Hellbound

Chapter 12 - in which a vampire queen appears

'What's the deal with vampires and dressing like they're in the Victorian era?' Anya asked as they neared their destination. She flipped a page in the book Callum had given her and brushed her fingers over a vivid image of a vampire in an emerald green dress, with black accents around the narrow waist and draped skirt.

He shrugged and leaned an elbow on the divider, one hand on the steering wheel, as he glanced at the page. 'No clue. Maybe they just really liked the time.'

'Would it be rude to ask?'

'I've only ever met one vampire and she wasn't the most talkative one, so I don't know.'

'Who was she?'

'An aid to an ambassador from a clan in South America that was visiting the Consultancy. I don't know why.'

'Did they dress like this?'

'She did. I never saw the ambassador, but I would assume they also dressed like that.'

'But we don't have to? This is enough?' she asked and motioned to her knee-length cocktail dress.

'You look good.'

'That's not what I asked.'

He nodded. 'Yes, that's plenty. The manual clearly stated that they don't expect non-vampires to adhere to their style, just that guests still make an effort to be dressed up. Don't worry so much.'

'I just want to make a good first impression.'

'Why do you care that much?'

Anya frowned and closed the book. 'We're the first people to be invited in sixty years, that's not nothing. You don't feel any pressure for that?'

'They're vampires, why would I care so much?'

'You said you'd—'

'I know. I'm saying it to you, now, before we get there. Get it out of my system, you know?'

'That's what you said last night too,' she said humorously.

He flashed her a playful smirk. 'You didn't object.'

'The only thing I object to is you turning me on minutes before we're supposed to be professional and meet vampires.'

'It'll be fine,' he said and squeezed her thigh. 'If they'll have an issue with something, it's the fact that I'm a werewolf.'

'Which they're aware of, right?'

'Yeah, it was front and center in the email.' He shrugged. 'Even if they take issue with it, we need the credibility being invited by them gives us. I'll have to suck it up.'

'To a certain degree,' she said as the GPS directed them onto a private road. 'If they're rude about it, we should move on. They invited us, if they take issue with you, they shouldn't have invited us in the first place.'

'You've reached your destination,' the GPS announced through the speakers as the trees lining the narrow street abruptly disappeared.

The land beyond was perfectly kept, each tree trimmed with such precision that it looked painted onto a vast background, the grass was a vibrant green, and the road was framed by cobblestones of equal size. The dirt road cut through the sea of green and snaked its way to a large, four-story, mansion-almost-castle. In the distance, Anya could see the outline of numerous smaller houses, formed like a small village.

As they came closer, the details of the mansion came into view - from the grayish-blue hue of the facade to the gables at the top of the towers and the red window frames. The dirt road changed to packed pebbles as it transformed into a roundabout in front of the entrance door, curled around a fountain with the statue of a woman reaching for the sky in its center.