Free Duella Book 3: The Witch and the Vampire Series by Fawn Lowery Page A

to have servants to wait on us and cooks to prepare our meals?” She sucked in a quick breath and covered her face with both hands. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I forget how horrible it is to be a vampire. We don’t eat food—real food anyway.” She lowered her hands and looked at him, a faint smile on her lips. “But I suppose we could if we wanted to.”
    “You could.” He returned her smile. Remorse gathered in his gut. He realized then that she suffered the same sad feelings as he about their vampire state, the undead existence they were forced to endure.
Alas.
There was little either of them could do to change things. The curse would remain with them forever.
    She shrugged her shoulders. “When will you occupy the house?” She stared at him with wide eyes.
    He glanced toward the desk, reminded that the former owner had been taken away and now lay in a funeral home a short distance from there, prepared for burial in the human manner. The servants were presently gathered in the chapel, grieving.
    And perhaps worrying about their jobs. “Tonight.”
    She bit her bottom lip.
    He sensed her concern. “I’ll send for your coffin.”
    She looked relieved, then lowered her eyes. “I know we’ve been sleeping together, but—”
    “You don’t owe me an explanation, Miriam. If you feel at ease having the crypt near you, then you shall have it.” He smiled.
    “All vampires should have their casket nearby, Duella .” Her brows drew together. “Have you no coffin of your own?”
    He sighed and took a seat on the corner of the desk. Looking about the great room, with its book lined walls and sleek leather furniture, he felt he could get used to his new surroundings with little effort. “I have no coffin, my sweet. And now that we are in this new place, I intend to sleep in a real bed in a real bedroom with curtains at the window and a bolt on the door.” He laughed out loud.
    She smiled broadly. “Do you suppose we could sleep without being near the earth—the very thing the undead is supposed to retreat to for security?” She crossed the floor and stood very close to him. “Are there some human things that we could do—instead of always hunting for victims in the night, then scurrying into the darkness to hide?” She combed her fingers through her hair. The dark mass hung lank against her shoulders. Dark circles rimmed her eyes. Shadows played about her mouth, reminiscent of her lost beauty.
    He took hold of her upper shoulders and held her at arm’s length. “We are going to make some changes, Miriam. We are going to establish ourselves in the community and live among the living.”
    She drew in a quick breath. “But how can we—when we must hunt mortals for their blood? How can we live among them—they will discover us and drive stakes through our helpless bodies while we slumber.” She shook her head. “Oh, Duella . We cannot.”
    He drew her into his embrace. “Miriam, we can. And we shall.”
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Ten
     
     
    The servants neither returned to the house that night or the following. Duella prepared written instructions for each one, assuring them that they were still employed at the mansion and making a brief introduction of himself as their new employer. On the fourth night, the butler and the cook appeared, standing stiff and formal at the foot of the stairs as he descended from the upper floor. He had chosen a bedroom for himself and Miriam, the master suite with a grand view overlooking the dense woods that lay behind the house.
    Ambrose, the butler bowed at the waist as Duella came down the stairs.
    “We are grateful that you intend to keep us on, Mr. Sutherland.”
    “Thank you, sir.”
    Hilda, the cook and Ambrose’s wife, stared at him with a rather unorthodox expression on her face. As Duella neared the landing of the stairs, she stepped behind her husband, as though seeking safety from him.
    “The gardening staff and the two maids employed by Mr. Glasco