by E. M. Moore
“Yeah? Why? He gave you up so easily. What’s a rogue clan anyway? You’re only bound by that which ties you together. Maybe a common goal for the time, but nothing like the familial ties I’ve seen shared by the Ravanas and many of the other families here. I could care less if Dumont is stronger than the Ravanas, or so you say, our ties are stronger.”
His jaw clamped shut. “In theory.”
I shrugged. “It’s a theory I’d be willing to bet on.”
“So naive,” the vamp tsked. He looked every bit his age then. Not that any of them ever looked older than thirty-five, but this one had something in his eyes that just screamed he’d been there, seen that, done that, oh about a thousand times.
“Where’s Dumont?”
“He could be many places.”
“But you probably know where. Where is he? That way we can settle this once and for all.”
Lex spoke up then. “You’re never getting out of here, Soren. If you don’t speak up, you’re going to die in here. I’ve told you before no information means death. I’ll stop your feedings right now and let you grow even more tired, desperate. We need information, and you’re the only one who can give it to us, but we’re not going to keep you around if you intend on staying quiet. We have other things to work on, if that’s the case.”
For a moment, fear flickered in his eyes, but it was barely noticeable and may have even been a figment of my imagination. Did vampires fear death when they were virtually indestructible? Then again, I could imagine a vampire who’d been surviving on fresh, human blood wouldn’t take very well to starvation.
“My death isn’t the only imminent one in this room.”
I stood at that and moved next to T.J. “This was a waste of time. We have a celebration to go to.” I grew cold as I stared back at Soren. His jaw tense, the hollows in his cheeks truly showed off his suffering. Maybe he could be worked on, but not tonight. At least, that was what my instinct told me.
Footsteps sounded on the stone stairs. I immediately spun on my heel and walked toward them. I didn’t want the Ravanas to have to hear any of this nonsense tonight. Though I detested the very idea of celebrating what I’d done, they were happy about it. They couldn’t wait to toast to me and show me off to everyone, so if Soren sunk his fangs into their insecurities regarding their parents, he’d effectively ruin the entire evening.
A pair of black dress shoes moved into the light, and I immediately stepped forward, my hands coming to rest on two arms. I looked up. Two gray blue eyes pierced mine. I looped my arm through his. “Thanks for picking me up, Christian. Let’s go get this party started.”
I closed my eyes and hoped he wouldn’t ask questions or push into the room further. When we started to walk away, I breathed a sigh of relief. “Anything you care to talk about right now?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing important.” I squeezed his forearm and strode with him outside in the moonlight, knowing full well I’d go back down tomorrow if Lex needed me—or even if she didn’t—because for the first time in a few days, I felt like I was contributing to something and not just waiting. Soren was the only way we were going to get information on how to proceed. Well, unless we wanted to scour the countryside and waste a whole bunch of time searching blindly. Soren was our only option, and if he would talk to me that was what we would do. Talk, and talk, until I got some information out of him. One way or the other.
4
Christian and I met Stephan, Connor, and Nicolai at the entrance to the Rajyvik grounds. They were all well-dressed in perfect suits that matched their personalities. Nicolai wore all black, of course. His eyes sparkled when they met mine, and I couldn’t help the blush that spread through my cheeks, neck, and upper chest. Connor wore a light gray suit that really brought out the color of his blue eyes. Stephan wore dark gray, and Christian matched Nic in everything but the dark shadows on Nic’s face.
They all crowded around Christian and me as we walked up, each of them with intense expressions. Connor was the first to speak. “You know we hate it when you send texts like that and then don’t respond.”
“Texts like what?” I teased.
“Texts like ‘Oh, I have to go see the guy who injured me, but hey, no biggie. See you in a few. Byee.’” Connor dropped his face, his chin practically touching his chest, so he could stare at me with disapproval.
I stifled a laugh. “T.J. showed up at my door and said—”
Connor snapped his fingers. “Right. I forgot that part.” He switched his voice to a girly tone. “’Also, I’m with the guy who’s practically in love with me. K? Byee.’”
