Now, House Medeis could communicate by adding its own little twists to the magic that freely oozed around in the air. That was how it told me that two others had arrived with Gavino—vampires, presumably—and that both Felix and Momoko were escorting them in through the side door by the kitchen.

Thankfully, the House didn’t seem displeased with their presence, though it was paying special attention to them. (I’d have to make sure I warned Gavino about taking off his shoes, or the House might take it upon itself to “teach” him.)

Great Aunt Marraine rattled on, which made me suspicious because she usually went quiet the second I said I needed to speak to the House.

What is she trying to hide?

I heard footsteps in the hallway, and a smile bloomed on my face. “Gavino!” I jogged to the doorway. “I’m so happy you’re…here.”

Gavino—big and hulking—grinned playfully at me as he dragged a rolling suitcase and had a garment bag slung over his shoulder—for his suits, probably.

Behind him, however, were Celestina and Josh.

Chapter Ten

Hazel

Celestina wore her brightest, most inviting grin, and even Josh had dusted off a rusty smile for the occasion.

On a hunch, I swung around to give Great Aunt Marraine an accusatory look.

She beamed sweetly at me and bustled out of the room. “Dear me, I’m turning into an old woman who prattles at inconvenient times. Since our guest has arrived, I’ll take my leave. Though I must say it will be exciting to have such a strapping young man in the House!” She winked as she passed Gavino—who released a bark of laughter.

At a loss, I could only stare at her back as she retreated, her pink, checkered dress a bright spot in the hallway.

“We’ll just leave, too.” Momoko started to sidle away. “We wouldn’t want to cramp your reunion.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” I grabbed Momoko by the hood of her sweatshirt. “Do you care to tell me why neither you, Felix, nor Great Aunt Marraine is shocked to see the Drake Family’s First and Second Knights?” I snarled.

“Uhh, not really,” Momoko said.

Felix, carrying a wooden tray that had several more blood pouches balanced on it, ducked past me to get into the parlor. “It was Momoko’s idea,” he said. “We came up with it when Celestina gave us the tour of Drake Hall.”

“Thanks for the support, Felix,” Momoko growled.

“It was obvious Celestina knew you really well.” Felix set the blood pouches on an antique card table after finding some coasters. “The whole tour was peppered with stories about you. We told them to come with Gavino so they could talk to you since you were obviously avoiding them.”

I glared at my childhood friend, but it was Momoko who whispered, “I think there was a misunderstanding, Hazel. And while I get that they hurt you, I know you love them enough to want to know what really went down. We arranged this for your sake.”

I again glanced at Celestina and Josh, then sighed and released Momoko. “Come on in.”

The three vampires trooped in after Momoko and me. I plopped down in what Momoko had informed me earlier in the day was a “Rococo revival sofa with a mahogany veneer.” Frankly, I didn’t know what that meant besides EXPENSIVE, DO NOT BREAK! (I hadn’t realized how much antique furniture was in the House until I suddenly became responsible for it. I was going to have all gray hair by the time I turned thirty.)

I thought Momoko or Felix would sit next to me, but they lingered by the fireplace, letting the vampires take the seats around the card table.

“Thanks for agreeing to come here to train us, Gavino,” I said once everyone had settled.

Gavino laughed, his steely voice gruff and deep. “It’s my delight. This will be a vacation for me.”

“I certainly hope it will be comfortable enough for you. I have a bedroom picked out for you—I can show it to you once we finish here,” I said.

He nodded, then glanced at his superiors.

Josh still had his rusty smile on, but Celestina had knit her eyebrows together in her concern. “We’re sorry,” she blurted out. “It didn’t go down the way it was supposed to. We—I—messed up.”

“I assume you’re talking about my escort out of Drake Hall?” I asked.

Celestina winced. “His Eminence was expressively clear that you needed to leave with no strings attached so you’d go win back your House.”

“And the best way to achieve that was to act like a jerk?” I politely inquired.

“I went overboard,” Celestina said. “But I knew why the Eminence didn’t want you around.”

“And you agreed with him?”

“Yes, no.” Celestina made a frustrated sound and rattled a few sentences off in disgruntled Spanish.

“I believe what my superior is attempting to say,” Josh cut in, “is that she was deeply traumatized by the events at the mall.”

