Chương 34: More Problems at My Door

I had a feeling, a deep and unpleasant certainty lodged somewhere in the pit of my stomach, that Celeste and Aura would eventually become the best of friends. It wouldn't happen today, tomorrow, or perhaps even within the next month, but sooner or later, the inevitable would arrive. The signs were already there in the jealous glances, dramatic expressions, possessiveness, and alarming ease with which both of them could turn a perfectly reasonable moment into emotional theater.

Once that alliance fully formed, the world would suffer. More specifically, I would suffer, because that was usually how these things worked. Affection itself wasn't the problem. The problem was that, somewhere along the way, I had developed a weakness for it, and I had no intention of letting anyone with functioning ears hear me admit it. Emotional attachment could be useful.

It eased tension, bound people together, and sometimes kept them from doing something catastrophically foolish, such as dying alone in a cursed house or bleeding out on a balcony. The problem was that Celeste never offered it in moderation, and Aura appeared determined to follow her example. If love was meant to be comforting, theirs had all the subtlety of a coffin lid being nailed shut. Adrian somehow remained content with Celeste, which was something I had never entirely understood.

Perhaps he appreciated the quiet during the day while she attached herself to me like an ornamental parasite. He must use those hours to recover from whatever additional nonsense occurred between them after the hotel settled for the night. Vampires didn't truly sleep as mortals did, so I was certain he found ways to occupy his time. I preferred not to know any of the details. Aura presented a more immediate problem. She had no mate, no work, no schedule, and no room assigned to her yet.

She possessed no staff responsibilities, emotional hobbies, or alternative person to cling to when I desired silence. How exactly was I supposed to escape her during the night? I didn't sleep often, but I did rest. A few precious hours existed each evening when the noise dimmed, the hotel settled, and I could sit alone in my office or on the top-floor balcony with wine, silence, and the sea wind.

Those hours allowed me to think, scheme, read, and watch the lights of the city crawl along the coast like captured stars. Would I still have them now… or would I spend my evenings with a dragon child standing three feet away, staring at me with violet eyes and asking what treasure diversification meant? With my future growing more crowded by the hour, the Adventurer's Guild compensation was the only part of the situation I found remotely comforting.

I intended to claim every gold piece the mission could reasonably justify. Settling for the posted reward would've been insulting. By the time I finished, the final amount included hazard compensation, emergency-response escalation, property risk, travel inconvenience, dragon containment, independent negotiation fees, and an additional premium for sparing the rare creature they had warned might destroy the region.

That was when the Guild Master made the mistake of arguing that the contract had only required the threat to be removed. Rather than waste time debating the wording, I gestured toward Aura. She rewarded him with a bright smile as a thin curl of smoke slipped between her lips, and whatever protest he had prepared died with admirable grace. By the time we left, Adrian carried the signed contracts, Celeste held the receipt, and the guild treasury had become noticeably lighter.

Aura kept hold of my hand throughout the entire exchange, watching each negotiation with such intense concentration that I suspected I had accidentally provided her with an education. When we stepped back into the street, I glanced down at her.

"Now that's how you extort someone properly, Aura." Her violet eyes rose to meet mine.

"Not only did I claim you for myself, but I also convinced them to pay me for doing it." A faint smile touched my lips.

"A victory from every direction." Aura remained quiet for several seconds before giving a single, solemn nod.

"I understand." The answer was too serious… far too serious. I studied her more carefully, but her expression had already settled back into childlike dragon pride. Her chin lifted, her tail swayed behind her, and her grip tightened around my hand. I had no idea what lesson Aura believed she had learned, which meant I would probably discover it later in the most inconvenient manner possible. By the time we returned to the Vaust Hotel and Casino, evening had begun to settle over the city.

The building rose ahead of us in fifteen stories of wealth, vice, and carefully polished intimidation. Electric lights burned across the sign while cars lined the entrance beneath the grand awning. Guests moved in and out through the revolving doors, laughing, smoking, adjusting hats, clutching purses, and carrying luggage. Each of them appeared convinced they were entering a palace built for their enjoyment rather than my profit. It was home, such an absurd word.

As the car rolled to a stop before the entrance, Vera and Malcolm were already waiting for us outside. Their presence didn't surprise me. The bond made my arrival difficult to conceal. Whenever I concentrated, I could sense the location of each of my kin. It was not as clear as sight, but it came close.

The bond felt like a subtle pull beneath my awareness, a constant pressure woven through a living thread that revealed direction, distance, and, whenever I chose to look deeper, signs of hunger, injury, exhaustion, or fear. Over the years, I had discovered that the connection wasn't entirely one-sided. They could sense me as well, though with less clarity. More unexpectedly, they could feel one another through the bond we shared.