“Connor,” I grumbled. “I don’t sound like that. And T.J.’s not in love with me.”
The fair-haired vampire prince looked at his brothers. “I don’t know. That’s what I heard. What about you guys?”
Nic shoved his hands in his pockets. “I heard T.J.’s a dick, and I’m going to punch him in the face again.”
I rolled my eyes. “Seriously? You’re all mad now? Lex sent T.J. to get me because apparently Soren said he would only talk to me. And since he was finally starting to talk, they wanted to take advantage of it.”
“I’m not mad at you,” Stephan offered. “I do wish you’d asked one of us to go with you though. I trust Lex, but you know that no one’s going to protect you like us.”
“That’s what I said!” Connor argued.
I rubbed my temples and looked up at the sky.
“I didn’t hear you say that,” Stephan whispered to Connor.
“That’s basically what I was saying when I was making fun of her texts.”
“Oh. I didn’t get that. I thought you were just picking at her inability to realize when she’s putting herself in danger.”
“No, you see, —”
“Really, guys?” Nic asked. “Let’s just drop this right now.”
“Agreed,” Christian said, hugging me to his side. “This is Ariana’s big night.” I looked up at him and his warm smile shone down at me. “You look beautiful by the way. Was this one of your picks or Nicolai’s?”
I chuckled. “Mine. Nicolai’s picks had a far different flavor.”
He looked up at his brother and smiled. “I bet. No wonder why he couldn’t wait to go with you.”
“Oh, so it’s okay when Nic does it, but not me?” Connor asked.
Nic stared at Connor, and then looked at Stephan. “Punch him in the arm for me, would you?” Stephan half-heartedly made a fist and punched Connor. It was more like a fist bump to the shoulder. It seemed to appease Nic, though, because he looked at Connor and said, “It’s okay when she’s around us. Just us. You’re missing the point all over the place today. Ri in a sexy dress is like torture when there are others around. We were in a dress shop, not at a party filled with other vampires.”
Connor frowned. “I just really liked that dress. It’s not my fault you guys can’t keep your thoughts and your hands to yourself.”
Christian raised his eyebrows at him. “Because you have so much more willpower than us?”
He ignored Christian and looked at me. “You look very beautiful today, too, Princess.”
I strode up to him and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
I stepped back, and Stephan took my hand. “Perfect,” he said. He pulled my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles.
Nicolai was next. He just stared at me, the same smoldering look I recognized from the dressing rooms. “You already know what I think.”
My stomach flipped. Behind us, footsteps sounded, so I moved back into the circle beside Christian. I turned and found T.J. making his way toward us. He smiled. “You waited for me?”
Nic made a ridiculous sound he tried to hide with a cough. I could see by the other expressions on their faces that the princes really didn’t like the idea of T.J. thinking I’d waited for him. Some of them were downright confused and openly hostile. “Well, we are the guests of honor, aren’t we?”
“We are,” he s
aid, his chin rising in the air. He looked ahead at the Rajyvik main house. Lone candles danced in every window, and the magnificent light above the main entryway dazzled the front of the house.
Before getting caught up in who should be walking me to the house, I walked ahead of everyone. I’d much rather walk in on one of the arms of the Ravanas, but I wasn’t sure if T.J. would try to take the honor and who knew how that would turn out. Maybe another black eye for the kickass guard, or worse. Though we were outside, the tension was thick between the six of us. I could feel the possessiveness radiating off each prince, and whether T.J. felt the same thing or not was uncertain, but he’d have to be oblivious not to.
I picked up the front of my dress and ascended the steps. Christian ran up ahead and swung the door open, lowering his head to me in a mock bow. I wanted to tell him how silly he was being, but at the same time, I kind of liked it. As if to reinforce that, Nic came up behind me and whispered, “You should be so proud of yourself, Ri. Bravery and honor are rare attributes, but you possess them both. Plus, you’re sexy as hell.”
