“As old as anything in this place,” she said, her tone downright joyful. “It’s perfect for your size. Now, hurry into it. Dinner and nobility gossip awaits.”
“Dinner? Whose dinner exactly?” I hugged the gown to my chest.
Avianna smirked. “Yours and mine,” she assured me. “We eat regular food as well, it just doesn’t…nourish us in the way blood does.”
I blew out a breath, thankful I wouldn’t have to sit before an empty spot and watch a bunch of royal vampires feed on humans all evening.
“Go,” she prompted, and I obeyed.
An hour of Avianna fussing over my hair and make-up later, I followed her through the estate, Hawke—Alek’s appointed babysitter for me this evening—trailed behind us silently. Brutality rolled off him in waves, strength and power and a stealthiness that had cold chills rising on my skin. He was icy calculation with a deadly sense of mischief in his eyes that dared anyone to fuck with him. Almost as if he wanted it, lived for a fight. I swallowed hard, wondering why Avianna and I merited such a guard.
My heart raced with each step we took toward the ballroom where the dinner would be served, and I smoothed my hands self-consciously over the gown. Sleeveless, with midnight blue beading along the seams of the plunging neckline, the gown fanned out after my waist in ripples of delicate blue fabric, like a waterfall. The bottom of the skirts melted into a creamy white, the contrast in colors creating an almost mythical effect that swished with each of my steps. The back left my skin bare in a plunging V, but Avianna had been right. The dress fit me like a glove, hugging my curves and accentuating my chest. She’d curled my hair into a cascade of blonde waves, leaving my face bare except for a little kohl around my eyes. She left my lips as they were despite me asking if I needed lipstick.
“You look like a dream,” she whispered in my ear, taking my arm and hooking it through hers. “Don’t for one second think otherwise,” she continued as we turned down another long corridor.
“Dream or dinner?” I asked, surprised that I could joke with my nerves tangled in knots. And the messed up thing? I was more worried about what Alek would think as opposed to what he could or would do to me. Silly human indeed.
A low grunt that almost sounded like a laugh came from behind us, and Avianna glanced over her shoulder, shock coloring her eyes as she looked at Hawke. By the time I followed her gaze, he’d schooled his features back to a lethal sort of stare.
“Definitely dinner, too,” Avianna said, returning her attention to me. “Which reminds me,” she said, and slowed our pace to a stop just outside a giant set of wooden double doors. “Stay sharp in here,” she warned. “There are certain female nobility who’ve been dying for a seat at my brother’s side for centuries. One in particular, Cassandra, won’t hesitate to cut anything or anyone who stands in her way.”
Cold trickled down my spine. Cold and that damn twisting irrational jealousy. Of course, gorgeous vampires wanted Alek. “I’m nothing,” I said, shrugging. “To Alek,” I explained. “Why would Cassandra or any of them come after me?” The truth coiled in my stomach. He’d said he’d wipe my memory, make all of this a barely recognized dream. Why should it matter if I was here right now or not? And why did I feel so...disheartened by that truth? The sooner I was set free the better...right?
Avianna flashed me another pitiful look, and I tilted my head, prepared to push her further on the subject, but my senses heightened to the spot just behind us—like someone had taken a living flame to my spine. The heat curled and caressed every inch of my skin, a tug of need turning me around before I could even think.
“Alek.” His name left my lips in a breathy whisper.
Holy vampire King.
A suit of black covered his body like a midnight storm—beautiful, terrifying, and utterly powerful. His eyes nearly glowed with their blue-gray tone, his dark hair swept back to expose every devastatingly gorgeous angle of his face. The strong jaw, his lips that parted as he took in every inch of me as well. He visibly swallowed, focusing a glare on his sister whose arm was still linked with mine.
“I see you’ve found a new doll to play with, sister,” he said, his tone low and colder than I’d ever heard it. I stood up straighter, willing strength into my features where his words had stung.
“Does that mean she’s mine, dear brother?” she challenged, and Hawke groaned behind us.
Alek’s eyes flared for the briefest of moments, his power radiating and filling the corridor so much I could barely breathe.