Wicked Obsession (10 page)

Eleni sighed, and got up from the table. “Fine, just give me ten minutes to take my computer up to my room, and I’ll rejoin you downstairs.”

Julian picked up her hand and kissed it. “Agreed.”

Chapter Nine

“Marguerite, come in.” Eleni held the front door open for the vampiress while she entered the house. In those few moments, the frigid wind had swirled a good amount of snow onto the entryway rug, where it quickly melted. The vampiress stood at the edge of the rug and began shrugging out of her red woolen coat. “Whatever made you want to stand out front? Why didn’t you come in through the garage?”

“I thought about it, but I didn’t want to disturb anyone. There was the possibility I’d catch you while you were entertaining Julian,” the vampiress said as she handed her coat to Eleni, who dusted the melting snowflakes from the shoulders before hanging it in the entryway closet. “I figured if no one answered the door, you were indisposed.”

“No, not this early in the evening,” she said as she closed the closet door. “I was in the sunroom, writing an email to my sister—nothing that couldn’t wait.”

“Then I’m glad I decided to go ahead and visit.” Marguerite smoothed her hands along the sleeves of her silver, satin shirt. “I hope you don’t mind me dropping by like this. It’s been a month since your arrival, and I was curious to see how you’re adjusting.”

“You’re always welcome here, Marguerite. I’m sure you know that.” It was the truth. Julian would never turn away his cousin.

Over the past few weeks, Eleni had come to realize how much Julian cared about the people around him—Marguerite, Claudette, and Henri. Gisele was still a sticky spot with her, but so far they had managed to avoid each other, and Eleni had decided early on she could live with that if they could keep their distance.

Melted snowflakes glistened in Marguerite’s auburn hair as Eleni guided her into the small parlor, which was lit with a small crystal chandelier that threw a soft light around the room that was both pleasing and easy on a vampire’s eyes. Eleni didn’t often come in here, but the room was warm and comfortable, with heavy black leather furniture and a large fireplace.

Marguerite needed no one to guide her—she walked right over to one of the couches and sat down heavily, blowing out a breath. She stretched her arms along the back of the couch, her crimson smile at once both devious and beguiling. “So, tell me how you’re doing? It has been so boring at home, and I am curious. I want to know everything. Your hearing is only a few months away? Are you looking forward to it?”
Eleni gave her a wide-eyed look that made the sophisticated vampiress laugh. “I suppose not. But you seem to be adjusting. Surely, that will be considered in your favor?”

“I hope so,” Eleni told her warily as she sank down into one of the chairs opposite Marguerite. “I know my way around the house now, and I feel comfortable with Claudette and Henri. I’m trying my best to fit in.”

“And you are doing a fine job of it,” the vampiress said softly. “Yes, I believe you’ll do fine. I will put in a recommendation for you. You’re a scrupulous girl. By the way, Julian is here, yes?”

“He should be in his office still. I visited him earlier tonight—I stayed until he got very busy then thought I’d leave him to his work. You want me to call him for you?”

“Julian and his work…” Marguerite made a moue of disapproval. “I had hoped you’d break him of that habit. Ah, but never mind, I didn’t come over to see him.” Her eyes brightened. “He will be curious that I have befriended you, but I have heard of your line before, you know?” 

That surprised her. “You have?”

“Oh, indeed. Julian spoke highly of your sister, Anya. He told me that our cousin Dominic entered into the blood bond with her. That is no small event, you know? All the relatives were informed of the match. A new vampiress is something to celebrate. The Sévigné branch has not had a new vampiress since I was turned…and that has been some time ago.”

“I had no idea.” Eleni swallowed hard. She didn’t mention that she’d been too sick at the time to realize the significance of what went on around her. The uncomfortable realization that she had likely missed many important things that year made her squirm in her seat.

On top of that, she found it hard to imagine a celebration around her sister’s transformation. Anya had been dying when Dominic made the snap decision to turn her. Eleni wondered if Marguerite knew. The transformation had been under very unusual circumstances. As romantic as it was, Eleni didn’t anticipate any man would do something so honorable for her. Not knowing what else to say, she forced a smile. “Dominic and Anya seem happy together. From what I could tell, they are nearly inseparable—very much in love. We should all be so lucky.”

“True…true…” Her voice drifted away, her eyes for a moment distant and dreamy. A smile pulled her back to the here and now. “So, tell me, how do you like the chateau? What have you been doing to pass the time?”

