, what was his name? Janne? And your head will be placed right next to his.”
“Father,” Kaleid says, stepping between Skarde and Natalia, a rather bold move. “You can trust my sister. I wouldn’t bring her here otherwise. She means you no harm.”
Skarde tilts his head, appraising his son. “Is that so. You can vouch for her?”
“Yes,” Kaleid says emphatically. So much so that even I believe him, and I know the truth. “Natalia wants back. This is her token. Lenore is her gift. She helped me secure her. You owe her at least the benefit of the doubt.”
