This Hollow Heart (Seasons of Legend #1)

25. Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five

Natasya

I can’t help but laugh when I see the look of utter surprise on Evengi’s face. “What exactly were you expecting?”

He blinks once, then twice before he shakes his head. “Well, you told me your father was a vampire so perhaps a deep cave or an abandoned mine shaft somewhere. Maybe a mill or cabin in the middle of nowhere where he could practice his necromantic arts in solitude. Or even a long forgotten burial mound.”

I giggle as I smack his arm. This is one of the things I think I love most about Evengi. He has such a black and white view of the world. He’s so na?ve and idealistic, it’s sweet. “We are a family of vampires, sorcerers, and criminals. Whatever made you think we wouldn’t be living in comfort?”

“And maybe if you were living in a grand palace, I could understand even that, but this?” Evengi blinks at the comely inn unable to tear his eyes off it as if it has cast a spell around him. The streets outside are already dark and an inviting glow comes from the paned windows. The sound of laughter and stringed instruments filters out from the inn.

The inn is built of wood with intricate carvings etched into every pillar and arch. The roof has been recently replaced, no longer made of thatch but made of shingles, something that is all the rage in the capital buildings. I think it makes it look more sophisticated.

I’d say that it rivals even the grandest great hall in the Highlander villages along the mountains, and although it’s certainly not as large as the Lowlander manors it has twice the charm. So, I can’t say I can see where Evengi’s surprise is coming from.

The town where it resides is certainly not the largest, but its central location makes it so that it sees more than its fair share of travelers. This village was where my mother grew up dreaming of one day owning an inn of her own. And then she met my father who made sure to make her dream come true. All it cost was the life of the previous owner of the inn.

But she was the one who refused to sell it to him.

Over the course of their marriage my father and mother have fixed up the inn, adding to it and fitting it with fineries that can’t be found in most inns. There is no inn in the land that can rival this one. Especially since sabotage is one of my father’s preferred ways of dealing with competition.

It’s a hobby of his, traveling Ruskhazar and making sure that my mother carries the reputation of having the finest inn in all the land. It just comes at making sure that the other inns all have a terrible reputation.

I turn to Evengi, tilting my head. “Well, are you planning on staying out here all night?”

Evengi swallows, doubt dancing across his blue eyes. “I just don’t know about this.”

I wrap my arm around his. “Come, you must meet my family sooner or later. Especially since if you don’t properly introduce yourself to my father, he is liable to hunt you down.”

Evengi presses his lips together, not looking too convinced.

I am about to tease him, but as I watch his neck work and glance down to see how tightly he is clenching his hand into a fist I realize that he is far more nervous about this than he is trying to let on. I step toward him, wrapping my arms around his waist. I rest my chin on his arm as I look up at him. “I promise it really isn’t as bad as it seems from the outside. We may be criminals and some of us are undead, and some of us toy with the undead, but underneath all that we are just a family. So just look at them as my family. My father and mother and sisters and Wilder.”

“Remind me, which of your sisters has this Wilder?” Evengi says. I’ve been going over my family with him, I don’t know if he wants to make sure to know what he is up against or if he just wants to make sure he doesn’t get anyone mixed up, but I find it quaint when he is so studious.

“My twin Bronwyn,” I say. “Corallin is the Higher Elf and she’s a—”

“Vampire,” Evengi says with a nod. “Just like your father and mother, but you and Bronwyn aren’t vampires.”

“Yet,” I reply which causes Evengi to clench his jaw.

I slide my hand down his arm, caressing his muscles before I place my palm against his. “Well, it’s not getting any warmer out here. What do you say that we go inside where it’s cozy?”

He exhales before he nods once. “I suppose I have to meet the Eels one of these days.”

“Today is as good a day as any for new beginnings.”

He hesitates a second before he shakes his head. “And I’m not going to be able to convince you to run away with me?”

“You’d best keep that talk to yourself while we’re in the inn,” I say angling my arm to elbow him without releasing his arm. “Although my father would probably be amused more than anything that you think you can find a place in Ruskhazar where you will be able to hide from him if you took his little girl away. But come on, we will be out here until the dawn if you had your way. And don’t you know, night is the best time to meet a vampire.” I wink at him and take a step toward the inn and the sound of stringed instruments and the bard singing mother’s favorite song.

Evengi might not think it yet, but this will be good for him.