They were the men I saw last night in the bar. I think.
One whispered something to the other, causing his twin to smirk. When they noticed me watching, they gave me a long stare before slyness replaced the amusement.
“I heard you passed through our fair lands and was hurt when you didn’t stop to pay me a visit.” Her voice held the tinkle of bells, light and delicate.
Her words made Liam tense even further, his body like granite at my side.
She raised her hand, the gesture that of a queen expecting a subject to pay obeisance.
Liam didn’t move as he radiated an otherworldly stillness seemingly unique to vampires.
There was a history between these two, and it was not a good one. I could see a banked rage in Liam’s gaze, as if violence was only a breath away.
I had a feeling that would not be a good thing. Before I could think better of it, I moved between the two, smiling brightly. I grasped the woman’s hand and shook it.
“Hi,I’m Aileen. You’re awful pretty,” I chirped. Airy yearling intent on ingratiating herself with the beautiful Fae woman. That was me.“I love your dress. I wish I could wear that color.”
The woman’s lilac gaze shifted to me for the first time. She blinked as if only just noticing my presence. The twins behind her dropped their air of sardonic amusement, appearing genuinely interested for the first time. I wasn’t sure I liked that, since they still didn’t seem as if they saw me as a thinking person, but instead a pet who had just performed a particularly clever trick.
Niamh studied me, her face beautiful and still. Nonetheless, I had to fight to keep from backing away. The way she looked at me made me think she was calculating how many bites it would take to gulp me down.
Not a lovely thought given the red cap by her side.
Without warning, power began to roll off her. She looked just an ounce more beautiful, her eyes transcendent. For a brief moment, I experienced an urge to bow at her feet and worship her, to make a sacrifice in her name.
I bit down on my lip and looked away, shaken at how easily she could have rolled me.
Liam stepped up to my side, his face cool and composed as he took my arm, neatly removing my hand from Niamh’s.“You’ll excuse us. We’re late.”
He didn’t wait for her response, dragging me in his wake toward the double doors that led into the ballroom. The twins watched us go with fascination before sharing a conspiring look. I felt whatever had just happened, it had put me on the radar of some very bad and very powerful people.
“What was that?” he asked through gritted teeth.
“I didn’t want to risk blood staining this dress,” I told him.
“Why am I not surprised?” he asked, not giving me time to look around the room as he hurried me to the dais where Thomas sat on an ornate chair, like a king surveying his subjects.
It was a surprising sight. Thomas expected a certain respect from those under his command, but he hadn’t struck me as the type to go this feudal. He watched us with an interested gaze, noting the tension in both our faces.
“Usually one tries not to bring themselves to the attention of the biggest predator in the room,” Liam said.
“You’re welcome,” I told him.
“For what?”
“For interfering before you could do something you’d regret.”
“I had myself perfectly under control.”
I gave him a sideways look.“Uh huh.”
A small growl slipped from him as he propelled me up onto the dais, positioning me at Thomas’s side, just behind his chair before taking his place next to me on Thomas’s other side.
“Problem?” Thomas asked.
“No,” came Liam’s abrupt response.
Thomas looked at me.
