Not that she needed to. I was used to her humour, and it was something I always enjoyed about her company.
“So, what’s the verdict?”
“I’ve decided to go-”
“Good on you.”
“- If you go too.”
Her expression fell suddenly, giving me a look that bordered on pleading.
“Oh, come on, Deimos, don’t do that to me,” she whined. “You know I don’t like people, and you know I don’t trust people except you, so-”
“Yes I do,” I told her, cutting off her tirade, “which is why I want you to go with me.”
Her expression changed again, to one of confusion mixed with a slightly embarrassed pleasure.
“I-I, um, I don’t...”
“You alright Lori?” I asked with a smile, as her cheeks heated for the first time since I met her.
“I just...” she swallowed visibly, clearly unused to even being invited to a party. “I thought you weren’t ready for dating again?”
“Who said it was a date?” I asked, still smiling. “We’re just friends, remember?” Her cheeks seemed to heat again, and that was quite telling in its own right.
“I just think you need to have a little fun yourself, that’s all,” I told her more seriously, without the smirking. “And also...well, I just wouldn’t feel right if you weren’t there.”
She smiled at me eventually, her dark emerald eyes sparkling with undisguised pleasure.
“That...would be quite nice, actually,” she said finally, brushing a stray lock of hair behind her ear in a nervous gesture she would never let anyone else see.
“Just one problem,” she told me, and having seen what she wore generally I knew what she was about to say.
“If you’re going to tell me you have nothing to wear, then leave it with me.”
“You? But you don’t even know my size!” she exclaimed, and I smiled knowingly.
“Lori, I’ve been sharing a bed with you for the past three and a bit weeks, I can make a pretty well-educated guess by this point.”
As her cheeks reddened again my phone rang, and I hoped it was what I wanted it to be.
It was. The Italian President himself had called, and explained to me what his people had said.
“Mister President, could you bear with me a moment?” I asked, and he agreed. I switched the phone to speaker mode and spoke to him again.
“Mister President, with me is Miss Lorelei Selano, I was wondering if you could repeat what you just told me for her sake, please?”
“After much deliberation, the Presidente del Consiglio and I have agreed that sufficient evidence exists to restore the Selano family name,” he announced, and Lorelei’s hand rose to her mouth. She stared at the phone, mute with shock, as she heard the words she had been dying to hear for over a century.
But he wasn’t finished.
“While Italy no longer has a monarchy or an aristocracy, we recognise Miss Selano’s...unique circumstances, and as such she may maintain the title of Contessa, along with a small plot of land in Sicily. I regret that we cannot offer more, but I hope this is of some comfort.”
There were tears in Lori’s eyes as she spoke to the President, dropping into her native tongue which, sadly, I never learned. I could tell from her expression, however, that she was thanking him.
It ended with what I assumed to be ‘good bye,’ and the President bid me the same in English before hanging up.
There was a brief moment of silence before Lorelei stood quickly, marching around my desk as I rose to greet her embrace.
It never came. Instead she placed a hand on each of my cheeks and pressed her lips against mine, pulling me into a deep, fierce kiss.
It lasted for only a few seconds, but it was enough to stun me completely. She moved from my lips, placing several small kisses on my cheek before wrapping her arms around my shoulders and hugging me tightly.
“You beautiful bastard,” she whispered into my neck, fighting the urge to weep with joy. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Deimos...but why?”
I put my arms around her body, pulling her closer to me and daring to stroke her hair.
“Because it was your birthright,” I told her simply. “Because you deserved it. And because you’ve supported me so much since Corvi died, I felt you deserved something by way of a thank you.”
She held me tighter for a moment, before she finally let go. She stepped back, drying her eyes, unsure what to say next, and I stroked her arm gently.
“You alright?”
She gave a weak laugh, looking back at me with a fresh spark in her eyes.
“You’ve asked me to go to the party with you and given me back something I thought I could never reclaim,” she said, her broad smile almost lighting the room. “How could I not be?”
I was interrupted by a knock at the door, and I hurried over to answer it, hoping that it was our mail delivery - and luckily, it was.
“Well...I hope you won’t hate me too much,” I told her cautiously, carrying a relatively flat box over to her, “but I took the liberty of commissioning this, as well.”
She stared at me in fresh amazement, taking the box from me and setting it on my desk as she pulled the lid away.
“Oh, Deimos...” was all she managed, as she lifted the dress out of the box and held it against herself.
In all honesty, it looked far better than I imagined. It comprised a vertical-striped, emerald and black corset, with black lace edging around the bust. The bottom of the corset was cut to a point, leading towards the lower half. The bottom portion of the dress had an angled, emerald silk panel, starting from the left knee and rising to the right mid-thigh, and below that it was finished in more black lace, with small pentagram designs recurring throughout the pattern.
“Goddess, Deimos,” she managed at last, “it’s...it’s beautiful, I...thank you, Deimos. From the bottom of my soul, thank you.”
“And don’t you dare pull that ‘I can’t accept this’ crap, or I’ll have you shipped back to Oxford,” I told her with an affectionate smile, and chuckled.
