The Dark Secret of the CEO
Chapter 19

Chapter 19

“…I thought we weren’t expecting everyone?” I mutter, a bit worried now.

“We weren’t, but when Richard summons us, most at least give a reply, even to decline. We haven’theard from Quentin.”

“What about Viktor?” Asks Cata. “And Elijah?”

“Viktor just texted back in the group chat,” Cecily says. “He’s fine, just sulking as usual.”

“Vivian said she was coming, she might just be late. Susan hasn’t texted in a while though…”

“So Quentin, Susan and Elijah are also missing?” Mutters Benedict. “…What the heck is going on?”

All eyes go to the patriarch… Is that the real reason he summoned them all here, and forbade themfrom leaving London? His dark expression tells me that’s right, but there might also be more than that.Greyson looks a bit out of breath, and he smells like gasoline. A biker?

“…I understand,” Richard mutters after a while. “Thank you, Greyson.”

Greyson nods, then glances my way. To my surprise, he walks up to me, and before I can utter a word,he pats my head, his huge hand easily covering my scalp, and then walks past us, towards the kitchen.I let out a faint sigh, while Cecily leans against the door frame, grabbing her phone. I bet she’s textingthe missing vampires. Behind us, I spot Felicia, standing on the stairs with a sad expression. Bartglances at her too, and they silently exchange looks. I don’t know what to say… He then puts an armaround my waist, and without a word, I’m pushed back upstairs, Cecily following us. We all leaveRichard alone in the living room.

“What the hell could have happened?” Bart groans after we’ve reached the second floor. “Atticus wasno newborn and he always kept to himself. Who could have tried to attack him…?”

“You think someone attacked him?” I ask, shocked.

“That’s the only explanation,” whispers Felicia. “We don’t die from disease, and it’s unlikely a humancould kill us. Atticus was the most quiet, calm vampire you could imagine. He spent four centuries livingin the same area, guarding the cemetery his family was buried in. He would come to London or seeone of us once in a while, but he wouldn’t have gone somewhere without at least telling one of us.”

“If it had been an accident, Greyson would have found him,” adds Cecily. “Vampires don’t simplydisappear like that.”

I can’t help but shiver. Who could have been strong and mad enough to attack a three-centuries-oldvampire? Do the Heartgraves have enemies I have yet to hear about? From what I’ve seen and heard,they all have their own lives, so who the heck would choose to attack one of them, and why? Theyseem worried it’s someone who’s after all of them, seeing how they were disturbed about the onesmissing earlier…

“Is this the first time?” I ask. “…That one of the Heartgraves is… attacked?”

“No,” she shakes her head. “There were more of us before, but like we said, we lost a lot of our siblingsduring the wars. The thing is, wars were also a good way for enemy vampires to kill some of us withoutgetting Richard’s attention. They are all trying to get to him, to our Overlord, through us. Richard’s avery, very powerful and old vampire, so they target us in order to hurt him.”

“That’s why we keep the newbies close to home,” adds Bart.

So Richard really did call them all back to check who was still alive and well, but also for my sake… Ihave a bad feeling about this. I’m already feeling angry for Atticus’ sake, and even worried for theothers I haven’t met yet.

“Go to bed, Hera,” Bart suddenly pushes me towards my door. “Leave this to the grown-ups to handle,alright? Just rest, you’ll have to wake up early again tomorrow.”

I don’t really get to protest, and I feel like I don’t really have the right to. This is a family matter, and I’mjust the newest addition who hasn’t really gotten to fully fit in yet. So, like an obedient girl, I get to mybedroom, close the door behind me, and go back to lying on the bed. I listen to everyone going back totheir own, and the house gets quiet again. I can faintly hear Cata and Greyson speaking if I focusenough, but I won’t eavesdrop. From the little bit I saw of him, Greyson seemed like a nice guy, so Iguess I’ll have time to properly meet him later…

I roll around under the sheets, more for comfort than for warmth. It seems like this life as a Heartgraveswon’t be without danger either. For now, I should just trust Richard and the others… Seems like I’ll besafe as long as I obey their rules. Plus, I don’t really want to think further than my revenge. I may havecalmed down, but I can’t not think about it.

I fall asleep with a lot on my mind. Perhaps that’s why when I wake up the next evening, I feel evenmore determined, and full of ideas. According to an app Cecily set up on my phone, the sun just wentdown, and it’s still early in the evening. I quickly get up, but then, my enthusiasm is cut short again.Crap, I really need to get some clothes… Instead, I just go downstairs in my pajamas. As expected,Cata is already up and baking, but she’s not the only one ready.

