Dante and Adrian are in the main room, playing some kind of card game. A very complicated-looking card game, as nearly the whole table is covered in carefully-arranged cards with colorful art.
When Adrian looks up and sees us, he sighs with relief. "Thank god, something to save me from this hell. Dante tricked me. He said this game was about collecting women."
"I said it was about collecting and training musicians," Dante corrects him.
"Whatever," says Adrian, waving his hand. "My brain hurts. I'm more interested in what you two are doing out and about." He looks at me and tilts his head in amusement. "You seemed to enjoy that bath, hmmm?"
"Quite the opposite," I correct him sourly. "Anyway, I wanted to take a look around this place, so-"
"Wonderful!" he cries, practically leaping out of his chair. "Come Dante, we can take a break for a short time, can't we? I'll go fetch Virgil."
The game on the table has piqued my interest, so I go to look at it. I've never seen anything like it. There is a different piece of art on every card, illustrations of beautiful women with various instruments. I can see why Adrian was lured in, but it does seem rather complex. I pick up a card featuring a woman on a piano, singing with her eyes closed.
"Caught your interest, has it?" asks Dante in my ear.
"Yes," I answer honestly. "She's gorgeous. These aren't based off of real artists, are they?"
Dante laughs. "What, hoping to see her in real life?"
"So what if I was?" I answer defensively. "I've never been to a real music performance."
"You can't be serious," comes Adrian's voice from behind me. "Not even once?"
Virgil comes in beside him. "Of course not. Thralls aren't allowed to have instruments, so how could they?"
"We sing," I answer. Now that everyone's all here, I'm itching to see this place. I head straight for the closest door outside, hoping for a full moon. "Besides," I continue, "I almost had the chance, once, with the Lady Sapphire." I reach the door and am about to open it when I realized they've all stopped a few steps behind me. They're staring at me in shock.
"Is...is that part of your punishment too?" asks Virgil.
"What do you mean?" I really don't know what they're reacting so strongly to.
"Being put with men, when you serve...when you serve women…" he adds awkwardly.
When I realize what they're confused about, I just throw my head back in a laugh. "No, you idiots. I serve men and women. You're all acting like it's so unusual."
But they still stare at me in silence, and I'm starting to feel even more uncomfortable. "What," I joke, "You can't possibly all only like women?"
They all nod in response.
I put my hand on the door handle, still laughing. "Well, that sucks for you guys," I chuckle, finally opening the door to the garden. But as I step out, Lucien's quiet chuckle behind me brings me to a realization. They're not the ones who are going to have problems with this setup….
As I freeze in place, Lucien puts his hand on my head. "Finally realized, huh?" he murmurs, moving past me. I can feel my cheeks heating up in embarrassment.
Dante pats my shoulder as he goes past as well, a small grin on his lips.
Virgil just looks at me, blushes, and looks away again.
"You're acting like that's a bad thing," comes Adrian's voice directly in my ear. I jump a little even though I know I should have expected it. "Aren't you excited?"
I feel my face turn even redder as everyone watches in amusement. "Nervous," I admit. Four hungry vampires is hard enough to deal with, but four hungry and horny vampires is a whole new problem I hadn't thought of. "You're all basically strangers to me still," I add. "It's not exactly the most...appealing situation."
Adrian takes my hands and pulls me towards the benches everyone else has settled on. "Then let's get to know each other," he says with a wink.
I manage to wrest my hands free. "I'm going to explore the garden properly," I say. I need to clear my head.
The cool night air is nice, but it's not til I escape the expectant gazes of the four men behind me that I can finally feel relief. Now that I can relax, I can look around properly, and see just how beautiful the gardens are. There's an ancient weeping willow growing next to a peaceful little pool, its fronds just brushing the gently rippling water. As expected, the garden is mostly night bloomers, but I recognize a few plants that bloom during the day. There's trellises covered in vines, and even a gazebo with sunproof shades. I don't know why a vampire would ever want to be outside in the middle of the day, but someone built it that way on purpose.
Eventually, I come upon the wall that fences us in. Even without any magic prowess, I can practically feel the power humming off of it.
"We'll be able to leave when we pass its requirements," says someone behind me, and I almost jump again.
"Lucien," I sigh. "I should have known you wouldn't let me be alone."
"Of course not," he says, pushing aside some vines to look at the sky. "I waited...ten days for this."
Ten days?! "Then Adrian…"
"That's right," he says, looking down at me with his gold eyes glittering. "He's even more pent up than me." He pushes my back against the wall.
As he leans in, I try to shift away again, but his weight is too much. "You're not still hungry, after-" I begin, but he cuts me off by licking his bite from this morning, causing it to start bleeding again.
"But Adrian will-" He takes a long, slow drink before he answers.
"Adrian will be awfully frustrated if you can't feed him tomorrow, won't he?" Lucien says, delight coloring his voice. He takes another long, slow pull at my neck.
"I'm going to be the one who has to deal with it, not you!" I cry, struggling against his grasp. "So stop! I'm not letting you pull me down like this!"
But he doesn't listen, and my anger is getting the best of me. I close my eyes, focus, and feel the blaze of the sun on my skin.
Lucien pulls back with a cry, putting his hands to his burned lips. Before he can react any more, I run full-tilt to the center of the garden. The other three turn in surprise when I burst through arch. I scan the three faces and think for the few seconds I have before Lucien recovers, and make my decision a second before reaching the center.
I grab Adrian's hand and keep running. "Adrian, lead me to your room."
He's too surprised to make a comment, but by the time we get inside, he's recovered enough to pick me up and run full-tilt to his room.
As soon as we cross the threshold, I look over his shoulder and shout, "No one is permitted to cross into this room!"
And just in time, too. Lucien slams into the wall next to the door and watches me, chest heaving. "That will only last until you fall asleep," he growls.
"Or until I do," says Adrian decisively. "Now leave. She's decided to stay here for the night."
He watches us with cold eyes for a few moments before turning around and returning to his room. Adrian closes the door and immediately turns to me.