He unbuttoned his jacket and pulled out a silver ring box from the inside pocket. He held it lightly in his fingers, showing it to her. The metal was dented and dull.
“How old is that thing?”
“I do not know. It was a gift from the Fey king a very long time ago.”
He stood, extending his hand to her, apparently deciding the conversation was at an end and he was ready to go. Men!
“Hold up, Fabio.” She put out a hand to keep him at bay. “I am not your companion. You cannot have my blood and I will never want to give it to you. So why do you want me to go to this…this…bloodfest?”
His fingers clasped hers, soft and warm, his fingers threading through hers tenderly. “Your safety, Valerie, is paramount to me. I need the others to know you are protected by me. By accompanying me tonight, a vampire will not dare touch you.”
Val’s stomach did a little flip flop. She was such a chump for falling for this.
His arm wrapped around her and he pulled her tight before taking them to the ball. “The ring will stay behind. You now have no excuse to draw my blood. As endearing as it was.”
Val felt herself blush and spoke quickly. “I was just trying to kill you, don't be too pleased with yourself. That's not a great effect to have on the ladies, you know.”
His head moved down so that his lips were inches from hers, his scent and power enveloping her like a blanket. Both of his hands, warm now, cupped her jaw, tilting her face up to his. She swayed forward a little, her body arching towards him. “You also said you wanted to sleep with me.”
Now she wanted to smack him. “Thank you for the painful reminder. I also want to go skydiving, but I won't. I have some sense of self-preservation.”
His voice was dark as she felt the wind begin to whip around them, “So do I, my Valkyrie, so do I.”
They materialized next to a building. The weather was chilly and Val was glad for her cloak. She felt the fur slide against her bare arms and suddenly understood why people had fur coats. Cruel but fabulous. Actually that kind of summed up vampires too.
It was pitch black but she could hear traffic and people nearby. He took her hand is his and she felt small and delicate. They twisted through alleys, the lights in the distance coming closer. The buildings two to three stories high but crowding close in the narrow streets.
Suddenly, they were on a main street and she looked around her. “Where are we?”
Lucas stood next to her, his body behind hers, one arm coming over her shoulder to point to something in the distance. If she turned her head she could kiss him, he was so close. What was he trying to show her?
“Is that the Coliseum? We're in Rome?” Oh, culture.
“Yes.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Rome is a city of change. They all are, I suppose,” he said in an odd tone, wistful perhaps.
They entered a very expensive hotel situated on a cobbled stone plaza, huge chandeliers dangling overhead from the high ceilings. Gold gilt and cherubs adorned the walls. Hello, rococo.
Liveried staff were unobtrusively stationed around the entryway or scurrying around with luggage, juggling patrons. Cockroaches would be envious of their stealth. Richly dressed guests were crossing the floor—staying and leaving, but Lucas pulled her through them all, noticing that most of them moved away when they caught sight of him.
He had that effect on people, made them run away. She wondered if it was an unconscious act of self-preservation. Maybe on a fundamental level people registered him as a predator.
Two footman stood before massive carved wooden doors, pale and expressionless. Their outfits were made of velvet, the colors maroon and forest green, different than the hotel employees. When Lucas approached, they bowed, opened the doors, and scurried out of the way.
Her hand rested on his arm as he came to a halt just inside the door. Scanning the room, Val tried to let go but his other hand came atop hers, holding her in place, his hands cold again. Lucas leaned towards her ear and whispered quietly, “Do not relinquish my hold else I cannot keep you safe. There is something here. One circuit of the room and then I shall return you to London.”
He stood upright and continued to slowly search the room as he led them towards a wall filled with open verandas, gold curtains rustling in the breeze. The ballroom was large, over two hundred people filling the space. Most everyone had a glass of champagne and Val was happy there were no obvious goblets of blood being drunk as the sight might have been more than she could handle.
Couples danced on the floor, the women in long gowns, the men in tuxedos like Lucas. In every pair, she could identify the vampire easily. Their paleness and speed was slightly off, the humans radiated life and something indefinable in comparison to the vampires beside them. Vitality, perhaps? Valerlie didn't see as many puncture wounds as she would have expected and some wore high collars which made it hard to tell.
Fascinated, Val looked around her, the humans were all at ease, the vampires looking at their partners with affection, like a normal date should. Really, the number of people laughing and chatting was surprising. Everything was so normal.
As they neared an alcove, Valerie saw a couple in an embrace. The woman was blond and petite, her companion had skin the color of coffee with cream. His hair was short and he towered over her. Despite his muscular build and height, the woman was clearly the one to watch out for. He looked like he should be on Wall Street instead of at the Vampire Debutante Ball, or whatever this was.
