After Daybreak (8 page)

He kisses me, gently, softly, as though I’m fragile. Or maybe he fears our relationship is.

“We need to sleep,” he says. “Obviously dhampirs don’t feel the weight of day in the same way that vampires do.”

He struggles to his feet, pulling me up with him. We both climb onto the bed and position ourselves similar to the way we were sitting by the fire, my back to his chest, his arms wrapped around me.

As sleep drags me down, my mind wanders to the Council and the thirteen hungry glowing eyes staring at me through the darkness. Then I feel Victor pulling me nearer, holding me more tightly, and all my worries subside, leaving only the possibilities of something better for us . . . once we’ve dealt with Sin.

I wake up to a steady knocking on the door. With a moan, I work my way out of Victor’s embrace and sit up. The fire in the fireplace has died. I feel incredibly rested. Somehow I can sense that it’s night.

Victor rolls out of bed, crosses the room, and opens the door. He chuckles. “No.”

“Yes.” Faith pushes her way in. She’s wearing an elaborate red ball gown, something that was worn two hundred years ago. It’s satin and lace. Bares her shoulders. It rustles with her movements. She’s carrying something that looks similar, only it’s deep purple. She tosses it on the bed. “Dinner tonight is to be formal.”

My eyes widen. “You want me to wear that?”

“Xavier does. Leave, Victor, so I can help her get ready.”

“Faith—”

“We promised him an hour,” Faith says, cutting him off. “It won’t kill us to be dressed for the occasion. Your clothing is in Richard’s room.”

“I’m not wearing any of it; what I have on is fine.”

“Oh, Victor, relax, have a little fun.”

“Fun? Faith, you may enjoy changing outfits every hour, but putting on clothes once a night is enough for me.”

“I don’t change clothes every hour.” She sniffs. “Every half hour maybe. Now, go on, get out of here. We have work to do.”

“But we are leaving as planned.”

“Of course.”

Victor gives me a smile filled with apology before walking out of the room and closing the door.

I crawl over the bed and touch the soft material, rubbing it between my fingers. I had to wear Victorian clothing when I met with Murdoch Valentine, but it was more suited to funerals than parties.

“I realize you’d be more comfortable if it came with a hood,” Faith says.

I glance up at her. “It’s beautiful. It’s just that it’s not me.”

“When I’m finished with you, for the next hour, it will be.”

Faith does more than help me get into the gown. She fixes my hair and applies makeup. When I look in the mirror, I can hardly believe what I’m seeing. Faith curled my hair so it’s full and flowing down my back. The gown is cut low, a little too low. I tug—

“Leave it,” she orders.

“But I feel like I could pop out of it.”

She chuckles softly. “You won’t.”

The deep purple material makes the blue of my eyes brighter. They also appear more almond-shaped, exotic. Faith did that, with liner and shadow. My lips are a glistening vibrant red as though they are waiting to be kissed.

“I don’t know, Faith.”

“Trust me. Victor won’t be able to take his eyes off you.”

Faith is right. When we enter the dining room, Victor looks as though he’s never seen me before. He strides over and gives me an appreciative smile. “You look—”

“Like Old Family,” Faith says quietly.

We both jerk our head toward her.

Faith shrugs. “She wasn’t nearly as difficult to clean up as I expected.”

My face heats with embarrassment.

“Dawn is always beautiful,” Victor tells her, then winks at me. “Even when she’s wearing a hoodie.”

Faith growls low, but with his words, the warmth turns to pleasure. I’ve never had to pretend with him.

Like Xavier and Richard, he’s wearing a black dinner jacket that’s long in the back. Swallow-tailed, I think it was called. His white shirt is pristine and he has a red cravat—an old-fashioned tie—around his neck.

“Faith, you look magnificent,” Xavier gushes.

She bats her lashes at him. “You’re so sweet.”

“Come, a quick meal and then we shall dance.”

