Taken by a Vampire (Vampire Queen) - By Joey W. Hill Page 0,185

resolved and they reassign ye, which they will, ’tis fine my time’s coming tae an end. Knowing I’d lose you, on top of Evan . . .” He shrugged, gave her a smile that wrenched her heart. “To my way of thinking, Heaven only exists if my heart stays here with you two.”

Turning her toward the door, he gave her a pat on the bottom and a gentle shove. “Go to your Master. For all he pretends to be different, ye know vampires get in a high do if they have to wait.”

The last thing she’d wanted was to leave him after that astounding declaration, but she wanted Evan, too. So she went, because her Master had ordered her to his side.

Her mind was spinning over the other things Niall had said. Up until now, she hadn’t allowed herself to think about it. It was easier to accept her inevitable death. But if she did miraculously survive, and was somehow released from Stephen’s mark to be reassigned? She imagined her return to the austere, regimented world of the vampire aristocracy, after experiencing Evan and Niall. She’d be leaving not just them, but the relationship they were developing with her.

The choice would not be hers, not any of it. But would she learn what it felt like to lose her heart entirely, the way Niall suggested? Stephen had fallen short of her expectations, but she’d accepted responsibility for that, knowing she’d assumed something that wasn’t in the typical vampire–servant relationship. She thought she’d evolved in her training. Instead, she’d simply buried what she wanted, and Evan and Niall had unearthed it in less than a week.

No matter the long penance sessions and doing everything to be the most obedient, most useful InhServ ever to Stephen, she’d watched vampire–servant pairings like that of Lady Lyssa and Jacob and fed that fuel to the tiny fire that had stayed alive deep in her heart.

Her training said nothing was about her wants or desires, but was it possible she would be a better servant if those wants and desires were taken into consideration? The InhServ program had always been about gifting an InhServ to a vampire showing political promise. Since they were all trained the same way, to be adaptable to whatever the vampire required, only the vampire’s preferences were considered. What if the program went more in-depth, considered variables in both InhServ and vampire, to make the relationship a more compatible one, beyond the services the servant was trained to offer?

She was turning into a radical. Though wryly amused, she was also a bit shaken by her thoughts. As she followed a path lit with solar lights toward where she felt Evan waiting for her, she did some calming mind exercises.

The colony’s layout added to that steadying influence. Cottages like theirs formed a loose, irregular circle around the main compound, which had a variety of functional buildings and open-air pavilions. Three of the former were obviously laid out for studio work, since she could see a variety of projects in process through the plethora of tall windows. One artist was still at work, her blowtorch throwing off a festive shower of sparks as she bent to her metal sculpting, her protective headgear in place.

The pavilions appeared to serve as communal areas as well as additional outdoor studio space. Groups of residents were playing cards at the assembled tables, others holding sleeping children on their laps as they chatted together. A group of staff members, wearing the dark embroidered shirt like Mel, were sharing a late dinner. They noticed Alanna, but she merely gave them a polite nod and continued onward. Unless they stopped her, it wasn’t appropriate to seek introductions until she determined what her Master required.

Her steps slowed despite herself when she passed the children’s playground. All the swings, mazes and climbing equipment were wooden carvings designed to look like mythical creatures, dinosaurs, trains. There were painted stone statues of fairies, comical gnomes and woodland animals, all of a size to encourage the children to touch or climb upon them. She let her hand slide along the arch of a unicorn’s neck before she recalled herself.

Among the trees bordering her paved path she was surprised by the occasional face, wooden pieces pinned to the trunks to create remarkably human expressions. Shrubs had been pruned into the shapes of fauns, unicorns, a car. These artistic touches were blended into the natural thick forest border around the compound, such that locating them became a