“So who is this mysterious
visitor?” Seth asked as he and Kemp started down the long flight of stairs to
the ground floor of the manor house.
“I have absolutely no idea.
Some friend of a friend of my father’s apparently. All Mother told me was that
there’s some great tragedy involved and woman is still in mourning.”
“How terribly dramatic. We
shall have to get the whole story out of her at some point.”
Kemp laughed. “First off we
won’t be here long enough to do that, I suspect. Secondly, my dear man, I
plan to keep you too busy. So you won't have time to do any prying. This may be
the last time in ages we can spend all our hours
just having fun, in case you’ve forgotten.”
Seth sobered, shaking his
head. “I haven’t. I know as soon as we get back, we’ll be kept so busy even a
few minutes alone together will be a treasure.”
“We’re going to manage more
than a few if I have my way.” Kemp gathered Seth into his arms, bestowing a
deep, passionate kiss on him which was returned with equal fervor. Only a
surprised gasp from above them kept things from becoming even more intense.
Kemp looked up to see a lovely red-haired woman standing there and smiled, not
the least embarrassed at being caught. “You must be father’s guest.”
“I am,” Katherine replied,
walking down to join them. “Katherine Jeffries.” She held out her hand.
“Kemp Marston.” He shook her
hand, saying, “And this is Seth Freneau. You have to watch out for him, he’s a
real reprobate.”
“Only around you I suspect.”
Katherine laughed softly, tapping a finger on her lips. “Now I’m curious, how
did a dhampir and a vampyre manage to become a pair?”
“Well he was supposed to
kill me,” Seth said in all seriousness. “But I convinced him there were better
things he could do with me.”
“Much better,” Kemp agreed.
“And I guess we should all get down to the parlor before Mother comes searching
for us.”
Katherine smiled.
"Indeed. She seems to be friendly enough, but I’ve got a feeling I should
be on my best behavior. At least until we get to know each other better.”
Kemp laughed. “As long as
you don’t make any moves on my father, the two of you should get along just
fine. She gets just a bit touchy about that.”
“I can well imagine,”
Katherine replied. “However she has nothing to fear from me. I loved once and
he died because of me. I never plan to allow it to happen again.”
Kemp stopped in his tracks
to look at her. “Don’t ever say ‘never’. I felt that way too, until I met
Seth.”
Seth smiled, saying with a
chuckle, “If you wish, I’ll give you all the lectures I gave him on why you
should let go of your guilt and move on. Apparently they work.” He gave Kemp a
tight one-armed hug. “He’s living proof of that.”
“Boys.” Pamela’s voice came
from the bottom of the stairs. “And Katherine, it’s time to eat.”
Katherine looked surprised,
whispering to Kemp, “I hope she doesn’t expect me to.”
“Well, yes. Father has
people who are willing to let you feed from them. But not at the dinner table.”
“Absolutely not,” Pamela
said acerbically as the trio joined her. “Now, shall we?”
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