“Xavier, we don’t have time,” Victor tells him.

“An hour, no more, I promise. You must indulge me. I’m so lonely here in this dank, dreary manor.”

“We promised, Victor,” Faith reminds him, and then lets Xavier lead her to the table.

“
You
promised,” Victor mutters before offering me his arm.

“I guess this is the way vampires usually entertain,” I say as we walk over to a ridiculously long table.

“We can’t do anything simply.”

Xavier sits at the head of the table, while Victor and I are on one side, Faith and Richard on the other. I can’t complain about the food. I’m served steak and various vegetables. Everything is delicious. While vampires derive no real nourishment from food, they do enjoy the sensations of taste.

I glance over at Richard. He’s not enjoying anything. Not eating, not drinking, not joining in on the conversation. Probably because no matter to whom Xavier is talking, his gaze is always honed in on Faith.

“The Council just didn’t give any thought to the inconvenience of putting humans within walled cities,” Xavier says before sipping from an ornate silver goblet that I’m pretty sure doesn’t contain wine. “Someone has to watch them. But there is nothing except desolation around the cities. No one comes to see me. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve seen an Old Family female? How can I court? How can I bond?” He takes Faith’s hand and presses a kiss to it. “How can I entice her into being my mate?”

“Have you explained all this to your father?” Faith asks. “Maybe he can send one of your brothers to watch over the territory for a while.”

With a pout, Xavier sits back. “I have. He doesn’t seem to care. I simply wait around for the sun to rise, the sun to set, and blood to be delivered. Night in, night out. Week after week. Month after month. Boring.”

“Do you get enough blood?” I ask.

He jerks his gaze to me as though he’d completely forgotten that I was there. He furrows his brow. “You allow your diva to speak?”

“She’s very knowledgeable,” Victor assures him. “I’d like to know the answer to her question.”

“Not as much as we used to. I shall have to punish them soon. But I don’t want to think about that now. Let’s dance.” He gets up, goes to an old phonograph sitting on a table, cranks it up, and sets a needle on a disc. After a few moments of static the room fills with scratchy music. Xavier rushes over to Faith, bows slightly, and holds out his hand.

“Xavier—” Victor begins.

“I know. You must leave. But what is three more minutes?”

Faith places her hand in Xavier’s. “Yes, Victor, what is three more minutes? Dance with Dawn.”

She goes with Xavier to an empty space on the other side of the room, and they begin to glide over the floor with graceful movements. It’s very different from the way I dance at parties. Xavier has a hand on her waist. Hers is on his shoulder.

Victor stands and extends his hand to me. “Dawn?”

I gaze at him, standing there, looking incredibly handsome, so enticing. “I don’t know how.”

“Just follow my lead.”

I can’t deny that I’ve always wanted to dance with him, to have a moment that seemed normal. I follow him to the uncluttered area. Taking me in his arms, he sweeps me over the floor.

I want to laugh with the joy of it. Gazing into his eyes, I can almost forget that the world around us is such a mess. It’s only the two of us, keeping in perfect rhythm, even when the music skips and plays over, skips and plays over. A broken record.

I feel elegant and beautiful in this gown. I’ve never worn anything this elaborate before. If this were a fairy tale, I’d be a princess. But I stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago.

“You’re so beautiful,” Victor says quietly. “I wish I could give you more moments like this, when there is nothing but the music and the two of us. No worries, no evil, no problems.”

“Is this what Old Family life was like before the war?”

“We had balls and dances almost every week. But we had orchestras playing the music. Not scratchy old records that grate on the ears.”

“Do you miss it?”

“I miss the peace of it. The laughter. The happiness. Everything changed when we came out of the shadows. We couldn’t hold on to this any longer.”

“Xavier is trying to.”

“Yes, many do.”

