JК
Guilty Pleasures :: Гамильтон Лорел
Страница: 32 из 205I would almost have said the master vampire didn't trust himself around me.
There was a long hallway with doors on either side. Jean-Claude was halfway through one of those doors. I walked towards it. I refused to hurry. They could damn well wait.
The room held a bed, a nightstand with a lamp, and three vampires: Aubrey, Jean-Claude, and a strange female vampire. Aubrey was standing in the far corner, near the window. He was smiling at me. Jean-Claude stood near the door. The female vampire reclined on the bed. She looked like a vampire should. Long, straight, black hair fell around her shoulders. Her dress was full-skirted and black. She wore high black boots with three-inch heels.
“Look into my eyes,” she said.
I glanced at her, before I could stop myself, then stared down at the floor.
She laughed, and it had the same quality of touch that Jean-Claude's did. A sound that you could feel with your hands.
“Close the door, Aubrey,” she said. Her r's were thick with some accent that I couldn't place.
Aubrey brushed past me as he closed the door. He stayed in back of me, where I couldn't see him. I moved to stand with my back to the only empty wall, so I could see all of them, for what good it would do me.
“Afraid?” Aubrey asked.
“Still bleeding?” I asked.
He crossed his arms over the blood stain on his shirt. “We shall see who is bleeding come dawn.”
“Aubrey, do not be childish.” The vampire on the bed stood. Her heels clicked against the bare floor. She stalked around me, and I fought an urge to turn and keep her in sight. She laughed again, as if she knew it.
“You wish me to guarantee your friend's safety?” she asked. She had gone back to sink gracefully onto the bed. The bare, dingy room seemed somehow worse with her sitting there in her two-hundred-dollar leather boots.
“No,” I said.
“That is what you asked, Anita,” Jean-Claude said.
“I said that I wanted guarantees from Aubrey's master.”
“You are speaking with my master, girl.”
“No, I am not.” The room was suddenly very still. I could hear something scrambling inside the wall. I had to look up to make sure the vampires were still in the room. They were all utterly still, like statues, no sense of movement or breathing, or life. They were all so damn old, but none of them were old enough to be Nikolaos.
“I am Nikolaos,” the female said, her voice coaxing and breathing through the-room. I wanted to believe her, but I didn't.
“No,” I said. “You are not Aubrey's master.
There was a long hallway with doors on either side. Jean-Claude was halfway through one of those doors. I walked towards it. I refused to hurry. They could damn well wait.
The room held a bed, a nightstand with a lamp, and three vampires: Aubrey, Jean-Claude, and a strange female vampire. Aubrey was standing in the far corner, near the window. He was smiling at me. Jean-Claude stood near the door. The female vampire reclined on the bed. She looked like a vampire should. Long, straight, black hair fell around her shoulders. Her dress was full-skirted and black. She wore high black boots with three-inch heels.
“Look into my eyes,” she said.
I glanced at her, before I could stop myself, then stared down at the floor.
She laughed, and it had the same quality of touch that Jean-Claude's did. A sound that you could feel with your hands.
“Close the door, Aubrey,” she said. Her r's were thick with some accent that I couldn't place.
Aubrey brushed past me as he closed the door. He stayed in back of me, where I couldn't see him. I moved to stand with my back to the only empty wall, so I could see all of them, for what good it would do me.
“Afraid?” Aubrey asked.
“Still bleeding?” I asked.
He crossed his arms over the blood stain on his shirt. “We shall see who is bleeding come dawn.”
“Aubrey, do not be childish.” The vampire on the bed stood. Her heels clicked against the bare floor. She stalked around me, and I fought an urge to turn and keep her in sight. She laughed again, as if she knew it.
“You wish me to guarantee your friend's safety?” she asked. She had gone back to sink gracefully onto the bed. The bare, dingy room seemed somehow worse with her sitting there in her two-hundred-dollar leather boots.
“No,” I said.
“That is what you asked, Anita,” Jean-Claude said.
“I said that I wanted guarantees from Aubrey's master.”
“You are speaking with my master, girl.”
“No, I am not.” The room was suddenly very still. I could hear something scrambling inside the wall. I had to look up to make sure the vampires were still in the room. They were all utterly still, like statues, no sense of movement or breathing, or life. They were all so damn old, but none of them were old enough to be Nikolaos.
“I am Nikolaos,” the female said, her voice coaxing and breathing through the-room. I wanted to believe her, but I didn't.
“No,” I said. “You are not Aubrey's master.