nevertheless went about locking the doors and windows and changed into her house dress, not wanting the uncomfortable steel boning of her corset to dig into her side if she woke up on the floor a second time. After slipping on a necklace that bore a few simple symbols and charms, including her favorite, which was a painted glass evil eye, she was ready. She returned to her parlor and, plucking the brooch from the mantel, she sat in the center of the floor, cross-legged.
If I am going to find myself on the carpet anyway, I might as well start off that way. Lessens the chance of a head injury.
Taking off the glove on her right hand, she held the brooch in her left again. “Well, Mr. Dracula. Let’s try this again, shall we?”
She dropped the stone into her bare palm.
4
Maxine found herself standing once more in that nightmarish throne room. She turned around slowly, taking in the space, and waited. Waited for him. But the room was silent. Nothing but the whisper of a breeze that sent the tapestries lazily drifting. It gave the room the appearance of breathing.
“I know you’re here.” Her voice echoed in the large chamber. It felt like an empty expanse. It felt as lonely as a tomb. “There’s no point in hiding.”
A laugh echoed through the space, low and dark, dangerous and promising both violence and a great joy taken in bringing such things to pass. “And why would I hide from you?” His voice was a deep baritone rumble. It sent a chill up her spine, and she shivered.
When she turned, there was no one there. “If you are not hiding, then what, precisely, are you doing?”
“Observing.”
“False. You are attempting to scare me. You can observe me well enough standing face to face with me, and not lurking in the shadows like—” She paused, deciding it may not be a grand idea to insult him.
“Like what, my dear?”
The voice came from behind her, and much closer than before. She whirled and gasped, taking a step away from the figure who had appeared there. She felt the color drain from her face. Yes, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. This is precisely how a King of Vampires should probably look.
He was tall, towering over her, and broad shouldered. He was a monolith of a man, and he surpassed her by easily a foot or more, and she was of average height. Long black hair reached past his shoulders in dark tendrils. They were a sharp contrast to his skin, which was so pale it was almost gray. Full lips were barely a shade darker. His ears were slightly pointed at the tips, accentuating his incredibly inhuman appearance. For while all the rest might be in the right places—he did not have a third eye, nor horns or scales—there was no mistaking what he was.
But it was his eyes that arrested her to the spot. They were crimson and flashed as they reflected the firelight around him like a wolf in the darkness. He was dressed in blacks and deep cardinals, perfect and regal finery, over which he wore a long peacoat that nearly reached the ground.
Not that she looked for too very long. While his gaze was intimidating, it was also dangerous. It felt like turning her back on a hungry tiger. He was watching her with a strange expression that all at once seemed predatory, amused, and curious. He arched a dark eyebrow. “Well?”
“Well…what?”
“You did not finish your sentence.” His canines were a bit too long and a bit too sharp.
I am an idiot. Did I expect a vampire not to have fangs? She forced herself to focus on what he was saying, although it was not hard. He commanded attention.
“You were about claim I was lurking in the shadows ‘like’ something, were you not?” He took a step toward her.
She immediately retreated one in turn. “I fear I have forgotten what I was going to say.”
“Now you are the one lying.” His lips turned up at one side in an unfriendly and patronizing expression. “You are merely rethinking your decision to berate me. A wise choice.” He took another slow step toward her, his hands clasped behind his back.
She took another step away. “Well, then, Mr…” She paused. “What precisely am I to call you?”
“I have had many names. To others, I am most recently Count Vlad Tepes Dracula.” He swept one arm in front of his waist and bowed deep. She