They hate technology and modern conveniences. I try to envision what it was like back then, but I’m distracted by the candlelight in the chandeliers as the flickering flames cause light to flutter over Victor’s face. The shadows ebb and flow. It’s magical, lures me in, and I realize that I’m nearer to him than I was when we started. My skirt brushes against his legs. My hand has moved from his shoulder to his neck. I can feel his warm breath on my cheek. I could fall into the blue depths of his eyes. I wish we could stay here, constantly moving in a circle over the polished hardwood floor.

Victor lowers his head. His lips graze my ear. His voice is low, mesmerizing. “I’m sorry we can’t have this forever.”

My heart gives a little lurch. Is he answering my earlier question when I asked what would become of us? Or is he simply referring to the fact that it’s as though we have no cares?

“What exactly is
this
, Victor? What can we not have forever?”

A hideous screeching fills the room and the music stops. I glance over to see Richard standing by the phonograph, holding up the needled arm.

“Hate to break up the party, but if we don’t get on the road soon, we’re not going to get to the capital before the sun rises,” he says.

Victor steps away. I want to clutch him back to me. I want to keep dancing. I want to pretend that no dangers exist in our world. But these few moments were only an illusion.

“Stay the night,” Xavier says. “Go tomorrow.”

“We can’t,” Victor tells him. “Richard’s right. We have to go.”

Xavier turns to Faith. “Stay with me.”

Faith smiles and pats his cheek. “I wish I could, but Victor will be taking his place on the Council. I must be there to give him my support.”

“Afterward, come back. You’ll never want for anything. I’ll make you happy. We can dance every night.”

Leaning in, she brushes her lips over his. “We’ll see.”

With that she turns from him, marches across the room, grabs my hand, and begins pulling me toward the door. “Come on, Dawn, we can’t travel in these clothes.”

It seems the moment of pretending all is right with the world has passed.

Half an hour later, we’re hurtling through the night, Victor at the wheel. The tension in the backseat is so thick that I could pierce it with a stake.

“Richard, don’t pout.”

“I’m not pouting, Faith.”

“Then don’t be angry or whatever it is, because I don’t like it.”

“I’m not angry, either. I’d just forgotten, that’s all.”

“Forgotten what?”

“That you’re all about flirtation. A new guy steps into your path and off you go.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Isn’t it, Faith? In Los Angeles, I thought—” He sighs. “Never mind. We have larger issues. I intend to focus on those.”

I dart a glance back to see Richard staring out the window. I can’t blame him for being upset. I know he and Faith have some sort of past. I know he cares about her. While we were in Los Angeles, they actually had a date. I thought maybe they were becoming a couple. I think Richard thought the same thing. Guess we were both wrong.

“This system that VampHu set up doesn’t seem to be a good thing for anyone,” I tell Victor. “It isolates humans and vampires.”

“All humans, not all vampires. We travel as we please, and Old Family tend to socialize with one another whenever we get the chance.”

“If they’re not forced to watch over humans. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all the walls came down?”

He glances quickly over at me. “You’re thinking of Crimson Sands.”

I sigh. “Yeah, I am.”

“Their way isn’t practical on a large scale.”

“I think it is.”

“The Council will never go for it. VampHu, the walled cities, they are here to stay.”

“We’ll see,” I murmur.

Chapter 9

T
he sky has turned from pitch black to shades of blue, signaling the sun’s rise. It’s a familiar color to me. How many nights have I seen it, waiting on the balcony for my parents to come home from Valentine Manor? I always held my breath when I saw the carriage coming down the street, heading home.

Now, I hold my breath again. Through the fading shadows, I can’t believe what I’m seeing. I’ve only ever heard of this place, never seen a picture. The tallest tower looks as though it could pierce the moon and make it rain blood across the gray city. A place made like this, of stone and mortar, of towers and walls, would take decades if not centuries to build. Yet it’s been completed in only a few years. And as we approach along the road, which has turned from mere dirt and gravel to deeply inset cobblestone, I see how this monolithic city was made. Those who crafted the stone march across the fields, an exhausted race of enslaved Lessers. Dawn is approaching, and their slumped shoulders and dragging feet indicate a need for blood. But where is it? This is the capital, New Vampiria. Shouldn’t it be the most affluent of all?

