With a frown, I turned to Octavian, who was already reaching for one of the vampire cookies.
“Are there no werewolves invited? I don’t really see anything wolf-themed.”
He looked at me for a moment, then shrugged. “They are invited every year, but I think they appreciate the invitation more than they like actually coming,” he explained before biting into the cookie.
My gaze wandered over the table once again, my mouth turning into a sad smile. “So there’s something for everyone but rogues, then?”
Octavian swallowed, then looked at me awkwardly. “Well… I mean… rogues aren’t usually the socializing type, right?”
“So are werewolves, and they are invited.”
Octavian held my gaze for a moment, then turned back to the table and reached for a cupcake. With an apologetic expression, he held it toward me. “You should try one of the cupcakes, they’re delicious.”
I threw an annoyed look at him, but then hesitantly reached for the cupcake. I didn’t remember ever having tried one. They looked creamy delicious. I appreciated that they made them so tiny. I could put it in my mouth as a whole, so I wouldn’t get the cream all over my lips.
The cupcake almost melted in my mouth and filled it with flavors I had never tasted before. It was one of the brown cupcakes, and it tasted just like it—I noticed the familiar taste of nuts, mixed with what I could only describe as earthen and wooden flavors. If someone had told me before the cupcake tasted like a forest, I would never have tried it, expecting it to be like eating soil and tree bark. And yet, it tasted like forest in the best of ways.
I couldn’t tell how much of it was carefully picked ingredients, masterfully baked into such a small form, and how much of it was magic. But as I swallowed it, I knew that just the sweets alone were worth coming to the ball for.
“That was a very obvious distraction, but you’re right.” I chuckled. “These things taste freaking awesome. Uhm, I mean, those appetizers taste quite exquisite,” I added quickly, attempting some elegant hand waving to underline my words.
Octavian laughed, then reached for one of the sweet crystals. “How about that. We may not have had any rogues on our guest list, but here you are. So, as the only rogue attending the festivities, you’re their de facto representative, Miss Raven,” he said, bowing playfully.
I tilted my head for a second, then smiled. “I like that. And next year, I expect some rogue-themed appetizers,” I added in my best snotty voice. “You don’t want to anger my mighty faction, after all.”
“Of course not, my lady.” Octavian grinned.
We were interrupted when two girls about my age approached Octavian. One wore a waving, blue dress that reminded me of a crest wave, the other wore a sleek, red dress with fiery embroideries.
They were standing behind Octavian, looking at him expectantly, but he was still looking at me, a hint of confusion on his face. I looked at him, then looked at them behind him, and gestured at them with my eyebrows. His confusion deepened, then his face lit up as he got the hint. He turned around to them with a smile.
“Emma! Lina! So good to see you,” he greeted them, hugging both briefly.
I watched them talk while trying the other appetizers, but my focus was on the girls. They seemed quite happy to see him, their eyes sparkling when they laughed with him. A feeling of discomfort grew in me, but I quickly pushed it away. I was not the kind of girl who got jealous just because their man talked to another girl.
Also, he’s not your man, Raven, my inner voice scolded me.
I chuckled but continued watching with interest. Then one of them—I had no idea who was Emma and who was Lina—grabbed his hand. “Come on, you have to come dance. It’s a ball!”
Octavian laughed, then looked at me nervously.
I scoffed and gestured toward the dance floor. “Go dance, I’m not your jealous girlfriend.”
He laughed, then took my hand before I could withdraw it. “No, but you are accompanying me to the ball,” he said while pulling me with him. “So you’ll have to dance with me.”
All color left my face as I stumbled after him onto the dance floor. “What? No, I can’t dance!”
The girls giggled next to us, watching us as they put their arms around each other and started elegantly gliding and spinning over the floor.
I blushed in embarrassment, but Octavian just smiled at me and took my hand. “Just put your left hand on my shoulder blade like this,” he whispered as he positioned my hand on his back. “Then I put mine on your back, and hold your other hand, outstretched like this.”
