Read Online The Vampire Who Loved Me by Teresa Medeiros - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Teresa Medeiros
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paused in their play to gape up at him. Baring his pointed, yellowing teeth in a grimace of a smile, he rasped, “Come now, lads. I’ll take you to the kitchen for some nice hot cocoa.”
Eyes widening in terror, the two boys leapt to their feet and ran shrieking from the room. Wilbury straightened as much as his hunched back would allow, rolling his eyes.
“Wilbuwy!” Eloisa crowed, scrambling down from her mother’s lap and toddling across the room. Wrapping her arms around one of the butler’s scrawny legs, she looked up and batted her long lashes at him. “Me want cocoa!”
With a long-suffering sigh, he scooped the plump child into his arms, every one of his ancient bones creaking in protest. She joyfully tugged on his misshapen ears as he carried her toward the door. His curdled expression never varied, but as he passed Portia he gave her a nearly imperceptible wink.
She bit back a smile, heartened to know she had at least one ally in this house. Wilbury had always been partial to Julian. After Duvalier had turned Julian into a vampire, Wilbury had been the only one to share the brothers’ dark secret, helping Adrian turn Julian’s crypt in the dungeon of their ancestral castle into a chamber fit for a prince. He had forever endeared himself to Portia by guarding the door of the mansion’s ballroom while she practiced wielding a stake and firing a crossbow instead of dancing and conjugating French verbs. He had also swept up the shards of the numerous vases and busts she had broken with only a mutter of reproach.
Adrian waited until his daughter was safely out of earshot before returning his attention to Portia. “I suppose I have only myself to blame. I should have known that no good would ever come of this infatuation of yours.”
“There’s no longer any need for you to worry about that,” Portia replied primly even as the memory of Julian’s kisses made both her throat and her lips tingle. “You were right all along. Julian is neither the man—or the vampire—I remembered.” She lowered her head, deliberately avoiding Caroline’s sharp-eyed gaze. Although she and Vivienne were closer in age, it was Caroline who had always been able to read her heart.
“What exactly did he say when you confronted him about the murders?” Larkin leaned forward, no longer able to keep his natural curiosity in check. “Did he deny any knowledge of them or did he confess?”
He had done neither, Portia remembered grimly. Which meant that he was deliberately hiding something. But who was he trying to protect? Himself? Or someone else?
Although she loathed lying to her family, she met Larkin’s clear-eyed gaze with one of her own. “I never had the chance to ask him. I’m afraid your impromptu little witch hunt interrupted my interrogation.”
Larkin settled back on the chair arm, his disappointment palpable. Vivienne patted hisknee and smiled at her little sister. “I really don’t see what all the fuss is about. The only thing that matters is that our Portia is back with us—safe and sound.”
“I’d like for her to stay that way,” Adrian countered. “But I can’t count on that as long as Julian is lurking about.”
“He told me he was leaving London,” Portia said softly. “That he wouldn’t…trouble any of us again.”
A shadow of grief passed over Adrian’s face, making her own heart clutch with regret. She had no way of knowing if Julian had spoken the truth or if his words had just been a clever ruse to throw them off of his scent. She hadn’t even dared to tell Adrian how he had made his escape, preferring to let them all believe he had used his superior strength to climb down one of the roof’s drain spouts. In all of their battles, none of them had ever encountered a vampire who could actually focus his power long enough to shape shift into a bat. If Adrian knew his brother possessed that rare gift, he might consider him even more of a threat.
Adrian surprised her by sinking
Eyes widening in terror, the two boys leapt to their feet and ran shrieking from the room. Wilbury straightened as much as his hunched back would allow, rolling his eyes.
“Wilbuwy!” Eloisa crowed, scrambling down from her mother’s lap and toddling across the room. Wrapping her arms around one of the butler’s scrawny legs, she looked up and batted her long lashes at him. “Me want cocoa!”
With a long-suffering sigh, he scooped the plump child into his arms, every one of his ancient bones creaking in protest. She joyfully tugged on his misshapen ears as he carried her toward the door. His curdled expression never varied, but as he passed Portia he gave her a nearly imperceptible wink.
She bit back a smile, heartened to know she had at least one ally in this house. Wilbury had always been partial to Julian. After Duvalier had turned Julian into a vampire, Wilbury had been the only one to share the brothers’ dark secret, helping Adrian turn Julian’s crypt in the dungeon of their ancestral castle into a chamber fit for a prince. He had forever endeared himself to Portia by guarding the door of the mansion’s ballroom while she practiced wielding a stake and firing a crossbow instead of dancing and conjugating French verbs. He had also swept up the shards of the numerous vases and busts she had broken with only a mutter of reproach.
Adrian waited until his daughter was safely out of earshot before returning his attention to Portia. “I suppose I have only myself to blame. I should have known that no good would ever come of this infatuation of yours.”
“There’s no longer any need for you to worry about that,” Portia replied primly even as the memory of Julian’s kisses made both her throat and her lips tingle. “You were right all along. Julian is neither the man—or the vampire—I remembered.” She lowered her head, deliberately avoiding Caroline’s sharp-eyed gaze. Although she and Vivienne were closer in age, it was Caroline who had always been able to read her heart.
“What exactly did he say when you confronted him about the murders?” Larkin leaned forward, no longer able to keep his natural curiosity in check. “Did he deny any knowledge of them or did he confess?”
He had done neither, Portia remembered grimly. Which meant that he was deliberately hiding something. But who was he trying to protect? Himself? Or someone else?
Although she loathed lying to her family, she met Larkin’s clear-eyed gaze with one of her own. “I never had the chance to ask him. I’m afraid your impromptu little witch hunt interrupted my interrogation.”
Larkin settled back on the chair arm, his disappointment palpable. Vivienne patted hisknee and smiled at her little sister. “I really don’t see what all the fuss is about. The only thing that matters is that our Portia is back with us—safe and sound.”
“I’d like for her to stay that way,” Adrian countered. “But I can’t count on that as long as Julian is lurking about.”
“He told me he was leaving London,” Portia said softly. “That he wouldn’t…trouble any of us again.”
A shadow of grief passed over Adrian’s face, making her own heart clutch with regret. She had no way of knowing if Julian had spoken the truth or if his words had just been a clever ruse to throw them off of his scent. She hadn’t even dared to tell Adrian how he had made his escape, preferring to let them all believe he had used his superior strength to climb down one of the roof’s drain spouts. In all of their battles, none of them had ever encountered a vampire who could actually focus his power long enough to shape shift into a bat. If Adrian knew his brother possessed that rare gift, he might consider him even more of a threat.
Adrian surprised her by sinking
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