The Secrets of Lore Seymour

70. Between Us

I don't sleep well that night. What happened with Lore yesterday, what he said about the Seymour family, being in Vexsis, knowing there are guards outside who wish to kill me, it leads to a restless night where I get up long before Lore's perfectionist butler can awaken me.

Yawning, I step out of bed and surprise myself by dressing in a suit without even thinking about it. My robes still lay in my suitcase. When I run my fingers over the fabric, they feel foreign. I hesitate for a moment, unsure of how to process the conflicting emotions. Then I shut the case and head downstairs.

"There was a murder last night," I hear from outside the front door. I remain in place, holding my breath to listen in on the guards. "Apparently, Lady Roxanne Sarron was found dead early this morning. No mention on how she died though."

Lady? She has a title. A high ranking official of Vexsis...

"The first pattern is that these murders are all against the elite and powerful; those of high status in the aristocracy and the church," that's what Olere said to me when he first showed me the paperwork on a potential serial killer. Now there's a death of an aristocrat within Vexsis when Lore happens to be here. Am I paranoid to find it strange?

"I met that bitch before," says another guard. "A foul, cruel, and unforgiving woman who spat at anyone she deemed beneath her, which was everyone save the noble family themselves. I bet she got herself murdered by one of her very many angry ex-husbands or she ran her mouth to the wrong person for the--"

They go silent. I watch the door for movement.

"Snooping, blood bag?" One of them asks while slamming their hand against the door. "You're lucky your little dhampir master keeps you safe or we'd have drained you by now."

"I'd relieve the head from your shoulders before you had a chance to draw a weapon," I growl, somehow feeling more confident in a battle here. There are no mortal civilians I could potentially hurt by not holding back. If I wished to cast, I could cast any spell and wipe them off the map. Maybe I don't really need my axe. I've got all the divinity I could ever need that I can use to my heart's content.

The two of them laugh as if I've told the best joke. Before they can utter another word, I stomp towards the dining room, hoping breakfast is about ready. There's no food waiting for me, but Lore is. He sits at the head of the table in another accursed robe. Now, it's far worse because I know exactly what's beneath it and how badly I want another taste.

"Seren," he calls, making my name sound like the sweetest lullaby. "You're up early. Did you have trouble sleeping?"

"Yeah." I clear my throat and take a seat beside him. I try not to gaze at him out of my peripheral vision, but I continuously catch brief glances of his bare chest. "I'm not used to the room yet."

My attention drifts to the dining room entrance. A few steps around the bend is the foyer where I overheard the vampires. I look at Lore, who takes a drink of steaming coffee. He sets that coffee aside when I ask, "Did you hear about the death of Lady Roxanne Sarron?"

"Death?" he echoes, donning an expression of surprise that seems genuine, although that surprise may be due to me asking. "How do you know of Lady Sarron? Where did you hear this?"

"I overheard our friendly chaperones speaking outside. Apparently, she was found dead in her home this morning."

"Well, I can't say that's surprising." He clicks his tongue. "Lady Sarron was a complicated woman, despised by most and loved by fools."

"Fools?"

"She had a way with words and stole hearts so she could steal money."

"Is this what you heard about her or have you met her?" I ask, feeling a sense of dread wash over me. It's as if I've become the spy for the church again, trying to decipher whether Lore had to do with her death. Is it so odd that this happened? There must be as many murders in Vexsis as there is on earth.