The Vampire’s Mail Order Bride (15 page)

“Three hundred and seventy seven, to be exact. I was twenty-seven when Didi turned me.”

Delaney’s silent stare unnerved him, but at least she stayed put. “Didi was a vampire before you?”

He paused. He was about to share Ellingham history with her. The kind of information that could be their undoing if she decided to use it against him. “Lady Elenora Ellingham, Dowager Duchess of Sinclair, was known for keeping an eccentric court. One of her suitors, a strange, wealthy Frenchman by the name of Alard Desmarais had revealed himself to her as a vampire. She thought it was a parlor trick until she got to know him.”

“What happened?” Delaney seemed rapt by the story now. Maybe he was making headway.

“In 1665, a plague struck London. It took my parents. Didi was bereft at losing her son and daughter-in-law. She refused to lose her grandsons as well. She begged Alard to turn us. He agreed on the condition that she would allow him to turn her as well.”

“Obviously, she agreed.”

Hugh nodded. “Then she turned us. I was the first since I was already at court. Then Sebastian, then Julian.” He blinked hard. Memories strobed through his brain, robbing his ability to speak for a moment. He’d never told this story to anyone outside of Juliette. There’d never been a reason.

“Are you okay?”

He was thrown by the compassion in her voice. It affected him almost more than the memories had. He looked away, unwilling to show her what he was feeling. “I’m fine.”

He stood suddenly, ready for a change of topic. “I suppose you’d like proof.”

She hugged the cat carrier to her.

“I didn’t mean by biting anyone.”

“That’s excellent news.” The slight quirk at the corners of her mouth told him she still didn’t believe him. She put the carrier back on the ground.

“How about this?” His fangs shot through his gums, and he opened his mouth so she could see them. In full vampire form, his pupils would shine like an animal’s, silvery white. He wasn’t sure there was enough moonlight to make that happen.

“Those are pretty convincing, but you can buy amazingly real fangs at the mall around Halloween. Or, you know, probably all year round in this town.”

He closed his mouth and sighed. “Maybe I should bite you.”

“Hey now—”

He held up his hand. “I won’t. Biting a person starts a process, and I’m not about to do that to you.” But he needed her to know that he wasn’t insane. They’d come this far. “What can I do to prove that I’m telling the truth?”

She frowned. “Hugh, it’s clear you believe you’re a vampire—”

“Because I am.”

She raised her brows. “I’ve seen you outside while the sun was up. I’m pretty sure that’s a big vampire no-no.”

He ground his teeth together. He couldn’t tell her about the amulet. They’d taken a vow as a family never to reveal that secret to anyone. “I can take a little sun.” Bloody hell, that sounded false even to his ears.

She smiled in a sad, sure-sure kind of way. “You’re a nice guy, Hugh. Maybe you should talk to somebody about this vampire thing—”

“Brace yourself.” So help him, he was about to do something he swore he’d never do. It was so…tween movie. Unfortunately, he was out of other ideas.

“What?”

He lunged forward, took her into his arms and sped through the woods. She inhaled sharply, a deep shuddering breath that took the place of a scream. He dodged trees and leaped fallen logs as he made a wide circle and brought her back to the creek’s edge a few moments later. They’d probably gone a mile.

He put her on her feet. “Now do you believe me?”

She wobbled her head in what he took to be a nod, then opened her mouth to say something and fainted.

Delaney woke up fully clothed on the four-poster bed. Even her shoes were still on. She blinked, getting her bearings. Soft snoring turned her head. Captain sprawled on the pillow next to her. The room was dark, but a little moonlight filtered through the curtains. She’d had the strangest dream.

It
had
been a dream. Or… She sat up and stared into the dimness, trying to comprehend the last thing she remembered.

Could Hugh really be a vampire? Vampires weren’t real. Were they? He’d seemed so earnest. And not the least bit off his rocker. But then there was that speed run through the woods. There was no denying he was something…more than human. Which brought her back to whether or not he could really be a vampire.

Her hand went to her neck. No bite marks that she could feel. She looked at Cappy. He purred as she checked his fatness for evidence of a bite. Nothing. Hugh had promised she was safe with him. As far as she could tell, he hadn’t lied about that.

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and kicked off her shoes. She dug her toes into the plush carpet. The bedside clock said a little after one in the morning, but there was no way she’d be able to fall back asleep with all these questions keeping her brain spun up.

She left her room and went out into the hall. Muted voices carried up from somewhere below. The deep male tones sounded like Hugh and Stanhill.

She traipsed down the steps and found them in the spacious living room, Hugh standing beside the fireplace, Stanhill leaning against the back of one couch. They stopped talking when she came in.

Feeling a bit like an interloper, she smiled sheepishly. “Hi.”

Hugh looked her over. “How are you feeling?”

“I fainted, right?”

“Yes.”

“I feel okay.”

Stanhill straightened. “How about a cup of hot chocolate, miss?”

“That sounds great, thank you.”

When he left, she sat on the couch and tucked her feet under her and took a breath. “We need to talk.”

“I concur.” Hugh came and sat across from her. “Where do you want to start?”

She stared at his knees. It was safer than having those piercing eyes of his derail her train of thought. “I don’t know if I believe you’re a vampire yet.”

“That’s okay. Are you afraid of me?”

She liked that he asked the tough questions straight out. There was a lot to be said for not dancing around the elephant in the room. “I didn’t wake up with any bite marks, so…”

Mischief sparkled in his eyes. “Yes, but did you check the cat?”

