Dhampirica

V

TO HER DISPLEASURE AND CHAGRIN, Yvanna remained to be lectured by Soren once they returned home. Lord Dante promptly left the car and went inside the house without another word, for which Yvanna was quietly grateful.

"You incompetent girl," he snapped. "You had one task to do. Lord Dante had to walk back from the building on his own — in these times, of all things! I hope you will not be repeating this behaviour, or believe me, I will be noting this down in my reports to Lord Riccardo."

"It won't happen again," she vowed. When Soren dismissed her with a wave of his hand, she left the garage with an extra rush to her steps.

Though she was not required to check on Lord Dante while he was home, Yvanna made her way up the secluded eastern staircase to the second floor. She passed by her bedroom and walked down the narrow hallway to the end where Lord Dante's bedroom was situated. She kept her footsteps light, not wanting to cause him any disturbance. The door was closed, and she did not try to knock or open it, but merely stood there and listened. She heard the faint sound of his breath, his quiet movements, and of objects being rustled. Satisfied in the knowledge of where he was, she returned to her own room and waited until it was time to leave again.

When the clock hand hung high on the wall ticked lazily to 1:30 in the afternoon, Soren called on her and she eagerly sat up from her bed. She was unused to being idle, but she was not entirely sure of what else to do. She had decided to settle for staying in her room and keeping an attentive ear on her noble's whereabouts, but he had not bothered to leave his room either from the sounds of it.

Yvanna walked the five paces from her room to his. She raised her curled hand in the air, prepared to knock, but the door opened before her knuckles could make contact. "It's time to—" she began to say, but Lord Dante cut her off.

"I know," he said, brushing past her to make his way to the garage.

She closed her mouth, sealing the remainder of her sentence away, and followed him obediently. For most of her life, Yvanna had spent her time around her peers at the Academy — who were dhampiri, and her mentors — who were vampires. But she had never been acquainted with any nobles before the Romaniellos, and so she was not sure what to make of Lord Dante's indifference towards her.

Lord Riccardo seemed rather abrasive, but otherwise congenial on their first meeting. His son, on the other hand, seemed to treat her as one would a chair... if chairs could talk. It did not bother her, per se, but she hoped that his attitude would not get in the way of her duty.

Yvanna faithfully escorted him to the Azarro estate, which was equal in its majesty to the Romaniellos' home. She had hoped that Soren would give her some background information on the family or at least make introductions, but he had driven off as soon as he arrived, needing to attend to other affairs. Although Soren had said that his duty was to be a driver, it seemed that Lord Riccardo trusted him enough to task him with other matters of import.

Yvanna took it upon herself to make her own introductions to the Azarro family. She was greeted by Lady Olivia Azarro, wife to Lord Vittorio Azarro. She was a tall blonde woman, with pale blue eyes and sylphlike features. Yvanna did not get to meet her husband, who was apparently a frequently busy man; nor did she get to meet her three sons: Lords Massimo, Luciano, and Caro. Although, she did catch a glimpse of honey-colored hair as Lord Dante went upstairs.

Lady Olivia was overly accommodating and insisted that Yvanna need not mind Lord Dante, as the estate was entirely secure. Each of the Azarros of course had their own personal minders, but quite like Lord Riccardo had done, they also employed several security contractors. As each nobleperson was limited to only one minder at a time, since dhampiri were limited in numbers, some nobles took it upon themselves to hire vampires for additional security. Yvanna imagined it was a rather lucrative business in light of recent attacks.