She raised herself up on her tiptoes and put her arms around his neck while the man scooped her up, twirling her around playfully before bringing her higher, towards his neck. She laughed as he spun her and then she struck, sinking her fangs into his throat. His eyes closed and he smiled in pleasure. He sat them down on a chair, taking care to arrange her carefully on his lap so she wouldn't have to stop drinking and reposition herself.
His arms wrapped around her protectively, cradling her, and Valerie was both fascinated and repulsed. The woman pulled away from his neck, licked him lingeringly and raised a happy gaze to his. If she'd only seen a photo of that moment, the woman's adoring gaze as she looked into her suitor's smiling eyes, Val might have been envious at the obvious love and happiness they had for each other. But she knew what the woman was. Were any of their feelings real?
The blond put her finger in her mouth, the gesture slightly obscene, then she bit her finger and Val saw blood glinting in the light. The vampire's gaze never left her lover's, his mouth opening promptly, sucking her finger greedily. His cheeks hollowed out as he sucked hard on her finger.
His eyes closed again and he pulled her hand from his mouth, kissed her eagerly, his hands frantically lifting layers and layers of her dress until the woman's legs were exposed, the pink garters she wore on her thighs visible. His hand followed her leg and he gripped her high, his hand disappearing under her dress. He stood, quickly walking further into the alcove where it was dark.
The vampire woman laughed as they disappeared into the shadows.
Val blinked and blushed, realizing that she'd been stopped and staring. Lucas was watching her, his expression unreadable. He quirked a brow at her, waiting to see what she would have to say about the lovers she had seen. She shook her head, at a loss to say anything and they continued around the ballroom.
Lucas transferred her hand from his left to his right and moved so that she was closest to the windows and he faced the crowd.
A tall woman with auburn hair in loose curls came towards them. Her hair was long, halfway down her back and glossy. Her face was narrow, lips thin. She was pretty but there was something hard about her, and almost fevered.
Her eyes were a tawny gold and had a scorching quality. She raked Valerie with her golden gaze, and Val felt like she was being measured and dissected, as though the woman were imagining how she would cut her up, which limb might come off first and how much of it.
Valerie stepped back a pace, tucking herself i
nto Lucas so that her body was close to his. The woman smiled like a villain, as though Valerie had done just what she'd hoped for.
Lightly, she held the arm of an elegantly dressed woman in a narrow cut, black tuxedo. The woman in the tuxedo was tall, a few inches taller than the vampire beside her. She was fresh and pretty, her brown hair had a light wave, hidden beneath a jaunty feminized top hat. Her eyes were brown, with thick fake lashes that made her look like a doll and accentuated an air of innocence. But the eyes themselves were hard. She’d seen a lot, the eyes said. This was a mask. The woman’s lips were bright crimson and would have made Robert Smith from The Cure swoon with envy.
Lucas gave her hand a squeeze and she tried to make her expression as bland as possible, feeling the subtle tension go through him. The auburn haired vampire turned her menacing smile to Lucas.
“Lucas, my darling! I did not expect to see you here with a companion. What has it been? At least a hundred and fifty years since....” She stopped talking, letting the sentence trail off and Val thought it was meant to be a little malicious, the implication being that companions were forgettable.
Valerie felt dread come over her. Oh no, she thought. She wanted to back up further and move away. Flee from here with or without Lucas.
Marion.
Lucas confirmed her fears, “Marion, Rachel, allow me to introduce you to Valerie. Valerie, Marion and her consort Rachel.”
Oh, shit! Valerie tried to keep her emotions from rushing across her face. She was standing in front of the woman who'd murdered Jack's family, who Lucas now wanted dead. And Rachel was her consort, whatever that meant, who was giving information to Jack about Lucas.
An inferno of anger rolled through Val. Lucas and Marion both wanted the other dead and instead of confronting each other directly they were getting humans to try to do their dirty work for them, making her and her family pawns in their stupid political games.
Rachel's eyes were cold and unusually distant, even as she watched Valerie closely. She held out a white gloved hand towards Valerie, and Valerie looked to Lucas who nodded in consent. She put her hand out to Rachel and was surprised it wasn't shaking. Rachel grasped it in hard cold fingers and brought her hand to her lips. She wanted to yank her hand away and realized she was gripping Lucas hard. She didn't loosen her grip, didn't even breathe, just waited to see what Rachel was going to do.
A moment passed as though Rachel was deciding if she was going to harm Valerie, her gaze flicking to Lucas then back to Val's clasped hand. Then she lowered her lips quickly, the merest brush of her lips against Valerie's hand. Her lips were chilled, but not as cold as Lucas could be.
