Sterling Silver (Sterling Hunter Series Book 1)

Chapter 12

That evening Tabitha knocked on the front door to the giant house off an old backroad, staring up at the enormity of the place. Huge and made of bricks. Shooting out from the front of the house like the beak of a bird was a glass antechamber. The house was old fashioned and yet impressive.

She'd gotten a text from Sebastian with the address to the Gonzalez place and this was where the address had led her. He'd added that she should bring her Dracula book and that there was no need to bring weapons. He had plenty. A minute after ringing the gold doorbell fashioned to look like a lion's head, the door opened, and Sebastian grinned at her, his hair shiny and wet as if he'd just gotten out of the shower.

Tabitha's jaw dropped momentarily. He wore loose fitted jeans but... no shirt. Just bare, perfect rippling muscles that made Tabitha's whole face go warm. When he caught her noticing, his grin widened and he stepped aside, widening the door. "Welcome to my humble abode. Are you going to come in or continue to gawk at my perfect physique?"

Tabitha painted a scowl on her face and quickly looked away, at literally anything except for his exposed muscles. They stepped through the antechamber door and through the real front door into a front hall. The floors of the inside gleamed, polished and wooden with thick rugs down the hallways. The walls were white and planked with dark wood and lined with old looking artifacts, everything from throne-like chairs to pieces of armor to old scrolls and paintings and wood beams on the ceiling.

"This is your house?"

Sebastian nodded shutting the door behind her. "Yes it is. Got it a long time ago and I visit from time to time to stow all my many treasures, but for now, the Gonzalez's are living here. Don't worry they won't bother us today though."

A thrill ran through Tabitha at the thought of having a whole evening to herself with Sebastian. She scowled the instant the thought popped into her mind. Why she cared she had no idea. They were friends and he was a vampire and... She quickly stopped that train of thought before it could go any farther. "It's nice..." Well that was the understatement of the year.

Sebastian shrugged as he led her through the hallway and past a huge living room with antique furniture and a huge fireplace with beams draping the white ceilings and a balcony overlooking the entire room. She peered up an ominous looking staircase as they passed and then the hallway opened to a kitchen that would make her mom cry with jealousy. He stopped at the glass back door that led out into a sprawling manicured lawn and surrounded by forest. Secluded and private. The perfect place for a vampire.

Sebastian opened the door and smirked at her, gesturing for her to go first. "Ladies first," he purred.

Tabitha shot him a teasing nasty face and walked past, careful not to brush against his bare skin. Her skin prickled at the thought. He followed behind and down the wrap around porch. Tabitha stopped beside him in front of a large old looking chest in the middle of the lawn. With a flourish he threw open the lid, exposing an assortment of vampire killing gear.

Tabitha quirked an eyebrow at him as she gazed down at all the new toys and threw her backpack onto the ground next to it. "Why would a self-respecting vampire have so many weapons that could kill them in their house?"

Sebastian leaned down and picked up a pointed stake, swiping it through the air with a practiced hand. "Maybe I'm just overly confident."

He swiped the stake again, the piece of wood whistling through the air. Tabitha grinned at him and knelt down, rummaging through all the stakes and grenades. She stopped when she found two pairs of identical swords at the bottom. Swords made of silver. Most books and movies about vampires told of how a wooden stake to the chest would kill a vampire. What they didn't tell though was how silver was not only the bane of werewolves but also stung a vampire's skin like acid. To jab a stake of silver – or a sword – into the heart of a vampire would burn them from the inside out. An agonizing death.