Dear Vampire, I’m a young woman with no family, no pets, no friends, and no future. I want someone to show me what’s possible.
That sounded desperate enough. I hit Send and shut down. I’d really come in here to talk to Christian and find out if my father had said anything else, but he was so engrossed in the movie that I decided to leave.
“Raven?”
I glared at the back of his head. “Yes?”
“Do you ever wonder if there’s any truth to this?” He turned around, his arms hugging the back of the beanbag. “What if we’re all in a dream and none of this is real?”
“Then I guess it doesn’t matter whether I cook dinner or not. See you later.”
Keystone was enormous with its winding interior halls, courtyard, grand staircases, and a million rooms. Many of the halls looked the same, and I got easily lost when not paying attention. I opened the door to a balcony and stepped outside.
It was a beautiful view of the interior courtyard from the back of the house. Snow covered most of the grounds, except someone had dragged the cover away from the pool and turned on the lights. The velvet sky was blacker than I’d ever seen it. I drew in a breath of clean air, which had just a trace of burning wood from one of the many fireplaces. I had to admit, I’d never seen anything as magical as Keystone in wintertime.
“How are you feeling?” Niko asked.
He joined my side and placed his hands on the snow-covered railing, unable to see the blue and green lights glittering in the heated pool below, unable to see the stars sparkling in the sky like diamonds. But he could see what counted.
“I feel better,” I admitted.
His long hair fell forward when he leaned on the railing. “I won’t ask where you went last night, but your light is brighter.”
“I feel brighter. How’s Shepherd?”
Niko straightened up and wiped flecks of snow from his sleeves. “Only time can heal his wounds. He carries a lot of grief with him over the life he’ll never have.”
“Don’t we all. I was looking at a message board tonight where all these humans are dying to be immortal. They think they can still have their cake and eat it too, but they don’t know what they’d be giving up.”
“Just one of many reasons why it’s best we live in secret. If they knew immortality was possible, just imagine the bribery and desperate acts. People would be willing to do anything for just a chance.”
I shivered. Niko was right. All it had taken for me to give up my life was a chance meeting with a stranger in a bar.
My gaze swung toward the courtyard when I heard a shriek below. Gem dashed across a snowy walkway before leaping into the pool.
“That is one crazy girl,” I mused.
Niko rocked with laughter. He had a warm and honest laugh, and it changed his expression entirely—his blue eyes flickering with ancient light, his appearance seeming younger. I couldn’t begin to guess his physical age—maybe late twenties or thirties? I only knew that he was over fifteen hundred years old, and most immortals who’d lived that long had lost their naivety, humor, and passion for life.
“Gem’s light is interesting in water. It changes to a deeper shade of what I see as violet. And it…”
He made a gesture with his fingers in an outward motion.
“Sparkles?” I suggested.
“I suppose that’s it. Sometimes I see her trail in the halls where she’s been skating, and it’s a perfect ribbon of light. Shepherd leaves behind flecks that crackle and burn out. Everyone’s different.”
“Don’t you find it odd she swims in winter?”
“We all have our peculiarities.”
I leaned against the wall behind me. “If we ever go out of the espionage business, Viktor should open the doors to this place and make it an orphanage.”
Niko’s brows touched his hairline. “What brought that to mind?”
“I was thinking about what’s going to happen with that baby. You can’t help but feel empathy for them.”
Niko led me inside. “That’s where these charity balls come into play. We don’t have government funding like the humans. We have to encourage the wealthy to give, and public events such as these are more effective.”
“Because they’re all trying to show off.”
“Exactly. Without that money, there wouldn’t be enough funds to maintain the orphanages, and those children would be out on the streets. Viktor was generous to offer his cut. He is truly a benevolent man.”
That was pretty unexpected of him, I thought to myself. Viktor’s donation made me see him in a new light.
“We have influence,” Niko said. “I believe that’s why they continually invite us to these events. We witness firsthand what happens to these children, and while they don’t know our affiliation, we’re able to paint a more vivid picture about where these orphans really come from.”
