Maudlin's Mayhem (Bewitching Bedlam #2)(61)

The room into which we had entered was set up as a throne room, which made sense, given Essie was a vampire queen. I guess I had never thought before about whether the vamp royalty actually held any sort of court. Apparently, they did.

The throne against the back wall was upholstered in a rich gold velvet, and to either side, tapestries covered the walls. Here, the light was brighter, coming from a huge crystal chandelier overhead, and I squinted at the wall behind the throne. Beneath one tapestry, I thought I could make out the outline of the bottom of a door.

In front of the throne was a low bench with railings on both sides. “That’s where you kneel in front of the queen,” Ruby said.

“I don’t kneel in front of anybody,” I grumbled.

“You will if I say you do.”

To either side of the chamber was the gallery, with rows of chairs behind thick red velvet ropes. The ropes were attached to brass poles, like at a movie premiere, and the chairs were set at a kitty-corner angle to have full view of the throne. Tapestries covered most of the walls. They were old, but well taken care of, but all in all, the throne room felt sparse—not at all like Essie.

Ruby hauled me front and center toward the bench and I was prepared to protest, but then she dragged me beyond it, toward the throne. I tripped over a fold in the carpet and fell against her, knocking both of us down. As we faceplanted on the red velvet that covered the concrete floor, I was grateful for the cushion of carpet. Still, I reached for my nose, which felt bruised.

Ruby sputtered. “You’re really pathetic, aren’t you?” She dragged me back up on my feet. “If I untie your arms, will you stop being such a klutz?”

“I’ll do my best. It’s not easy walking with my hands behind my back.” I glared back at her.

“You try any funny stuff and I’ll hogtie you and carry you over my shoulder. Got it?”

I nodded. I’d behave, at least until I had a good opportunity to escape.

Ruby started to poke me in the chest, then stopped. I was wearing my silver pentacle. She frowned at it. “You witches and your silver.”

“I like it.” I smiled a big old smile at her.

Sputtering, Ruby unlocked the handcuffs.

I behaved. I wasn’t quite ready to run yet—I had to get my bearings first. She motioned for me to bypass the bench and we headed toward the throne itself, veering off to the left. I now had a good view and the chandelier showered enough light in the room that I could definitely see the outline of a door.

Wherever it went, we appeared to be heading there. If it went further into the underground labyrinth, escape was going to be a problem.

“Straighten up.” Ruby prodded me in the back as we approached the tapestry. From close proximity I could see the cloth was hanging from the ceiling, not against the wall, and there was a wide-enough space behind it to allow easy access to the door.

Ruby cleared her throat as she opened the door. “Kneel before the Queen of the Pacific Northwest Vampire Nation!” She went down on one knee, dragging me with her, as we entered the room.





WE WERE IN a private chamber, in front of a wide table. There were chairs around the table, and standing behind one of them was Essie, with a spindly vampire on one side of her and a dark stranger on the other. I realized he was a vampire as well, but there was something different about him. Spindly vamp reminded me of a tall, thin Charlie Chaplin—sans the humor. The other man was dressed in a black suit, and he carried a bowler hat. His look could freeze hot water.

Essie was in her champagne dress still, but now she wore a crown, and carried a large fan that matched her dress. She motioned for us to stand and enter. “Sit.”

Ruby pushed me toward a chair and I hesitantly sat down as I kept my eyes on the vampires across from me. Ruby was seeming safer by the moment. But as I caught Essie’s gaze, she gave me a long warning look. What the hell was going on? There was definitely something rumbling below the surface.

The strange vampire’s gaze fixated on Essie. He looked haughty, far more than I knew Essie would allow from her subjects. He was about average height, with jet black hair plaited in a braid down to his lower back, and when he spoke, his words held some sort of a faded accent though I couldn’t place it.

“I trust we will get to the bottom of this matter now?”

A veiled look of anger flashed through her eyes, but she nodded. “Now that Maudlin has the energy to join us, yes, we will. She’s sorry it took her so long, but she’s been laid up with some sort of malady.”

What the hell? I stared at Essie, getting ready to say that I wasn’t exactly here under my own volition, but beside me, Ruby tensed. She still had her hand on my shoulder and now she dug in her nails and I swear, she drew blood. I tried to shrug her hand off, but she ignored the attempt.

“Good,” the vamp said. “Because, if we don’t, you do realize I will be forced to drag the both of you in front of…” His voice trailed off, but the warning in it was all too apparent.

What was this? So Essie really was in trouble? And whatever it was, I was apparently her comrade in arms.

“For now, Kayo, I expect you to accord me the privilege of holding this meeting in the manner in which I see fit. In the process, I trust you will see that I’ve told you everything that both Maudlin and I know about the matter.” Essie’s cool demeanor vanished, and she lowered her voice. “I will brook no threats in my own kingdom, do you understand?”