As it turned out, being shown to my quarters actually meant being locked inside them. As the lock clicked into place, all the fury rushing through me surged high enough to burst the dam, releasing a flood of tears. They came hot and fast, each sob wracking my body. I hadn’t let myself cry since the night I found the summoning letter. Stars, I could count on one hand the amount of times I’d cried since leaving the mansion in the middle of the night five years earlier. It wasn’t in my nature to cry. At least, that was what I told myself. It was a hard point to prove with my nose running and my vision blurred.

I swiped at my eyes and blew out a frustrated huff as I took in the room around me. It was the same room I’d occupied since leaving the nursery and looked as though it had been left untouched following my departure. All of the decor and furnishings were my own personal selections, made over a series of years as my taste and style preferences developed. The walls were covered with a luxe damask wallpaper, the midnight blue patterning defined by liquid gold stenciling. Every piece of furniture was ornate and beautiful, the art on the walls subdued. The room used to be my sanctuary, the one place I could express myself without anyone else’s opinion breaking through.

Now, it was to be my gilded cage.

Silver bars blocked off the tall, encased windows, ensuring I couldn’t break free. The solid wood door locked from the outside and if I had to guess, there was likely a guard or two patrolling beyond, just in case I’d learned some lock-picking skills from my time on the run.

Regretfully, I hadn’t. Who knew I would one day wish I’d let Adam, one of my old roommates, talk me into watching Macgyver reruns with him.

The adjoining bathroom was the same way. There were bars on my large picture window over my huge soaking tub, too. Fresh linens were stacked neatly inside the built-in shelving beside the tub, and I retrieved a washcloth and ran it under some cold water. I sucked in a sharp breath as I applied the compress to my face. I couldn’t stand the cold, but it was the best solution to tame my puffy eyes.

“After all,” I quipped to myself in the mirror, “we wouldn’t want the belle of the ball to look like an emotionally unstable wreck, would we?”

A soft knock answered me. “Lacey?”

The quiet voice was a soothing balm and I set aside the cloth and hurried to open the door. Jupiter stood on the other side, a black garment bag draped across one arms. Her face fell when she saw me. “Are you all right?”

I gave a miserable nod. “I will be.”

She held up the bag. “I came to help you get ready.”

“Oh.” I nodded again but then stopped and cocked my head to one side. “How did you even know I needed a formal dress? And where did it come from?”

Jupiter turned away and crossed the room to lay the sheathed gown across the foot of the four-poster bed. She kept her eyes trained down, fussing with the bag.

“Jupe?” I asked, stepping into the bedroom. “What’s going on?”

She raised her hand to tuck away a strand of hair, and her long sleeve slipped down her arm. A breath caught in the back of my throat as a sliver of skin was revealed. Three vines circled her wrist, permanently inked into her skin. The tattoo marked her as property of House Vaughn. “You work here? For … for them?” My head refused to wrap itself around this new piece of information. The idea was unfathomable to me, and yet the evidence was undeniable.

Jupiter tugged her sleeve down to cover the ink and sheepishly looked down at her hands. Slowly, she nodded. “For the past six months.”

“But why?”

She raised her eyes, meeting mine. “I needed the money, Lacey. Jobs are hard to come by and—say what you will about this place—the pay is fair and I have a safe place to sleep at night. A lot has changed since you left.”

I knew Jupiter hadn’t meant the statement as a barb, but it stung all the same. I reached for her arm and held her gaze. “I’m here now. Tell me what’s going on.”

“It’s a long story,” she replied, hesitating. She chewed on the corner of her lip. “The gala will be starting in a little over an hour. You need to be ready or it’ll be both of our hides on the line.”

An argument bubbled up into my throat, but I forced it down. I was the one who’d left. If that meant I had to do some work to regain my friend’s trust, I had to accept that. Smiling slightly, I reached for the garment bag and started unzipping the side. “Please, at least tell me the dress is couture.”

