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“You plan on coming out?” Melora questioned, stepping beside my door, while Ulrik yanked open the other side. They shouldn’t have opened my door so roughly, almost giving me a panic attack. Before I could yell at him, Ulrik was already yelling in Theseus’s ear.
“Honey, we’re home!”
If it had been me, I would have jumped. Theseus’s eyes only snapped open angrily, and his body remained still.
“Honestly, brother, is this how you win the affections of a woman? Sleeping while she drives you home? No wonder why she hasn’t mated you.”
“We cannot all be as lucky as you, Ulrik and have our mates jump and bite us after a fight,” Theseus muttered as he sat up.
I looked at Melora, the question didn’t even make it out of my mouth before she smiled.
“I’ve always been impulsive, and he was taking way too long to ask.”
“I believe he was scared you’d reject him. Very manly,” Theseus interjected, but he was no longer at the passenger side but rather mine, opening the door for me. He bent inside, taking off my seat belt, allowing me to smell him. His face was close to mine as he looked me over.
“Welcome to my home, hopefully your home.” He asked for my hand and when I gave it to him he helped me out before kissing it.
“It’s a palace,” I whispered, stepping on the gravel and looking up at it. I felt small and insignificant which was the reason why such places were built in the past. I couldn’t imagine how those people must have felt when I, with all of the education and knowledge of democracy and equality, could still feel less than sufficient by their entrance. I wondered how people felt coming here hundreds of years ago.
“You look frightened,” Theseus said beside me.
“I prefer awed,” I replied as we followed Ulrik and Melora up the stairs and through the double iron doors toward revealing mosaic tiles on the left. On the right there were rows of larger-than-life statues underneath the skylight. On the opposite end was another set of stairs behind another pair for doors. However, if that alone wasn’t enough, there were servants—vampire servants—cleaning the statues. Upon seeing us, they all stopped and bowed their heads in respect. “And it just keeps getting better. This is home?”
“This is the court,” Theseus corrected. “Father and Mother, or whomever is given the task to hear petitions, complaints, and hold official formal functions here.”
Right, just like it was in Montréal. They weren’t just vampires; they were leaders.
“Have Father and Hinrik returned?” Theseus questioned his brother.
“No.” Ulrik grumbled something in a language I didn’t understand.
“Don’t mind him. He’s upset Father left him behind,” Melora teased, reaching over to pinch his cheek, and Ulrik just pulled away.
“I’m not upset, just curious,” he shot back and then moved way. “Do not worry, little sister; beyond this point should make you more comfortable.”
He opened the second pair of doors, and once I stepped through, it was like a massive living room with couches, books, a flat screen anchored in the wall over a fireplace, and Turkish carpets covered the floor. If I ignored the hanging tapestry and the columns underneath archways that went to God knows where, the chandeliers, and the double-grand, winding staircase around it which went up to a higher level, it could be seen as a bit cozy.
Who am I kidding? They had tried to make it more modern and home-like, but at the end of the day, a palace was a palace.
“It’s beautiful,” I said, noticing they were all watching me; Theseus especially, as if he were truly anxious for me to like it. I smiled at him. “Though, I would like to know how you managed my tiny little apartment when this is what you call home.”
“Quite easy, after all, your beauty blinded me to all else. I could be in a cave with you and insist it was heaven.” He grinned.
Ugh! How does anyone respond to that?
“You and your lines…” My voice drifted off as I felt a chill go up my spine. I turned around quickly, but found nothing other than the door. But I felt something. I was sure of it.
“Druella?” Theseus questioned.
“Sorry, but…” My voice trailed off again as I looked to the right and backed away slowly, not liking the feeling I got. When it happened again, I felt the coldness on my shoulder, and I was annoyed. “Either, your house is haunted, or I’m losing it?” I said to Theseus.
He was worried for only a second before he too was annoyed. “Arsiein, is that you? Enough, she only just arrived.”
“Arsiein?” I repeated. “The one that can hide things or people from sight?”
He nodded, frowning as he looked about. “He can also hide himself, though normally he has the manners to refrain from doing so at home.”
Once again, I glanced back over my shoulder, feeling something, and then a slight push caused me to stumble forward a bit. Theseus grabbed me before I meet the ground.