Then, as we draw closer to the wall, my expectations of a Victorian era reborn are quickly dashed. The wall isn’t a wall at all, but merely the outcropped buildings of the city, small cottages made of ill-fitted stone. Is that where the Lessers live?

In the blink of an eye we’re inside the city itself, the road turning into a street that shoots straight to the massive tower in the center. On all sides we’re surrounded by gray buildings, weathered far beyond what should only have been their short life. Trash litters the street, nothing like the clean upkeep of the Valentine house that I’d expected. Instead of well-dressed vampires, the envy of the Lessers that surround Denver, I see bedraggled vampires looking at our car as though it may offer hope in this place. When we zoom past them, their stares continue to be reflected in our mirrors.

“Not what you expected?” Victor asks, my silence telling him everything.

“It looks . . .”

I struggle to find the words, so Victor does it for me. “Pathetic.”

“Yeah. Not at all like I’d imagined. I mean, it’s the vampire
capital
. Where’s the grace and elegance? Where’s the spoils from the war that they won?”

“When we talk to the Council, you’ll see why some of them consider the war a defeat instead of a victory.”

“That’s ridiculous,” I say, angry that the vampires would be so arrogant that after nearly wiping humanity off the map they claim it wasn’t enough. Did the VampHu, which my father helped create, not go far enough in giving the vampires everything they wanted?

“Look around you, Dawn,” Victor says. “The world of isolated, walled cities is a strange one for humans. But a world running rampant with Lessers is stranger still for vampires. Now you’ll see that our grip on humanity is not as strong as we’d like you to believe.”

We pass under arches that connect buildings, walkways that act as tendons bringing the city together. But even from here, at this speed, I can see the cracks forming.

Victor turns down a street, away from the tower in the center.

“Where are we going?” I ask.

“We arrived too late to see the Council until tonight. They’ll need to know of my arrival in the city first. It’s been a long time since a Valentine has sat at the table. My father was the patriarch, but he remained on his throne at Valentine Manor. He hated this place.”

“Why?”

“He didn’t like what they were trying to do. He thought the Old Families shouldn’t attempt to create human-like cities. I never agreed with him on things, but I did on that point. The heads of the Old Families live here, but it’s like they’re strangers in their own land. We were never meant to be like this. We were always meant to be in the shadows. Now that we’re in control, we don’t know how to be.”

“Wow.”

“That’s why I’m afraid of Sin,” Victor says. “He wants control. He wants power. And I think he knows exactly how to keep it.”

Victor slows to a stop outside a three-story building. Nothing unique about it. It could easily be mistaken for one of the many that we passed. I remember what Murdoch Valentine once said to me: “We vampires have never had imaginations.” I can see that now. Every building looks as though it was cast from the same mold, thought of by the same designer. But Victor must know this is the right spot as he gets out of the car.

“Should I be worried?” I ask. “I mean, the Lessers here look starved.”

“No,” Victor says. “The fact that you’re with me signals to them that you’re my . . .
companion
.”

“I have a feeling that means something else in the vampire world.”

“It does, yes. It translates into: You’re for me. Not for them. Nothing else needs to be said.”

I hope he’s right.

Richard and Faith climb out of the backseat and glance around.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been here,” Richard says. “It’s worse than I remembered.”

“New Vampiria has always lacked charm,” Faith says. “It’s the reason I’ve avoided it for so long.”

We open the trunk, gather our bags, and follow Victor through a wooden door, half eaten away by rain and rot.

The inside has the same glow of oil and gas lamps that haunted Valentine Manor. It looks like something that was made out of necessity and desperation. None of the tables really match; there’s no paint, simply the natural wood tones and textures.