Desperately, Val wanted to leave, be away from these people and things and their petty politics. She was just a pawn. Everyone she loved was part of their game and they were all going to die at the whim of these monsters. She felt her throat close with tears and tried to calm herself down.
“Valerie.” Marion's voice was like ice, brittle and discordant. “I am sure I know you, Valerie. Guess, my dear. Guess, how I know you.” She gave Valerie a real smile, enjoying Valerie's discomfort, and Valerie knew this woman could bat at her like a mouse, play with her while her chest was ripped open and think nothing of it. Worse, she wouldn't even remember it, just another murder for Marion.
Val shook her head slightly, struck dumb and waited.
“Jack. I know you, because of my boy Jack.” Each word was said slowly, clearly and lovingly. Marion watched Val hungrily, waiting to see what affect her words would have.
Valerie stared at Marion's well shaped eyebrows, not looking her in the eyes, deciding no response was better than saying something inflammatory like, 'I'll be sure to pass along your regards' or 'Funny, he's never mentioned you'
Marion laughed, as though someone had something amusing, turning to look at Rachel who was giving everyone a small, benign smile.
“And you, Lucas. A Hunter’s daughter? What sort of father must she have that she runs straight into your arms?”
She looked back and forth between the two of them, as though waiting for one of them to tell her the punch line from a joke.
“Keep him close, darling. He's a tiger, but once he gets bored... and with the things he'd seen and done, he gets bored quickly.” It was clear she wanted to sound like she was giving motherly advice, but a bitterness underlay her words, unintentionally or not, Valerie couldn't decide.
Lucas stayed quiet, watching Marion lazily as she spoke and poked at Val with her barbed words. Val wondered why he didn't do something and clearly Rachel wondered it too. Her free hand was atop Marion's, squeezing her fingers as though to urge caution.
His voice was calm, “I would speak with you later. Where will I find you?”
Marion's voice was breathy, her grip on Rachel's arm tightening so that her fingers appeared even whiter. “Paris. I'm at the Paris flat.”
Lucas smiled slightly, “I thought you were at the Dorchester.”
Marion raised her free hand, bringing her black silk clutch purse to her chest as though for protection while Rachel looked to the ground studiously. “Why do you think that?”
Lucas gave a tired sigh, his voice weary and low, “Do not, Marion. How many times do you think you can be forgiven?”
A look of fury flashed across her features and Lucas moved his arm, draping it around Valerie and tucking her close to him, almost shielding her as they stepped around Marion and Rachel, careful to keep her to the outside of them. He was walking towards the open French doors where Val could see a balcony, the city below.
“Lucas, wait.”
He turned back to Marion and then he was pushing Valerie against the wall, shielding at least part of her body with his own. She felt the cold begin at her feet, felt the press of his hips against hers, the way his arms were bracketing as much of her body as possible.
There was the faintest whisper and thud, a hiss in her ear from Lucas—then the cold died.
There was the slightest vibration in his body and she smelled burning flesh. She looked down and saw two arrows embedded in his side, smoke curling upwards and stinging her eyes. He exhaled and it sounded wet.
People were screaming, the floor trembling as everyone ran for an exit at the same time. Of course, the vampires would leave, their humans too vulnerable to risk.
“Silver and poison. I need a moment. I will get you— ” Shots rang out and she felt his body jerk with each shot.
He made a slight noise, almost a growl, near her ear and then his head fell forward, his silky hair sliding in her face and he began to sink, his weight pulling her down to the ground with him.
She felt his blood on her gown, dripping down her hands. He was so heavy. Lucas was dead. Still. No breath, his limbs slack, a corpse pulling her down into the grave.
She tried to scream.
The crowd was panicking, some of them leaping from the windows, others standing to the side to protect their companions while most of them fled to the doors for a quick exit or dematerialized.
Several guards came for them, following Marion's direction as they pulled Lucas off of her and towards the center of the room. He was unconscious, two guards carrying each arm, his head lolling forward. They were moving quickly, Marion trailing them with a gun in her hand. She’d shot Lucas.
But he wasn’t dead. Couldn’t be dead or he’d be ash, wouldn’t he?
Rachel leaned down for Val and grabbed her hard by the elbow, yanking her to her feet.
“I know what you're thinking. If only you'd known, you would have worn black to hide all that blood. I’ve been there.” Then she gave Val a look, like they were high school friends who talked smack about each other and tried to steal each other’s boyfriends. “Lucas and Jack? I’m impressed and surprised.”
Love is Darkness (A Valerie Dearborn Novel) Page 18