“Marguerite,” Julian’s throaty voice chided her from the doorway. Eleni turned in the chair, glancing back to see him with his hand braced high on the jamb. “You sound like you’re giving an interview. You plan to steal my protégé?”

“Julian.” Marguerite beamed. She rose from her chair as he came into the room. She met him halfway and greeted him with an air-kiss by both cheeks, then she took his hand and drew him into the seating area. At last, she let him go and sat down again, gesturing him toward one of the remaining chairs.

“Of course, he would see an ulterior motive in all this…” Marguerite gave Eleni a flabbergasted look before turning her attention to Julian. “I’ve missed you, you know. You’re always hiding away in this old house.”

“I have no reason to hide,” he said as he flopped down in the chair closest to the fire. He looked at Eleni, and a small thrill passed over her, making her shiver. He looked as though he wanted to lay her out across the couch and eat her alive.

“Gisele,” Marguerite called out suddenly.

 Eleni jumped at the sudden change in the vampiress’s voice. It shifted from friendly to authoritative without a shred of warning. A sudden tension filled the room and Eleni’s heart began to race. She hadn’t been aware Gisele’s nearness, but apparently she had been close enough to hear their conversation.

A feeling of unease slithered through her. She’d been too focused on Julian to notice where Gisele had come from. It appeared she had been passing by the in hallway when Marguerite spotted her, perhaps coming from her bedroom, which was located downstairs, at the far end of the east wing.

Gisele looked anything but happy when she came to the doorway. Her brown eyes were narrowed, her chin lifted to a haughty degree. “You called, Madame?”

Marguerite’s face had become a mask of seriousness, yet her state of repose hadn’t changed. Her right arm was propped against the pillows, the other arm was stretched out along the tops of the cushions. But there was no mistaking her change in mood. Her eyes had darkened to the color of onyx. Glossy and fierce, they gleamed like a viper’s. Indeed, she looked like a serpent waiting for the right moment to strike.

She smiled cordially. “Be a good girl. Fetch a tray of wine from the kitchens for us,
s’il vous plait
.” Despite her civil tone, Eleni could clearly see she’d just delivered an order, not a request.

A strange look came over Gisele’s face, a cross between embarrassment and thinly veiled hate. Rosy color swept into her cheeks in high, bright spots. Her dark eyes flicked briefly toward Eleni before she bowed out of the room with a curt, “Of course.”

Silence hung heavy in the room once she had gone. Marguerite crossed her long legs and tossed back her hair. A smug smile stretched her lips.

“Gita, you really shouldn’t goad her like that.” Julian’s voice rumbled with disapproval.

“I do not goad her.” Marguerite shot a cool glance his direction, clearly challenging him. “Gisele is a servant, so I asked her to serve.”

Eleni didn’t say a word. Clearly, this was an old argument, and she had no desire to get involved.

Marguerite gradually steered the conversation back on track, but the easy camaraderie they’d shared before Gisele’s arrival had been lost. Eleni was glad Julian took up the conversation with his cousin. The brief incident had made Eleni anxious and uncomfortable. She found herself counting the minutes so she could escape to her room, but Marguerite seemed adamant on staying, at least until Gisele returned. Eleni didn’t think it had the first thing to do with the vampiress wanting a drink. The way Marguerite watched the door reminded her of a hungry cat preparing to pounce on a helpless morsel.

In the end, Gisele denied her the satisfaction of a second attack. Claudette brought in the tray of the wine.

Julian said nothing. He seemed to barely notice, but it clearly didn’t escape Marguerite’s attention that Gisele had not returned. Her brows lifted when the elderly woman offered Julian the first glass of wine from the tray, then Marguerite. Marguerite took Eleni’s glass from the tray as well and served Eleni by her own hand.

“
À votre santé
,” Marguerite said, raising her glass in a toast to Eleni, who lifted her glass as well.

“Santé.”

Julian lifted his glass, but said nothing. He sipped his wine in silence, his eagle eyes sending an uneasy chill through Eleni from across the room.

They spent half the night listening to Marguerite recall amusing family stories. She did most of the talking until around 3:00 AM, when she looked at her diamond wrist watch and hissed. “
Mon Dieu
, look at the time,” she tittered. “It will be dawn before you know it. Dauphine will be upset with me, for sure.”

She got up and stretched her long legs, and Eleni rose with her.

