Page 21 of To Love a Vampire
I swallow hard, knowing he’s right. I’ve thought the same thing hundreds of times. I nod and lower my head back to his chest, hoping to find the comfort I had. But it’s gone. A nervousness churns my stomach as he holds me close. I close my eyes against the growing dread that is now heavier than it was before.
I won’t have Asher to lean on tonight.
* * *
At Luca’s side, I sit, shifting restlessly in the hard chair that bites into my spine. The tent has been lowered, we’ll eat beneath the shining stars tonight.
In silence. The ever present drums that accompany the celebrations are not beating through the wind tonight.
“Nervous?” Luca asks, quirking her eyebrow at me as I wiggle in my chair once more.
I bite my lip and nod. No one has joined us yet aside from Kaino and Shane, who sit side by side. The two don’t speak or even acknowledge each other. Stiff posture fills their broad shoulders as they stare off into nothingness. They’re odd, almost intentionally ignoring one another.
The need to turn away from them fills me as their uncomfortableness begins to seep into me. I glance toward the head of the table as Raske and a group of five walks toward us. They take in the sights of our camp, admiring the display of mystics as if they’re a rare commodity instead of a shunned community.
Kaino stands, meeting his father’s eyes, his hands held neatly behind his back.
“President Docile, you remember my son, Kaino,” Raske says, waving an arm proudly to the warrior standing before them.
I find it strange that Luca isn’t mentioned once. The daughter of the lord apparently isn’t of importance.
The president is an even stranger sight. Dressed in all black from head to toe, a shrouding black veil covers the woman’s face. Soft blonde hair slips out beneath the curtain, revealing a single feature to us. The uneasiness flips in my stomach again at the hidden sight of the president.
Why is she dressed like that? Is that the way everyone dresses in Congress? Has she lost someone she loves? An appearance of mourning symbolized in her attire…
I glance toward Luca but she doesn’t return my confusion. A charming smile is plastered across her lips as she gazes at the president.
“Please take a seat. Dinner will be served shortly,” Raske tells them in a formal voice that I have never heard before.
I sit on my hands to keep myself still as the group of representatives begin taking their seats across from us.
A man pulls out the seat across from me. As he’s about to take his seat his dark eyes meet mine, stopping him in his tracks.
“Ayden?” I stand, an astonished smile filling my face, the strange president and my anxious nerves all but forgotten.
“What are you doing here?” he asks, his eyes tracing every curve of my body, seemingly searching for injury where there is none. “Are you all right?”
He comes around the table, holding me by the arms as he does his assessment at a closer stance. An enormous and filling happiness floats through me, making me unable to contain the smile on my face.
“I’m fine, Ayden.”
Everyone has stopped what they’re doing and is now watching us intently. Kaino and Shane have even snapped out of it enough to realize something is happening, their eyes moving from me to the representative that has me clasped in his hands.
“I thought I’d never see you again,” he says in a quiet breath.
“Ayden, come sit down. We’ll have plenty of time to reminisce throughout the evening,” a man says from across the table.
Seated next to President Docile is a man who was once my mentor. I blink a few times, trying to grasp on to all the familiar faces of my past that are now here in this community of mystics. Ayden gives me another long look before taking his seat across from me, next to my mentor.
“I’m happy you’re all right, Fallon.” Straight white teeth fill my mentors smile as he beams at me. A black button down shirt is crisp against his chest and he smooths it relentlessly in an almost nervous fashion. More gray hair streaks his dark brown hair than I remember, but his eyes are still kind and caring. “I helped Ayden place flyers through the villages. He was worried about his friend… Everyone was worried. We’ll have to update them of your safety to ease their minds.”
It’s a lie; one I can effortlessly spot. They won’t take time to update the surrounding communities. He continues to brush his palm down the imaginary wrinkles of his shirt.
“Lorde Raske, this is my friend from my village, Ayden, and this is my mentor, Michael. He helped structure my future from a very young age, focusing on my strengths and weakness to find my perfect place in society.” The word future circles my mind. What a waste all that time was. My future isn’t anything like the plans the government mapped out for me.
Lord Raske nods to the two men, his smile genuine as he speaks. “It’s good that Fallon has so many people that care about her.”
My heart pounds, picking up speed as I realize I haven’t had these people with me. I’ve been mostly alone for the past year. A weak smile pulls across my lips, not reaching high enough to touch my eyes or my mood.