I turned toward him and swatted his arm. His grin only widened as he backed away. Gregor and Isabelle were quickly approaching us, and to my left, I felt a body stop at my side. Looking that way, I saw T.J. He gave me a wink as we waited for the Ravanas to approach. Gregor shook both our hands, heartily congratulating us on a job well done. Isabelle was subdued toward T.J., but when she got to me, her eyes were almost watery. “You know how much I appreciate everything you’ve done, Ariana. Words will never be able to describe what I feel.”
I bit my lip and nodded. A hand rested on my forearm. The touch comforting, soothing as I took in her praise. That, along with Isabelle’s words, filled me with a warmth I hoped would carry me through the evening.
Next in line to receive us were the Rajyvik’s. My heart clenched as I stared at them. They received T.J. well, but as soon as they got to me, Natalie and her mother nearly lost it. I’d directly saved them by throwing myself in front of Soren’s spiraling stake. My shoulder burned just thinking about it. Each of them hugged me, their glassy eyes betraying their emotions.
Last, was Samuel. He gave T.J. a clap on the back, and then stood in front of me. He had a small smile on his face as if he was trying to work something out. He and I hadn’t spoken much since the incident. He was too busy trying to upgrade his family’s facility and dealing with the aftermath of such a large scale attack. I actually hadn’t seen him since that night, but he was here now. He nodded his head at me and kept nodding. “When they brought you here, I thought they were crazy. An outsider protect us? An outsider who had never heard of us before, nor knew of our existence. To acclimate to everything that was thrown at you and then come outside the other end not only strong, but brave and willing, is truly admirable. I never dreamt you would take this role on the way that you have, Stuart. Every day I see you working harder than any other trainee, and it makes me think that maybe I don’t know everything.” He smirked. “I underestimated you, Ariana. Thank you for protecting not only the ones you were brought here to protect, but my family as well. I have a feeling it could’ve been any family in our position, and you would’ve done the same thing. For that type of honor, I cannot thank you enough.”
I swallowed. Samuel’s praise meant more than I thought it would. From the very beginning, he’d surmised that I’d only been brought here because of something for more sinister than just taking care of the Ravanas. In fact, he’d thought they’d wanted to use me as a blood whore. He didn’t know I’d even heard him say that, and it was going to stay that way, but to know that I’d raised in his estimation that much, I knew I’d done the right thing. Not only that, but I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
In the human world, it felt like even when I tried hard and did the best I could, it was impossible to rise up and do something with my life other than just exist. At least here, the Ravanas had given me an opportunity that I hadn’t seen for myself as a human. Now, I was more than that. I was a guard. “You don’t need to thank me,” I told him. “None of you. Of course I would do whatever I could to help. That’s what you train us to do, right?”
I looked at him expectantly and he sighed. “You’re right. I should take credit for this,” Samuel said, drawing laughter from those around us. “Even you, T.J. I’ll take credit for you too. It may have been a few years since you graduated from The Fort, but I was still here then, making sure you got that cardio in.”
“I still hate cardio,” T.J. admitted, shaking his head.
“That’s why I beat you in the obstacle course,” a female voice said from behind us.
The group opened up, and Lex stood there staring at us all. She’d changed outfits since I’d last seen her with Soren. She wore a simple dark blue dress that skimmed the floor when she walked. She strode up to me and clasped the back of my head. “You, girl, are everything I like to see come out of The Fort. I couldn’t be leaving the Ravanas to a better guard.”
“Actually,” Samuel said, interrupting her. “She—” Nic fixed him with a glare and Samuel chuckled. “Oh, I wasn’t going to say we’re not sure where she’s going to be stationed yet; I was just going to say that she has to graduate first.”
My heart thumped in my chest. That was the first time Samuel admitted I should be the princes’ guard. Or maybe he just had that much faith in me that I’d beat Zeke now. For me, there was no other option.
More guests came in behind us and soon, all the names and faces appearing in front of me became a blur and there was no way I’d even be able to recall anyone besides those I already knew. Like most vampire parties, there was a dance floor along with a string ensemble. Violins and cellos were no modern music, but that wasn’t the vampires’ style either. I’d love to see what they would do if next time we hired a DJ and played the kind of music that was on the radio stations today. Talk about fish out of water. I could only imagine the panicked look on their shocked expressions. Bruno Mars? No. Just no.