She laughed softly as she looked at him. “I did, actually.”

He groaned good-naturedly and scrubbed a hand across his face. “The curse of my kind.”

“Speaking of, and I’m not saying I’m buying into this whole thing yet, but let’s say there are vampires. Are they everywhere?”

He nodded. “Not just vampires, but shifters of all varieties, witches, fae, jinn—”

She held her hands up. “Okay, I get it. We are not alone.” Seriously, though, that was a lot to accept. “So every town has these supernatural creatures?”

“Every town. Every state. Every country. Humans just can’t differentiate us from anyone else so we blend right in. Unless you happen to see our non-human side. Then you’d know.”

“Non-human. That’s putting a pin in it, huh? So you mean fangs and silvery eyes and what else? Do you fly? Turn into a bat? Please, in the name of all things sweet and sugary, do not tell me you sparkle.”

One of his brows lifted indignantly. “No. No sparkling. Or turning into bats. Not in my family.”

Stanhill came back in with her hot chocolate. Of course it was in a china cup and saucer on a silver tray. “Can I get you anything else, miss?”

“No, thank you.” She took the cup and saucer and set it on the table separating the two couches. Talking about this was starting to make everything seem more real. “Are you a vampire too, Stanhill?”

“No, miss. I’m a…” He glanced at Hugh.

“Go ahead, tell her.”

Stanhill nodded. “I’m Hugh’s rook.”

“What is that?” She sipped the chocolate, which was hot but delicious.

Stanhill tucked the tray behind his back. “A rook is a vampire’s assistant. We do daylight errands. Protect the vampire while they’re sleeping. That sort of thing.”

“And in return you get what? I hope you at least have dental.” She slanted her eyes at Hugh. “That wasn’t a fang joke, I swear.”

Stanhill lifted his chin. “My compensation is immortality. A boost to the senses, not as much as a vampire, but a nice bump. Faster healing. Lots of perks.”

“No downside?”

He shrugged. “Can’t be too far away from Hugh for any length of time. That’s a bit of a drag, as I’m sure you can imagine.” He winked at her.

“How do you get to be a rook?” She raised a hand. “Purely out of curiosity. I have no desire to become one.”

“Almost the same way you become a vampire. Two bites in a set period of time.”

She looked at Hugh. “You did this to him then?”

Hugh nodded. “He was my valet.”

“Why not turn him into a full-fledged vampire?”

“I didn’t want that, miss,” Stanhill answered. “I’d been in service since I was a wee lad. I was happy to stay on in that regard.” His jaw worked like he was fighting emotion. “Saved me from the plague, he did.”

She studied Hugh, shaking her head slowly. “This is nuts. You know that, right?”

“I’ll leave you to it then.” Stanhill gave them a little nod and left.

Hugh said nothing for a few moments. “I know it must be hard to accept. And I’m sure you have more questions.”

“Yes. Thousands. But I don’t know where to start.” She drank a little more of her chocolate, buying herself time to sort the chaos in her head.

“What comes to mind first?”

“Is the sheriff really a werewolf?”

“Yes.”

“Do your brothers have rooks?”

“Sebastian, yes. Julian, no.” Hugh snorted. “Probably for the best. A rook would only cramp his style.”

“Is that woman who lives with your grandmother a rook or a witch or what?”

“Alice is a witch. My grandmother saved her from being burned at the stake in Salem not long after we arrived in the colonies.”

Delaney downed the last of her hot chocolate. Too bad the cup was so small. “Why aren’t any of you married? Or is Sebastian married?”

“He was.” Hugh seemed lost in thought for a moment. “She left him.”

“Because he became a vampire?”

“No.” Hugh’s gaze pinned her. “Because she did.”

He got up and walked toward the French doors. “This life holds a thousand temptations. She wanted to try them all and being married didn’t fit into that plan.”

Maybe that’s why Hugh was in no hurry to get married. “I’m sorry for your brother. That kind of betrayal sucks. Hard.”

Hugh turned to look at her. “You sound like you know that from experience.”

She nodded and stared at her hands. She didn’t tell a lot of people about her past, didn’t want them to pity her for it, but Hugh wasn’t just anyone. He’d already forgiven her lying to him and was now actively protecting her by letting her stay here. “My mother found out she had breast cancer when I was fourteen. Six months later, my father couldn’t handle it. He was there one day and gone the next.”

Hugh sat on the couch with her but kept his distance. “That must have devastated your mum. How did it affect her recovery? Has she remarried?”

Because he’d assumed her mother had lived, Delaney smiled, but her lips stayed pressed together. “She didn’t recover. She died a month after my fifteenth birthday. My father was—is a defense contractor. He’d taken a job in Korea. Still lives there now. He didn’t come home for her funeral.”

“Sounds like a proper bastard.”

“That’s a pretty decent assessment.” Her eyes were hot with tears. She blinked them away.

“What did you do after your mum died?”

“I went to live with my grandmother in Brooklyn. She passed away three years ago. It was a good life considering.”

“Have you seen your father since?”

She nodded. “The summer after I graduated high school, he married a Korean woman.”

Hugh’s brows knit together. “Don’t tell me you went to the wedding?”

“Yep. Purely for selfish reasons. He paid for the ticket and I really wanted to see Korea. I had a bit of an ulterior motive, though. When they got to the part of the service about anyone objecting, I stood up and told him exactly what I thought about him, his treatment of my mother and his failure to show up at the funeral.”