He pulled me a little closer as he got into a position that would probably look elegant if you knew what you were doing. I certainly did not.
I swallowed and tried to straighten up, hold my head high. If I was going to embarrass myself, I was at least going to do it with dignity.
“We’ll keep it simple, don’t worry,” he whispered into my ear. “Just take a small step back with your left foot, then with your right foot, slightly apart, then move your left foot to your right one.”
I did my best to follow along, but I felt like I was just stumbling backward awkwardly.
“Now we’ll also slowly turn in circles, and then that’s it,” he added with a reassuring smile. I wasn’t very reassured, though.
My heart was racing, and I felt everyone’s judgmental stare on us as we slowly moved on the dance floor. I could almost hear them whisper, scoff at us from afar. But after a few turns, carefully following his lead, I started to get the hang of it.
Left foot back. Right foot back, turn a little. Close feet. Repeat.
As I calmed down enough to watch the two elementalists dancing, I frowned. “Why do they dance so differently?”
“Because they know the steps,” Octavian teased with a grin.
“Haha,” I replied dryly. “But they also have their arms differently.”
The one in the blue dress had her hands around the other girl’s neck, and the other girl’s hands were on her side.
“Yeah, because they’re a couple.”
“Oh.” I blushed a little, but he didn’t seem to notice it.
As I watched them again, my feet gaining confidence as they moved across the floor now, I did see a certain closeness, intimacy even, in their movements, their close posture and deep gazes.
Watching them giggle and smile as they graciously swept across the dance floor made me almost jealous. I never thought I’d be dancing at a ball, but I most definitely didn’t expect to want to dance. Like, really dance, like they did. Not stumbling about like us.
“They’re good,” I whispered, looking back at Octavian.
“Want to try something new?” he whispered back.
A wave of nervousness spread in my belly, but I nodded. Without slowing down our dance, he repositioned his hand on my shoulder blade, stretching his other arm a little more. He pulled me closer to him, and my heart immediately beat faster.
“Keep your arm a little tense, like you’re holding on to me,” he whispered. As I did, he started moving his upper body just a bit, swaying left and right. All the while, I moved with him, like we were connected through our arms, a single unit on the dancefloor.
Then, without warning, he took a bigger step, his right leg between mine, and spun us in a half circle. My feet struggled to keep up, but my upper body was right against his, carried along with ease. I could feel his chest against mine, his warm breath on my neck. Warmth bloomed in me as I felt his leg gently brush against my upper thigh, just for a moment.
Immediately after we came to a rest again, he stepped back, twisting again and pulling me after him for a full 360° turn. I swung around, almost flying over the dancefloor with him. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster, just going along with it while excitement bubbled up in me.
He went back to the simpler steps from before, then alternating those with the new spinning move. After the third time, my feet managed to go along with it, and a strange feeling
of gracefulness filled me.
I was dancing. Spinning across the dancefloor, in an elegant dress, in a room full of elegant people.
In that moment, I wasn’t thinking about Octavian as a vampire I shouldn’t trust too much. He was just a powerful man in whose arms I was enwrapped. And before my conscious thoughts could interfere, my mind was picturing us doing more than just dancing.
I blushed as I looked at him, my eyes darting down to his lips involuntarily. But as they found their way up to his eyes again, I could see they were cold and distant. His jaw was clenched, and his movements slowed down, his body going stiff. A cold shiver ran down my spine. Did I miss a step? Step on his toes? Or… did he see what was on my mind and was appalled by my thoughts?
But then I noticed his eyes were locked on something behind me. He probably hadn’t even noticed me blush, I thought as relief washed over me.
What could possibly unsettle him like that, though? It must be worse than a demonic vampire. Maybe a cat. I chuckled, but the smile on my face disappeared quickly. Whatever it is, it must be serious.