Adrian sensed Celeste more sharply than the others, likely because of their separate connection, but he could still locate Vera or Malcolm if he focused. Vera once described it as standing in a dark room and knowing where every candle burned. Near the hotel entrance, Vera waited in a dark red dress with Vesper perched upon her shoulder in the form of a crow. The familiar's crimson crystal feathers gleamed beneath the lights, and its unblinking eyes fixed on me the moment I stepped from the car.

That creature was always watching and judging. I still couldn't decide whether Vesper disliked me or had simply never learned proper manners. Malcolm waited beside Vera in a fitted black suit, a sword resting at his hip. His posture appeared relaxed, but I could see the alertness beneath it. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. He had grown into himself over the decades.

The desperate boy I had once dragged from the edge of death had become a knight capable of crushing a carriage into a metal coin. Malcolm remained disgustingly devoted to Vera, of course, but the years had sharpened that devotion into something far more obsessive. The moment Aura stepped into view, both of them focused on the small dragon at my side. Their attention moved over her platinum hair, curved horns, swaying tail, and the hand clasped securely around mine.

Vera blinked in surprise, and Malcolm followed a heartbeat later. Vesper, naturally, continued staring without so much as lowering its head. As understanding settled over Vera's features, the corner of her mouth lifted into a slowly widening smile.

"So, we have another member of the family?"

"That appears to be the situation." I glanced toward Vesper.

"Much like your crow, I seem to have acquired a dragon." Vesper tilted its head. I narrowed my eyes at it. Aura noticed the familiar at the same moment and stared back with immediate suspicion. It almost felt worth it at this point.

"And she calls me Master," I added. Vera's smile widened.

"I see. That's certainly a powerful addition to the family." Malcolm stepped forward and lowered himself slightly until he was closer to Aura's height. Brave fool…

"Hello, little dragon. You're very cute." Aura puffed a cloud of smoke directly into his face. Malcolm coughed and waved it away. Vera covered her mouth, doing an inadequate job of concealing her laughter. Celeste giggled openly, while the faint shift at the corner of Adrian's mouth was practically hysterical by his standards. I looked down at Aura.

"Behave yourself. He's your older brother from now on." Aura studied Malcolm for a moment before a triumphant smile spread across her face, bearing a disturbing resemblance to Celeste's whenever she believed she had won an argument. I disliked that resemblance immediately.

"Older brother," Aura repeated, apparently finding the title entertaining. Malcolm straightened, still smiling despite the smoke drifting around his face.

"I suppose I've been called worse."

"You have," Vera murmured. Their eyes met. They exchanged one of those quiet, intimate looks that made the air feel warmer than necessary. I ignored it with discipline.

"How were things while we were away?" Vera's expression changed. The shift was subtle, but I caught it immediately. Her smile weakened as one hand rose toward Vesper's claws. Her fingers brushed the crystallized feathers as though seeking reassurance from the creature perched on her shoulder.

"About that…" The silence between us grew heavier as I looked toward Malcolm, only for him to glance back at Vera. She appeared to be weighing whether the problem might disappear if she refused to acknowledge it, which was rarely a promising sign. After a measured breath, Malcolm stepped into the silence she had left behind.

"A young man and woman arrived while you were gone. They demanded to see you."

"Demanded?" His jaw tightened faintly.

"Yes." Interest lit Celeste's eyes. Aura tilted her head, while Vesper's feathers shifted with a soft crystalline sound.

"So… what happened?"

"They had an unusual story," Malcolm answered carefully.

"More importantly, they knew things." That drew my attention far more effectively than the word demanded.

"What kind of things?" Vera finally found her voice again, though it emerged quieter than before.

"Things about you." The bustle around the hotel entrance seemed to fade into the distance, leaving only fragments of sound behind: the closing of a car door, a guest laughing beneath the awning, and the sea wind sweeping along the street as it stirred the ends of my hair. Through it all, I kept my gaze fixed on Vera.

"What things?" I said again. Her eyes flicked toward Malcolm.

"Old things," he answered.

"Before Greymere and House Vaust." Celeste's smile vanished, while Adrian's reddish-orange eyes sharpened with immediate suspicion. Aura glanced between us, unable to understand the meaning behind the words but clearly sensing the tension that had settled over the group. Even Vesper remained unnervingly still, its crimson gaze fixed on me without wavering. Something cold stirred beneath my ribs. Few people still alive knew the truth of my beginnings.

Rumors existed, of course, along with tavern stories and guild records rewritten by clerks who believed every tragedy improved with embellishment. But the truth had never belonged to them. It belonged to Silas Vane, the village, the pyre, the cliff, and Elias. Those memories belonged to ghosts and ash.

"Where are they?" Malcolm hesitated. That was yet another poor sign.

"We didn't know what else to do with them. They refused to leave and wouldn't explain everything to anyone but you. They were…intense." Celeste glanced toward him.

