Born in the Shadows (In the Shadows Series Book 1) (6 page)

              “Pretty big. There are two wings here on the second floor with twelve bedrooms. The first floor is a little larger.”

              They reached a small set of steps that were covered with a plush burgundy runner that stretched down a much larger corridor. As they walked down the steps, Cordelia realized that the corridor was really a gallery that looked out over a grand staircase that curved its way down to the main floor.

              Holy crap, this wasn’t a house, this was a freaking palace.

              She stopped and leaned over the wooden banister, gazing down at the large front hall. At least she figured it was the front hall, judging by the gigantic set of double doors directly across from the staircase. The doors were surrounded by a large entryway made of black marble with veins of silver running through it. Three marble steps led the way down to the dark wood floor that was polished to a bright shine. Various doorways and open arches lined the walls of the hall with large oil paintings hanging between them and damask lounges beneath the art.

              Mary continued to the main staircase and Cordelia reluctantly followed, craning her neck to stare up at the crystal chandeliers that were suspended from the ceiling. She finally tore her gaze away from the decor to focus on the stairs, afraid of tripping like some gawking goon and embarrassing herself further with a tumble down the sweeping staircase.             

              When they reached the main floor, Mary led her to an open door where Cordelia could hear the sound of a television coming from the room. She followed Mary inside, and though she didn’t know what to expect exactly, she never would have guessed it would be the scene in front of her.

              She saw four people sprawled about on the overstuffed leather sofas in front of a large plasma screen, which was currently showing an episode of
Seinfeld
. Mary cleared her throat and everyone turned to focus on them. Cordelia offered a half hearted wave and tried her best to smile as they all stared at her.

              “Cordelia, this is Demetri, third son of Zopyros and Anne, second daughter of Zopyros,” Mary said as the others stood up from the sofa. “That’s how we introduce each other in this world. It identifies your clan and how many generations you are away from the Old One.”

              “It’s nice to meet you, Cordelia.” Demetri said, reaching out to shake her hand. “Glad to see you up and about.”

              He had a curly mop of dark brown hair and large eyes the color of caramel, the features working together to remind her of a puppy dog. He had a goatee that could not mask the fullness of his lips or his strong chin. He was a large man, not just because he had to be well over six foot five but he must lift some serious weights. His shoulders were broad and his biceps were nearly as thick as her legs. She could tell by the cut that his jeans were meant to be baggy but his bulging leg muscles caused the denim to stretch tight. His giant size was at odds with his t-shirt picturing a cartoon dinosaur and the words
Never Forget
above it and the dopey grin he wore.

              At least Anne appeared to be the furthest from a tough, scary vampire. She was petite and seemed like a tiny child standing next to Demetri. Her ice blonde hair was pulled back in a braid that reached the middle of her back, a neatly trimmed fringe covering her forehead. Her emerald green eyes were lined with thick black eyelashes that Cordelia thought could be the result of excellent mascara but when she got closer, she realized it was all natural. She wore a pair of khakis and a crisp white blouse, her entire look straight out of a L.L. Bean catalogue.

              She moved around the sofa to give Cordelia a visual once over. “How are you feeling? Any dizziness, nausea or pain?”

              “Uh, I feel okay, I guess,” Cordelia replied, eyeing Anne as she grabbed her wrist to check her pulse. “No real pain but I’ve felt a couple twinges where I was stabbed.”

              Anne nodded, letting go of her wrist. “That’s to be expected. It takes longer for a mortal wound to heal. It should be gone by tomorrow. You’ll need to feed soon. We gave you bagged blood when you first got here but straight from the source is best.”

              “Which leads into the perfect time for introductions with Olivia and Marcus,” Mary said, gesturing to the other two in the room. “They are the
Datores Sanguis
in the clan.”

              Olivia was wearing a tasteful black pantsuit that Cordelia was pretty sure was from Chanel. She wore her hair short and the chestnut curls set off her olive complexion. She looked to be in her mid-fifties, with just the barest trace of crow’s feet and laugh lines. Her almond shaped eyes were an unremarkable brown and Cordelia noticed a few age spots on her hands.

              She’s still human
, an unknown instinct told her. As she studied Marcus, that same instinct instantly pegged him as human too. He was considerably younger than Olivia, somewhere in his twenties, so he didn’t have wrinkles but she could see the tell tale signs. He had shaved his dark hair close to the scalp and she could see a scar near the crown of his head. He also had a few chicken pox scars on his cheek and his blue eyes did not shine like her own.

              “I don’t know what
Datores Sanguis
means,” Cordelia replied.

              “It’s just a fancy way of saying blood donor,” Olivia said with a wave of her hand. “When any of the clan needs blood, our job is to provide it.”

              “Why would you do that?” Cordelia blurted out without thinking and her cheeks heated up with embarrassment. She couldn’t have made the question sound more insulting even if she tried. Thankfully, no one seemed insulted and, in fact, Olivia even laughed.

              “There are many benefits for us,” Olivia explained. “Being fed from slows the natural aging process in humans. You’d never guess I just had my ninetieth birthday and Marcus is almost sixty.”

              Cordelia could feel her eyes bug out but she couldn’t help it. There was no way to look that young, not even with the best plastic surgeons in the world.

              “So how are you adjusting to finding out that you’ve joined the fang brigade?” Marcus piped up and the women all glared at him, probably because it was written all over her face exactly how she was adjusting.

