Page 50 of Violet

If I didn’t trust Liam, I’d honestly think this was it. That years from now, someone would find my remains in some creepy basement, or my rotting corpse in one of the many rooms we pass. But I hold on to that trust, and his hand, and put one foot in front of the other.

The melody from the piano gets progressively louder until we stop in front of a set of double doors. Liam pushes them open, and I gape around the brightly-lit room.

Violet is off to one side, dancing with a handsome man in his twenties who I think she stole from the Renaissance fair. His boots and black tights are relatively normal, but his fancy red and gold doublet and breeches aren’t something I’m used to seeing, not even in a town like Silver Springs.

The man holds Violet by the waist, so her feet are dangling above the ground as he twirls her around the living room. And my old friend is smiling happily while her dance partner stares at her like the rest of the world doesn’t exist.

Across the room, a man in his thirties is playing the piano. He’s wearing a slightly bored expression on his face and a mostly normal black suit on the rest of him. That is, if you don’t count the frilly white fabric gathered around his neck. His eyes never once leave Violet’s, but his fingers dance expertly over the piano keys, like he could play it in his sleep.

The only normal-looking man in the room—except for Liam, of course—is Bert. The cop’s lounging on the sofa in a uniform that matches Liam’s. He’s got one hand resting lightly on the sofa’s intricately carved armrest and the other on a book tossed carelessly over one leg. And, like the other two men, he’s only got eyes for one person.

“Violet!” I cry, half-afraid that the three men are kidnappers who are forcing her to dance against her will—but mostly just very, very confused.

“There you are!” She smiles at me, and her dance partner pauses mid-step. “Thank you for bringing her here, Liam.”

“Where is here?” I demand. “Why didn’t you call? Do you know how worried I was?”

“That’s why I asked Liam to get you, dear,” Violet says, even though I’m the one who found Liam. “Now why don’t we sit down and I’ll explain?”

I nod, and Violet does the introductions.

Her dance partner—Aldo—sets her down on the sofa next to Bert. He takes a seat on her other side, and his fancy doublet and breeches camouflages perfectly with the red and gold floral couch. The piano-player—Hugh—crosses the room, his large women’s flats clicking against the floor, and settles on the sofa next to Aldo.

I guess that leaves Liam and me on the matching love seat.

The troll takes up most of it, so I end up squeezed between his side and the armrest. He rests his arm on the back of the love seat behind my head to give me some extra room, but somehow it only makes our seating arrangement more intimate.

“Are you comfortable?” he asks, playing with a strand of my hair, and my eyes widen as I suddenly shift into eighty-year-old Violet.

“You don’t need to do that anymore, my dear,” Violet tells me, like it was somehow intentional. And she wouldn’t know, since I may have forgotten to tell her about the source of my wonky magic.

I bite my lower lip, focus on shifting back, and then turn to Violet. “What happened? Why are you here?”

“Well, it’s a funny story, that.” Violet pauses and seems to gather her thoughts. “Bert stopped by this morning and discovered that it wasn’t safe.”

“They found me...” I shiver, and Liam pulls me into his side.

“Bert didn’t see them, but he said he sensed them.” Violet turns to the vampire. “Isn’t that right, dear?”

“Smelled their blood,” he says with a curt nod. “Liam and I decided it was best if we brought my little Birdie out here.”

“I did explain that my name’s Violet,” she adds.

“Little Birdie suits you better.” He winks at her, and my eighty-year-old friend blushes adorably.

“Where is here?” I repeat my earlier question.

“I suppose you could call it a vampire house,” Violet glances at the three men who are squeezed onto the couch with her. They all nod.

“A vampire house...” I repeat.

“Yes. And that’s when I met Hugh and Aldo. My other two mates.”

“Your mates?” I gape.

Violet nods. “Turns out I have three. Now, isn’t that something?”

It really is something. For a few seconds, all I can do is sit there and gape at her. Then I start to grin as warmth and happiness radiates through my entire body. “You’re going to let them turn you?”