Ageless (7 page)

As Jeremiah guided her out of the
room, she found herself in a massive hallway that was dark with
mahogany. Hardwood floors that matched the walls were covered with
plush rugs and her heels sunk into them, making her feel like she
was walking in sand. They passed several doors before arriving on
the landing of a giant staircase. Violet stared at a massive
chandelier that seemed to take up the entire dome ceiling in front
of her. She couldn’t see over the railing, but she could hear the
murmur of voices coming from below.

Violet started to feel the flutter of panic. Her
breath was coming more rapidly and she thought that her heart might
beat out of her chest.

“Are you frightened?” Jeremiah’s
voice brought her out of her reverie. She was surprised to see
concern in his eyes.

“I’m about to meet a whole roomful
of vampires. What’s there to be scared about?” Violet said. Her
voice sounded breathless and she hated that she was showing any
weakness.

“You are very brave,” Jeremiah
said. “Most mortal women would probably be weeping or have fainted
by now. Margo has told me a lot about you, although her description
of your beauty was definitely understated, as I found out on my own
when we met in the library.”

The compliment was unexpected. “Why
are you being nice to me?” The words fell out of her mouth and she
realized, watching him frown, that that probably wasn’t the wisest
thing to say.

“Why would you believe that I would
be anything but nice to you?” Jeremiah said.

Now that it was out there, Violet
couldn’t stop herself. “I still don’t know what happened to the
others at Mike’s house, but regardless, you’ve basically kidnapped
me. Margo said you had a scary temper and everyone bows down to you
like you’re a god or something. I don’t think it’s unreasonable
that I’d question your intentions.”

A wry grin twisted Jeremiah’s lips.
“I won’t hold it against you that outside of the fact that I’ve
made you my guest for a short time, you are woefully misinformed.
I’m actually quite charming.”

The man’s confidence was
astonishing. Violet set her jaw in a hard frown. “I doubt
that.”

Jeremiah leaned in closer to her
and Violet felt herself go perfectly still. His smell was heady; a
light muskiness with just a hint of wood. “I look forward to
changing your mind,” he said in a low voice right next to her ear
that sent shivers down her spine. Part of her wanted to pull away,
but there was definitely part of her that was reacting to his
closeness. Tingles of pleasure radiated from the side of her face
as she felt his breath caress her ear and then move across her
cheek until they were face to face just inches apart. She gulped
and he chuckled.

Then he pulled back and she felt a small bit of
disappointment. As his eyes glittered down at her body again, she
knew that this man was dangerous for her in too many ways to count.
She took a breath and then turned her head to break his stare.

“I’m ready to get this over with.
The sooner you get whatever it is you think you need from me, the
sooner I can go home,” she said flatly.

She felt his fingers on her chin,
and he pulled her eyes back to his. His look had gone from
smoldering to serious in an instant. “You will stay by my side the
entire evening. You will not offer up any information about where
you came from or your background. Only speak when spoken to.” His
tone was commanding.

“Geez, okay,” she said, not
bothering to hide the annoyance in her voice. “I know I’m not the
greatest conversationalist, but I’m not a dummy either. I’ve got a
4.0 GPA, ya know. I’m sure Margo mentioned that.”

His eyebrows shot up and his hand
dropped away. She had no idea what she had said to get the
reaction, but it made her feel a bit gleeful to feel like such a
rebel. She wasn’t a member of his coven. She didn’t need to bow to
his every whim like it seemed like everyone else was expected
to.

“As always, my brother the
charmer,” she heard a familiar voice say. They both turned and
found Jonah standing there. In his tuxedo, he looked as good as his
brother, and he smiled unabashedly at Violet.

“Jonah,” Jeremiah said stiffly. “I
would have thought you’d already be downstairs entertaining our
guests.”

“Nope, I thought I’d swing by and
see how Violet was doing. C’mon, Violet. There’s a bunch of really
old, boring people downstairs that I am sure you can’t wait to
meet,” Jonah said, taking her arm and twirling her
around.

Violet laughed despite herself.
There was something lighthearted and carefree about Jonah, and she
was descending the stairs with him almost before she realized what
she was doing.

“Jonah.” From behind them,
Jeremiah’s voice held a strong note of warning.

“Lighten up, Jeremiah. It’s a
party,” Jonah said, winking at her. He didn’t look back at his
brother.

The staircase spiraled downwards
and as they reached another landing Violet realized that they had
been three stories up. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
she whispered to him. “Margo said that Jeremiah was my escort
tonight, and I don’t want him mad at me. That just seems like a bad
thing.”

“Jeremiah is a little too used to
getting his way,” Jonah whispered back. “Besides, which one of us
do you think is going to be more fun?”

Violet couldn’t help but match his
grin. He was as cocky as his brother, she decided, but based on her
observations so far, she had to agree that on the funness scale,
Jonah appeared to be the clear winner.

As they continued down the stairs
and the voices got louder, she started to feel her heart race
again. Then they were on the final set of stairs and she could see
the swarm of people standing in a large, grand foyer. The
chandelier that had entranced her moments before was high above her
head. Although she still had no idea where she was, Violet could
feel the immense size of the house they were in, and based on the
fixtures and furnishings she sensed it was very old. She saw that
everyone was decked out in gowns and tuxedos, so at least her
concern over her dress decreased. Her chest tightened as she
struggled to breathe, and then she felt a squeeze on her
arm.

She caught Jonah watching her. “I
won’t let you go, Violet. Trust me.” His playful voice had gone
smooth and soothing and she nodded just as the first couple of
heads turned in their direction. Seconds later, everyone in the
foyer had turned and was staring at them and all conversation
stopped. Jonah continued to squeeze her arm, and she repeated his
words over and over in her head.

