Page 42 of My Big Fat Vampire Wedding
With Victor distracted, Pandora leaned down, suddenly paranoid about what kind of blood had been used to make the sauce. But all she caught were hints of fish, tomato, and wine. No actual blood at all.
Down the table, Jasper learned this at the same time, choking and spluttering as Bellatrix scowled and wiped a splash of sauce off her bare arm.
“You all right there, my boy?” Uncle Reginald asked, rapping Jasper hard on the back, making him nearly faceplant into his plate piled with jellied eel.
“And how do you plan to take care of my daughter when you are a student?” Lucian asked.
“I will be finishing up university within the next year, sir. Then I plan to become a lecturer myself,” Victor said, pulling himself up to full height, proud of his future plans.
Pandora knew her own father would not be impressed, though. Not when he believed Pandora should be pampered by her husband and his fortune.
She probably should have been trying to think of a way to interject, to guide the conversation toward more neutral ground. But she was too busy imagining walking into a lecture hall to see Victor standing there at the front, looking studious in a sweater vest and maybe some glasses that he would take off when he was passionate …
Lucian’s next question made Pandora groan. “Are you aware that my daughter is about to inhe—”
The heavy metallic clang of the door knocker echoed through the house, its weighted thud carrying a hollow resonance that seemed to shudder through the very walls.
It cut cleanly through the hum of conversation, the clinking of cutlery, and the heavy tension in the air of the dining room.
“Now, who could that be?” Ravenna asked, glancing up and down the table as if to figure out who wasn’t in attendance.
Though, thanks to their massive extended family, Pandora could think of at least two dozen cousins, aunts, uncles, or friends that weren’t currently taking up seats at the table.
“I will see,” Ophelia said, rising from her seat like a queen from her throne.
If Pandora had been paying closer attention, she mighthave noticed the devious smile tugging at the corners of her mother’s lips. But she found herself suddenly occupied by the empty chair directly beside her.
Why had they stuck Victor across the table if there was an empty seat right next to her?
As if answering her question in real time, Ophelia moved into the doorway of the dining room.
But she was no longer alone.
Standing beside her was a man who commanded all the attention in the room.
It seemed as if his very presence made the air in the room shift, demanding everyone turn to look at him.
He was tall and impeccably dressed, his tailored suit fitting him like a second skin, every stitch screaming wealth and refinement.
His dark hair gleamed under the chandelier’s light, swept back in effortless waves that framed a face that seemed carved from marble.
He had high cheekbones, a strong jawline, and lips that were curved up in the faintest smile.
It was the eyes that commanded the most attention – a moody grey full of intelligence, their intensity softened only by a slight glint of amusement.
He stood with the easy grace of someone used to being noticed, his posture impeccable, but with an ease that belied his outward formality.
Not a single human in existence exuded that amount of charm and self-possession.
This late stranger?
He was a vampire.
“Everyone, it is my great honor,” Ophelia said, giving a genuine smile, “to introduce to you Elias Thornwell.”She reached to touch the arm of the man at her side. “Elias, this is my family.” Ophelia waved down the table. “My husband, Lucian. My son, Dante.” Then, with much more emphasis, she said, “And, of course, my daughter, Pandora.”
“The pleasure is mine,” Elias said, pressing a hand to his heart as his gaze swept the table, landing on Pandora. That lightness in his eyes increased, but Pandora was too confused by his presence to notice.
At least until her mother led Elias over to her side.