“Of course.” Jupiter’s easy smile returned, though a hint of sadness lingered in her eyes.

“Well, thank the stars for that at least.”

With Jupiter’s help, I freed the sleek black gown from the bag. It was cut in a mermaid-style, the bottom flaring away from the form-fitting bodice. The sweetheart neckline was classy while managing to still be sultry. Plus, it left plenty of real estate for accessories, which Jupiter produced half a minute later, revealing a crushed-velvet bag clipped to the hanger inside. A string of diamonds and a pair of pear-shaped studs to match.

“Speaking of stars!” I exclaimed, fingering the jewels. “Where did you get these?”

“Aunt Gemma.”

Fresh tears sprang to my eyes. Of all the people I’d left behind, my Aunt Gemma was the one I’d missed the most. Our monthly letters, while treasured, were never quite enough. She’d practically raised me herself when it turned out my parents weren’t exactly up to the task. I’d thought we shared everything with each other, almost more like friends than family, but after seeing Jupiter’s tattoo, I couldn’t help but wonder what else Gemma had held back over the years.

Jupiter took the hanger and started toward the bathroom. “She sent the dress and jewelry over a few days ago, once it was confirmed you were back in the New York Haven.”

I winced. I’d returned to the secret community known as the haven, three days before finding the courage to show up on the Vaughn mansion’s doorstep. It hadn’t occurred to me that my father would have spies combing the streets for me.

“So, everyone knows that I’ve returned? They all know what the gala is for?”

“Yes. Lord Vaughn made the announcement at the last Court gathering and it spread from there. Your mother wasn’t at the last meeting, but I’m sure someone has told her, too. Whether she shows up or not …” She didn’t need to finish the thought. We both knew what she meant.

A new kind of pang twisted through my chest. “Have you seen her? My mother, I mean?”

Jupiter drew in her lower lip and shook her head. “Not in a long time. The last event she came to ended in disaster. I think even she knew she pushed things too far with your father.”

I cringed. It must have been a total disaster if Athena herself realized she’d crossed a line.

Athena Persimmon Vaughn, aptly named after the Greek goddess, was a fiery vampire who tended to clash with members of the Court. Especially my father. The Baron and Baroness Vaughn had gone their separate ways years before my exile and Melanie’s scandal. The two had always been a mismatch, one that grew increasingly obvious when their daughters came into the picture.

Though they’d separated, my parents never divorced, and Athena still retained her position in the Court. She tended to use her power to woo lovers far younger than she in order to flaunt them in front of my father. He, in turn, retaliated by periodically banishing her from Court affairs. Which, to her, might as well have been cutting off her oxygen supply. The Eastern Court was a madman’s tea party and she thrived on every juicy morsel of gossip and moment of ridiculous antics.

For all her flaws, I couldn’t help but love her and knew she was likely the only reason I was standing in my glamorous bathroom, surrounded by marble and gold, instead of shoved into a dank cell somewhere buried in the earth—or worse.

“I’m sure she’ll be there,” Jupiter said, forcing a burst of brightness into her voice.

“Let’s hope,” I said. “I have a feeling my father is plotting something a little more than a welcome home party. He said something about an announcement, but it sounds like he already made one about my homecoming. Stars only knows what he’s cooked up. I might need backup.”

Jupiter dropped her gaze.

“Jupe?” I arched an eyebrow. “Do you know something about tonight?”

She glanced up, guilt written in the faint lines at her eyes as she winced. “Maybe?”

I grabbed her arm. “Tell me, please!”

“I don’t think I’m supposed to know, but …” Jupiter started, keeping her voice low as though worried somebody was listening. “Lord Vaughn has been having meetings, every night. It’s like clockwork. Dusk falls and half an hour later, someone’s at the door.”

“Different people each night?” I asked.

Jupiter nodded. “All of them lords and ladies, all with eligible sons. We figured it was some kind of interview process.”