“Hi, Baby!” Rebecca greets me with a big smile. “Did you sleep well?”

Judging from her attitude, it doesn’t look like she heard one of her siblings went missing, or worse. Shechanged clothes, and is now wearing black leather pants and a simple white blouse, but it looks likethey are all brand new, and perfectly flattering her impressive figure. She clearly puts the accent on heraccessories, like those huge earrings or the bracelets making a racket on her wrist, and those flashyblue heels.

“Yes, thanks,” I nod.

“Come on,” she says, clapping her hands together. “It’s not often that I get to take one of my littlesisters shopping, so today’s the day! Go on and get ready!”

“I’m coming too!” Suddenly shouts Cecily from somewhere above us.

Half a dozen groans of grumpy, not-really-awake-yet vampires reply throughout the house. I have to goback upstairs to get changed, and this time, Cessily hands me a knit dress she bought and never worefor some reason, with high boots. Not my style, but it will do for tonight. When I go back downstairs,Swithin is up, and visibly waiting for me in another impeccable black suite.

“Passport,” he says, handing it to me. “Credit card, National Identity Card, and my business card, foremergencies. Though I really hope you won’t need to use it.”

“Thank you,” I mutter, impressed.

I open the passport, which looks absolutely genuine. I realize they somehow took a picture of me lastnight and cropped it into my profile picture… When the hell did they take it? They picked my death dateas my birth date, only subtracting 25 years… I guess that makes me a Libra now? Everything looksabsolutely genuine. I don’t dare to ask what the limit is on the credit card, but I’m not really worried. It’sone of those top tier, black platinum type of credit cards that already cost a small fortune a year.

“Since you have a phone now, I’ve also sent you the details we’ve set as your life as Hera, so makesure you learn it all by heart, and do not make any mistakes.”

“Yes, Sir,” I nod.

“Give her a break, Swithin,” groans Cecily, grabbing me by the arm. “We have to shop for your passportprotection and a proper wallet now! Come on, let’s go before the shops close.”

One thing I quickly realize: Winter is the shopaholic vampires’ favorite season. We take Rebecca’s car,and rush to the nearest shopping mall before it closes. I’m genuinely impressed at how efficient theyare at picking which shops we still have time to shop in before they close, and replaceing my size oncewe’re inside.

To be honest, I enjoy the whole experience a lot. First, the simple action of shopping for clothes formyself is just one thing I had been missing for a long while. Plus, I’m Hera now. Hera’s body is differentfrom June’s, and I don’t need to wear flashy, sexy clothes to get the photographers’ attention. In fact, Ireplace that I tend to naturally gravitate towards the basics, and pick simple designs but with higher-qualityfabrics, in dark or simple tones. In just two hours, I buy four different denim jeans, two pairs of leatherpants, some short skirts to show off my legs, a few bodysuits with long sleeves, three strap tops, acouple of turtlenecks, and two dresses. Following Rebecca’s advice, I also buy a couple of accessoriesfor jewelry, like a layered necklace, a few gold rings, and little hoop earrings. When it comes to shoesthough, Cecily is a real tyrant. She forces me to try eighteen different pairs, each more impossible thanthe last, and half of them I couldn’t possibly have worn with my human legs without breaking an ankle.While I love being able to wear high heels, I’m just not ready yet for the snake skin or big red pumps.Luckily, I manage to settle for some boots, low and high, relatively normal heels, and even a pair ofNike Air Max, just so I look human from time to time… The last stop is the Dior makeup stand, and thistime, I’m more than happy to try and get the latest colors I saw last night into my shopping bag.Rebecca and Cecily have literally dozens of decades of knowledge on makeup, and happily advise meon which colors to get. Right after I pay for it all, still impressed at how the credit card doesn’t flinch atthe impressive expenses of the day, we get back to the middle of the shopping mall, with all the shopsaround us closing or about to. I feel satisfied, and of course, not even tired from all that shopping.Rebecca interlocks arms with me, with a malicious smile.

“Well, all that shopping has made me a bit hungry, ladies. Shall we look for dinner?”

…She’s not speaking about a restaurant. Cecily immediately looks all excited for it. Didn’t they alreadyfeed yesterday? I don’t know why, I don’t really feel like going with them. In fact, those three long hoursof shopping have rendered me kind of overwhelmed, and I feel the need to be… alone, for a bit. Wekeep walking back to the parking lot, and they already have their eyes set on some high-end nightclubthey want to go hunt at.