As they reached the last step of
the staircase, she felt a slight tug as Jonah stopped. He smiled
down at her again and then looked up into the room with a
commanding glance. “Welcome, everyone, to Ganterwood Hall. My
brother and I are delighted that you could join us this evening so
that we can introduce you to a very special person. May I present,
Ms. Violet Swanson Ward.”

Immediately the room filled with
gasps and she felt a jolt of fear again. She didn’t understand the
addition of the name “Ward” to her surname. Margo had clearly left
some details out.

She felt Jeremiah’s presence even
before he settled next to her on her other side. He placed a hand
on the end of the banister and smiled out into the crowd. Although
Jonah had spoken first, it was obvious that everyone was waiting
with bated breath to hear what Jeremiah had to say.

“It is a momentous occasion that
brings us all together tonight, and I know that all of you are
excited about what the future holds, as am I. But first,
celebration and the enjoyment of each other’s company. It has been
too long since we have all been together. I’d like to invite
everyone to move into the ballroom for music and cocktails. I’m
sure you are all eager to meet Violet, and I can assure you she is
equally eager to meet all of you. I hope you all enjoy your
evening,” Jeremiah said. His voice boomed across the room, and as
he finished everyone clapped for him. He bowed his head and then
gestured towards an opening at the back of the hall.

Violet smiled weakly as several
people passed her. When they smiled at her, their fangs were openly
present, and Violet felt a little sick. After the last one had
passed her, Violet darted another look at Jeremiah. “I’m eager to
meet them?” she hissed to him under her breath.

“Smile pretty, Violet,” he said.
Heads were still swiveled in their direction as everyone watched
the three of them with open curiosity. Violet had no idea what was
being communicated beneath the surface of the brothers’ comments,
but she sensed that she was missing something.

“Well, don’t you all know how to
make an entrance.” Margo appeared at the bottom of the staircase on
Jonah’s other side. Violet was blown away at how beautiful her
friend looked. She wondered when Margo had had the time to get so
gussied up when she had spent so much time helping Violet get
ready. Margo looked pointedly at Jonah. “Stirring up trouble
again?” she said sweetly.

“Always,” Jeremiah answered with a
condescending tone and a warning look at his brother before Jonah
could respond. “Perhaps you can corral your escort,
Margo.”

Violet suddenly realized the awkwardness of the
situation she was in and that Jonah had created.

“I promised the fair Violet that I
would not let her go this evening, and I don’t intend to,” Jonah
said, putting his hand to her back and guiding her down the last
steps.

Violet stole a glance over her
shoulder and she saw that Jeremiah’s jaw was clenched tight and his
eyes were shooting daggers at Jonah’s back. Jeremiah slipped down
the stairs to Margo’s side and started talking to her in a low
voice. Margo immediately flushed and shook her head. The dismay on
her friend’s face was obvious, and Violet wondered if it was more
than just Jeremiah’s displeasure.

The squeeze on her arm brought her
back to the man next to her, who was smiling at her with a knowing
grin. “Like I said, it’s good for my big brother to not always get
what he wants,” he said conspiratorially.

“He certainly seems like the type
who usually does though,” Violet said. The last thing she wanted to
be was a toy to be fought over. Although the experience was
completely new to her, it was completely distracting and
overwhelming. “When he got all weird and serious upstairs, he made
it sound like this event could be dangerous for me.”

They crossed the foyer and stood
right outside the wide doors that led into a brightly lit room.
Violet could hear the melodies of string instrument floating to her
ears and she had the strange sense that she had stepped back in
time. Jonah put a light hand around her waist and drew her over to
the side. His eyes were serious now.

“Well, he figured out that you
appear to be immune to compulsion, which actually is a really good
thing when you are in a room full of vampires,” he said.

“Compulsion?” Violet
echoed.

Jonah continued as if he didn’t
hear her. “There are a few things that Jeremiah and I do agree on.
He wasn’t wrong that the people gathered here tonight, although our
allies, could turn on us at any moment if they sensed weakness
within the house of Montrose. There are several covens that have
openly broken away from us, and it is only a matter of time before
there could be a full-out civil war. That’s why having you here in
open support of our coven is so important.” There was clear pain in
his voice as he said this, and Violet wondered again how she had
gotten mixed up in all of it.

“I still don’t understand why I
matter in all of this,” she said in an equally low tone. “Margo
said I’m some kind of map. So does everybody know about this? Is
that why my support would be so important?”

Jonah nodded. “If Jeremiah can lift
the curse of the bloodlust, then he thinks that he will be able to
reunite all of the covens once again in peace. Unfortunately, the
woman who has assumed his same position for the covens who oppose
us would love nothing more than to beat him to it. It would
legitimize her claim that the Montrose coven is no longer fit to
lead.”

“This sounds...epic,” Violet said
lamely.

A flash of amusement crossed
Jonah’s face. “Indeed. That’s why you are so critical, Violet. You
are going to lead us to the fountain. You are the key to bringing
peace.” The fervor of his voice was mesmerizing, and he lifted his
hand to gently stroke her cheek. She felt like he was looking at
her as though she was the most delicate and precious thing in the
world, and she couldn’t look away.

A throat cleared behind them, and
Violet tore her eyes away from Jonah’s. She saw that Jeremiah had
entered the foyer with Margo on his arm. Margo’s eyes flashed a
warning that Violet recognized immediately. The scowl on Jeremiah’s
face said he was not pleased with what he had just observed. But
Violet found that she didn’t care. Jonah wasn’t trying to scare her
or be mysterious about his intentions. He was telling her exactly
what she asked, and that made her trust him more than the brooding
Jeremiah.

She slipped her arm back into
Jonah’s. “Time to face the music?” she asked.