“You’d be buried by red tape in a week. Besides,” she looked at the dress again, admiring the way the silk shimmered in the light, “I love it far too much. Thank you so much. You shouldn’t have, but thank you.”
“Of course I should, you’re an amazing person and a greater friend than I could ever ask for.” I helped her set it gently back in the box, and placed the lid back on.
“Now, enough slacking, we’ve got work to do,” I told her with a gentle laugh, and she swore at me softly. She also called me an idiot again, just for good measure.
Then she added, “Ish’ta falaen los kovanem tuan, Eyathehn,” possibly not expecting me to know what it meant. After all, I’d had a lot less time to learn vampiric than her, so it was plausible.
Unfortunately for her, I’d been a quick study.
It meant ‘I would be lost without you,’ and again she added the ‘cherished heart’ endearment. I would have to ask her why she insisted on using that at some point, but at that moment I opted for a different response.
“Sahd ish’ta falaen dethis kovanem tuan, Eyathehn,” I told her, as I returned to my seat. She looked at me in surprise, and I knew then that I was right - she didn’t think I knew what she said.
She blushed a little at my response - ‘and I would be dead without you’ - and quietly took her own seat, no doubt a little surprised at me being so up-front for a change, and we both got on with our work.
I’d had Remus placed in interrogation, so we could find out what information he had, if any. Corrigan was seeing to that for me, being more skilled at psychic manipulation and general interrogation techniques.
Against my better judgement, I said I wanted him kept alive.
I also figured that if I expected my troops to maintain and improve their skills, I should do the same. I arrange a couple of sparring matches with Lorelei, and when he was free Corrigan would be helping me ac
quire a bit more finesse with my telekinesis. It was only right that I challenged myself.
And all the while, for the entirety of the final four days before the party, I was tormenting myself about how I felt about Lorelei.
I’d finally come to the conclusion that I definitely cared about her, perhaps a bit more than a friend should. I also suspected that the feeling might be mutual, but I couldn’t confirm that. My problem was that it was a bad idea for me to even consider a relationship when I still missed Corvi so much. That, and I really didn’t think it was the best way to honour my late wife.
The night before the party, Lorelei was once again in my room, and we were again sharing a drinking and toasting Corvina’s memory. It seemed that the more time we spent together, the less it hurt not having Corvi around.
“You have that look again,” she told me, during one of our comfortable silences, and I looked up at her voice.
“What look?”
“The look that says you’re being miserable again, but think you’re too important to lay it on someone else.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I lied, trying to convince myself I was being a fool.
But I couldn’t help it. Every time I saw those intense emerald eyes, or saw her move across the room with her usual feline grace, something in me just...cried out for her.
And it seemed my emotional turmoil was showing.
“Deimos, I’m your aide,” she said, as if having to explain something to a particularly slow child, “and apart from that I’m your friend. If you can’t talk about your issues with me, then who can you talk about them with?”
I wish she didn’t make a strong argument. She really didn’t need to hear about how I felt about her.
But then, I had an idea. I could discuss the problem...and she never had to know she was involved in it.
“You’re right Lori, I just didn’t want to bother you,” I told her, and she gave me one of her wicked smiles.
“There you go being an idiot again. You said you’d stop that.”
I just smiled weakly at her and pushed myself out of my chair, pacing as I spoke to her.
“You know, since you and I have been...what do we call this? Comforting each other?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, since then, I really feel like the pain over Corvi’s death has been lessened. It’s not gone, obviously, but it’s-”
“-Bearable,” she finished, showing she felt the same way.
“Exactly. But I’m just worried that...if she still watches from whatever afterlife might exist, that she would think that...I don’t know, that I’m forgetting her, or betraying her.”
Lorelei set her drink down and stood up, walking over to me and resting a hand on my cheek.
“Deimos, a lot of people have to worry about honouring her memory, or being faithful to her legacy, but you have to remember that you are her legacy - you carry her blood now. As long as you’re faithful to what she would have wanted for The Order - and I think you’re doing just great so far - then you have nothing to worry about about.”
I looked up at her, meeting her eyes and staying locked to her gaze. There was a moment, as I stared into those dark pools of liquid jade, that I feared she was about to kiss me and destroy any self-control I had, but she just stroked my cheek then hugged me.
“Thanks Lori,” I told her, burying my face in her neck.
“Anytime, Eyathehn,” she told me, using that word for what had to be the tenth time in that week. “Now come on, let’s get to bed. There’s apparently a big party on tomorrow,” she said conspiratorially. “And that reminds me - what are you wearing?”
“That’s a surprise,” I told her, and got myself ready for bed.
I wanted to make sure that when we met to go to the party, I stunned her as much as anyone else.
The following day passed quickly. A few more reports of attacks against vampires, although this time there were survivors - who, sadly, made zero sense whatsoever. Despite Lorelei’s brilliance, she had continued drawing a blank in our search for the so called ‘Vampire Saint’, so she had put out a request for more information from some contacts she had and left them to it.