“Rebecca, is it alright if I just go home instead?” I ask. “I just… need to be alone for a bit.”

“Are you sure, Baby?” She frowns. “It’s quite a walk back to the house.”

“I’ll be alright,” I nod. “I just need to keep walking north-east, and plus I have a GPS on my phone. It’snot like I’ll be tired either, I’ll be fine.”

They exchange a look, and Rebecca shrugs.

“Alright, Baby Vamp, up to you. Just text us if you have any issues, alright? And if you eat, make sureit’s not messy!”

She gives me a wink, and I nod, putting my shopping bags in the car. I just keep my newly-boughtwallet in one of the pockets of my also brand new coat, a big fake fur one. I probably wouldn’t be ableto get away so easily if I was with anybody else, but Rebecca and Cecily are just so excited for their“meal”, and a bit high on the shopping adrenaline. They bid me a quick goodbye, and the car drivesaway, towards another part of town and, no doubt, a fancy place with lots of fresh throats. I sigh. I’m leftalone in the parking lot, with the last few customers making their way to the underground. I walk away. Idid plan to walk home, but I have an extra destination in mind. I realized on the way here that we wereclose to that road.

I start walking, grateful for my tireless legs that don’t mind the high heels on the asphalt. It doesn’t takemore than 20 minutes to get there.

Westway Road.

I only have very blurry memories of the accident. I probably wouldn’t have been able to replace out theroad if it wasn’t for the article I read over and over again, until I knew it by heart… The road on whichmy mom died. I don’t know why she chose to drive so fast on a rainy night, but I have a hint of why shewould have been drinking. I just wish she hadn’t taken the car that day. I wish she would have thoughtof me, and just stayed home with her four year old… I take a deep breath. It’s an above-groundhighway, so it’s not like I can get up there, anyway. I just wanted to see it, just once. If I asked Swithinor Richard, I could probably replace where she’s buried as well…

I sigh, but keep walking. There’s no use staying around. I was curious to see it, but it’s just a road likeany other… And I almost feel sorry for my mother if she sees me now. Sorry I didn’t get to live olderthan you did, Mom.

The neighborhood is quiet and empty at this hour, but I enjoy the loneliness. I can’t be alone a singleminute at the Heartgraves Mansion, so this is welcome. As someone who’s lived alone for a long, longtime without much contact with the outside world, I’m grateful for my new family, but I can’t adjust soeasily.

I keep walking, but something is tingling in the back of my throat. It’s like a faint ache, something thatrenders my throat a bit dry, a bit thirsty… I feel my fangs tingle. My eyes get a bit blurry… and red. Shit,seriously? Now?

I try to calm down. The streets are empty anyway. I just need to replace a human, quick, and hope I’ll haveenough self-control to stop… I keep walking, a bit faster, listening to my surroundings. I hear a smallgroup nearby. No, too many. I hear a couple arguing, but they are behind closed doors. I keep going,taking small, dark streets, walking faster. The thirst gets worse, I need blood. I need blood, right now,fast, quick. Warm, delicious, filling blood. Come on, there can’t be literally no one… Suddenly, I hearone. A drunkard, mumbling to himself. Very drunk, from the uneven sounds of his steps. I chase him

down, a bit faster than I should. I feel like a panther hunting for her prey, restless and secretive. I’m sohorribly thirsty, my vision is turning black and white… and red. I finally stop him. This should be easy.The guy reeks of cheap alcohol, and he can barely walk already. I don’t bother with the small talk, Iliterally jump on him, biting like a savage.

It’s not good, but it’s filling… I drink, and drink, and drink. Remember to stop, remember to stop, forfuck’s sake… but I want more. Just one more drop… Suddenly, a chuckle stops me. Shit! I didn’t checkaround. I glance up, and, from the alley I came from, I immediately replace a silhouette. I hiss immediatelyby reflex, and drop my victim to the ground. I sure hope he’s still alive… Yeah, I hear his heartbeat.That was another close one… I try to see the silhouette better. I can just tell it’s a man, but he’scompletely hidden in the darkness, and even my eyes can’t really distinguish him from hissurroundings, except for the light blonde hair. He smiles, showing off his fangs. Is that an enemy? Iremember Atticus, and hiss even more. Shit, can I fight someone?

But before I can decide on what to do, he suddenly disappears. Fuck, where did he go? Why? Onesecond later, I get my answer: bright, blinding headlights, and a loud police siren. I turn my head to replacea police car coming down the street. Two cops jump out, their eyes on me and my blood-soaked chinand hands.

“Hands up!”

Oh, Swithin is going to kill me…