My brows lifted. “We being …?”

“The staff.”

“What kind of interview process?” I asked, full well knowing exactly what kind.

“For your future … um … well, husband? I guess.”

I groaned.

“We could be wrong! That was just our best guess.”

I frowned at Jupiter and then turned my attention back to the task at hand. My suitcases had been brought up to the room while I’d been meeting with my father. Whoever hauled them upstairs to the third floor had taken the time to arrange them smallest to largest along one wall. I selected a medium-size case and heaved it onto the bed, unzipped it, and began rummaging around inside until I found my makeup case.

“It doesn’t really matter,” I told her, marching back to the bathroom, “Whether it’s tonight or three weeks or months from now, it sounds like yet again, I’m not going to be given much choice in who’s standing at the alter on my wedding day. He knows I won’t try the runaway bride route again, so now he thinks he has free reign to shack me up with whoever has the most cha-ching in his pocket or the obedience of a well-trained retriever.”

My nostrils flared. A few months before my disappearance, my father had announced I was to be married off to one Lord Gowen, a slimy little toady of a vampire if I ever saw one. Oh, sure, he was handsome enough on the outside, but inside? He was a wormy specimen that wouldn’t know what a spine was if one started beating him over the head. I knew why my father had chosen him—everyone did. Lord Gowen would make the perfect son-in-law in that he would do anything to remain in my father’s good graces, wouldn’t blink at any order or demand, and most importantly, had no ambitions for himself and therefore wouldn’t challenge my father for his metaphorical throne.

I’d believed any vampire with half a brain would have responded in the same manner, but he’d since married, and my father had gifted him a sizable estate for his troubles following my borderline runaway-bride treatment.

“Either way, it’s not up to me. He’s already made that clear.” I dumped the contents of the makeup bag onto the cool marble counter. “If I try running again, he’ll track me down and make things a whole lot more unpleasant. Maybe I should have just married Lord Gowan and saved myself all this trouble.”

My eyes were less puffy but still rimmed with red. Of course, it didn’t help that I hadn’t fed for days. My skin was paler than normal from lack of nutrients, and it made the irritation all the more evident.

Cover-up was going to be my best friend.

“I don’t know for sure, but it sounds like he hasn’t landed on a candidate yet. There were several repeat visitors. Maybe he’s going to let you choose from a pool of them,” Jupiter said, sagging against the doorway. She watched me in the mirror as I daubed the sponge over the shadows under my eyes. “It makes sense. A kind of reverse Cinderella, if you think about it.”

I stopped and met her gaze in the mirror. “That is giving him way too much credit.”

“I’m just saying, you might want to wait and see what happens. He can’t risk another embarrassment like … well, like last time. You’re the heir to House Vaughn. He might have realized it’s in his best interest to make sure you have a somewhat happy match.”

I frowned at her and then went back to smattering my face with the fair liquid foundation. “Twenty minutes ago, he all but threatened to throw me in a dungeon until I change my mind about giving him a grandson. You’ll have to forgive me if I’m not seeing the chance of sunshine and rainbows in the forecast.”

“Fair enough.” She stepped into the room. “Do you want help with your hair?”

With careful fingers, she used a curling iron to put some life into my pin-straight platinum locks while I finished putting on my make-up. As she worked, I caught sight of the tattooed bracelet again and met her eyes in the mirror. “What do you do here?”

Her anxiety was almost palpable, but after a moment she relented. “I was hired as a household assistant. So, laundry, shopping, answering the phone. Busy work, most of it. Now that you’re back, I’m supposed to be your assistant. Get you what you need and …”

She trained off, so I filled in the blanks, “Keep an eye on me?”

Jupiter cringed but nodded. “It seems that way. After you left his office—”

“Correction,” I interjected, holding up a finger. “Was dragged from.”

“Well … yes. Uh, anyway, he called me in and told me that I was to help you get ready for the gala and told me where to find the dress your aunt sent for you.”

