When I caught sight of Viktor in the back, my heart stopped.
CHAPTER2
“It seems the bride-to-be is shy. Someone please locate her.” Sparrow smiled cordially at the crowd.
Three angry men approached the table on which he stood. “That will be enough,” a sour-faced gentleman demanded.
Sparrow’s laugh pealed out. Two of the waitstaff seized the men and subdued them with ease. When a servant looked up, his black eyes were trained on Sparrow. I hadn’t paid any attention to the servers all night. Who had? It wouldn’t be unusual for Lenore to hire her own kind, but as I looked around the room, it occurred to me that every single one was a Vampire.
Lenore entered the room from the back. “What is this?”
Sparrow sheathed his sword, putting out the light before jumping off the table. “Darling.”
The crowd parted.
“Get out!” she snapped. “Howdareyou speak to me with such familiarity.”
“You’re mine,” he said, advancing toward her. “I intend to claim you—unless there’s someone else who would fight for your hand.”
Lenore’s eyes slanted toward Viktor, but he was outnumbered and unarmed. Would he step forward? Would he publicly claim her and accept a challenge? While his wolf could certainly take on a lone Mage, I’d never seen power like Sparrow’s before. Gem, Claude, and Wyatt were looking toward Viktor but not directly at him.
“No challengers?” Sparrow said in disbelief to the blank-faced crowd. “What a pity.” He quickly turned on his heel and nodded at his goons, who were still subduing the three men.
Without warning, they twisted the heads off two men. The third scrambled to freedom seconds before a Vampire caught him by the collar. Blood sprayed all over the white linen tablecloths, dresses, and marble floor. People gasped, but not as dramatically as humans would have. They seemed more confused as to why their party had come to an abrupt end. Death wasn’t a rarity in our world, but I was certain I’d never get over the sight of a man’s head twisting off.
Lenore’s cheeks bloomed, and her fangs punched out. “How dare you! Howdareyou!”
“Oh, I dare,” he fired back.
When I attempted to sharpen my light, nothing happened.
Sparrow gazed at the flummoxed crowd and squared his shoulders. “As you may or may not have noticed, your powers are gone.”
Lenore’s face twisted with rage. She stalked toward him and punched him in the face with enough force to crack his skull. But Sparrow merely took the punch and then gripped his jaw.
Sparrow was right. If Lenore still had her Vampire strength, he’d have a crater in his skull.
She grimaced and held out her fingers to look at them. “What did you do?”
Sparrow slid his jaw from side to side. “Was the cider delicious?”
Glasses fell to the floor in every direction and shattered.
“No need for panic. The effect will only last a short time. Hours… perchance even a day. Just an assurance that I have everyone’s cooperation.”
“Cooperation for what?” Lenore bit out.
He closed the distance between them and caressed her cheek. “Engagement gifts, my dear.”
Lenore shrank from his touch.
Sparrow turned his attention to the crowd. “Ladies and gents, in a moment one of my men will come around for your offerings. Now is not the time to be selfish. It’s bad luck not to contribute to a wedding, so don’t attempt to hide away your valuables.”
A waiter made his way down my side of the room with a silver tray. Guests reluctantly removed their bracelets, cuff links, watches, tiaras, and necklaces. These were more than trinkets—most immortals only wore their most precious valuables to safe events such as these. The silver-haired lady to my right removed her sapphire earrings and ring.
The waiter gestured to her chest. “Your necklace.”
She touched the exquisite piece around her neck that must have had twenty large sapphires. “Not this. You have more than enough.”
