Page 91 of Cloak of the Vampire
My eyes widened in shock, while Lord Renaldi let out a dissatisfied sigh. “I’ll find you later, then,” he murmured before he stepped back, gave me a promising grin, and left.
Then I turned to Cassidy, who’d just saved me from committing suicide.
“It’s going to fall,” Cassidy said with a scowl as she took the aperitif from my shaky hand and put it on the bar. She then grabbed my wrist and dragged me to the back of the room, where it was far less crowded.
I was so shocked that I hadn’t resisted her hold, and when she let me go and faced me, it all finally sank in.
What Margarita had done.
What Renaldi almost had done.
What Cassidy was currently doing.
My eyes took in the sight of Cassidy wearing a surprisingly modest green maxi dress and silver high heels, then her pretty face with her pretty emerald eyes, and I blurted, “Why?”Why did you help me?
Because Ragnor couldn’t have sent her to fetch me. If he wanted to talk to someone, he just did.
She folded her arms and looked away. “To settle the score,” she replied somewhat bitterly.
I wasn’t following. “Why doyouneed to settle a score withme?” I asked incredulously.
Shifting from foot to foot, Cassidy stared at the ground, gritted her teeth, and said in a strained voice, “You saved me from similar situations. I felt like I owed you.” She then shot me a glare. “I’m not helpless, Aileen. I’ve never been. And yet, you couldn’t help yourself trying to save me from Austin, just like you tried to save me from our Lord that night in the alley. Did it ever occur to you that I was with Austin because I wanted to be? That I stayed with him because I was getting something out of it?”
Shocked, all I could do was stare at her. “What could you possibly have been getting from an asshole who abused you? Beat you?”
Cassidy’s lips curled. “Forget it. You don’t know everything about me, Aileen.”
“Then tell me, Cassidy,” I said, ire rising. “How could you stay with someone like that?”
From the way she suddenly seemed uncomfortable, the slight tremble of her lips, and the refusal to meet my eye, I knew I wasn’t going to like her answer. And I was right, because she said, “Austin’s a vampire. He’s the reason Ragnor saved me. He’s the reason I’m here, Aileen.”
My lips parted. What the actual fuck?
She shook her head at me and folded her arms. “He’s a Leagueless. He introduced me to the world of vampires. He helped me sign up forthe waiting list. He tipped Ragnor off about me. He did everything for me.” She paused, refusing to meet my eyes. “And you butting in almost risked everything. Still ...” She paused, letting her arms drop. “You had good intentions. So just say thank you and leave me be from now on.”
I was absolutely stunned. It never occurred to me that there had been anything more to her relationship with Austin. I also never thought that she kept track of my attempts to help her out, since that’s not what our friendship had been all about. It was about me being her friend, protecting her from herself, and in the end, I lost my humanity when I thought I was trying to save her life. It was never a give-and-take relationship. It was always about one side being constantly on the receiving end. Just as I wanted it.
I never kept a record of how many times I helped her so that she could pay me back in the future. It was something I just did because I cared about her. Because I wanted her to be safe and happy.
And instead, she remained in contact with her abusive ex. She saw me as an obstacle to her goal of becoming a vampire. She never saw me as anything more than both a convenience and an inconvenience in one.
But none of that mattered. Not now that we were no longer friends.
So all I could say was “Thank you” in a bitter voice.
Her eyes snapped toward me; she hadn’t expected that, I could tell. She opened her mouth like she wanted to say something before she seemed to regret it and looked away again. “Sure,” she murmured.
Awkward silence spread between us as we both seemed to struggle with our emotions. In the end, however, Cassidy mumbled something about being needed elsewhere and fled the uncomfortable reality that was our former friendship.
CHAPTER 35
After Cassidy’s departure, I roamed the room aimlessly, observing the guests and hoping no Lord would engage me in some sort of conversation.
The Auction guests consisted of the seven Lords, their plus-ones and Lieutenants, special attendees from each League, and many of the Rayne League’s leadership and Troop members (or so I was told—I didn’t know anyone from the Troop)—and that was without counting the fifteen newbies each League brought along.
Needless to say, the ballroom was packed.
Which was why I managed to avoid conversing with anyone.
