Allure Of The Night

With Lady Aubrey and Eugene travelling on their way to Berkshire, Eve was left behind in Meadow. Turning the key to lock the house, Eve turned away and left to work.

When she reached the front of the Moriarty mansion, she stood in front of the big and wide gates. Softly gulping the nervousness that bubbled up her throat, she finally stepped inside the gates and continued to head towards the entrance of the mansion.

“Good morning, Ms. Barlow,” Alfie greeted Eve.

But the butler wasn’t alone and he was helping Vincent with his overcoat at the front of the hallway.

When Eve met Vincent’s eyes, she remembered the pureblooded vampire’s lips inches away from hers yesterday. His previous words and closeness had evoked something in her and she couldn’t look him in the eye for long.

Eve bowed at Vincent, “Good morning.” She decided to behave as if everything was normal.

Her feet were nothing less than the wheels of a carriage pushed from the top of the hill, ready to escape from his sight.

“Eve,” Vincent stopped her, and suddenly Eve felt as if heavy stones were tied to her feet. “Have breakfast with me,” he ordered in a calm voice, unlike her ruffled self.

“Pardon me, but I have already finished my breakfast,” Eve was quick to come up with an excuse and she offered a slight bow to him.

“You don’t have to eat. Your presence in the dining room will do,” the arrogant and proud vampire stated, raising one of his eyebrows at her before walking towards the dining room. The butler followed right behind his master.

Eve clutched her umbrella.

She shook her head to get rid of her thoughts that had crawled and crept into her mind since yesterday.

She had hoped that what she felt here yesterday would pass by this morning. But instead, she was aware of Vincent’s presence and wondered if the friendship she had tried to build with him would ruin her. She told herself that he had only meant to cheer her up, and the qualities he had mentioned to her that the man she needed should possess… he didn’t have it.

And the thought made her heart clench.

Eve made her way to the dining room, and a chair was pulled for her to sit next to Vincent.

All the members of the Moriarty family were already seated, and everyone’s eyes fell on her for a moment. Senior Mr. Moriarty was kind enough to welcome her as she was his youngest daughter’s governess,

“Take a seat, Ms. Barlow. Though the occasion is to celebrate, we would like to keep things within the family and our servants.”

On one side of Senior Mr. Moriarty sat Lady Annalise, and for a change, on his other side sat Allie. Marceline wasn’t internally pleased, but she put up a small smile.

Eve gingerly made her way around the table. On the way, her eyes met Vincent’s eyes that watched her, and she feared she was going to trip. No. She had tripped. She took a seat next to him, while calming her heart. He was her employer, she said to herself.

“Do you know what the celebration is about, Eve?” Vincent questioned her with a sly smile.

Senior Mr. Moriarty then announced, “Allie’s fangs have regrown, something that has never happened in the history of vampires.”

Eve blinked. She had hoped that Allie would hold the secret in for a week at least, but it seemed like even a day had been hard.

She brought out a shocked expression as if it was brand new information, while Vincent smiled as he knew she was the first to know about his sister’s regrown fangs.

“We are ecstatic to see Allie’s fangs appear and people will stop gossiping about what happened a few months ago,” Marceline hummed as she smeared the jam on her bread. She then stopped and turned to look at Allie, “It is strange that it has come now. Nobody has ever got back their broken fangs.”

Senior Mr. Moriarty stated, “It is because of Ms. Barlow of course. She has been working with Allie and giving her words of encouragement, not to mention care. It must have changed something.”

“That’s true, father,” Vincent chimed in agreement, “Clarks said when you speak to wilting plants and sing to them, they get better in appearance.”

“Talking to plants only a degenerate would do,” Marceline muttered under her breath.

“Talking to something is better than talking to oneself like you, my sister,” Vincent offered a charming smile, to which Marceline didn’t retort.

Eve bowed to Senior Mr. Moriarty from where she sat and said, “I am happy to hear that Miss Allie’s fangs have regrown.”