As we kept turning, our feet still moving, his body felt stiff in my arms. I scanned the guests in the hall, quickly taking in everything. Most were deep in conversation or dancing around us, but then I spotted a figure watching us intensely.
She stood in the midst of other people, not an inch taller, yet still towering over all of them. Her hair was elegantly braided and knotted into a lofty hair style, her face dominated by high cheekbones and a slim nose. She looked like she belonged in this castle, or rather, as if the castle belonged to her. She made me think of a queen, looking down at us peasants dancing in her halls, judging our every move with her cold, staring eyes. Her dress was black, but wide and billowing, adorned by red roses and golden embroidery.
“Who is that?” I asked quietly as we turned around once more.
Octavian’s voice was thin, barely more than a whisper. “Mother.”
A shiver ran down my spine back. So that was his mysterious, dreadful mother I had been hearing about. Then again, I should have recognized her. She looked like an evil stepmother from a fairytale, only more elegant. And deadlier.
Octavian stopped dancing, then took a step back. “We better go say hello and not keep her waiting,” he whispered, then pulled me off the dance floor. He moved to my left side and offered me his arm. I straightened myself up, lifted my chin, then tucked my arm into his as we walked toward her.
“Mother,” Octavian said respectfully, bowing slightly. Quickly, I followed suit, attempting to curtsy like I had seen it women do in the movies.
The woman’s cold eyes looked down at me once, then scoffed. “And who is that?” she asked, her voice dripping with disapproval.
Octavian swallowed, but looked into her eyes without wavering. “The representative of rogues in Darkhaven, Mother. I figured it was time to include them.”
Not quite the truth, I thought. But I knew better than to say something.
“What, so they can rob us, or worse, play a game of assassin?” She scoffed again. “And stop playing house with the old witches and shamans. When we allowed them to form their council, it was so they could take care of themselves. So we wouldn’t have to babysit them all the time. You’re better than that, boy,” she spat out.
I swallowed hard at such unveiled disrespect, struggling to keep my face expressionless. If someone in a bar had talked to me like that, they would be crashing down on a table right about now.
“I know, you’re right, Mother,” Octavian replied weakly, like a beaten dog. If he was offended, he hid it perfectly.
“Oh, and lose the charity case and find yourself a proper companion. You’re at a ball, you have to make a good impression. All the highborn vampire ladies will be taken if you don’t hurry up and court one soon,” she sneered.
“Excuse me?!” I had done my best to hold back, but enough was enough. I was not going to let someone call me a charity case.
Octavian looked at me with dread, pinching my arm, but his mother just looked at me annoyed. “Oh, it speaks. Get her out of my sights, boy,” she replied, her voice bored. Without giving me a chance for a comeback, she turned around and drifted away.
My blood still boiling hot, I took a deep breath before turning to Octavian. “How can you let her treat her like that?!”
“She’s my mother. She’s not someone you… refuse,” he whispered. “It could have gone a lot worse, but I need a drink now.”
“What happened to ‘we should stay sober in case another monster shows up?’”
He looked at me for a long second. “Do you really think whatever’s next will be more dangerous than that?”
I chuckled. “Good point. Let’s get a drink.”
I followed Octavian, my eyes wandering through the room in search for a bar or a table with drinks. When he stopped in the middle of the room, with only people around us, I looked at him in confusion.
I opened my mouth to say something, then noticed that the guy in front of him was not just another guest in a tux, but a waiter with a tray full of champagne glasses. I quickly closed my mouth again, embarrassed that I didn’t think of that. Of course there was no bar. This was an elegant event.
A moment later, Octavian put a glass in my hand, we clinked, and then I watched him in disbelief as he emptied the glass in one go.
“What? I said I needed a drink.” He shrugged in response to my stare, then put the empty glass back on the tray with a smile at the waiter.
