“I’ll try. All I want is to look out for you,” Jemima said.
“You too, Damon,” Mary Jane said. “It’s important we present a united front.”
“Yes, ma’am!” Damon said sarcastically. I didn’t bother to shush him. For better or worse, the old Damon was back.
“House” was an understatement for the sprawling Georgian mansion that lay in front of us. It was set back from the road, surrounded by acres of greenery, as though it were a private park. A twelve-foot-tall
wrought-iron fence wrapped around the property. Its spiked top was garlanded with twisting rose vines, an attempt to make it less foreboding. Now, however, the flowers had yet to be cut back for winter, and the brown, flowerless stems looked ugly and ominous.
Mary Jane didn’t even pause at the grand sight and marched up the winding slate path to the front entrance. In the distance, I could see the stables, and beyond that, the expanse of Regents Park. When I’d come to London, the park had been all lush green grass and a canopy of trees. Now, ghostly bare branches dotted the landscape, and the ground was covered with brown leaves.
Mary Jane rapped on the front door. Almost immediately the door swung open, revealing a dour woman with white hair pulled back in a tight bun.
“Is Lady Alice expecting you?” Disgust was stamped on her face as she looked Mary Jane up and down.
“No, she’s not. But please tell her that Mary Jane Kelly is here for her. She’ll know who that is.”
“Mary Jane Kelly?” the woman asked. “And what about the rest of you lot?”
“Just tell her that Mary Jane’s here. I’ll explain the rest,” Mary Jane said firmly.
“All right,” the maid sighed. “I’ll see if my missus wants to see you,” she said, turning on her heel and closing the door firmly behind her.
Mary Jane turned toward us. “She’ll remember me. She has to,” she said, as if convincing herself.
I clenched my jaw, wondering what would happen when Lady Alice came to the door and realized Mary Jane wasn’t alone. I knew it wouldn’t take long for Lady Alice to realize Damon and I were vampires. I wasn’t sure whether they could smell the blood on our hands or sense our nature some other way, but the witches knew.
Before I had time to allow all the what-if scenarios to unravel in my mind, a woman wearing a gauzy white dress opened the door, her blond curls piled on top of her head. I blinked. She was beautiful in an otherworldly way, like the angels depicted in stained-glass cathedral windows. Her eyelashes were golden-white, and her skin sparkled as though it had been dusted with finely crushed diamonds. It was impossible to tell her age, although I assumed, from what Mary Jane had told us, she had to be well into her forties.
“Mary Jane, it’s really you!” she cried, pulling Mary Jane to her body and tightly hugging her as she rocked back and forth. Then she stepped back and appraised us, her eyes glittering.
She sucked in her breath as she glanced between Damon and me.
“Mary Jane, what are you doing with those men?” she hissed. “Don’t you know what they are?”
“They’re helping me,” Mary Jane said, anger edging her voice. “I need people I can count on.”
“After everything that happened, you owe Mary Jane, and you know it,” Jemima piped up.
Confusion crossed Lady Alice’s face. “I wanted to adopt you, Mary Jane, I really did. But the day I was supposed to pick you up, I received word that my husband, who was fighting the war in Africa, was injured. I dropped everything to be by his side. I sent a message to the orphanage that I would be back for you when we had a more stable home. But by the time I went to the orphanage to fetch you, you were gone.”
“Really?” Mary Jane asked.
“Yes!” Lady Alice said passionately.
“I never knew any of that,” Mary Jane said in a small voice.
“You know I’m telling the truth,” Lady Alice said meaningfully. Behind us, Jemima coughed sarcastically.
Lady Alice directed her attention to Jemima. “I’m being honest, and you know it. We’re cut from the same cloth, and I want to help you, just as I want to help Mary Jane. But first, tell me, why are you here, now? Why did you bring vampires to my doorstep?”
She glanced at our group, allowing her gaze to rest on each of us. I wanted to believe her. But no matter what she said, she wasn’t obligated to Mary Jane, and from the hateful looks she gave Damon and me, I wasn’t sure she’d help Mary Jane if it also meant helping us. I had to say something.
“Stefan Salvatore, ma’am,” I said. No lying, I reminded myself. “And yes, we are helping Mary Jane. A dangerous vampire is after her heart, and we’re doing the best we can to protect her. But we need your help. Know that we come here with nothing but good intentions.”
“After her heart?” Lady Alice murmured in concern.
“Yes. I was attacked down by the docks, and Stefan saved me,” Mary Jane explained.