Page 18 of An Acquired Taste

I lift my head to eye the container of colorful pills he’s pushing over.

“And plenty of water,” he says, nudging a glass toward me.

I stick my tongue out at him but do as he says, swallowing the pills one after another. Once I start drinking water, I can’t stop until the glass is empty, and only then do I return to my caffeine.

A couple of minutes pass in the quiet as we sip our coffee and wake up. Then Benjamin clears his throat and sets down his mug. “I suppose I should pass along the good news.”

“If ‘good news’ means ‘the five thousand dollars I owe you,’ I’d be delighted to receive it.” And now that this is over, I can start apartment shopping and figuring out how to admit my lies to my sister. Time to go back to my sad butsafereality.

Benjamin cracks a smile. “Your payment has already been deposited in your account. But there’s more.”

I finish off my coffee and eye him, unsure what to expect. He reaches into his pocket, pulls out an envelope, and slides it across the table to me.

“Is it a bonus for being so overwhelmingly charming?” I ask as I pick it up. The envelope is thick and expensive-looking. My full name is written in beautiful red calligraphy on the front, and there’s an actual wax seal on it. I feel bad ripping it open, but I do it anyway, and pull out the luxurious, cream-colored stationery from within. I squint, struggling to read the old-fashioned cursive. Then my eyes widen. “Wait… is this…” I glance up, my gaze darting between Benjamin and Lissa, who are both beaming.

“Yes,” Benjamin says. “I’m delighted to report that you’ve received an offer of patronage.”

Mouth hanging open, I give up on translating the cursive and skip to the bottom of the letter to find a name. I fully expect to seeAlexander de Solomon, the name that’s been lingering in my mind since we danced. I’m pretty sure I had naughty dreams about those last words he whispered to me.

But that’s not what the signature says.

“Lord Sebastian de Celeste,” I breathe, stiffening. I remember the darkly gorgeous man from the garden, his bland reaction to my blood. “But… he… He didn’t evenlikeme.”

“It appears he very much did.”

I squint down at the letter. “Or he’s trying to lure me to his mansion so he can murder me.”

“This is not like a party, where there is the threat of something happening to an unclaimed valentine. With a contract signed, you will be legally protected by the Celeste Court.” Benjamin smiles. “And also, I assure you that I would never try to arrange you with a patron whom I did not trust.”

I can’t stop running my fingers over the silky paper, as if reassuring myself that it’s real. Still, my expression feels stucksomewhere halfway between a smile and a grimace. My mind keeps flashing back to Alexander’s smooth smile, comparing it with Sebastian’s dour scowl. “I don’t suppose I got any other offers?”

Benjamin frowns. “Lord Sebastian is a highly respected vampire of the Celeste Court,” he says. “He may not live the sort of decadent social life you were expecting, but he is an honorable man. I trust that he will treat you well.”

“No, sorry, you’re right. I just…” I set the letter on the table and tap my fingers on the wood beside it. “I’m surprised, I guess. I got the impression he couldn’t stand me. You saw it. He didn’t even want to bite me.”

Benjamin’s brow furrows. “Drinking from you with a syringe was a quirk, I’ll admit. The contract is for six months rather than a full year, which is… also rather less common. Plus there’s a clause for you to sign indicating that you have no desire to be turned into a vampire. That’s a legally tricky, physically dangerous process as it is, so I would suggest agreeing.”

“That’s not a problem,” I say, shuddering at the thought. As much as I’m enamored with vampires, I’ve always pictured myself as the bitten rather than the one who bites. A lifetime without the sun? Without being able to eat chocolate unless it has blood in it? No thanks. “But the rest is weird, right? I don’t understand why he’d choose me.”

Benjamin shrugs. “I’m sure you can ask him his reasoning yourself if you accept his offer.”

What choice do I have?I want to ask. But I hold back because I know that’s not true. Idohave choices. I could run back to my parents’ house, or use the five thousand dollars I made last night to start a new life with my sister here. But even though I have my reservations, I can’t deny that this choice is the one that holds the most appeal for me. I came here wanting to be a valentine, and after getting a taste of it last night, I’m only more intrigued.

I’m intrigued by Sebastian de Celeste, too, as loath as I am to admit it. If it were achoice,I probably would’ve gone for Alexander, but still… I can’t get the image of those almost-black eyes out of my head. I want to know more about what lurks in those dark depths. I want to know why he chose to make this offer after our less-than-stellar first meeting. I want to know if he isn’t as disgusted by my blood as everyone else, or if he’s just better at hiding it.

Worrying my lower lip, I look at Benjamin. “What do you know about him?”

“He’s said to be reclusive,” he says. “He lives in a mountain estate that has been in his family since before he was turned, which was over two hundred years ago.”

“I’veheard he’s very handsome,” Lissa chimes in with a wink. I grin at her, nodding.

“He also played a significant role in the last court war as a young vampire,” Benjamin continues, choosing to ignore that commentary. “Solomon attempted to absorb the Celeste Court, and likely would have succeeded if not for some prominent members such as Sebastian who fought fiercely to retain their independence. But he was also, as I recall, one of the first to call for an end to the war. Since then, he’s retreated from the public eye.”

Trying to wrap my head around that makes me dizzy. Over two hundred years of history, and such a significant history as all that… What could someone like him see in someone like me?

I can’t possibly imagine. But I would like to find out. I run my finger over his signature on the offer letter and then glance between Benjamin and Lissa. “Will you go over the contract with me?”

Chapter Ten

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