“My lady.”
“Oh, you just love that new speediness, don’t you?”
His fingers, so thick and strong, tightened around mine as he closed the car door behind me. “Do you even need to ask?”
The stillness and quiet that came from the day then made my footsteps, crunching over the gravel, sound like pebbles being jiggled in a small bag. The only other sound was the soothing trickle of water falling into the round bath at the base of the fountain.
Despite the glaring sun making me squint, I looked all the way up at the statue’s smiling face; she seemed to hide a secret behind her eyes, perhaps one whispered by the snake on her shoulder, its lips to her ear. “Who is that?”
Mike looked up at her. “Lilith.”
“Our Lilith?”
“Yeah,” he said distractedly, closing the trunk as he grabbed my suitcase. “The snake is said to represent the original Lilith—the one who conned Eve into eating the Fruit of Wisdom.”
My eyes rounded. “Wow. I remember Dad talking about God’s Lilith in a lecture once.”
“Yeah? So, you are capable of retaining information.”
I slapped his shoulder as he stood beside me. “I remember everything you ever tell me.”
He scoffed. “Pity you never give my words any value.”
“I do. I take on board all your advice, Mike. I just choose to follow the bits that appeal to me.”
“So, none of it appeals to you?”
“Not usually.” I shrugged.
“You annoy me,” he said in a deep, humoured tone.
“Hey, all.” Eric popped up out of nowhere.
“Hey, Eric.”
“Amara. Good to see you again.” He embraced me; a guise to whisper closely; “I can smell him all over you.”
“Really?”
“Mm,” he said, rubbing my arms then my back, as if it were just a friendly gesture. “No one else here will recognise the scent, but I’ll just cover it up with mine anyway.”
“Thanks.” I gave him a tighter squeeze, half laughing.
“So, uh, nice, isn’t she?” He cleared his throat and nodded up to Lilith, stuffing his thumbs in his pockets as he stepped back. “This is the only statue Drake didn’t destroy when he took control of this place.”
“Why did he leave this one?”
“Because he sculpted it.”
My eyes shot from the statue to Eric’s. “Serious?”
He nodded.
“Amara!” someone practically squealed my name; I looked up to the steps as a small body burst from among the crowd and flew into my arms. “Oh, I know it’s only been a week since I saw you, Princess, but I missed you. I’ve been so worried about you.”
I closed my eyes, holding Morgaine tight. It was like hugging myself, with her small frame, skinny arms and the strawberry shampoo she’d started using since she fell in love with mine. “I missed you, too. And, hey, thanks for getting rid of the crowd.”
She pulled back from the hug and ducked her head from Mike’s vehemence. “That’s okay. I knew you weren’t ready for that yet.”
I nodded. “You ‘get’ me.”
“I do.”
We both looked at Mike, who rolled his eyes and wandered forward, carrying my suitcase rather than dragging it over the gravel.
“Come on.” Morgaine took my hand. “I want you to meet your House.”
I tried to pay attention to introductions, but all the names and faces blurred together. By the time it was over, I’d nicknamed everyone, but could only remember three; one of them being Moustache Man, another was Portly Woman who Speaks Her Mind When No One Asks and, last, Man With Grey Sideburns. Eventually the crowd dissipated and Mike came back through the white doors again, with a newspaper tucked under his arm and an eager smile accompanying his warm eyes. “Ready for the grand tour, then, baby?”
I yawned again. “I’m ready for bed.”
Morgaine linked her arm through mine. “Come on. You’ll wake up when you’ve seen your new room.”
As I stepped over the threshold of the manor, my gaze followed two marble staircases that parted over double doors, stopping on the second floor landing where it seemed the doorway had simply duplicated and moved up a level, like an elevator. One sitting over the other. I wondered why they needed two doors to what was probably the same room.
Somewhere in the distance, the click of heels on the white marbled floors and quiet chatter of what I assumed was staff made the manor feel more like a museum than a supposed home. But the warm, soft scent of fresh-baked bread gave me an instant smile. “Wow,” I breathed.
“I know, right?” Morgaine said. “Look up.”
Above me, the high ceilings, rising all the way through each floor of the manor, opened out to a stained-glass dome; its picture looked like something inspired by Michelangelo, shining gloriously with the afternoon sun reaching through the colours. “Who is that? In the glass?”
“That’s Queen Lilith and Peter—her betrothed.”
“Betrothed?”
“Yes. In order to rule the Three Worlds, Lilith had to marry into certain politically influential families. Peter was a vampire of noble blood, and the two were forced to marry by their fathers. But they hated each other,” she said. “In the end, though, after Peter tried to kill her, they fell in love.”
“Hm, and I thought my relationship was weird.”
“No. Believe me—” Morgaine started walking, dragging me along, “—you have no idea. They were the most twisted, messed-up couple in the history of our kind. So, anyway, there are two more like this dome on the other ends of the manor. Each one depicts Lilith’s story from beginning, to middle—” she pointed up, “—and end.”
Mike cleared his throat.
“You okay, Mike?” I spun to look at him, standing behind me.
“Mike’s bed is positioned under the portrayal of Lilith’s end.” Morgaine tried to hold back her smile.
“Yeah, so I go to sleep every night only too aware of the horrible things Drake could do if he catches you.”
“He’d need more than an army to get past you.” I grinned.
Mike nodded, his inner ‘knight’ rising. “Damn right.”
“Shall we continue?“ Morgaine took my hand and walked me forward a few steps. “Through those doors between the staircases is the Great Hall. You’ll need to remember that because we hold most of our gatherings there.”