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14. I Put My Sneaking Skills to Good Use

I woke up lazily, stretching, rolling over, and repeating the process until I was conscious enough to become aware of my surroundings.

Sergio was awake. He was propped up on an elbow, watching me. "Good morning, beautiful," he said.

"Good morning." I looked at the curtains, which were shut so tightly that they did not let in a glimmer of light. "What time is it?"

"About 9 o'clock."

"Thanks for letting me sleep." I yawned. "Why do you always keep the curtains closed? Are you allergic to sunlight or something?"

"Or something. How did you sleep? I love this hotel's beds."

I was a journalist, so I knew when someone was dodging a question. Which confused me, because I had no clue why a simple inquiry about curtains would put Sergio on edge. I decided to probe further. As casually as I could manage, I asked, "Could I open them now? It's too dark in here to move around."

He jumped to his feet and flipped on the light switch. He looked tense, but like he was trying to hide it.

I didn't want to ruin things between us—not so soon after last night—so I didn't press him further. But I did wonder about his behavior. For some reason that I couldn't fathom, Sergio was scared of sunlight. Thoughts of Katie's joking accusation floated unbidden into my mind. There was no way in hell he was a vampire, right?

The suggestion was so preposterous that I had to check that my sanity was still intact. I excused myself to the bathroom and splashed some water on my face. There was no such thing as vampires. I'd had a long night, and I was excited, so I was making a big deal out of nothing.

Still, Sergio had insisted I remove my silver jewelry, and as far as I could remember, I had never seen him in the sun.

I poked my head out. "I'm going to take a shower," I said. "Is that okay?"

Sergio was on his phone at the table. "That is perfectly all right. We shall not be departing until 11."

I closed the door and turned the water on. A long, hot shower was just what I needed to clear my head and scald away these fantastical, ridiculous notions. But before I'd finished getting undressed, there came a knock at the room's door. A maid, I thought until Sergio answered it.

"Boris," Sergio said. "What are you doing here?"

Boris Hofmann, the man who'd danced with me at the ball?

Boris replied, "I'll only take a moment. May I come in?"

"Fine, you may." Sergio closed the door. "What is it?"

I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I wanted to hear Boris' message. Something was going on here, and I needed to figure out what.

Boris didn't respond right away. "Is your pretty little human here? I smell her."

He smelled me?

"She's taking a shower. And lower your voice," Sergio snapped.

I strained to hear them over the sound of running water. As quietly as possible, I pressed my ear against the door.

Boris spoke. "Raimondo di Sangro is dead."

Sergio was shocked. "Dead? How?"

"He illegally turned a boy into a vampire. When the government caught wind of it, they showed up at his home in Naples, but he killed himself and the boy before they could arrest him."

My mind raced at a million miles an hour. Vampires! So I wasn't going crazy after all. Or maybe I still was, and this was a hallucination.

Sergio was speaking, and I forced myself to pay attention. "When did this happen?"