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Apprehension filled me as I eyed the box, wondering if this was some kind of trap. “What is this thing?”
“It’s called an elevator. It’s an aetherion invention.” When I stared blankly at her, she added, “It takes you up and down the floors so you don’t have to climb the stairs.”
I frowned. “Is there something wrong with climbing the stairs?”
Nyra sighed. “No. But sometimes I don’t feel like it. Now are you getting in?”
Aware that I had no idea where we were going or how to get there, I begrudgingly followed her inside. She reached past me to a panel on the wall with an array of buttons, and pushed the second one from the top.
The cage doors closed, and I slapped my hand on the wall for support as the elevator lurched into motion. I held my breath as it creaked and groaned, waiting for something to go wrong, for it to get stuck and leave us trapped in the middle of the tower, or worse, for something to break and send us plummeting to the ground.
But none of that happened. The elevator clanged to a halt, and I let out a breath of relief as the metal doors whisked open.
“See? Perfectly safe.” Nyra exited the elevator, and I hurried after her into a grand foyer. The space was expansive, with crystal chandeliers dangling from a high ceiling. Soft, ambient light poured from them, casting elongated shadows that danced along the walls, which were adorned with paintings depicting both portraits and landscapes. One portrait in particular, placed directly across from the elevator, drew my gaze, and I let out an audible hiss as I realized who it depicted.
Nyra turned back to see what I was looking at, and her eyebrows rose. “Ahh,” she crooned as I stared at the painting of Vladimir Invictus, King of Noxalis, the vampire realm. Long, golden waves of hair cascaded around his shoulders and framed his harsh, angular face. He wore a spiked iron crown tipped with black diamonds as hard and cruel as the line of his mouth, and his citrine eyes glittered as I stared into them, almost as if the actual king were watching me through the painting. “I see our beloved emperor has caught your eye.”
I whipped my head around to look at her. “Emperor?” I demanded. “Of what, exactly?”
“Of all of Valentaera, or so he proclaims.” Maximillian’s voice drifted from beyond an open door on our right. “Now won’t you come in so we can eat? It’s been a long day, and I’m starving.”
The wordstarvingsent a shiver of apprehension through me, and I hastily checked my pockets to make sure the stakes were still in there. Nyra opened the door and stepped through it, then moved to the side and executed a quick bow as I entered.
“Your guest, Sire,” she said.
My gaze swept past the bay of windows to my right—mercifully curtained off—and to the head of the long dining table, where Maximillian sat. He’d changed out of his bloodstained outfit, and was now dressed in a dusky blue waistcoat with a swirling, silver-grey pattern, a simple white shirt beneath it. A goblet filled with blood dangled from his hand as he surveyed me, and before were two covered plates—one for him, the other, I assumed, for me.
Those full lips of his curved, his eyes trailing down the length of my dress, then back up to my face. “You clean up well.”
My cheeks heated in response to the praise, and I scowled. “Flattery won’t get you anywhere with me,” I said as Nyra made herself scarce, the door clicking shut behind her. “Especially when you two have already declared me to be little more than a walking skeleton.”
“But a magnificent one.” Maximillian waved his hand, and the chair to his left slid back from the table, beckoning me to sit. “And nothing that a few square meals won’t fix.”
I ignored the gesture and surveyed the room, cataloguing anything that might help in case the vampire lord decided to try his luck at dining on me. Aside from the door I’d entered through, there was another behind Maximillian and to his right—a servant’s entrance, most likely. The windows to my right might be another option, if I could scrounge up the courage,though since they were covered, I had no idea if they opened and whether they led out to anything. As for weapons, the fireplace poker would do in a pinch, as well as the cutlery and glasses laid out along the table.
“There’s also a pair of swords hanging over the door behind you,” Maximillian drawled. “In case you’d prefer something with a little more finesse.”
“How did you know I was looking for weapons?” I demanded, folding my arms over my chest.
He raised his eyebrows at me. “It’s what any hunter would do when walking into a predator’s den.”
I stared at him, unsettled by how easily he seemed to be able to read me. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he was eavesdropping on my thoughts.
Don’t be ridiculous,I told myself.Vampires can’t read minds.
Still, it was better to be safe than sorry. Ignoring the chair he’d selected, I pulled out the chair at the opposite end of the table and sat down.
The vampire lord raised his eyebrows. “There’s no need for such theatrics. You’re perfectly safe with me.”
“You say that,” I said, folding my arms across my chest, “but I don’t even know who in the hells youare.”
“Ahh.” His lips curved in an expression that was somehow a sassy smirk and an apologetic smile all at once. It was oddly disarming, and I had no idea what to make of it. “I suppose that unlike you, my name does not precede me in your realm. I am Maximillian Starclaw, son of Callix Starclaw and heir to House Psychoros. At present, I also serve as the Viceroy of Lumina, atthe pleasure of Vladimir Invictus, king of Noxalis and emperor of Valentaera.”
He waved his hand again, and the entire place setting that had been arranged in front of the chair he’d selected—food, cutlery, glasses, and all, floated down the table to settle at my end. A pitcher of water followed behind, tipping to fill my glass before setting down along the center of the table, but still within reach in case I wanted it.
I made no move to touch any of it, frozen stiff as I stared at my would-be host. I’d been right that Maximillian was a ranking noble, but he wasn’t justanyranking noble. He was the son of a vampire highlord, which made him the second strongest vampire of his house.
And somehow, he had seized control of a human city, and was now ruling it on behalf of his king.
