Wild Knight (Midnight Empire: The Tower #1)(17)
I took extra time in the shower, letting the warm water slide down my skin. I scrubbed every inch of my body and washed my hair twice. Pure decadence. If today was my last full day on earth, I figured I might as well take a moment to enjoy the little things.
After I dressed, I patted every head in the flat, tossed a handful of seeds outside for Barnaby, and said a silent prayer before falling into bed. My words would fall on deaf ears, I knew, but I pretended they mattered all the same.
Sometimes the only way to make it through this life was to pretend I was living a very different one.
6
A silver statue of Britannia greeted me as I skirted the monument on my way to the palace. Not too fast or too slow. No movement that would raise the suspicions of security. The vampire queen rose from the earth like a silver butterfly from her concrete cocoon. Five figures surrounded the base of the statue, each one representing a House she defeated to become the leading royal family in the region—Peyton in the Southwest, Duncan in Scotland, Osmond across the Strait of Dover, Kane in Wales, and Troy in Ireland. Modesty, thy name is not Britannia.
House Lewis spared no expense to maintain the grandeur of the palace. Since the Great Eruption, most buildings in the city had fallen into disrepair or were left in ruins because the owners couldn’t afford the costly repairs or upkeep. Not this one. The French neoclassical style of the facade was lovingly preserved, along with the balcony where the royal family addressed their adoring crowds. Or so I’d been told. Any crowd that involved vampires didn’t include me.
I steadied my breathing and slowed my heart rate. Walking into a building full of vampires was risky enough. Walking into the palace of the most powerful vampire House in the realm was borderline insane, not that I had much choice. His Highland Highness made it pretty darn clear that I was the Chosen One for this particular task and no other expendable minion would do.
A row of guards stood sentry in front of the gates. Every vampire assigned to royal security was a lethal killer given carte blanche to act on a perceived threat. If I so much as raised a hand too quickly, I’d lose it. This was my last chance to back away slowly. I allowed one final glance at my skin—no sign of silver. Quelling my nerves, I approached the imposing gates of the palace.
The guards didn’t react to my presence. They seemed to know my arrival was expected. Instead of the usual tingling sensation I felt in the presence of vampires, my skin was on fire. Danger, my body shrieked. Ahead of me the palace loomed, splendid yet foreboding.
The gates opened and I strode toward the entrance with purpose, taking comfort in the weapons strapped to my back and my thigh. It was a false sense of security, of course. No matter how many weapons I carried inside, I would still be one person against the entire royal guard.
A gap appeared as the doors opened to welcome me. I was mildly surprised by their willingness to admit me without stripping me of my weapons, but I chalked that up to hubris. House Lewis was the royal vampire family for a reason. Their bloody past was prominent in recent history books. At the start of the Eternal Night, Britannia Lewis led the family to power and greatness, supplanting the humans who were no longer fit to rule, and was honored with a city and palace that now bore her name.
A butler greeted me at the door wearing a dark red tailcoat and a crisp white shirt underneath. Another vampire. Most employees of the royal residences were vampires because they didn’t trust outsiders nor did they trust another species to do a job as well.
The butler bowed. “Good afternoon, miss.”
“London Hayes. Knights of Boudica.”
He bowed again. “May I unburden you?”
He was asking to relieve me of my weapons. Nope. Not a chance.
“I’m good, thanks.”
“In that case, if you’ll please follow me.”
“Gladly.”
Although I’d seen old photographs of the palace interior, they looked nothing like the rooms before me now. Once House Lewis took control of the palace, they did more than change the name. Queen Britannia modified the entire interior space so that it would be unrecognizable to visitors and impenetrable by her enemies. My mother told me that Buckingham Palace had been open to the public when it was occupied by human residents. Britannia didn’t want her enemies to be able to use the widely available information in order to identify weaknesses or entry points. She was a paranoid queen, and for good reason. Ever since the vampires emerged from the shadows, the Houses were under constant threat, not only from other species but from each other. No vampire House seemed content to be second best. They lost a battle or a war, and then they licked their wounds and bided their time until they felt revitalized enough to try, try again.
The butler guided me to a cavernous room with gleaming marble floors and the highest ceilings I’d ever seen. Crystal seemed to sparkle everywhere I looked. Chandeliers. Glassware. There was even a crystal elephant on display atop a marble column. Crystal seemed an odd choice for a species endangered by sunlight. A statue of Britannia took pride of place under a curved archway at the far end of the room and I walked closer to inspect it. Her form was perfect, although I could’ve done without the splashes of red around her mouth and dripping between her breasts.
My skin began to crawl. I had company.
I blinked and the Horror of the Highlands stood beside me. He wore a dark cloak over his clothes. His dark blond hair was slightly damp and curled at the ends as though he’d emerged from the bathtub mere moments ago. I tried not to picture him emerging from a bathtub or a shower or anything else that invoked his naked body.