Great. They were both here. Just what I needed.
I knew without looking that Caroline was still engaged with her coworkers. I couldn’t rely on her continued preoccupation and the last thing I needed was for her to start asking questions about Liam or Thomas. Correction, the last thing I needed was for them to show any interest in her. I wanted to keep her as far from this world as possible.
“I thought you might choose that dress,” Liam observed.
Ha. I knew he had something to do with this.
“What are you doing here?”
He looked around and nodded at someone. I followed his gaze, noting several familiar faces, including Nathan and Eric. Looking further I saw Elinor and John, laughing and talking with their own clusters of groupies.
Power moved through the room at a slumberous pace. Previously, I had attributed it to ambient magic, but now I suspected it had less to do with magic and more to do with a gaggle of vampires congregating in one spot. The buzz in my head ramped up now that I knew what it was.
Caroline’s gala wasn’t just a fundraiser’s wet dream but also a meeting place for the vampire applicants.
We needed to leave. Now.
“You could have said something,” I snapped.
He made a slight movement as if to acknowledge my statement. “I could have, but seeing the shock on your face was so worth it.”
I snarled at him, spinning on my heel. I needed to find my friend.
His hand caught my arm. “Not so fast. You can’t leave yet.”
“Watch me.”
“You’ll just draw more notice to yourself and your lovely friend. Vampires are like sharks. Give the slightest whiff of blood in the water, and they’ll be on you before you can blink. You might be able to defend yourself, but your friend will be helpless,” he murmured in my ear.
I gave him a dirty look, even as I conceded his point. This right here was why I had made a point of keeping a distance between myself and the people I cared about.
Thomas glided up to stand beside us.
“Who is your friend, Liam?” Thomas asked, pretending that we had never met before. It seemed to be a theme with him.
I fought the choice words that instantly rose to mind. Hostility was all well and good but would do nothing for me right now.
I wished I’d taken the time to slip a weapon holster under the dress. It had been impossible with Caroline fussing over my hair and makeup. Now I was as defenseless as a lamb among wolves.
“This is the woman I was telling you about,” Liam said, going along with the ruse.
“The clanless yearling. I assume that unfortunate set of circumstances will be taken care of as soon as the selection is settled,” a voice as warm as honey said as its owner walked up to us.
He had the sort of good looks featured on the cover of a magazine. Hair perfectly styled, a roguish charm to his face. He wore a tux like he’d been born to it. Liam, by contrast, looked like an untamed warrior content to play a part for now. Handsome to be sure, but you knew just by looking at him, he wasn’t meant for formal clothes. Instead he should be on a battlefield somewhere clutching a weapon as he hacked off his enemy’s head.
“Stephen,” Thomas said. His voice was carefully neutral. There was no warmth to it or hostility.
I was learning vampires defaulted to that bland tone when they were confronted by an enemy.
Stephen shot Thomas an affable grin and slapped him on his back.
“Thomas, old man, I was surprised to see your name on the list of applicants. Were you ever able to overcome your unfortunate tendency of killing every human you tried to convert? Or are you hoping for a last minute miracle?”
“I have a few options left to me,” Thomas said.
Stephen’s warm eyes landed on me. “I’ve heard a lot about you. Elinor is furious after she failed to break you. I’d watch your back if I were you, she makes a fearsome enemy. Has an unfortunate habit of killing her victims and all their loved ones.”
He spoke of murder so easily.