“I’ll get your coat for you,” she offered.

“Wait,
chérie
.” She turned to Julian, who still lounged rakishly in the high-backed chair. Marguerite leaned down and gave him a peck on the cheek. “You have a most charming protégé.”

“Agreed…” he said in that dark, cryptic tone that made a chill run down Eleni’s spine.

Marguerite sighed. “I’m sorry I must go. I do miss talking to you like this, cousin, but I’m afraid if I’m not home soon, my harem will think I have left them.”

“Do your ladies truly believe you would leave them so willingly?” he teased.

She cackled merrily. “No, but my premiere, she may think I have left for Paris without her. She is continually begging to go. I tell her I will consider it; that I will ask to use your townhouse for a vacation. And I do consider it…briefly.” Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “You know as well as I do, there is nothing in the city for me.”

“New protégé or two, perhaps?”

“You speak as if I don’t already have enough household drama.” Marguerite tsked and shook her head. “Come, Eleni, walk me out. You will allow her, won’t you, Julian?”

He shrugged, eyes glittering. “But of course.”

The way he sloshed his wine in his glass told Eleni there was more on his mind than what he was saying, but she didn’t have time to try and decipher his body language. Marguerite had started toward the door, so Eleni followed her around the corner into the entryway. It was her duty to entertain guests, and take care of even the smallest courtesies, but when she went to retrieve Marguerite’s coat, the vampiress shooed her away. “No need to fuss. I can manage a closet door by myself,” she chided softly.

She waited while Marguerite pulled on her red coat, and fished in her pocket for the keys. A feeling of nervous anxiety crawled through her at the serious expression on the other woman’s face, when at last Marguerite turned to her and said, “Shall we go?”

“One minute,” Eleni said, and pulled a tan jacket down for herself before following the woman outside to a sleek, red sports car.

She sensed the vampiress wanted to tell her something important, but was wary of doing so within Julian’s house. Anxious to hear what Marguerite had to say, she stepped out into the portico and slipped her arms into the jacket as the cold slammed into her, and her first night’s breath frosted on the air.

The sky was a cloudy, starless black, so dark that the outside light near the front door gleamed gold, like a tiny captured fire within the brass sconce. The soles of her leather riding boots crunched over the gravel. How Marguerite managed to cross the driveway in heels without stumbling, Eleni could only guess. As the vampiress reached for the door of her car, she stopped short and turned her head to look up at the house. A feeling of chill warning flowed through Eleni when she realized Marguerite was looking directly at her bedroom window.

“You see that room there?” The vampiress nodded toward the premiere suite. “The fire that burned Julian started there. It had to be two hundred years ago if it were a day.”

Eleni found herself holding her breath.

Marguerite sighed. Her eyes reflected the dim light, shifting from dark to bright green as she turned her head to look at Eleni. “That was another lifetime, it seems. Julian had a harem then—roughly twelve young women much like yourself, although I dare say none were so personable or lovely. Julian left them to their jealousies, and in my opinion, I believe he thought it to be rather amusing that they fought over him so. He took more than a fair amount of time in choosing a favorite, but even then he refused to declare a woman his premiere protégé. In the end, it was their squabbling over who would be his premiere that ultimately lead to the fire that burned him.”

Eleni was stunned. She shook her head. “I had no idea.”

Shrewd eyes regarded her. “I am not surprised. Julian…he doesn’t like to talk about the past. He was burnt beyond recognition, and it was thought for a time he would not live. We were all very worried for him, not only because we love him so, but because he was an Elder even then, and the last male in our familial bloodline carrying the Sévigné name. The news was the talk of society for many years. Even after all this time, every once in a while, rumors crop up that Julian is dead.”

“That’s awful,” Eleni whispered.

 “And sadly, that is not all of it.” Marguerite went on. “It took a great many vampires, including your brother-in-law, to come to his care. It takes a lot of blood, powerful blood, to heal that kind of damage. The Russian side of the family was called in to help with his healing. I was very young then, but I remember it vividly. There were those who felt he should be allowed to die. Dominic fought adamantly against it. It was a horrible tragedy…and Julian was not the only victim. The girl he favored at the time, Chloe, a young protégé who I believe he was considering for his première, died in the blaze, along with six…perhaps seven, others of his household. Their families were most aggrieved, and Julian was made to pay recompense. That it in itself was a great scandal.”