And every step I take away from her feels like I’m fucking dying.
Blair
Saturday morning feels like champagne.
Not the literal kind—though last night’s bubbles are still fizzing somewhere in the back of my throat—but the sensation of it. I feel light and effervescent and like my whole body is freaking sparkling with something bigger than anything I’ve ever experienced.
I wake up slowly, stretching my arms and legs beneath my cream silk sheets and marshmallow-soft white comforter. I still live at my parents’ house. After I graduated from Boston University, I moved back home because, well, being a career woman is not my fate.
My fate will be filled with something far bigger and better than that.
Eeep. I can’t wait.
Last night, I felt like I was floating on a freaking cloud. I’ve never been in a room with that many vampire elites. I can’t deny it was a little intimidating at times, but they’re, like, some of the mostimportant men in the world. I mean, how could anyone not be a little intimidated by that?
And soon, one of them will be my husband.
Holy hell. I flip over onto my belly and practically squeal into my pillow.
I can’t believe it’s finally happening.
I sit up and press my palm to my chest as if I can physically hold the feeling in place. The excitement and anticipation are downright intoxicating, and I fear if I let myself breathe too hard, it’ll float away.
Or, goodness, maybeI’llfloat away.
Three soft knocks sound at my door. “Blair, honey? You awake?” My mother’s voice fills my ears.
“Yeah. You can come in.”
Devney Windsor is the kind of woman that can enter a room with such poised calm you’d think it’s impossible for her ever to be nervous. It’s still morning and she’s wearing her silk robe, but her hair is perfect, her makeup already intact, and she has a cup of coffee in her hand.
Her eyes are bright as she walks toward my bed.
“How are you feeling this morning?”
I smile. I can’t help it. “Like it’s finally happening.”
“Oh, my girl. I was hoping you’d say something like that.” A small, satisfied smile touches her mouth. “Tell me everything.”
“It was exactly like you said it would be.” I swing my legs out of bed. “The mansion was insanely beautiful. The event was beyond extravagant. Everything was just…perfect.”
“And you held yourself well? Good posture, good smile, and no rambling or asking too many questions?”
“I did everything you said I needed to do,” I answer. “I didn’t drink too much. I didn’t talk too much. I didn’t…chase. I let them come to me.”
“That’s my girl.” Her smile consumes her whole face. “And did you meet anyone…interesting?”
I grin. “I meta lotof interesting men.”
“Oh Blair, I can’t deny I’m a little jealous. I’ve never gotten to experience any of this firsthand, and I just…” She pauses and lets out a dreamy little sigh. “I just can’t imagine how incredible it is.”
She’s not a Windsor by blood; she’s a Windsor by marriage. Since she’s not one of theblood of the threelike Bonnie and me, my mother has never been a part of something like this. She’s never attended a preview event or the Selection. She only knows about it from what she’s been told by Grandma Windsor and other women on my father’s side.
When I don’t say anything, she reaches out to tap my knee playfully. “Blair, don’t leave me hanging, sweetheart! Tell me everything!”
“Okay! Okay!” I laugh. “Well, this man named Damien spoke to me quite a bit,” I say, unable to keep the thrill from my voice. “He talked to me longer than anyone else. More than any othergirl in the room. I don’t know what he does or anything, but I could tell by the way the other men were acting around him he’s very important.”
“And what’s he like?”
