Victoria Gardella: Vampire Slayer Read Free Page A

a man and
woman, entwined.
    Entwined?
    Victoria paused, her stake poised, and
forever after, she would be grateful for that hesitation. For as
she looked more closely, she saw that not only were there no
burning red eyes or long white fangs on either of the two figures,
but that one of them was dressed in the long white gown of
Circe.
    Mother?
    And the other was the tall, slender figure of
Lord Jellington, Lady Melly’s erstwhile beau.
    Victoria sucked in her breath and fairly
stumbled back out of the room, deliriously grateful that they’d
been much too engaged in…whatever they were doing…to have noticed
her presence.
    Her mother.
    No wonder she wanted Victoria married off.
Then she would no longer have a daughter to chaperone and could go
about her own business.
    Victoria hurried back down the hall and then
paused, waiting to feel the temperature at the back of her neck.
Yes, the chill was still there.
    A broad, curving staircase rose out of the
foyer in front of her. Perhaps….
    Victoria gathered up her bothersome skirts
and hurried up the steps, stake gripped in one hand and slippers
silent on the treads. As she rose, her neck became slightly more
chilled and she smiled in pleasure. Hopefully, she was on the right
path and would soon dispatch the nuisance of the undead…and then be
able to return to Phillip, lemonade, and the moonlight.
    Once at the top of the stairs, she hesitated
for a moment, then moved smoothly along to the left. Most of the
doors were closed, for they led to bedchambers, but she paused next
to each one to listen and feel.
    The third one door on the left was slightly
ajar, but she was certain the prickling chill at her nape had
become colder. One hand on the door, she eased it open slightly and
peered inside.
    A dark figure moved within the shadows of the
room, and Victoria caught her breath. Smiling to herself, she
levered the door open further, started to move in and then realized
her skirts were too wide. The light from the hallway would soon
spill in enough to warn the vampire that someone was there, but he
would likely think she was simply an innocent, helpless girl.
    Victoria hid her stake behind the width of
her gown and pushed the door open.
    The man turned, and light fell on his
face.
    “Sebastian!” Victoria stalked into the room.
“What are you after?”
    “So you’ve followed me again, have you, my
dear Venator?” he asked, moving away from a chest of drawers. He
looked as though he was withdrawing his hand from beneath his
tunic, and she suspected he’d just placed something—likely whatever
he’d been searching for—somewhere inside. “A bit more private than
the library downstairs. Did you find your vampire?”
    “No,” she replied. “What do you have in your
pocket?”
    His smile flashed hot in the low light. “Why
do you not come and look for yourself?”
    Victoria was too annoyed to be flustered by
his blatant comment, and she moved into the room with an angry
swish of silk. “I would be delighted to do so,” she said,
approaching him fearlessly.
    “My, you are full of courage tonight, aren’t
you?”
    “No, indeed,” she said, fully aware that the
back of her neck was still cold, and that somewhere, an undead was
on the prowl. “I’m simply in a hurry, and you keep distracting
me.”
    “I distract you, do I?” He stepped closer to
her, so close that her crinolines brushed his cross-gartered hose.
“What a welcome bit of information, Victoria Gardella.”
    Before she could react, he reached out and
slid a hand under her chin. He was ungloved, and the feel of his
warm skin on the delicate flesh of her neck had her pulse spiking
high. “I’ve always wanted to distract a Venator.” His voice had
dropped to a murmur, and Victoria felt her breath catch in her
throat.
    Nevertheless, she stood firm. “You’ll not
keep me from my purpose, Sebastian. Turn out your pocket so I can
see what it is you’ve taken.”
    “Don’t you wish to look for