A Gift of Three (A Shade of Vampire #42)(28)

The door to the room was shut. I glanced over at Jovi, and he motioned for me to stand back. With my energy draining and the room in darkness, I couldn’t see that well, but I could make out a high-backed chair, placed in front of the fire.

“Jovi,” I whispered quietly before he opened the door, “there might be someone in there. I think I can see—”

Jovi didn’t wait for me to finish. On hearing that there might be a sign of life, Jovi pushed the door open with a bang. He marched into the room, and I followed him—my gait was much less confident, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t ready for battle.

Jovi came to a halt halfway between the door and the chair. There was definitely someone sitting in it, but they made no motion to rise at our approach. The only light came from the fire, and as a log fell on the hearth, I could make out a human hand on the armrest, unmoving.

Then a voice echoed across the room:

“So, you’ve found me.”





Serena





[Hazel and Tejus’s daughter]




Neither of us moved.

Jovi glanced over at me, his wide-eyed gaze meeting mine.

“Who are you?” Jovi asked, in a voice stronger and more forceful than anything I could muster. The occupant of the chair didn’t move. By the sound of his voice, he was definitely male—but beyond that, even using my failing True Sight, I couldn’t get much of a picture.

He didn’t reply to Jovi’s question. The werewolf lost his temper, anger clearly overcoming whatever fear he might have entertained, and continued to march over to the chair. I followed him, our hands becoming tightly clasped as we reached the fire in a few short strides, turning toward the faceless voice.

My body was tensed for attack, but as I laid eyes on the figure, the fight drained out of me. My first reaction was one of an uneasy awe. The figure in the chair was a man—and an undeniably handsome one. His face was harsh, but young; he couldn’t have been much older than his early twenties. His eyes, narrowed in a frown, were a steely gray, boring into us with mistrust. Overgrown stubble covered his jaw. His dark blond hair was worn long, stopping at the nape of his neck, shorter strands framing his jaw and temples in disarray. His frame was broad, muscular, and for some reason—perhaps it was the scent of musky heat that emanated off him like sweet hay, or the golden tan on his forearms—I got the impression that he was used to outdoor labor. If he was the owner of this grand house, that struck me as strange.

The only aspect of him that was less than harsh, and almost appeared out of place with the rest of his appearance, was his full lips, set in a perfect cupid’s bow. My eyes shifted away from staring at them for any longer than a split second, disturbed at my own reaction to them.

When I realized that I was no longer afraid of the man, my immediate reaction was one of rage, one that was clearly shared with Jovi.

“Who are you?” Jovi demanded. “What have you done with us, and our friends?”

The man shifted his gaze to Jovi. I hadn’t fully realized that while I had been staring at him, he had been assessing me with the same degree of intensity. It was only as his attention shifted that I felt able to speak, my anger tumbling out.

“Speak to us!” I said, when the man remained silent. “Where are we?”

The man sighed, his attention flitting to our clasped hands. It felt like his gaze burnt them, instantly making me want to release Jovi, so I held on tighter, not willing to be animated like a puppet by this stranger.

“Before you vent your rage at me, understand that I have performed a great service on behalf of your friends—they were in great danger at the fae palace,” the man replied after a pause, his voice low and gravelly.

At the mention of my friends, I instantly changed tack.

“Where are they? Are they here?” I asked. I hadn’t seen them as I’d looked through the house.

“They are here,” he replied. “Safe.”

“Where? Take us to them!” Jovi demanded, losing patience with the outwardly calm attitude of the man.

“You won’t like what you see,” the man replied with a sigh, as if our panic was tedious to him, and something that he didn’t have the patience to deal with.

“What does that mean?” I snapped, irritated at his vague answers and general attitude.

“It means I will show them to you, but you need to try to remain calm—and listen to me first,” he announced, rising to his full height from the chair. He was about a head taller than me, and I’d been correct about his frame being broad; as he rose, he seemed to engulf both Jovi and me with his presence.

“We’re listening,” Jovi replied, his voice taking on a growl of warning.

The man nodded, turning away from us both and proceeding to walk toward a door, different to the one we’d entered through, at the far end of the room.

“Your friends are going through a state of transformation,” he continued. “It was already beginning before I could reach you. I took them to save them from a fate that would be a great deal worse than death—left on the fae star, they would have very shortly been taken by creatures far deadlier than me.”

“What kind of transformation?” I asked, while at the same time perplexed that a creature I so far understood to be human would know about the fae star…and manage to spirit away supernaturals from it.