Page 35 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

Despite my concerns, Benedict looked at ease, but it easily could’ve been an act. His suit fit him like a second skin, or rather, a snake’s skin. It was impossible to know what he was thinking under the casual smile he offered to those he passed.

At his side, Thoren looked uncomfortable. His light eyes squinted, trapped somewhere between resenting his formal clothing and the tightness of the collar around his neck. He fidgeted with the tie, loosening it slightly. But from his grimace, it wasn’t enough. Even in a room full of vampires, he towered above most. His discomfort over being stuffed into a crowd of people with faces he didn’t know and conversations he didn’t care about showed.

We moved swiftly toward them, cutting our way through the masses with hawk-like precision. Those who bothered to look up and see who was coming toward them moved out of the way.

“There you are,” Dominic said when we reached them. “We need to talk. Alone.”

“Are we getting lectured?” Sebastian broke in, coming up beside us. He grinned, obviously a little drunk, even this early in the day.

“You might be,” I muttered.

It took a minute for us to find a quiet alcove. There was no way to guarantee privacy. Not with magical creatures crowding the halls. Who knew what enchantments the Queens had reporting back to them. But we’d all been on one battlefield or another with our father, so we knew how to communicate discreetly.

“Your mother and I will be leaving this afternoon,” he informed them.

“Before the new year?” Benedict asked, his eyes glinting.

Dominic nodded. “We have other engagements in the city, but we will stay to see Thea take her throne publicly.”

The message was clear. Sabine and Dominic would offer one show of loyalty to the Queens—enough to keep Zina and Mariana from questioning them. But they would not stay or pledge their allegiance to their son’s mate, especially with rumors circling that my brother had been disowned.

“If any of you want to leave with us, meet at the dock in an hour,” Dominic informed them. He glanced at me. “And consider what I said.”

Silence stretched between all of us, my brothers weighing his words and what they meant.

“I need to get back to London,” Benedict said at last. “I have matters to attend to.”

“Me, too.” Thoren nodded, and I knew he meant to go. Although I doubted he would head to London with him. Most of us never knew where he got off to when we were apart.

“What are you doing?” Sebastian directed the question at me, some of the drunken edge gone from his voice. “Leaving?”

“I’m supposed to head to Egypt.” I shoved my hands in my pockets, avoiding my father’s eyes. “I need to get back to the dig. You?”

“I’m still deciding,” he said quietly.

Despite his reputation, I sometimes wondered if Sebastian was the most loyal of all of us. If so, this was a test. Which side would he choose?

In the distance, a murmur ran through the crowd, palpable in its excitement.

“Maybe we should go find a good place to watch,” Dominic suggested lightly.

We nodded in unison, knowing an order when we received one.

Marching back toward the throne room, its passage now mercifully clear, we split up. Each of us wove our way through the courtiers gathered to see the new queen and took a defensive position in the throne room. Between the five of us, we would see any threat before it could reach her.

But it wasn’t Thea that entered through the Queen’s private corridor. My heart paused at the cloaked figure that swept a path of safety for her.

Aurelia had removed her mask. With her hood raised, she was still mostly in shadow. But I could picture the curve of her chin, the wideness of her lips, that scar that splintered that full mouth and carved across her neck. Some empty place inside me filled as I saw her as if I’d been holding space for her return.

The ground beneath me seemed to shift, and I took a steadying step forward, only to find it hard to move.

I needed to get out of here. This afternoon, I would put a stop to this—whatever it was—before it could get started. I had a life to get back to, and it didn’t involve this court.

My heart clanged in protest, and I ignored it.

It took effort to tear my eyes from Aurelia as she moved to the side, and Thea came into view. The murmur of the crowd turned to a roar as they saw her for the first time.

I couldn’t blame them.

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