Victor clucks his tongue. “Lucien Avrell doesn’t do ‘friends’, or so I’m told. Though I can see why you would offer a pretty thing like this a place to stay.”
I put a hand on Dorian’s shoulder before he can do something stupid, knowing he’s thinking about her boss at the club making a similar insult. “Is there something I can help you with, Victor, or did you just come to pry into matters that don’t concern you?”
His eyes flash with interest and I know he won’t let this go, that he’ll keep digging until he finds something damning. I wouldn’t be surprised if he staked out my house to try and catch evidence to toss to the tabloids like the shark he is.
We’re going to have to be more careful from now on. We’ve been so focused on the conniving fae, we haven’t given enough concern to the threats humans pose.
“I must not give you enough credit, Lucien,” he persists anyway. “You must be some friend indeed to introduce her to your ‘associates’ here,” Victor continues.
I’ve never had any issue before brushing him off, and he typically leaves of his own accord when he sees he can’t get a rise out of me. But now, with Cambria, it’s personal. She’s a chink in my armor that wasn’t there before and Victor can sniff out that weakness like a bloodhound, planning to exploit it until he can finally land a blow.
“If you’ll excuse me, Vincent was it?” Cambria interrupts coyly.
He frowns, correcting her. “Victor.”
She waves him off, pretending to look contrite. “Right, of course. Anyway, as I’m sure you can imagine, I feel terrible about how much of Lucien’s time I’ve taken up recently. I’d hate for you to commit the same folly and feel just as repentant; it’s a party after all. Perhaps you’d rather dance and allow Mr. Avrell a night to enjoy himself as well?”
My nostrils flare as I fight to demand just what the hell she’s thinking, anger simmering ready beneath the surface.
“Of course, let’s,” Victor purrs and Cambria, bless her heart, snorts.
“As you recall, I have a date for the evening. I should have simplified my wording. I was suggesting you go find someone to dance with and let us all enjoy our evening without your barely veiled sniping.” She takes a slow drink from her glass, blinking up at him innocently.
I don’t think I’ve ever felt the desire to kiss her as fiercely as I do in this moment.
Victor’s eyes harden, turning to me. “You should consider teaching yourfriendhow to speak to her betters.”
Dorian opens his mouth to speak, but I beat him to it. “As soon as we encounter one, I’ll pass the word. Goodnight, Victor.” He storms off and I have to hold back a grin.
“That shouldn’t have been nearly as hot as it was,” Atlas states, and I have to firmly agree.
Cambria downs the last of her champagne. “For a party, this is rather dull, Luce.”
“Come on,” Dorian offers, “let’s go see what they have to snack on here. I know how you adore anything free, even if it’s disgusting.”
Cambria laughs as Atlas wraps an arm around her waist, the three of them walking off. “Your slightly rude, completely accurate statements don’t affect me, Mr. Grey. Why would I pay for dinner if there’s a free option? Hey wait!” she suddenly exclaims. “You owe us dinner too!”
Dorian grins cheekily. “Why do you think I scored myself an invite as Luce’s plus one? I’m treating my family out to a fancy night on the town, ow!” he yelps as Atlas smacks the back of his head.
“Cheap bastard,” he accuses as they fade into the crowd.
I spend the next hour and a half mingling, making small talk and counting down the moments until we can politely excuse ourselves to go home for the night. It’s been torture being pulled into conversations of investments and the stock market when a flash of purple keeps catching my eye.
Typically, I look at these events as nothing more than chores, but tonight I look at it as my greatest trial of restraint.
When the soft sounds of the grand piano in the corner start to resonate around the room, I cut off mid conversation. Not even bothering to excuse myself, I make my way to where I can see better, Cambria sitting next to Atlas and showing him a basic few keys to repeat while she starts in on the higher notes.
Her fingers soar across the keys, her cheeks flushed so I assume she’s had several more drinks since we parted ways. With expert skill, she throws herself into the song, eyes closed and playing from memory alone.
Atlas struggles to keep up, but even that doesn’t deflect away from how captivating she’s become. Soon, he stops trying all together and turns so he can watch her in awe, becoming just as mesmerized as the rest of us as the music continues to build.
Shit.
Hastily, I fumble the pair of earplugs out of my pocket and into my ears that I’ve taken to carrying around since the second time in the club, knowing they’d come in handy with her around. It started as a way to protect myself, to make sure she couldn’t use her abilities to persuade and manipulate us. Then it just became habit, even after it was clear that she didn’t have to use any special abilities to manipulate me; she had me wrapped around her finger and just needed to ask.
I make my way through the still bodies, eyes glazed and staring at her, transfixed. Pulling Atlas from his seat, I steal his place and brush my arm against hers to get her attention.
My fingers find their place on the keys as I set in as the counterpart. I’m in nowhere near the same league she is, but I can hold myself well enough that I don’t make an idiot of myself.