“AKA you’re my shadow from now on.”

Jupiter frowned and teased out a tangled lock. “Could be worse, right?”

“Yeah,” I scoffed and thumbed over my shoulder. “He could have offered the job to the oversized brute out there.”

“Jerrod,” Jupiter said, scowling.

“Not a fan?”

“No one is.”

“Good to know.” I leaned back and closed my eyes, indulging for a moment. I loved having my hair done. Back in Beechwood Harbor, I’d had trouble finding a salon that fit my nocturnal schedule. I couldn’t risk going into the Seattle Haven, the closest supernatural community, out of fear someone would recognize me. Eventually, I found a small group of other female vampires and we became friends. We’d taken turns doing each other’s hair and makeup. It was almost like finally having the high school years I’d missed out on.

“Seems like there are quite a few new faces around here,” I said, opening my eyes again.

Jupiter nodded. “Most of the remaining houses have been taking on more staff to help provide jobs. That was at your father’s command, actually.”

“What do you mean, remaining houses?”

She paused, holding the curling iron out to one side. “Gemma hasn’t told you?”

“She’s mentioned some shake-ups, I guess.”

“It started last summer. The Lowells moved to the west coast. The entire DeMarco family moved south. The Quills went to Europe.”

“Wow.” Some of those families were fixtures, members of the Court for as long as I could remember. What was driving them away? And why was my father obsessing over me producing an eventual heir if his Court was crumbling? Weren’t there more productive things he could do to solve the problem? How was dragging me home and humiliating me for their amusement going to solve anything?

Jupiter paused and dug around in the bathroom drawers until she found some hair pins that I’d stored there before I left. For all his railing against me, I found it odd that my father had left my childhood room preserved in the same order I’d left it in. Nothing appeared to have been touched, except to be dusted and cleaned. The linens were fresh, likely cycled out after I left, but everything else was the same.

Clenching three pins between her front teeth, Jupiter went to work on crafting the new curls into an elegant updo. “After you left, the Gowen family … well, they were understandably angry that you backed out of the wedding. You father had to give up a pretty good sized chunk of his own territory to convince them to stay. Others decided that was the final straw and left.”

I winced. The Gowens were on me, but the rest? Well, it wasn’t on my head that everyone moved on to greener pastures. If the only thing he had to offer the members of the Court was his eligible daughter, then he’d gone off the rails somewhere along the line. I wasn’t going to claim responsibility for that part of the mess.

After applying my eyeshadow and mascara, I studied Jupiter’s profile in the mirror as she worked. “What made you stay?”

Jupiter paused, concentrating on placing the last pin. Her brown eyes lifted, meeting mine in the mirror once more. “I’ve been … seeing someone.”

My lips curved into a smile. Finally, something worth talking about!

“Who is it?”

“Stop bouncing!” she insisted, planting her hands on my shoulders and forcing me back to the chair before the vanity. “You’ll mess up all my hard work.”

I settled but couldn’t stop smiling. Jupiter deserved a happily ever after. The tattoo encircling her wrist meant she would be part of House Vaughn for the rest of her life—which, theoretically would last forever, she was a vampire after all—but that didn’t mean she couldn’t have some semblance of a life outside these walls.

“What do you think?” Jupiter asked, fussing with the last few strands of hair. “Should I spray it?”

“You’re changing the subject,” I noted. “But yes, go for it.”

She refused to answer any of my questions about her mystery amour and after getting hosed down with half a can of hairspray, I gave up on my interrogation and went into the bedroom to slip into the beautiful gown. Jupiter helped with the back zipper and I consulted myself in the mirror. As much as I wished for something else to tease, pluck, or arrange, there wasn’t anything left to do.

At the end of the hall, a grandfather clock broke the silence. The sound was muffled, but clear enough to make out eight distinct chimes.

The brief levity drained away and I dragged in a long, ragged breath. “Guess it’s showtime.”