Amongst the Order (Watchers of the Veil #1)

Chapter 12

The Collecter idly chatted as he escorted me through the extravagant maze of his home, glancing over his shoulder in warning to the anxious onlookers when he opened the doors of the ballroom, exposing me once again to the sea of feasting vampires.

I kept my head down low, hair brought forward to cover my neck, eyes fixed on The Collector's walking legs so not to get lost, already fighting to hold back a gag at the rusty stench. Even if there were bouncers enforcing the feeding, I would not take any chances.

I refrained from sighing with relief as dim light from a hidden door met us at the back of the room. The Collector let me step inside first. My shoes clung to the floor, and I did not dare look at what stuck to them.

"Do the vampires frighten you?" he asked as he shut the door behind him.

"I've seen worse on hunts," I replied. He raised his brows as if asking me to continue. "The victims of the creatures I hunt aren't willing like the ones back there."

"It's sickening, isn't it?" he said with a smile. "That there's people willing to put themselves in danger just for a rush of adrenaline?"

"You're hardly different," I replied. "Throwing a party with hundreds of supernaturals far more powerful than yourself? Any one of them could harm you at any second if they really wanted to."

His smile turned crooked as he leaned in close. "It's for the thrill, Miss Lupine."

He gestured to the narrow set of stairs, taking a moment to let me ponder on his words. "If you will."

Our footsteps echoed as the heels of our shoes tapped on the stone steps blanketed in shadow. The lack of light showing us the way told me this place was seldom visited, yet the columned walls had been dusted recently. Perhaps The Collector viewed his possessions often, but alone.

The entire floor had been dedicated to his collection, the layout resembling that of a museum, every room a shrine to each supernatural: the vampires, werewolves, witches, hunters and one for the most mysterious beings such as ghosts and angels, which were myths in themselves, even among this hidden world. I marvelled at them, barely resisting temptation to not touch the polished, scarlet, flower-shaped stained glass of a window The Collector claimed was extracted from Valour: the vampire's safe haven, and their equivalent to Oblivion's Watch. Allegedly, none other than the vampires themselves knew of what sat at the top of that mountain. All outsiders were offered in hint was the manor-like structure at the base of Valour itself.

"It's rumoured the trek to the mountain is so deadly only vampires can make it," The Collector explained. "I also have a painting of an artist's depiction of what it looks like, but we cannot be sure, can we?"

The scarlet glass was not a flower, I realised, but a sun. A blood red sun. Perhaps the only one they had, and The Collector had it for himself. "It's beautiful," I said. Beautiful that a creature of destruction could create something so... fragile. Delicate. Even meaningful.

"I wish I had something more interesting than glass to show you. There's another I once collected but it was... stolen." He sighed, and a muscle flickered in his pointed jaw. "But we should move on."

"Wait." I held up a hand to stop him. "What was stolen?"

"Another window. It depicted an ancient legend of the werewolves. A prophecy, of some kind."