Senior Mr. Moriarty was very pleased, and he looked at his wife, who paused on feeling her husband’s gaze. Lady Annalise cleared her throat and said to Eve,

“As Allie’s fangs have grown back, and the Viscount believes that it is thanks to you, we have decided to permanently keep you as the Moriarty family’s governess. You will be given a raise so that you don’t have to look for any other family to work for.”

Eve turned stunned and could tell that the vampiress wasn’t telling it out of pressure, but because she had finally accepted her as a suitable governess for her daughter. A smile appeared on her lips, and she bowed at the vampiress.

“Thank you for allowing me to continue my work here, Lady Annalise.”

Lady Annalise offered a slight smile, half in acceptance and half because Eve still belonged to a lowly town and status beneath hers.

Senior Mr. Moriarty ordered the maids in the dining room, “Serve Ms. Barlow breakfast.”

Refusing it would be rude, and now that she was here, Eve decided to have a little breakfast with them. The maid served her breakfast before stepping away. When Eve’s left hand reached for the fork, the same time Vincent’s right hand reached for the glass of water and the back of their hands innocently brushed against each other.

Eve felt her heart skip a beat, and she coughed to disguise it.

Marceline gritted her teeth for the lowly human interrupting her breakfast. She couldn’t believe her parents had accepted this woman of low birth into their dining room. Her vampiress mother wasn’t bothered about it anymore.

Vincent turned to Eve and asked, “Aren’t you able to breathe? Your face has been red for quite some time.” His copper-red eyes stared into her blue ones.

God, have mercy on me, Eve whispered in her mind.

“The weather was hot outside. I didn’t realise it was harsh,” Eve murmured, feeling herself getting slightly lost in him. She quickly tore her eyes away from him and started to eat as if she had been starving.

How could this happen? Eve asked herself. Out of all the men in her town and the nearby ones, her heart had begun to race in the presence of this pureblooded vampire. If only she could rewind time, she would go back to the time and avoid attending the soiree at the Quintin’s.

Vincent gave a curious look at her suspicious actions.

Alfie appeared in the room with a newsletter and handed it to Marceline as she was finished with her breakfast. On reading the headline, the vampiress gasped in surprise.

“Mr. Walsh is in the dungeon.”

“Mr. Walsh?” Lady Annalise questioned with a frown and asked, “What for?”

Eve’s ears picked up the name. She subtly turned to Vincent, noticing him enjoying his meal.

As Marceline read the details, she turned confused and said, “He’s the one who killed Lady Camille! I cannot believe it. He was found burying her body near the Council last night. How courageous!”

“Or stupid,” Vincent added to Marceline’s thoughts.

“You must have already heard about it, Vince. What happened?” Marceline eagerly asked, wanting to get the details before others in the town.

Vincent leaned back in his chair and said, “He was found near the Council  last night, with a shovel and next to Lady Camille’s body. Poor Lady Camille, they are still finding out why he killed her. There was something about him killing a woman whom he slept with, but who knows what is true. Maybe he was framed for the murder?”

Eve wondered why Vincent sometimes did what he did, as it raised her blood pressure in not a good way.

With Lady Camille’s body out in the open and the blame on Mr. Walsh’s hand and not on her, it gave her space to breathe. The worry and tension she had been carrying in her mind settled down, but even she knew this wasn’t the end.

Knowing Vincent, the man had aimed for more than one thing at a time, which was going to disrupt many people’s peace who were in the shadows until now.

She heard Senior Mr. Moriarty speak, “It is indeed a shock that he would have anything to do with the disappearance of Lady Camille.”

“If the man was having an affair with another woman and killed her, who knows. Maybe he killed Lady Camille over an affair too? Mrs. Walsh must be in shock,” Marceline spoke her thoughts, enjoying the fresh news with her warm cup of blood tea.

For the rest of the breakfast, Lady Annalise and Marceline continued discussing about Mr. Walsh and Lady Camille. Vincent occasionally added his own input. Eve was not part of the conversation as she was only the governess here, but she listened to them, and every time Vincent spoke, her senses turned more attentive to him.

When everyone was done eating, Eve got up, “Thank you for inviting me for breakfast,” and she offered a bow.

As Eve left the dining room, she sensed Vincent’s eyes on her, but she didn’t turn and slipped away.

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