Blood Debt (Kingdom of Blood #1) - Callie Rose Page 0,13
of my legs and the underside of my ass.
For fuck’s sake.
At least it isn’t pink.
Once I’m dressed, I quickly gather up my discarded gown from the floor, scanning the room again. There aren’t a lot of hiding places in here, but I find an empty drawer in the bottom of the wardrobe. After messing with it for a minute, I manage to pull the bottom out of it. There’s enough space beneath for me to rig a false bottom, but it’ll take time. It’ll take time to get my weapons out of my dress, too, unless I decide to just tear the stupid thing to shreds. But that seems too risky.
Too many people saw me in it. What if one of the vamps who came to watch the auction tells me to wear it later?
On the other hand, I can’t risk having someone come in here and try to grab my dress to wash it while I’m gone. The weapons were hidden well enough to avoid detection so far, but if this thing gets put in the laundry, it’ll be all over.
There’s only one thing to do. I put the bottom back in the drawer and fold my dress up tight, wadding it into as small of a bundle as possible. Then I shove it in the drawer, wincing as the heavy weapons thump dully against the wooden bottom.
There. I’ll deal with it later, after the sun comes up and the vampires go to bed.
I choose a pair of strappy black shoes from the wardrobe. They fit perfectly, which stresses me out more than the clothes do. A trained eye can glean a person’s waist size pretty easily, but shoe size? That’s psychic-level insight. If these vampires have a psychic working for them, I’m screwed. But unlike my towering stilettos, these shoes only have the smallest hint of a heel, and they lace up in all the right spots. I could run in these if I had to, which is always a plus.
I’m about to take my jewelry off when someone knocks on my door. “Are you decent, my dear?”
I smirk in spite of myself. Not usually.
“Yes, come in.”
The matron who escorted us through the halls earlier opens the door. She smiles when she sees me, although once again, nothing in her eyes seems to change to reflect the curve of her lips.
“We didn’t formally meet earlier. I’m Anastasyia,” she says, holding out her hand. “Come on out here. Now that everyone’s dressed, I’ll show all of you around.”
I join the other girls in the hall outside. The one who was crying the hardest on the way down here isn’t weeping anymore. She just looks tired and resigned now.
“I don’t know how much you were told already,” Anastasyia says. “I always tell the men to leave the orientation to me, but some of them can’t help themselves and start talking on the way down the stairs.” She waves her hands in a fluttering gesture as if to brush that aside. “Anyway, this is the female tribute wing. All the women live here. No males allowed. Men live on the other side, where female tributes are forbidden. The vampires don’t like their humans mixing—pregnant tributes cause all kinds of moral and social complications, as you can imagine. It never ends well.”
The way she talks about it makes me certain that it’s happened before, probably more than just once. Rage simmers at the base of my spine, and I clench my toes inside my shoes to keep from clenching my fists.
“If you’ll follow me, I’ll show you around.” Anastasyia gestures to the doors that dot the hallway around us. “These are, obviously, your bedrooms. You have one bathroom for every four bedrooms. Be respectful, and keep your space clean. I usually don’t have too much trouble with new tributes, but keep in mind that the binding ceremony won’t be for a few weeks.”
“Will we still live in this wing after the binding ceremony?” one girl asks.
“If you aren’t chosen by a particular vampire, then yes, you’ll stay here. If you are chosen, you’ll stay wherever your bonded vampire decides you should stay. Most of them prefer to have their bound tributes live with them in their rooms. A comfortable arrangement, I’m told, if occasionally exhausting.”
Some of the girls giggle at that, sharing secretive glances or nudging each other. It’s all I can do to keep from shaking my head in disappointment.