After closing the office in the evening, we went back to our own rooms to change, and I would meet her when she was ready.
I was rather proud of what I’d picked as my suit design, actually - and hopefully, this one wouldn’t get ruined. It was styled after the uniform of the 95th Rifles, a regiment in the British Army in the 19th century. I’d had it made in a lighter shade of green, to better match Lorelei’s dress, and the edges were all picked out in gold thread. I’d also had it made with the split coat tails more commonly seen on suits, because I didn’t want to look too militant - I wanted Lorelei to be proud of being seen with me.
Thinking of her made me pause. I hated myself for it, but I couldn’t deny that I was definitely attracted to her. Her friendship had saved me from a potential lifetime of emotional torment, and her self-appointment as my aide had saved me from certain madness.
But I still agonised over the thought I was shoving my emotions for Corvi to one side. I thought about what Lorelei had said to me the night before, and I had to wonder if Corvi would really be so content.
Well, I was in trouble now, because I’d already told Lorelei I was going if she went with me. I’d even had her dress made specifically for the occasion. I couldn’t back out without hurting her feelings, or worse, destroying the trust in me that was so rarely bestowed.
I crammed all of my concerns down, burying them with a certain joy at seeing Lorelei in that dress.
A small part of my mind - the crass part, it seemed - suggested that she probably looked great out of the dress too, and I crushed the thought in a hurry. I highly doubted anything was likely to happen between us anyway. If she felt anything for me, it was likely just some brief thing, sparked by our closeness at night. I assumed that eventually, her pain would heal, she would no longer need my company to sleep and we would eventually go back to our normal lives, with a strong bond of friendship but little else.
Funny how things work out.
I walked down the corridors towards Lorelei’s room, greeting the members of staff that passed me or complimented my suit. Many of them were going to the ballroom - I was still amazed Sharriana even had a ballroom - but some were going about their duties as normal.
I’m not a tyrant. I gave everyone the option to attend the party, but an organisation as large as ours still needed some people to run certain areas, mainly Ops for communication with other bases. To that end, I had asked for volunteers to maintain our work for the duration of the celebrations, and they had been surprisingly forthcoming. I guess people don’t mind when they’re given the choice, especially if it’s a cause they believe in.
I knocked at Lorelei’s door, ensuring my strained smile was in place - I was still nervous, still sick with worry - but what was forced became genuine and easy a moment later.
She opened the door, positively beaming with delight, and held her arms wide.
“So, what do you think of your efforts, My Lord?” she asked, giving a small twirl for effect.
It took me a couple of minutes to respond, because honestly, she looked stunning.
Her hair had been styled into a simple plait, and black eyeshadow drew attention to her amazing eyes. She’d added an extremely dark green lipstick, so dark as to be almost black, but it worked so well on her.
“Wow,” I managed. “I should buy you dresses more often.” Hardly the most flattering compliment, but I really couldn’t think straight. That’s how good she looked.
It fit her perfectly, accentuating her curves and shifting pleasantly when she moved, and I could hardly take my eyes off her. Her only accessory had been her pentagram choker, and it was all the accessory she needed.
“Well, I certainly won’t complain,” she said, entwining her arm with mine as she closed her door. “And you look positively dashing.”
&nbs
p; I blushed a little at the compliment, and I suddenly found myself looking forward to this night far more than before.
The people who had organised the celebrations had done a fine job. They’d even had one of those announcers at the door, and I made sure when Lori and I entered that they used her recently-restored, very official and quite deserved title when he announced us.
I swear I almost saw tears at the words “Contessa Selano of Sicily”, words she thought she would never hear.
We spent some time together, drinking dubious cocktails, listening to the music - a variety of styles from a range of periods, a tribute to the vampires who served us; the lives they lived, the times they were born to, and the sacrifices they had made.
There was a brief moment of awkwardness I couldn’t quite place, when a woman from Corvus Team invited me to dance, a short young blonde called Sofie Maguire. She was a pleasant enough person, don’t get me wrong, but she wasn’t the woman I attended with. I chanced a look at Lori halfway through my dance with Sofie, and wanted to be at her side instantly - she looked miserable.
Just the song ended, and something much slower began to play, I seized my opportunity. I thanked Sofie for the dance and took my leave, and walked over to Lori.
She looked up just as I reached her, and I bowed low to her.
“My Lady,” I said, using the proper form of address for her benefit, “I was wondering if you would do me the honour of dancing with me.”
She was momentarily taken back, although whether it was by the formality or the invitation I wasn’t sure.
“To a piece like this? Isn’t it a little too...romantic for us?”
I said nothing, and simply held my hand out to her. After the briefest hesitation, she finally took it and allowed me to lead her to the floor.
The time I spent dancing with Lorelei, holding her close to me as we moved in unison, helped me forget my concerns for a while. Her scent was intoxicating, and she looked astounding. Quite frankly, I think she outshone every other woman there...but maybe I’m biased.
Of Angel's Blood (Chronicles of The Order Book 2) Page 7