Behind the front desk a vampire, clearly a Lesser, stands up. “Ah, Mr. Valentine. Oh, I do beg your pardon,
Lord
Valentine. Lady Faith, Mr. Carrollton. It’s a pleasure to have you all again gracing our humble hotel.”

“Thank you, Louis. We’d never dream of staying anywhere else. And please, call me Victor.”

“I’m afraid my manners would never allow such a thing.” Apparently his manners don’t extend to humans because he gives me a once-over as though I’m something he’d scrape off the bottom of his shoe. It’s obvious that, like Xavier, he considers me a blood diva. “How many rooms shall it be?”

“Just one. Your largest.”

“Straightaway, sir.”

When Louis takes the key off the rack, it becomes the only one missing; all the others hang silently. We’re the only guests staying here. And judging by the dust that’s gathered on those keys, we may be the first guests for some time.

We head up two flights of stairs, each board creaking and threatening to give way. The top floor is divided into two suites and we take the one on the right. Louis opens the door for us, gives Victor the key, and Victor passes him a very large envelope, which I suspect is filled with a different kind of payment. Blood. The only currency a vampire really needs. It’s obviously much more than Louis normally charges and he tries to give it back, but Victor won’t hear of it and practically pushes him out of the room to prevent any more protesting.

After we turn on all the lamps, we see that the suite is, much like the rest of the hotel,
humble
, as Louis put it. Brass fixtures on the walls and in the bathroom a giant bathtub with copper lion’s feet. The windows in the main room are covered by thick curtains, closed against the encroaching sun. The bedrooms, however, are completely windowless; probably a wise idea for a hotel catering to those who scorch in the sun.

“We’ll sleep through the day,” Victor says. “This evening we’ll meet with the Council.”

“Come on, Dawn,” Faith says, and strolls casually toward one of the bedrooms.

I look at Victor, and he merely nods.

“I can get another room,” Richard says, and I realize that before we stopped at Xavier’s, he probably would have shared a bedroom with Faith.

“No, I want us to stay together,” Victor says.

“I’ll take the couch, then.”

Victor slaps his back. “We all need to be well rested.”

With a shrug, Richard heads toward the other bedroom.

“You
are
pouting,” Faith calls out.

“Don’t start on me, Faith,” he says before going into the room and slamming the door shut.

Victor gives Faith a narrow-eyed look.

She angles up her chin. “What?”

“Your timing isn’t the best. If you wanted to make him jealous—”

“I didn’t. I was just being nice to Xavier.”

“Nice? If that was you being nice, I’m not sure I want to be there when you’re really grateful. I’m surprised he didn’t get down on one knee and propose.”

“That would have been a bit premature.”

“Faith—”

“I’m going to bed.” She stomps off to the other bedroom and bangs the door shut.

Victor sighs and I can sense his frustration. I walk over and slip my hand in his. He looks down at me, smiles, and says, “We really don’t need their drama right now.”

“What happened between her and Richard so long ago?”

“I’m not sure. I hate to say it because she’s my sister, but if anyone is at fault, it’s probably Faith. Old Family females tend to be spoiled, used to getting their way.”

“I can’t see her with Xavier.”

“No, neither can I.” Victor leads me over to the couch and pulls me down beside him.

“Thought you said we needed to be well rested,” I tease him.

“Are you going to be able to sleep?”

“Probably not.”

He holds me. I wish we could pull the draperies back and look out over the city, but that will have to wait for nighttime.

“Are you disappointed with the vampire capital?” he asks, his fingers sifting through my hair. I can feel each strand being tugged, lulling me into forgetting the world around us, until there is only us.

“I thought it would be beautiful. Why didn’t you tell me it was like this?”

“Because it
should
be beautiful. It’s mortifying that it isn’t. We consider ourselves superior, and yet we’re reverting to the Dark Ages.”

“I don’t think it’s
that
bad.” I shift around to face him. “Victor, will I even be allowed into the council chamber?”

