“Don’t drift away from me tonight, I want you to be safe. Do what I say and don’t pay attention to anyone else but me,” he whispered against my ear.
How could his voice evoke so many emotions inside me? My entire body was tingling.
As soon as we entered the hall, all I could do was stare at all the vampires surrounding us. Some were dancing in their finest attire, others were sitting at a table drinking wine—or blood, whatever the red liquid in their glass was supposed to be.
I glanced around, noticing the further we moved into the room, the more the other vampires took a step back. It was almost as if they feared Xavier. His eyes were solely focused on me until we halted at a long table made of ebony wood.
Silence persisted for a long moment, only making me even more nervous. Eventually, Xavier finally spoke, his strong voice breaking the tension in the hall, “Good evening, my friends and elders.” He closed his eyes for a moment, drawing in a breath before slowly reopening his eyes. It was almost as if he was as nervous as me. Out of instinct, I gripped his hand to reassure him that he wasn’t alone. Xavier’s gaze lowered to my hand as his fingers slid between mine.
He scanned the people in the crowd and spoke again, “Welcome to the annual council meeting. Now, please everyone, feel free to eat and drink your fill, and then we’ll discuss matters. And of course, my friends, you’ll all need to behave. We’re in the presence of beautiful women, not only our kind.” Some people laughed, amused at his comment as they were all taking their seats. Xavier and I sat at a long golden table reserved for us and some of his guests. I guess mother would have called them the select circle, the privileged few. Men that were blessed with enough power and money to influence terrible decisions.
“Oh, Xavier,” a female voice said. She was the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen, dressed in a dark green gown matching the color of her eyes. Her hair was black and cascaded in long curls down her shoulders.
“Don’t you want to introduce me to your beautiful company?”
“No,” Xavier coldly said, seeming annoyed by her presence. The woman rolled his eyes at him.
“It looks like mybrotherstill has no manners, if he didn’t even tell you about me,” she said to me.
“Brother?” I asked, perplexed.
I’ve only met Sparrow. He didn’t mention having a sister when he’d told me about his family. But the longer I looked at both of them, the more similarities I recognized. Of course, they both had those mesmerizing beautiful green eyes and black hair, but their gestures and expressions were also similar. Especiallyin the way they talked with confidence and a little hint of arrogance.
“Oh, did my brother not even mention me? So nice of him. I’m Lydia, his twin sister.”
Twin sister.
“It’s not my intention to be nice to you, Lydia,” Xavier said coldly. “If it weren’t for a shred of decency, you wouldn’t even be here.”
Lydia’s lips curled into a knowing smile. “Oh, Xavier… I thought being away from our father’s shadow might have softened you. Seems I was wrong.”
Before Xavier could respond, a tall man emerged from the surrounding crowd like a shadow stepping into light.
Sparrow.
“Why can’t my brother and sister spend five minutes together without snapping at each other?” Sparrow asked, sighing with amused dismay.
He slid an arm around Lydia’s waist, with the intention to relax her. She leaned slightly into him, though her glare at Xavier remained unsoftened.
Then Sparrow’s attention shifted to me and his gaze warmed. He took my hand with surprising gentleness, pressing a slow kiss to my skin as his eyes gleamed with some unreadable amusement—like he enjoyed the little fight between his siblings as a private show meant just for him.
“Sparrow,” Xavier snapped. A warning. But Sparrow didn’t flinch. His smile only widened.
That was the moment Xavier moved. Without another word, he wrapped his hand around mine. His grip was warm, strangely protective before he pulled me away from them. Did he fear his siblings?
When we were far enough from the table, I gently tugged at Xavier’s hand.
“Xavier… are you okay?” He didn’t answer right away. His jaw was tense, eyes set ahead, but they were red.
“I won’t let my sister pull you into her little games,” he muttered finally. “Not you.” The way he said it was indeed fearful, and it made me wonder why.
I gazed around the room and saw Xavier’s sister now sitting at a table very far away. Sparrow kept her company, even though a seat was reserved for him at our table. I couldn’t help but notice that Lydia’s eyes were solely focused on me, a possessive dark gleam in their depths that I didn’t notice before, too occupied with Xavier’s behavior.
“Gwendolyn,” Xavier murmured softly after a while, pinching my thigh slightly under the table.
My gaze wandered back to him.
“What?”