I stared at the black-haired vampire, and said, “What,” in a flat tone.

“It’s true, Hazel,” Celestina said. “I don’t think you understand how terrifying it was to have the fae threaten to target you with weapons you couldn’t feel—unlike their magic. Weapons that we would be able to react to, but not in time to save you.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Does the entire Drake Family like to act like haughty know-it-alls and then use heart-twisting motivations to excuse their behavior, or is that just an upper management thing?”

“We’re not trying to excuse our behavior, but rather explain it,” Josh said. “As much as I like to create witty quips and lighthearted statements about the unstoppable hunger of death that will eventually consume the world with its gaping maw, the prospect of losing you was daunting for myself, and Celestina.”

“That’s why we agreed when His Eminence decided to send you away. You’re my friend, Hazel. As selfish as it makes me, I also didn’t want to risk losing you.” The sincerity in Celestina’s red eyes was almost painful to witness as she knit her fingers together and perched at the edge of her seat. “But Josh and I planned for ways to reach out to you! They just all…failed.”

I tapped my fingers on my thighs. “Neither you nor Josh ever came here for guard duty—though I suppose Killian couldn’t do without his First or Second Knight in times like this.”

“It was your sword, actually,” Celestina said. “I purposely left it and the Paragon’s book back at Drake Hall. I planned to take a detour to House Medeis on my way to the Night Court’s stronghold that night so I could give you your katana before you fought Mason. I thought it would give me a chance to explain a little bit of what was going on. And I figured that after you won your House back, I could wait a few days and then bring you the Paragon’s book as my second excuse to connect with you. By then we would have received more intelligence on the Night Court, and I could tell you exactly how Killian was protecting you.”

“I already know about why Killian did everything he did,” I said. “From a very unlikely source.”

Celestina nodded. “I expected as much—particularly once I found out your sword had gone mysteriously missing directly after you left, as had the book.”

“The book was the Paragon’s doing,” Josh added. “But the sword was a surprising act of rebellion in the face of—what did you call us? ‘Upper Management’? Anyway, it was the work of a Drake vampire.”

The duo stared expectantly at me.

“I’m not saying anything about that,” I said.

Celestina nodded. “As we expected. Regardless, we wish to apologize—we made a grave misstep in handling this matter.”

“It was not our intention to hurt you,” Josh said. “We are sorry for any pain we might have caused.”

I sighed—when they explained it like that, could I really be mad at them? “Next time this happens, would you guys just tell me what’s going on? The mental games aren’t necessary. I’m a pretty reasonable person.”

Celestina shook her head. “There won’t be a next time.”

“That’s hardly realistic. I love you guys, but I know you’ll choose Killian every time—which I can understand. As long as you don’t ice me out again.”

“Agreed,” Josh said. “But he’s not going to let you go a second time.”

“I doubt that.”

“You don’t think he is that desirous of you?” Josh asked.

Gavino had been calmly sipping a blood pouch, but abruptly choked on it and started coughing up a storm.

Similarly, Felix dropped a massive unlit candle he’d swiped off the mantle. It landed on his foot with a painful crack.

“I think Killian is a very wily vampire who is stuck in his ways and prone to thinking he knows best about everything,” I dryly said. “As long as he is so distrustful, it’s only a matter of time before he tries to manipulate me instead of just telling me what’s going on. But that’s between Killian and me.”

Josh looked thoughtful, but Celestina merely shrugged. “If you wish it. But are Josh and I forgiven?”

I smiled a little. “Yeah. I forgive you. But you still didn’t answer me. Next time—”

“If there is a next time, we will choose Killian as you said, but we promise to speak frankly with you,” Celestina said.

“That’s all I want.” I glanced over at Momoko and Felix—who were inspecting Felix’s foot. “Does the peanut gallery have anything to say about this?”

Momoko batted her long eyelashes. “No. Why would we?”

“You felt strongly enough about it to invite them here.”

“And we don’t regret it,” Felix confirmed.

“Should I go tell Mrs. Clark to expect extra guests for dinner?” Momoko asked.

“Good point.” I swung my gaze back to my vampire friends. “You guys can stick around for Gavino’s introduction if you like. After I show him around and the family gets a good gawk at him, we figured we’d have dinner.”