Aurora Sky Vampire Hunter - By Nikki Jefford Page 0,69

tray beside the fountain.

"I don't know. My last experience with champagne was a bit rough. Then again, I did drink an entire bottle in one sitting."

A lean young man with tight abs and thick dark hair walked into the kitchen. Noel's eyes lit up when she saw him. "Henry!"

So this was Henry. He embraced Noel.

"Henry, I want you to meet my friend, Aurora Sky."

Henry turned to me with a devilish smile and extended his free hand to not exactly shake, but grasp, mine for several beats. "Any friend of Noel's is a friend of mine. Welcome, Aurora."

"Thanks."

"Aurora just transferred to West as well," Noel added.

"Wonderful, then my girl here is in good company." Henry broke away from Noel to grab two champagne glasses. "May I?" he asked, filling each glass in the fountain.

"Thank you," I said after he handed me a glass.

"What's this, Henry? Trying to keep all the beautiful ladies to yourself?" An equally dashing boy strolled into the kitchen. His hair was light brown and streaked with gold highlights.

I was beginning to understand how Whitney and Hope could willingly allow themselves to be bitten.

Henry grinned. "Gavin, meet Noel's friend, Aurora Sky. She's new at West."

"A pleasure," Gavin said, eyes sparkling like the champagne in my glass. "We are very happy to have you at our school."

"How about we give Aurora a tour of the palace?" Henry suggested.

"Good idea." Gavin held his arm out for me.

I took it. Might as well get a lay of the land. Henry did the same for Noel. So they were ridiculously charming. Big deal. They'd had centuries to practice.

Henry led us across the stone steps that connected the door to the kitchen and living room. "These stones were imported from Jerusalem."

I looked down. "You're kidding."

Henry grinned. "Come see the upstairs."

The upstairs to Marcus's palace was accessed via a spiral staircase with wood steps. Its iron railing curled and twisted like meticulously planned doodles from the posts to the steps. I pulled my arm out of Gavin's to walk up single file.

There was a view of the living room from the balcony at the top of the stairs. Henry led us into a guest room with a bed high off the ground, the mattress level with a large window. "Marcus believes that if one has an ocean view, he should be able to see it from his bed."

"Makes sense," I muttered, staring around the room in awe.

The space was covered in art and curiosities on all sides. You'd think it would look cluttered, but the effect was fascinating. Statues sat on the floor beside upholstered armchairs and chaise lounges. There was a large turtle, his back made out of green tiles, and a three-foot statue of a faun like the one in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe standing beside a stained glass lamp. A hand-carved wooden lion sat at the head of the bed looking into the room.

I no longer felt like Dorothy. Now, I was Lucy stepping through the wardrobe into Narnia.

"Wait until you see the shower," Noel said. "It has its own room."

I just laughed.

Henry led us to a glass wall enclosing a walk-in shower with a rainforest mural inside done entirely in tile. The shower could easily fit ten people.

My eyes were bugging out of my head. "Wow."

"Yeah," Noel said.

"Want to see the rest of the rooms?" Henry asked.

I nodded.

The next door we came across was shut with a silver bat dangling from the doorknob.

"That means do not disturb," Gavin said. "There's one for each guest room should you ever need it."

My cheeks heated instantly. I looked away.

Henry swooped in and took my arm. "Come on, there are plenty more rooms to see. This place is like an after-hours museum. Lucky for us, Marcus is fond of company. You'll find the gates to the palace are almost always open."

I glanced at the artwork on the walls as Henry escorted me into another guest room. This one was painted and decorated in various shades of orange. There was a hand-sewn bat pillow propped on a low seat, his flat felt wings spread over the chair. He looked straight ahead with orange glass eyes.

"This is the October room," Henry said.

I craned my head around the room. I had to ask. "How did Marcus get to be so rich? Don't tell me he's been saving for several centuries?"

Henry laughed. "No, nothing as mundane as that. All this is paid for by his benefactor, Richard Nielsen, of Nielsen's Fine Art Gallery."

I should have