Page 47 of Taken By The Vampire King

I started moving slowly, almost creeping around the edge of the room like I was afraid to be there, like I shouldn’t have been there, but then I gave myself a shake. Hell yes, I deserved to be there. I’d fucking been claimed to be here as part of a gambling debt. If Nicolas didn’t want me to mingle, he shouldn’t have brought me. I didn’t need to sneak around in the shadows.

A warning about shadows lurked in my mind, but as quickly as I thought it, it was gone.

I lifted my chin, avoiding eye contact with every crazy in this room who seemed determined to look at me—I certainly got more attention from the party guests than I got from Nicolas, which was both interesting and even more of an ego crusher.

But I was more than happy to show him how little I needed his brand of attention, where anything else going on seemed to be more interesting than spending time with me.

“Hello.”

I looked around at the first person who’d dared speak to me. Up until now, I’d only been watched, like I was the mouse in a room full of hungry cats all content to bide their time. The man looked vaguely like Nicolas in the same way Jason did, all broad shoulders and self-confidence, but he smiled more easily, a huge grin already on his face as he looked at me.

“I’m Sebastian Dupont.” He held his hand out, but when I put mine in it, he drew my fingers to his lips instead of the greeting I expected. His mouth brushed my knuckles, and my skin flushed with heat. “I’m Nicolas’s younger, far more desirable brother.” He dropped his voice conspiratorially and winked.

I giggled, startled and surprised at his bold flirting after Nicolas’s hot-or-cold attitude. “Pleased to meet you,” I murmured, not quite holding his gaze.

“And it’s truly a great pleasure to meet you,” he replied, and his broad chest swelled as he inhaled deeply. “Nic appears to be otherwise engaged.”

He made a vague gesture of his hand in the direction of where Nicolas had taken his friend, and I fought the sudden surge of rejection that gripped my chest.

I hadn’t been rejected. I’d been brought as arm candy only, and he could talk to anyone he wanted. Even if I seemed to be the arm candy Nicolas sometimes wanted to fuck. I ignored the little voice in my head that pointed out that arm candy actually belonged on someone’s arm, so maybe I wasn’t even that, and returned my attention to Sebastian and his apparently permanent grin.

“Can I step in for my shockingly inattentive brother and offer you a tour of the house?” He held his arm out for me to take. Oh yes. This brother seemed to know about arm candy, too.

I hesitated, but only for a moment before I slipped my hand into the crook of his elbow, the same way I’d allowed Nicolas to escort me into the house. And I ignored the cramp in my stomach. I’d wanted Nicolas to show me the house, really, but that was stupid. He didn’t need to include me in his life, and I was really only being nosy. Anyone could show me around. Perhaps I’d even pick up some tips for the eventual refurbishment of my own home—something that would have made Mom proud.

“Thank you.” My voice was still low, and when I chanced a glance at him, he was gazing down at me with a mixture of curiosity and longing.

Then he blinked and it was gone, so maybe I’d only been projecting what I actually wanted to see on Nicolas—which was definitely an idea I needed to get out of my head, or this would be an even harder month than I’d originally anticipated.

Sebastian and I walked around the edge of the room, almost sticking to the same shadows I’d stepped between originally. I glanced around, searching for Nicolas, but I didn’t see him. He was probably still talking to his friend. I pushed away the tendrils of jealousy that teased me, and clutched Sebastian’s arm a little tighter, not drawing away when he covered my hand with his own, his movement nothing but proprietorial.

As I continued to look idly between the faces of the party guests, content for Sebastian to steer us in whatever direction he chose, I caught the gaze of Nicolas’s uncle, and his features eased into a frown, a small line forming between his brows as he glanced at his nephew by my side.

I looked away. He didn’t get to frown at the nephew showing me around when the nephew who’d brought me here apparently hadn’t received good enough tuition on date night etiquette.

We walked out of the ballroom into a wide hallway not dissimilar to the one in Nicolas’s home. Everything was hardwood or veined marble and reeked of class and culture.

“This is the salon.” Sebastian indicated a double doorway to my left, and I glanced inside, taking in a slice of vintage French culture.

Huge, heavy velvet drapes hung ceiling to floor at numerous windows, and there were several small seating areas creating intimate spaces in the massive room. A grand piano took up deceptively little space in one corner, and there were candelabras on console tables and vases of brightly colored fresh flowers on other surfaces.

“It’s beautiful.” A little fussy and old-world for my tastes, maybe, but I could definitely appreciate the old money present here.

“A little old fashioned, perhaps.” Sebastian spoke as if he’d read my mind and chuckled. “But if you like this style, there’s definitely a room I want to show you.”

He steered me toward a staircase, even grander and with more of a sweep than Nicolas’s—and it made mine look like nothing more than a rickety ladder someone had propped against a wall. When we reached the foot of the stairs, I stopped.

“Where are we going?” I still had enough self-preservation not to be led to a strange man’s bedroom.

He lifted his eyebrows suggestively. “Where would you like to go?”

As I hesitated further, he relaxed into a friendly grin.

“There’s a sort of private gallery upstairs. Almost a museum.” He shrugged. “I just thought it might interest you, that’s all.” A disappointed light entered his eyes. “We can go and check if Nic has finished reuniting with Aurelia instead, if you prefer?”

“No, I don’t prefer.” I tightened my hold on Sebastian and stepped onto the first tread. “I don’t see any point in interrupting Nicolas and his friend.”

And that much was true. Plus, the idea of facing the two of them, of potentially inserting myself where I really wasn’t wanted, made my stomach lurch.

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