“We should have gotten your clothing from your house,” Isabel said as we watched the men work. Well, I assumed the driver was a human, but he could be a vampire.
“We have a few items from your house and I’m not even going to ask whose they are.” I folded my arms over my chest.
She laughed and then rose on her tiptoes to kiss me quickly on the lips. “Most of them are spare clothes I keep for guests.” She tapped a fingernail to my frown. “The others belong to Maximus.”
“Great I’m wearing your brother’s clothes. Very sexy.”
The laughter coming from her lips was like tiny drops of rain on the outstretched face of a sunflower. Happy. My mate was happy. Happy to be with me.
“Where are we heading?”
“Up there.” Isabel pointed to the dark, tree-dotted hills in the distance.
The attendant opened the door of the carriage while the driver claimed his seat up high above the prancinghorse which now looked ready to race home. Isabel’s feet glided up the steps into the carriage as though she’d done this a million times. Her blood-red dress swirled around her legs before they disappeared inside.
A fog rolled in through the night air. Thick and heavy with moisture and the promise of darkness. But we were the darkness. The creatures humans feared. I hurried up the steps of the carriage and claimed the space beside Isabel.
The whip of the leather reins over the horse’s rump was muffled in the thick night air. Hooves clattered on the tarmac as the horse jumped into a gallop and took off into the dark night as though the devil himself chased it. The carriage bounced and bobbed side to side. At least they’d strapped Asher to the roof otherwise the coffin would have flung off the top into the wilderness by now.
Isabel grinned as I clutched the edges of the seat. “Do we have to go so fast?”
“Yes, I can’t be stuck out here in the daylight. Even if the carriage is designed to protect vampires.”
“Right. Sorry.” I glanced at the darkened windows of the carriage, the tinted film making the outside appear even darker still.
But there was nothing to see outside, fog had rolled in fully, covering us and everything in its path.
“How does he see the way to go?”
“They know the way. They travel it often like this.” Isabel’s fingers stroked the sides of my face until I turned to stare into her beautiful face. “The day I arrived was exactly like this. Dark. Gloomy. Fog rolling on for endless eternity. It made my first impression of the Nightshade Academy stand out.”
“What does it look like?” Curiosity was getting the better of me.
“See for yourself.” Isabel’s delicate finger pointed out the window.
The carriage rounded a curve and the tall spires of a gateway came into view. The fog rolled gently around the top but the tall peaks stretched into the fog. A curved gateway holding a wrought-iron gate with deadly spikes on top sat closed. Beside the gates on the stone wall were two statues standing guard over the entrance. Above was a curved window as though a vampire stood watch over the entrance.
The curve in the track ended, and I lost sight of the gates as we entered through them and under the curved arch. The horse slowed to a trot, hooves clacking over stone once again and then it jolted to a stop almost throwing me from my seat. My heart clanged inside my chest. I was in the den of vampires. Vampires who hated werewolves. Who killed them on sight.
But Isabel and I had changed everything with our love.
Still, I didn’t know whether to trust them.
The carriage door opened, and the driver waved us out. Isabel glided down the steps and stood on the immaculate manicured green grass. The fog was no longer in existence. I jumped from the carriage and landed beside her, ready and willing to end any threat to her, but we were alone. Apart from the driver who was unstrapping the luggage.
I glanced up and up at the tall building before me. Stone of murky gray stood in an impenetrable mask of gothic creation. Dark windows faced us from the curved archways over them but not a single light was on in the building.
Strange since vampires were nocturnal.
“Where is everyone?” I asked, my deep voice echoing through the courtyard.
Footsteps echoed across the pavement. A single set. Ludwig strode toward us, his immaculate black suit in place but now a flowing cape hung from his shoulders and billowed behind him.
“The students are in the assembly hall,” Ludwig’s voice echoed the same way mine had expect his held a note of authority and age, so much age. “We’re informing them of the new curriculum. I’m hoping you two can help us implement it.”
“Us?” Isabel asked.
“You were my best student, and while I can’t show you favoritism as your grandsire, this new turn of advent means you’re the most suitable candidate for a role as a new teacher here. One who can persuade the students to see werewolves as friends instead of enemies they should kill on sight.” He ran his hands down the sides of his cape, settling the thick material around his body.