“Hopefully as my guest, yes. You’ll be the first human to ever step inside.”

“Though technically I’m not human,” I say.

“You have a drop of vampirism in you, the remains of a legacy long forgotten.”

“But it’s still in me.”

Victor sighs gently. “It doesn’t matter. You aren’t human or vampire; those definitions are beginning to lose their meaning. You’re Dawn.”

“Am I?” I swallow hard, hating to admit some secret part of me still hopes that everything I’ve learned isn’t true. “I’ve been noticing some changes.”

“Like what?”

“My senses seem sharper. I can make out things in the dark. My skin is more sensitive. My hearing is better. Taste—the meal at Xavier’s was really good, and I’m not entirely sure it was all because he has an excellent chef. Maybe it’s all in my mind, maybe I’m just imagining it.”

He brushes his thumb over my lower lip. “How does that feel?”

“Incredible. It’s like sensations are shooting all through me.”

He slides his fingers over to the tattoo on my neck, to the place where he buried his fangs. “When did you start noticing the heightened sensations?”

“After you took my blood. Octavian said that your bite awakened the vampire traits that exist in me.”

The corners of Victor’s mouth turn down and he studies me sadly. “I didn’t know, Dawn. I didn’t know taking your blood would do this to you. I’d rather die than have you be unhappy.”

“I’m not unhappy.” I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment. “Maybe I am a little. Mostly I’m confused. Do you know anything at all about dhampirs? What I can expect? A longer life? Faster healing? Will I want to sleep during the day?”

“I don’t know. Someone on the Council might.”

“They’re going to hate me, aren’t they? Hate what I am? That’s why they killed the Montgomerys.”

“Not because they hated them, but because they feared what they didn’t understand.”

I know he’s trying to reassure me, but he wasn’t there when the death warrant was signed. It all happened long before he was born.

“And you’re wrong,” he says slowly as though he’s beginning to become lost in the sensations of touching me. “They won’t hate you. Once they see how strong you are, how brave, how much you care for others—they’ll love you as I do.”

“But love’s not enough. It doesn’t hold you. You keep telling me we can’t be together.”

“And each time we’re together, it’s getting harder to separate.”

He skims his lips across my temple. It’s as though each cell comes to life. I lean into him, drawn to the promise of pleasure. His mouth covers mine, his tongue sweeps inside. Warmth spirals through me, pools in the pit of my stomach. My toes curl. Suddenly it’s like he’s kissing all of me.

As I shift around until I’m stretched out on the couch, he follows my movements, never breaking from the kiss. Although we’ve slept in the same bed, he’s always done little more than hold me near, but I sense that his restraint might be slipping. I know he wants me. I want him. But giving into temptation will complicate our relationship further, would prove a distraction when we need to concentrate on destroying Sin. Still, I can’t give up the hope that when all this is over, we’ll have time to truly explore our feelings for each other.

Drawing back, he rubs his fingers in circles over my cheeks, his gaze holding mine. “I wish I could hold you while you sleep.”

I give him an impish smile. “We could sleep here.”

“You deserve a bed and a good day’s rest.” He rolls off me, holds out his hand.

Reluctantly, I let him pull me to my feet.

“I have faith in you,” he tells me. “You’ll impress the Council.”

“And if I don’t?”

“We’ll have to overthrow them because they’re obviously idiots.”

Victor’s teasing words stay with me as I go into the bedroom I’m sharing with Faith. Okay, it looks like we’re also sharing a bed. A big one, but still . . .

I expected her to be asleep by now. Instead with her back against all the pillows, she’s sitting up in a slinky red silk tank and boxer shorts. She doesn’t look up from the romance novel she’s reading, which must seem more like an instructional manual to her than a story. I grab my duffel bag, go into the bathroom, and change into my flannel pants and tank top. When I step back into the room, she glances over and rolls her eyes as though I pulled my clothes out of the trash bin.