“What do they sell at these auctions?”
“Sometimes people are willing to offer their services to the highest bidder. But usually it’s a way for people to offload valuables they’ve collected over the years. The organizers auction everything from jewelry to historical paintings.”
I stopped in my tracks and gave him a quizzical stare. “And people are willing to give away their valuables for free?”
“Some. Though I suspect most of the items are from the deceased.”
“I thought all that stuff was sent to places like Pawn of the Dead.”
Niko tilted his head. “Your brain is always working. You can question the higher authority when you get there if you like.”
“I’d rather just eat cake.”
“That’s probably a wise idea. If you ask too many questions, it raises suspicion. Inquisitive minds are not often as celebrated in our world as in the human one you came from. Would you like to join me downstairs for a cup of tea?”
I looked at the folded paper in my hand. “Sounds good. Give me a few minutes. I need to take care of something.”
After we parted ways, I headed up to my bedroom and closed the door. A few candles burned low, barely enough light to see the furniture. I rounded my bed and approached the desk, setting the paper down on top of a file. I lifted the lid to my music box, and as the melody began, the tiny ballerina twirled in a circle.
I admired my modest collection of personal things, including a diary that had once belonged to a girl named Penny Burns. It wasn’t really mine to keep, but I’d read it twice more since the case. I shoved some pens and paper aside to make room for the fake roses I usually kept on my nightstand. As insignificant as these things might have appeared, they belonged to me, and that made this place feel more like home.
As the melody slowed down, I lifted the heart-shaped necklace from my neck and placed it inside. Now I had a home for my heart. I took a seat in the wooden chair and fiddled with the metal puzzle box.
Viktor taking a chance on me had been the best thing that could have happened given the direction I was heading at the time he found me. Maybe I didn’t have a completely functional moral compass, but with Keystone, I made a difference. If only my father could have seen us saving that baby. It made me regret that I hadn’t told him every detail, but I’d been afraid Christian would have more to erase and might accidentally scrub something important, like the fact that I ever existed.
A click sounded in my hands, and I looked down. I’d pressed the cube in two different spots, causing a piece of it to slide out. I took a close look to remember what I’d done, and then I forced the block to the side as far as it would go. I peered inside the hole, unable to see anything. After five minutes of messing with it, I triggered another opening. Curious, I tugged and pulled at the pieces until one side twisted away from the cube and revealed the core. It looked like a black box within the cube. I couldn’t find a way to pry it open, but when I pushed it with my finger, another click sounded, and it opened like a door with tiny hinges.
I blinked at the contents.
Inside was a key pressed into foam.
All that trouble for a key. Probably someone’s extra house key. I carefully closed the sides, remembering the order that allowed me to open it.
Before heading downstairs to chat with Niko over some hot tea—and he made a mean cup—I spotted something I hadn’t noticed when coming into my room just moments ago. Neatly folded at the foot of my bed was a new coat, just like the one that I’d lost in the Bricks. Also at the foot of my bed, a pair of boots. But they weren’t new, because I noticed scuffs on the toe. While I couldn’t be certain, they looked a lot like the ones I’d traded underground.
I guess I had a few mysteries of my own.
Chapter 27
I lifted a champagne flute from a tray and breezed through the crowd until I found an empty corner. This charity ball was no joke. People were dressed to the nines, and even my black dress looked plain. Maybe it was a little too short, but I thought cocktail parties with short dresses were the norm. The studded leather bracelet probably wasn’t, but it was a prized possession. Not because it used to belong to me, but because it was one of the few personal effects of mine that my father had saved for sentimental reasons.
After gulping down my second glass, I decided to ease up on the booze. I recognized a familiar face across the room. Hooper stood behind a long table, mixing drinks. This was a far cry from working in the Nine Circles of Hell club, and he stuck out like a sore thumb with his lip rings and the designs shaved on each side of his head. White cloth covered the tables. Behind him, another long table where they kept the alcohol and glasses.