A Fall of Secrets (A Shade of Vampire #15)(29)

Chapter 21: Rose

I left Caleb on the veranda and began hurrying down the mountainside. I ran so fast I almost tripped up a few times, but I didn’t slow down until I reached the entrance to the Black Heights.

The doors had been left wide open. I ran inside and began hurrying along the tunnels toward the dragons’ residences.

I could feel my body temperature rising—sweat forming on my brow—as it always seemed to do when I was in these creatures’ proximity. I had already reached the first corridor where the dragons’ apartments were when I remembered that I was still wearing my nightgown. I had been too immersed in thought to pay any mind to my appearance. I straightened out the nightgown as best as I could and combed my hair with my fingers, trying to make myself look at least a little more presentable before approaching the nearest door to me and knocking.

Hopefully I’m not disturbing anyone too early. I had no idea who was residing in this particular apartment. When the door opened, I found myself face to face with Ridan. His brown hair was tousled and he wore nothing but a sheet wrapped around his muscled waist.

I took a step back. “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t disturb you.”

He shook his head dismissively.

“I won’t keep you,” I continued quickly. “I just wondered if you could tell me where Jeriad is staying?”

Ridan poked his head out of the door and looked toward his left. He pointed down the corridor. “Jeriad’s door is right at the end.”

“Thank you.”

I hurried off and Ridan closed the door behind him.

I placed my ear against the wooden door as I arrived outside, listening before knocking. To my surprise, I could hear the strumming of some kind of string instrument emanating through the wood, giving me confidence.

I rapped against the door. The music stopped and footsteps approached.

The door swung open and Jeriad appeared behind it. He was fully dressed—at least, as dressed as these dragons ever seemed to get. His chest was still bare but he wore long dark pants and a deep green cloth wrapped around his shoulders. He raised his eyebrows in surprise on seeing me.

“What brings you here, maiden? Would you like to step inside?”

I shook my head. “That won’t be necessary. First, I wanted to ask you how it went last night with the, uh, damsels.”

A subtle look of contentment settled in on the dragon’s face. He nodded slightly. “This island is blessed with some beautiful females.”

“Did you manage to… single anyone out for the prince yet?”

“Not yet. We have arranged for another meeting with the maidens tonight, when each of us will talk further in confidence. After that, we should have come to a decision.”

“Ah, I see.”

It dawned on me that I hadn’t asked the girls how their dates had gone. I made a mental note to do that as soon as I could. I guessed, however, that most of them had gone well if the dragons were meeting them again tonight.

“I wonder,” I continued, dragging my focus back to the real purpose of my visit, “would it be the end of the world if you postponed those meetings to tomorrow evening?”

The dragon frowned. “Why would we do that?”

“Well, it might not be necessary, but I wanted to ask you for a favor. I wanted to ask if you would be able to accompany us on a trip. We would leave this morning and hopefully return by the afternoon, but… I don’t know exactly how it will go. It’s possible we won’t be back until tonight.”

“Where do you want to go? And how many of us would you want to accompany you?”

“At least fifty would be good. Honestly, we can’t have too many. As to where, it is somewhere not too far from here. Within the human realm.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, breathing out deeply. “I suppose that our prince won’t mind a day’s delay. Now that I think of it, it might be beneficial to have a short break between the meetings. It will give both parties more time to mull over our first meeting.”

“Thank you. I do need to speak to someone else before finalizing details. I will return in less than an hour. Would you be able to let the other dragons know in the meantime?”

He nodded, his aquamarine eyes boring into me. I felt them roam my nightgown, then settle back on my face.

“Thanks again.” I curtsied and turned on my heel. Hurrying away, I heard the enchanting melody strum up again as I exited the hall.

* * *

Now I had to speak to Mona. I hurried across the clearing and into the woods. I still wasn’t used to the speed at which I could travel now. It only took me ten minutes to reach Mona and Kiev’s tree, whereas previously it would’ve taken at least an hour—and that would be if I’d been jogging.

As I ascended in the elevator, I found the witch pacing up and down on the balcony, one hand wrapped around her midriff as the other rested against her temple. She seemed to be completely oblivious to me, even as I neared within a few feet of her. I had to call her name.

“What is it?” She raised her gaze to me. She looked irritated at being disturbed.

“Caleb told me everything,” I said. “And I have a request to make of you. I know you’ve got a lot on your shoulders right now, and I would much rather do this without you, but there’s just no way we can—”

“Rose, please just get to the point.”