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Kai squeezed her hand as the wrought-iron gates groaned shut behind them. Each twisted bar was shaped like a screaming face, mouths frozen in eternal agony.

Trixie's stomach clenched. "That's... intense."

Her boyfriend laughed, that easy, charming sound that had first drawn her to him three months ago during midterm cramming at the campus coffee shop. "My sire has a flair for the dramatic."

"Your sire?" The word felt strange on her tongue, too formal, too feudal.

"Sorry. Old family term. I mean my father. Azrael."

The name hung in the air like a threat.

Trixie shifted in her seat, trying to shake off the unease crawling up her spine. The driveway stretched ahead, lined with bare trees that clawed at the darkening sky. November in the mountains meant early sunsets, and the light was already bruising into twilight.

Blackwood Manor rose before them like something from a nightmare. All sharp angles and dark stone, towers that pierced the sky, windows that reflected nothing. Gargoyles perched on every corner, their eyes seeming to track the car's approach.

"It's... big," she managed.

"Wait until you see the inside." Kai's voice carried a note she had never heard before. Not quite pride. Something sharper. "My family has owned this estate for generations. Centuries, actually."

Her phone buzzed in her lap. She glanced down at the screen. No signal. The bars had disappeared somewhere between the main road and the gates.

"Do not worry about that," Kai said, noticing her frown. "The manor blocks most signals. Stone walls three feet thick. We have wifi inside, though."

Rich people and their medieval castles with modern amenities. Trixie forced a smile and slipped her phone into her pocket.

The car pulled to a stop before massive oak doors bound with iron. They looked heavy enough to withstand a siege. Kai killed the engine, and suddenly the silence was absolute. No birds. No wind. Just the cooling tick of the engine and her own too-loud heartbeat.

"Ready to meet everyone?" Kai was already out of the car, moving around to open her door with exaggerated chivalry.

Trixie took his offered hand and stepped into the cold air. It stole her breath, carrying scents of woodsmoke and something metallic she could not quite place. Like copper and old pennies left in the rain.

Stop it, she told herself. You are being ridiculous.

The oak doors swung open before they reached them, revealing a woman backlit by golden candlelight. She was unnaturally beautiful, with pale skin that seemed to glow and hair so dark it seemed to absorb light. Her dress was the colour of arterial blood.

"Kai." The woman's voice was honey and poison. "You have returned. And you brought a guest."

"Aunt Seraphine, this is Trixie. Trixie, my aunt."

The woman's eyes, too dark to have pupils, locked onto Trixie. The weight of that gaze was physical, pressing against her chest, stealing her air. Those eyes travelled slowly down her body and back up, lingering at her throat, her wrists, anywhere the skin was thin and vulnerable.

Seraphine smiled. It did not reach her eyes.

"How delightful."

Trixie's hand tightened on Kai's arm. He patted it absently, already moving forward into the manor's mouth. She had no choice but to follow.

The entry hall was cavernous, lit by hundreds of candles in iron chandeliers that hung from chains thick as her wrist. The floor was black marble, polished to a mirror shine. Tapestries covered the walls, their images too dark to make out in the flickering light, but she caught glimpses of figures in torment, of creatures with too many limbs, of rituals she had no names for.

More people emerged from doorways and shadows. All of them were beautiful in that same unsettling way, as if they had been carved rather than born. Too perfect. Too still. Their eyes reflected the candlelight like animals caught in headlights.

A man with silver hair and a cruel mouth smiled at her. A woman whose beauty was so severe it was almost painful to look at tilted her head, studying Trixie like a specimen. A young man who could have been Kai's brother leaned against a pillar, his expression hungry.

"My family," Kai announced, his voice echoing in the vast space. "This is Trixie Harper. She will be staying with us for Thanksgiving."

The word "staying" felt wrong. Like a lie wrapped in politeness.

"How delightful," Seraphine purred. "It has been so long since we had a proper guest. Tell me, child, are you close with your family?"

The question caught her off guard. "I... my parents are in Florida. They retired there last year."

"Ah. So no one knows you are here."

It was not a question.

Trixie's mouth went dry. "They know I am visiting Kai's family for the holiday."

"Of course." Seraphine's smile widened, revealing teeth just slightly too sharp, too white. "How thoughtful of you to travel so far for our little gathering."

Behind them, the massive oak doors swung shut. The boom echoed through the hall like a cannon shot, like a coffin lid slamming down, like the sealing of a tomb.

Every instinct Trixie possessed screamed at her to run.

But Kai's arm was around her waist now, guiding her deeper into the manor. The beautiful faces closed in around them, a circle of predators, and their smiles promised nothing but hunger.

"Come," Kai said, his voice still warm, still charming, still the boy she thought she knew. "We have prepared a feast in your honor."

Seraphine stepped closer, her cold fingers brushing Trixie's cheek. "And you, my dear," she whispered, her breath ice against Trixie's ear, "are the main course."