"Intense in what way?" Vera winced.

"That's one description."

"We placed them in one of the private rooms and waited for your return," Malcolm explained. I studied him for a moment before shifting my attention to Vera.

"You locked them inside?"

"They asked for sanctuary first," Vera answered quickly.

"Then they demanded to see you. When one of the clerks tried to dismiss them, the woman threatened him." Celeste's brows lifted.

"What kind of threat?"

"She told him that whatever had followed them would reach the hotel next if we refused to listen." That changed the nature of the situation. These strangers weren't worshippers, opportunists, or fools hoping to attach themselves to my reputation. They had come to deliver a warning. Adrian's voice cut through the tension.

"Did they say who was following them?" Malcolm shook his head.

"Not clearly. They mentioned hunters once, but neither of them spoke as though they were merely fleeing a group of people." Vera's expression tightened as she recalled the encounter.

"They were terrified, Mother. Not nervous or desperate in the ordinary sense. They kept watching the windows and listening whenever someone passed the door, as though they expected death itself to arrive at any moment."

"They were injured as well," Malcolm added.

"Nothing immediately fatal, but enough to show they had been running for a long time. Whatever is behind them has pushed them past exhaustion."

"And through all of that, they still refused to explain themselves to anyone but me."

"They insisted you were the only person who would understand," Vera replied.

"The woman became more frantic every time we suggested waiting. She acted as though seeing you was the only thing keeping both of them alive." That carried far more weight than two strangers simply fleeing pursuit. Fear had stripped away their patience, their manners, and apparently most of their sense. They hadn't arrived seeking comfort or shelter alone. They believed something inevitable was closing in on them, and that reaching me before it arrived was their last remaining chance. I glanced toward Malcolm.

"So you placed them in a secured room."

"They asked for protection, refused to leave, and wouldn't explain anything further," he answered.

"Keeping them somewhere guarded seemed safer than allowing them to remain in the lobby." The decision was reasonable, even if the circumstances surrounding it were not. Apparently, acquiring a dragon child hadn't provided the universe with enough entertainment for one day. Now it had delivered two terrified strangers who knew too much about my past, believed death was pursuing them, and had crossed the city convinced that only I could stop it. How considerate. I turned toward Adrian.

His expression had already hardened, and the small nod he gave told me he had reached the same conclusion.

"Lead the way." Together, we entered the hotel. The lobby remained alive with movement and noise, though much of that noise softened as we passed. Guests turned openly toward Aura. Some whispered behind raised hands, while others pretended not to stare and failed with impressive incompetence. Vesper remained perched on Vera's shoulder, its crimson eyes alert. Celeste walked at my right side, unusually quiet now, which told me she understood that we were dealing with something more than an inconvenience.

Aura remained close at my left side, her small hand still clasped around mine. She glanced up at me once but wisely kept silent, clearly sensing that the mood had changed. I was only holding on to her to keep an unpredictable dragon under control, of course. Any suggestion that I found the warmth of her hand comforting would have been entirely inaccurate. At least she possessed decent instincts. We crossed the main lobby beneath the grand chandelier and entered the private corridor behind the reception hall.

This section of the hotel belonged entirely to House Vaust. Staff stepped aside immediately. Guards acknowledged Adrian as we passed. With every turn, the noise of the casino faded further behind thick walls and locked doors. Malcolm guided us to one of the secure meeting rooms on the first private level, where two guards waited outside the closed door. The relief on their faces when they saw me was immediate, which only added another warning to an already troubling situation.

"What happened?" One of the guards swallowed before answering.

"Nothing violent, Lady Vaust."

"That wasn't what I asked." His gaze shifted uneasily toward the door.

"They have been waiting."

"Quietly?" A brief hesitation crossed his face.

"Mostly." The answer did little to reassure me.

"Define the word 'mostly.'" The guard shifted uneasily beneath my stare.

"The woman has been pacing without rest, while the man checks the window locks every few minutes. Neither of them has touched the food we brought." Vera moved closer to my side.

"I tried speaking with them twice. They would only repeat that they had to see you." I looked toward the nearest window. Outside, darkness had already begun spreading across the sea. A quiet breath left me.

"Open the door." The guard slid the key into the lock and turned it. The mechanism released with a quiet click, yet the sound carried through the corridor with far more weight than something so small deserved. Celeste shifted closer beside me, while Adrian advanced half a step with such controlled precision that the movement was nearly imperceptible. Malcolm's gravity settled over the floor like an invisible warning, and Vesper lowered its head as its crystalline feathers drew tightly against its body.

Aura's fingers closed more firmly around mine, her small hand radiating the restrained heat of dragon fire. She understood enough to be wary, even if she did not yet understand why. I pressed my free hand against the door and slowly pushed it inward.