              “I’m doing better than I would expect, not that I’ve ever expected to be in this kind of situation. It’s not one of the standard fantasies you tend to have in your spare time. Like you think what would I do if I won the lottery or what would I do if got superpowers. I’ve never really thought what would I do if I woke up as a Shadow Walker surrounded by strangers.”

              Well now, that was an unexpected burst of word vomit. Her nerves were starting to get the better of her and she wasn’t thinking before she spoke. She sounded pretty ungrateful considering that being here with strangers was much preferable to being dead.

              “You’ve all been really nice though,” she added, wanting to give them some kind of compliment.

              “What? Just because we’re dead, you expect us to be horrible monsters?” Demetri asked, his burly arms crossing over his broad chest.

              “No, that’s not what I meant at all, I’m sorry,” Cordelia said, panic seizing her at the thought she had offended him. “It’s just that everything you hear about vampires…er…Shadow Walkers is that they are evil.”

              “Evil, yeah?” Demetri shook his head in disappointment. “I can’t believe you are such a bigot. Why would Nicky bring a vampirist into the family?”

              Mary stalked over to Demetri, hauled back and punched him hard in the shoulder. He squawked in pain before laughing as he rubbed his shoulder.

              “Why did you do that?”

              “Because you are being an asshole,” Mary said angrily before turning back to her and smiling reassuringly. “Ignore him, he’s just taking the piss because he doesn’t know how to not be a complete idiot.”

              Demetri snorted with indignation. “Hey, I’m smarter than you.”

              “The only way that would be true is if I suffered an irreversible brain injury.”

              “We can only pray for that to happen. It might fix what is wrong with your personality.”

              “You need to learn to show some respect to your elders, boy-o.”

              “All saying that does is remind everyone that compared to me, you’re an old hag.”

              Olivia clapped her hands loudly to get everyone’s attention. “Children! No one wants to listen to you bicker. Just ignore them Cordelia, they have had years to perfect the art of sibling rivalry. Now is there anything I can get you? Something to drink or eat?”

              The last thing she needed was food in her belly. Her nerves had gone past jittery and hit vibrating-at-supersonic-levels and a ball of anxiety had taken up residence in her stomach.

              “N-no, I’m f-fine,” she said and winced at the quiver in her voice.

              “Well shit,” Demetri cursed. “Cordelia I’m sorry. Mary is right, I am an asshole. I was just joking around but I forgot you don’t know me or what a dick I can be. You can smack me around if you want.”

              “I’d take him up on the offer. Trust me, you are going to want to do it a lot so you might as well get some practice in,” Mary advised.

              Demetri nodded. “You should listen to her; she’s an expert on smacking me around. She’s been doing it for over three hundred years.”

              Cordelia’s eyes widened at that. “Three hundred years? How old are you?”

              “I was born a peasant so no one in my human family was keeping track of the exact date. Best guess is sometime during the 1670s.”

              Cordelia felt her knees bobble at that. “What about the rest of you?”

              Before the others could answer, Demetri piped up. “Anne was born lower class like me so the best guess is around 1500. Mary is our princess though so we know her exact birthday.”

              Mary flipped Demetri off and he returned the gesture in kind before continuing.

              “Her daddy was King Edward III so her birth was recorded. She was born in 1344. By the way, remind me to show you her Wikipedia page. It has a picture of a statue of her. She looks like a total tool.”

              Cordelia barely registered anything after 1344. She was too busy trying to wrap her brain around the idea that the people that looked like they were her age were actually several centuries older. She had thought that discovering that Shadow Walkers existed would be the most startling thing she would come across today but apparently not.

              “I think I need to sit down,” she whispered just before her knees gave out. Mary and Anne were immediately at her side and caught her before she hit the ground. They guided her to the sofa and when she was seated, Anne pressed on the back of her neck, guiding her head down between her knees.

              “Take a few deep breaths,” she instructed. Cordelia did as she instructed, ignoring all the thoughts rushing through her brain and focusing on her breathing. A wet cloth was soon pressed against the back of her neck and the coolness helped steady her.

              After a few minutes she felt much better and straightened herself up to see that everyone was watching her with worried expressions.

              “Sorry,” she said, flashing them a sheepish smile. “I think things were moving a bit too fast for me. It got a bit overwhelming.”

              Anne smiled and squeezed her hand in reassurance. “No need to apologize. Your reaction is perfectly normal considering everything that has happened. You are still adjusting and we should have known better than to dump all of this on you at once.”

              “Oh thank god!” Mary blurted out. “Nicky is home. He’ll make this all okay Cordelia, I promise.”

              The rest of the group turned towards the door with expectant looks and Cordelia did the same, wondering how Mary had known Nicky had arrived. She hadn’t heard any sound to indicate someone else had arrived. Though considering the vast size of the house, an army could probably invade without anyone hearing it.

              A moment later, a young man walked through the doors. He couldn’t be any more than sixteen, his face still holding the softness that hinted at a manhood that was on the horizon. He had a sharp aristocratic nose and his chin was a strong square but his cheeks and jawline still held the smallest trace of baby fat. His lips were full with a deep cupid’s bow on the top lip to emphasize their fleshy pinkness. And then there were his eyes, two orbs of burnished gold.

              She remembered him. There was no way that she would forget those eyes. 

              When she met his gaze, so many emotions began to churn up inside her. This boy was someone who meant more to her than anything in the world. A wave of gratitude overwhelmed her and she was doubled over as her body ached to the very marrow of her bones.

              Her throat constricted as sobs bubbled up and tears began to fall. She didn’t know the reason why but she could not deny that she was indebted to this boy.