A hand clasped my elbow as I watched the dancers glide across the floor. The touch was unfamiliar, the skin almost cold and uninviting. I looked up to see T.J. smiling at me. “Do you want to dance?”
“Dance?” I asked, almost choking. I looked around briefly before I shook my head at myself. This was what we wanted to accomplish for tonight, wasn’t it? To show the vampires that we were more like them and not some species to be afraid of. I shook the weirdness off and told him, “Sure. Just so you know, I’m not very good though.”
He leaned over. “I’m not either so let’s hope they don’t judge us too harshly. I mean, you would think they would much rather us be good at saving their lives than having a right and a left foot.”
I laughed and followed as he led me onto the outskirts of the dance area. The chandelier in the middle of the room shone off the glass casting sparkles and diamonds all over the place. The room held a magical quality because of it. Something I would’ve dreamed about when I was younger, like an actual princess at a ball. It was definitely something I never thought I’d be a part of. The feeling especially set in when four sets of eyes landed on me. Not just any sets of eyes either. Eyes that belonged to those I loved and knew would love me in return no matter what. When my mom died and I was passed around the system, I often thought I’d never find one person to love me, let alone four.
T.J. placed his hand around my back and took my hand in his other. I allowed him to lead me around the room and soon we found a rhythm that didn’t shame us. “It’s kind of hard to pull you away from the princes. They act like you’re their pet.” I frowned, my eyebrows furrowing. Was that what people thought? Or was T.J. just jealous? “Sorry,” he said, shaking his head. “That wasn’t nice. They just kind of act like you’re theirs, which I guess is kind of true. I just don’t remember them ever doing that to Lex is all.”
“I guess we are pretty close,” I said, looking to the sidelines and finding Christian staring at us. I gave him a small smile, and then re
turned to talking to T.J. “Probably a product of them bringing me here. They didn’t just get the best guard in the trainee class, they actually brought me here for them. There’s a bond there that Lex and them probably didn’t have. Just speculating.” I smiled, hoping I hadn’t said too much. He seemed to take it for what it was, and we didn’t talk anymore about the Ravanas after that. We went right into other important things. “Why do you think Soren wanted to talk to me? He seems preoccupied with the fact that I’m going to be the Ravanas’ guard. Do you think that’s it? He’s told me more than once now that I was going to die because of it.”
T.J.’s features twisted. “Lex and I were trying to figure the same thing out. It’s almost as if he has some sort of empathy for you, which is odd for someone who wants to take out the family you’ll be working for. Not sure I quite understand it yet.”
“Well, I’d like to talk to him again tomorrow if it’s okay with Lex. If I can get him talking, hopefully he’ll reveal something he didn’t mean to.”
“We were thinking the same thing. That was the most he talked in a week. In fact, the first thing he asked when he came to was whether or not he’d killed you. I don’t think he expected you to jump in front of his stake.”
“He obviously doesn’t know me very well then.” I searched the room. Vamps stood and talked in groups. I’d met and spoke with all of them tonight and not one of them held an air of superiority and all seemed genuinely thankful for “my service” they called it. “What do you think about tonight?” I asked.
T.J. chuckled to himself. “It’s definitely something different. This is unprecedented. On one hand, it actually feels like progress is being made. On the other, I’m kind of just looking around waiting to see what this is all about. Stupid, I know, but when you’re not used to being recognized for something you’ve done, this kind of celebration is out there.”
“I get it,” I told him. T.J. wasn’t the first one to express those kinds of thoughts with me. The Ravanas were radicals for their time. I truly believed they were trying to bring about change for their world. “Whatever it is, I’m glad we’re a part of it.” I looked up to find his eyes focused on me. I recognized that look and quickly started talking to cover it up. “I mean, whatever change we can help bring about for guards is a good thing.”