The doorbell for the driveway gate rang.
“I’ll get it!” Felix thundered down the hallway to greet our vampire guest.
I gave one last look at the snacks I’d put out—some crackers and cheese, though Gavino usually just nibbled at human food so I didn’t know if he’d really want to eat—and turned to the parlor door just in time for Great Aunt Marraine to bustle through.
“How nice!” She appropriately cooed, cupping her plump cheeks with her hands. “Your little vampire friend will feel quite welcome! We’ll all make sure of it.”
“He’s not exactly little,” I said.
“Oh, pooh,” Great Aunt Marraine wrinkled her nose at me. “Everyone is little to the likes of me.” She winked, flashing her neon pink eyeshadow. She’d changed her dyed stripe of color in her silvery-gray hair from blue to pink, and had adjusted her wardrobe accordingly.
“How so?” I asked, though I got distracted when I felt the warm but dry touch of House Medeis mentally poking me.
Great Aunt Marraine chuckled. “At my age, you realize just how small the world is. Why, I—”
The House poked me again. “I’m sorry, Great Aunt Marraine, could you give me a moment? The House wants something.” I expectantly turned to the wall.
“Oh. Well. The House is important,” Great Aunt Marraine rambled uncharacteristically. (She was never one to lack words, but usually she had a point she was driving you to, so this was a little odd.)
I filtered her out as I tuned in to House Medeis.
Since my Ascension ceremony at the very end of summer, my relationship with the magical House had drastically deepened.
Previously I had to guess how it was feeling and what it wanted—which wasn’t too much of a problem since it was very clear on speaking its mind. If it was mad, it might express this by taking away all hot water from me, or by sending a raccoon down a chimney, which it had done once when I was a kid and broke a window but blamed it on the next-door neighbors. (Let me tell you, after that I was an extremely honest child. Nothing traumatizes you quite like taking an angry, sooty raccoon to the face.)
Now, House Medeis could communicate by adding its own little twists to the magic that freely oozed around in the air. That was how it told me that two others had arrived with Gavino—vampires, presumably—and that both Felix and Momoko were escorting them in through the side door by the kitchen.
Thankfully, the House didn’t seem displeased with their presence, though it was paying special attention to them. (I’d have to make sure I warned Gavino about taking off his shoes, or the House might take it upon itself to “teach” him.)
Great Aunt Marraine rattled on, which made me suspicious because she usually went quiet the second I said I needed to speak to the House.
What is she trying to hide?
I heard footsteps in the hallway, and a smile bloomed on my face. “Gavino!” I jogged to the doorway. “I’m so happy you’re…here.”
Gavino—big and hulking—grinned playfully at me as he dragged a rolling suitcase and had a garment bag slung over his shoulder—for his suits, probably.
Behind him, however, were Celestina and Josh.
Chapter Ten
Hazel
Celestina wore her brightest, most inviting grin, and even Josh had dusted off a rusty smile for the occasion.
On a hunch, I swung around to give Great Aunt Marraine an accusatory look.
She beamed sweetly at me and bustled out of the room. “Dear me, I’m turning into an old woman who prattles at inconvenient times. Since our guest has arrived, I’ll take my leave. Though I must say it will be exciting to have such a strapping young man in the House!” She winked as she passed Gavino—who released a bark of laughter.
At a loss, I could only stare at her back as she retreated, her pink, checkered dress a bright spot in the hallway.
“We’ll just leave, too.” Momoko started to sidle away. “We wouldn’t want to cramp your reunion.”
“Oh, no you don’t.” I grabbed Momoko by the hood of her sweatshirt. “Do you care to tell me why neither you, Felix, nor Great Aunt Marraine is shocked to see the Drake Family’s First and Second Knights?” I snarled.
“Uhh, not really,” Momoko said.
Felix, carrying a wooden tray that had several more blood pouches balanced on it, ducked past me to get into the parlor. “It was Momoko’s idea,” he said. “We came up with it when Celestina gave us the tour of Drake Hall.”
“Thanks for the support, Felix,” Momoko growled.
“It was obvious Celestina knew you really well.” Felix set the blood pouches on an antique card table after finding some coasters. “The whole tour was peppered with stories about you. We told them to come with Gavino so they could talk to you since you were obviously avoiding them.”
I glared at my childhood friend, but it was Momoko who whispered, “I think there was a misunderstanding, Hazel. And while I get that they hurt you, I know you love them enough to want to know what really went down. We arranged this for your sake.”
I again glanced at Celestina and Josh, then sighed and released Momoko. “Come on in.”
The three vampires trooped in after Momoko and me. I plopped down in what Momoko had informed me earlier in the day was a “Rococo revival sofa with a mahogany veneer.” Frankly, I didn’t know what that meant besides EXPENSIVE, DO NOT BREAK! (I hadn’t realized how much antique furniture was in the House until I suddenly became responsible for it. I was going to have all gray hair by the time I turned thirty.)
I thought Momoko or Felix would sit next to me, but they lingered by the fireplace, letting the vampires take the seats around the card table.
“Thanks for agreeing to come here to train us, Gavino,” I said once everyone had settled.
Gavino laughed, his steely voice gruff and deep. “It’s my delight. This will be a vacation for me.”
“I certainly hope it will be comfortable enough for you. I have a bedroom picked out for you—I can show it to you once we finish here,” I said.
He nodded, then glanced at his superiors.
Josh still had his rusty smile on, but Celestina had knit her eyebrows together in her concern. “We’re sorry,” she blurted out. “It didn’t go down the way it was supposed to. We—I—messed up.”
“I assume you’re talking about my escort out of Drake Hall?” I asked.
Celestina winced. “His Eminence was expressively clear that you needed to leave with no strings attached so you’d go win back your House.”
“And the best way to achieve that was to act like a jerk?” I politely inquired.
“I went overboard,” Celestina said. “But I knew why the Eminence didn’t want you around.”
“And you agreed with him?”
“Yes, no.” Celestina made a frustrated sound and rattled a few sentences off in disgruntled Spanish.
“I believe what my superior is attempting to say,” Josh cut in, “is that she was deeply traumatized by the events at the mall.”
I stared at the black-haired vampire, and said, “What,” in a flat tone.