I chuckled, but didn’t reply. If I’d had a beer, I might have followed suit, but I’d had champagne once before and had immediately gotten a headache when I drank it too fast. So I kept the glass in my hand and occasionally sipped from it as we drifted through the hall, stopping from time to time for small talk with guests. The champagne was sweet, heavy. I could feel the difference to the kind of drinks I was used to. Like the price and quality were reflected in its texture and flavor.
Well, it better be. Otherwise who’d buy it?
While I avoided introducing myself by name, I soon joined in on some of the conversations, even if it was only the occasional comment or nodding in agreement. It felt surreal, like I was pulled from my old life and thrown into some high-society vampire reality-TV show. But that also made it easier to go along. I was simply acting, smiling and nodding and laughing when it felt like I was supposed to. I didn’t have to be me.
What felt the strangest, though, were people’s reactions. Almost everyone had a nice word for Octavian, as expected, and was happy to see him. And maybe it was only because I was on his arm, but most seemed genuinely interested in talking to me, too. Luckily, no one asked any personal questions, so we could argue about which of the cupcakes we liked best—which I hoped was not a metaphor for which faction we liked best—, gossip about the dresses other women wore—I was so glad I did my research—, or simply tell stories about the nicest places and best food in the city.
It was a strange experience, as I was used to being a loner. People usually figured that out quite fast and left me alone, kept their distance. But here, dressed up all nicely, I was… normal. A part of the event. I might not have been in any of the factions here, but since everyone was mingling with everyone anyway, no one cared. They probably didn’t even notice.
Despite feeling like a stranger, a foreigner—an invader, even—they treated me like I belonged here with everyone else. It was a feeling I could get used to.
Then a different feeling crept up my back. The voices around me turned to background noise as my mind refocused. I was being watched. As I scanned the crowd around me, letting my eyes wander over dozens of well-dressed people, I saw a woman standing a bit farther away, staring at me intensely. As soon as our eyes met, her expression darkened even more, and she started coming closer.
Uh-oh.
I recognized her immediately, even in her fancy dress. The crazy vampire. Lania. And she did not look like she was coming over for a chat. My hands curled up
into fists, and I expected her to lunge at me as soon as she got close enough. Just a couple more steps.
“Everything alright?” Octavian asked quietly, putting his arm around me. He followed my intense stare, a frown appearing on his face as he recognized the woman. “Her again?”
But she, too, recognized him. Her jaw clenched, and anger burned up in her eyes. After a brief moment, she swiveled around and darted away. Despite her issues with me, it seemed she was still not willing to mess with a Crimson Fang.
“You have to tell me what’s going on here, Raven,” Octavian whispered after she disappeared in the crowd. “Who is that?”
“Later,” I sighed. “Long story.”
He shot me an unsatisfied glance, but nodded. “How about we resume watch duty at the appetizer table, then?” Octavian asked as I drank the last of my champagne. “I heard there are new snacks, finger foods for those who are already hungry from all the dancing and talking.”
“Oh yes,” I replied quickly, my stomach rumbling in agreement. “I was stupid enough to only eat a salad for dinner.”
“Really? I would have pegged you for a burger and fries kind of girl,” Octavian observed with a smile.
“Amen,” I laughed. “The salad was a stupid idea.”
“Let’s see what we find, then.” He grinned and gestured toward the other side of the hall.
As we walked, I briefly stopped to put my glass down carefully on a waiter’s tray, smiling at him with appreciation. It felt strange, letting someone serve me like that. Sure, Big J served me beer, too, but not like… a servant. Was that a rich-people thing, or a century-old-vampire thing?
I quickly caught up to Octavian and had just opened my mouth to ask about the meaning of the banners on the walls when a scream echoed from one of the hallways.
We stopped, our heads immediately jerking towards the source of the sound. I couldn’t see anything through the mass of people, and judging by Octavian’s frown, neither could he.
The hall quieted down within seconds. Everyone silent, unmoving, looking around with concern, some with expressions of panic, even. Another scream pierced the air, and I saw guards run toward the source. When a few men in black-and-red suits joined them, I knew what that meant.
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