Magic Forged (Hall of Blood and Mercy #1)(20)

The skepticism must have showed on my face, because the blood donors spent the rest of the time trying to convince me of the vampires’ cold but real kindness until Debra came for me.

It gave me the shivers to see just how little the blood donors understood about the creatures drinking their blood.





A week passed, and I numbly settled into my new routine—which was a never-ending schedule of working, sleeping, and eating.

I liked it.

I was thankful that I didn’t have to think, and I didn’t even try to process Mason’s betrayal. But sometimes at night I’d wake up in a sweat, remembering with vivid clarity the way Felix sagged as Mason’s magic hovered over his heart.

I hadn’t wanted something that would distract me from my parents’ death, buuut it seems like I got it anyway.

I did odd jobs in the kitchen—putting away clean dishes, fetching ingredients for the chefs, arranging the baked goods on pretty trays—and I did my best to be friendly to my co-workers, so they accepted me readily enough. (Though I think they found my guarded manners toward our vampire bosses a little offensive. But that mostly just showed how little humans understood about our world.)

My biggest concern was the vampires.

I did everything I could to stay out of their way and escape notice. Thankfully, it wasn’t hard since no one could accuse a vampire of harboring excessive amounts of noblesse oblige.

I didn’t actually see them too often—I volunteered for early morning shifts and errands where I would be least likely to run into them. But after a week of living with the Drake Family, I actually got a glimpse of some of the elite vampires training.

It was evening. The sun hovered on the horizon, casting a blood red splash of color on the gunmetal gray clouds, and the vampires were holding practices outside.

I was carefully trotting along the outer wall of the massive mansion. I’d been sent to retrieve some fresh mint for one of the dishes that was going to be served with dinner. The mint was part of the herb garden tucked into the fold of the massive backyard garden. And just beyond that garden was the vampires.

It looked like they were practicing swordplay, but they were moving so fast it was hard to see.

It was pretty gutsy of them to practice in the sun—or maybe that was the point? Sunlight can’t instantly turn a vamp into dust, but it slows them down mentally and physically, and it’s an unpleasant sensation. But, watching the deadly Drake vampires, I suspected that was probably why they were outside—and why they were moving so fast even as the red sky glowed above them.

I paused at a patio door that would lead me into the mansion, and glanced back over my shoulder.

The vampires were streaks of black and white, their swords colliding in movements that I could track only with my ears. I wondered…could I learn to be competent with weapons to make up for my poor magic?

Grit scraped stone, and I jumped as I peered farther up the walkway, freezing when I saw the tell-tale black and white suit of a vampire.

I had come to find that all Drake vampires wore expensive suits, and this vampire was standing in the shadows so I couldn’t make out if it was Rupert or any of the other vampires I’d seen glimpses of. It didn’t matter though. His presence was enough to make me jerk out a stiff bow and dart into the mansion.

I carried my basket of mint sprigs to the kitchen, doing my best to stay out of the way as the rest of the kitchen staff frantically tore around, rushing to prepare the evening meal.

“I’ve got the mint,” I called.

“Good, out of the way,” someone ordered.

I jumped back to the doorway to avoid being bowled over, and caught sight of Debra marching down the hallway.

“Hazel—perfect. Do you have any chores at the moment?” Debra smiled and glanced down at her wristwatch.

“No.”

“Would you help two of the maids outside? Rupert informed me that the dragon statues lining the driveway need to be cleaned. The maids are almost finished, but they’re running behind. Their shift is about to end, and The Eminence does not like to see the cleaning staff out after sundown.”

Yeah, and I was sure it was out of concern for his staff. Right. The jerk probably just didn’t like his view being spoiled, or something equally prissy.

Knowing my thoughts could get me bitten—or worse—I forced a smile to my lips. “Sure thing! Do I need to take any supplies out there?”

“No, no. They’ll have it all. Thank you, Hazel.”

I gave Debra a thumbs up. “Sure thing! We’ll finish fast.”

The older woman seemed bemused by my enthusiasm, but she did wave to me before I turned up the hallway and slipped outside through the delivery door.

Since time seemed to be of the essence, I jogged down the stinking long driveway, and quickly realized why the maids were behind schedule. There were dragon statues every fifty feet or so of this paved monstrosity, and whoever designed it seemed to think it was necessary to snake back and forth across the immaculate lawn and around every tree that formed the front perimeter of the property.

I wasn’t exactly sure how much land the Drake Family had, but I was betting it was a lot. “And who wants to bet there are annoying dragon statues on every acre of it?” I muttered to myself as I jogged.

I was grateful for the cool night air. Spring was warming into a hot summer, and my uniform—a white dress shirt with black slacks that made me feel like a waiter day in and day out—stuck to me as I started to sweat despite the sweet chill in the air.