Free The Frostwoven Crown (Book 4) by Andrew Hunter

a nervous smile and reached out to take his hand, pulling him close. Garrett choked back his fear for a brief moment, until he glanced over at the Valfrei. She was staring intently at him, and he suddenly noticed that the pupils of her eyes were not exactly round but more elongated vertically, like those of some cold-blooded reptile. He tried to swallow, but his mouth had gone quite dry.
    “May my friend stay with us?” Marla asked.
    Senzei regarded him with those serpent’s eyes for a long moment before she spoke again. “Of course,” she said, “I look forward to learning all about your… friend.”
    Garrett felt a little twinge in his gut, but he pulled a tense smile across his face and took the seat on the other side of Marla.
    She smiled at him, patting his knee reassuringly under the table before turning her attention back to the elder vampire.
    "I've been so looking forward to meeting you, Valfrei," Marla said, "I... I'm afraid I know so little of your work. My mother says you are... are quite accomplished."
    "Your mother says this?" Valfrei Senzei asked, her voice cool; her eyes searching Marla's face.
    "Yes," Marla said, hesitating only by a breath before adding, "she speaks quite highly of you."
    The Valfrei's lips curled upward slightly at the corner, and her eyes narrowed to slits. "Your mother is quite adept as well," she said, "to have not only survived, but even thrived, here... so far from home," Her eyes turned suddenly upon Garrett, and he started slightly and hastily glanced away.
    Marla looked at Garrett as well. "We've come to think of this place as our home," she said.
    A faint hiss of air passed through the Valfrei's nostrils, and she looked away. "It is good that you have experienced something of the outside world in your youth," she said, looking at Marla again, "It will give you a greater appreciation of what we are building at home."
    "Building?" Marla asked.
    The Valfrei smiled. "A better future for our people," she said.
    Marla nodded. "Of course."
    The Valfrei turned her gaze upon Garrett once more. "And you must be Tinjin's son," she said, letting the tips of her fangs rest on her lower lip when she smiled.
    Garrett flinched. His hopes of remaining anonymous throughout the evening unraveled like a two copper shroud. He worked his jaw, hoping that words might come out, but nothing did.
    "He is well, is he not?" the Valfrei asked.
    "He... I'm not his son," Garrett finally managed, "He's my uncle."
    The Valfrei inclined her head slightly. "Another one of his nephews , I see," she said, "He is still trying to fill that hollow with borrowed sons."
    "What do you mean?" Garrett asked. A sick, tingly feeling crawled up the back of his neck.
    "He never told you what happened to his family... to his real son?" The Valfrei chuckled.
    Garrett shook his head.
    The vampire woman raised her thin eyebrows. "Oh," she said, "forget I mentioned it then..." She looked past Garrett, over his shoulder, and her eyes sparkled with delight. "Klavicus! Is that you?" she said.
    Garrett turned to look at the doorman who was approaching the table with a tray of silver goblets and a sick look on his face.
    "Good evening... Valfrei," Klavicus rasped. His lips twitched back over his long yellow fangs. "I bring... refreshment," He carefully sat a silver goblet, filled with blood down in front of Marla first, and then a larger, more ornate goblet, studded with rubies, before the Valfrei.
    "I didn't know you were working here," the Valfrei cooed, "It is so good to see you again. How long has it been?"
    "I couldn't say," Klavicus muttered.
    "Since the Trials, I believe," she sighed, "Ah, those were good times, were they not?"
    Klavicus's lips twitched again.
    The Valfrei lifted the jewel-encrusted goblet to her lips and inhaled its scent. "Faun," she said, approvingly, "Thank you, Klavicus."
    He stretched his fragile smile and bowed his head before setting the last goblet, a plain silver one, in front of Garrett.
    Garrett