Page 12 of The Vampire Trap
Shoving my fork into my mouth, I glare at him while I chew. I may have overdone it because I barely manage to keep my mouth closed. As tempting as it may be to act that childish, neither Sabrina nor Father would tolerate it.
By the time I’m able to swallow my bite, my jaw aches. I also regret not savoring the tender, and perfectly seasoned meat. But my annoyance has had a chance to fade yet. I pick up my tea and glare over the rim of the cup, sipping it as slow as humanly possible, until I’ve finished it.
Benjamin opens his mouth to speak again. Not knowing how far he’ll take this, I decide to change the topic. “I smiled because I was remembering how Mother used to tell us stories about how she used to play with faeries as a child while making us faerie sandwiches.”
“What brought that up? It’s been ten years since she did that,” Sabrina says, looking at me as if she’s worried for my sanity.
“Ben has been irritating me since he got here,” I say, and she gives me a knowing nod.
“You didn’t believe that did you, Zadie?” Ben snorts as he attempts, and fails, to contain his laughter.
Yes… at least until I was old enough to know better. But I don’t admit that aloud. I jab a glazed carrot with my fork.
“No,” I say sharply, then angrily chew my bite. I hurry to finish my meal, ignoring any more of his attempts to talk.
When my stomach is full, I want to lean back and be content for a while, but I force myself to get to my feet and excuse myself. At least now, I’ll be able to focus on what I need to tell Ben.
Together, we walk to the garden and sit on the old wooden bench by the oak tree. I’m glad he has the sense to stay quiet until we are sure no one else is within hearing range.
“Demons and saints, Zadie.” Ben grinds out. “Will you please tell me if that bastard did anything to you? Or if he tried to.”
I stretch my neck and turn from side to side. “As you can plainly see, I don’t have any bite marks. Does that answer your question?”
“Don’t be naive. You’re smart enough to know a vampire is capable of biting anywhere they can reach.” He’s about to reach for me but stops himself when I shift away.
His words hit uncomfortably close to my thoughts from last night. When I bathed before bed, I twisted and turned, checking every inch of skin to make sure I wasn’t fed on then made to forget. I remember the feel of Lord—Thomas’s arms around me when he caught me. He was so close and could have easily feed on me… and more. The intimate things he teased me about.
“Will you please be quiet long enough for me to tell you what you want to know?”
A look of hurt crosses his face. “I worried about you all night. I should have gone with you.”
“Thank you,” I set a hand on his shoulder. “But nothing happened. I promise. But I think we need to make a slight alteration to our plans.”
Benjamin nods then waits for me to speak.
Sometimes I wonder if I had a brother, would he be anything like the man before me? Sometimes I think he would. Other times, I don’t think the odds have to be so astronomical as to be impossible. He made it possible for me to carve out the life I wanted. Without being challenged every step of the way, I doubt I would have studied hard enough to earn the extra privileges to choose the topics that call to me.
For the most part, the plan remains the same. The only difference is the time it will take. At first, he resists the change of plans. That is until I explain to him how it will be safer.
Once I finish, he nods and stares off into the distance. His blue eyes search the distance, playing everything out in his mind, looking for potential risks. His golden lashes flutter as he blinks rapidly, then turns to face me.
“While I don’t like that it will take longer, giving him more time to find another victim, it’s worth it if it means keeping you safe.”
My throat feels tight. I hadn’t thought about there being more victims before we can stop him. There have been too many already. Logically, I understand one more person will lose their life whether we stop him or not—at least we can prevent more than that. My stomach churns. I swallow repeatedly to keep my lunch down.
No. I can’t think like that.
There’s no guarantee Thomas will kill again before he’s stopped. I’ll do everything in my power to distract him.
“I’ll tell Oscar and Wallace of the changes,” Benjamin continues. “We’ll take turns following you, so it’ll be less likely that we’re noticed.”
* * *
The carriage bumps along the pocked dirt road. I thought the streets within the city were terrible, but it turns out I was wrong. Instead of the constant rocking and vibration of the cobbled streets, I am constantly jolted by the irregular and inconstant potholes.
Last night, I’d made arrangements with Father to take the carriage out this afternoon. The guilt I feel for deceiving him is assuaged by the fact that I did to help stop the grizzly murders plaguing our city. Wallace showed up minutes before I was to leave and bribed the footman to let him drive me and to disappear until later that evening.
The road eventually smooths out as we near the viscount’s manor. I can’t help but gawk at it. It sits on a hill, rising above the wall bordering the land doesn’t interfere with passersby to view the entirety of it from the road. Just as beautiful from afar as it was from inside, it’s fit for a prince. Yet it manages to do so without looking ostentatious.
