Page 38 of Vampires of Eden: Oliver
Every day my schedule has been jam-packed with breakfasts, luncheons and family meetings. Soirées held in mine and Alexander’s honor and village tours. The only time I’ve seen Aries was when I went back with Alexander so that he could try on the mock jacket. Aries had pants for me to try on as well.
With Lord Blakeley always watching—his foreboding, steely eyes constantly assessing my every move—I’ve played the part of a well-behaved mannequin on Alexander’s arm for seven days straight and I amexhausted. The pressure is crippling.
Every night I have collapsed into bed, grateful to finally be alone and without intense scrutiny. Some nights I fell asleep in my clothes because I didn’t even have the energy to shower and change into my pajamas.
Tonight, if possible, I want to dance with Aries. I haven’t been alone with him since we kissed and I just… It would be really, really nice to be in his presence. That’s all. I know that I can’t ask for more. I don’t even deserve that much, but I would give anything to—
“Ollie, straighten out your face. You look miserable.” Sasha bumps my side, surprising me. I shake my head, looking away from Aries and the woman on the dance floor and stifling my immense jealousy.
These wild feelings suddenly take root—curling and tangling like a vine climbing up a stone wall. Intense desire and the ache of an inscrutable longing deep within my nature. It’s overpowering. After two decades of my vampiric essence being utterly dormant, I’m not accustomed to these raw reactions.
“I smuggled a second pack of film inside tonight—for the camera I gave you. Camille said she’d stick it underneath your bed.”
“Sash, you didn’t need to do that. I haven’t even used the first set you’ve given me. I haven’t taken the camera out of the box.”
“What the hell are you waiting for? You’ve got double the film now, so get cracking. Don’t let Lord Heartless crush your creative spirit. Shall we dance?”
“Yes, alright.”
Sasha takes my hand and pulls me onto the dance floor underneath the radiant lights. She leads, expertly guiding and spinning me until I smile helplessly. Until we’re both laughing and breathless from the inherent jubilation that dancing brings. Her flared pants swish and my jacket flies with our movement—a tornado of fabric and color.
By the end of the up-tempo song, we’re panting and grinning. I look around, narrowing my senses on the singular vampiric essence that deeply stirs me. The aura that I crave. I see him walking off the dance floor and passing a small group of vamps just as he dips out of sight and beyond a side entrance.
Intrinsically, I step in the direction of the door he’s disappeared through. But I’m thwarted when a hand wraps firmly around my wrist, halting my progress.
“Did the two of you have fun?” Alexander asks, smiling as he holds on to me tightly. “May I have this next dance?”
“Haven’t you already danced with him four times?” Sasha asks, her eyebrow raised in assessment. “Can’t he dance with someone else, if he wants?”
“He can dance with whomever he pleases, but it can’t be helped if my love for him is insatiable.” Alexander winks as he pulls me away from Sasha and further onto the dance floor.
When we’re in the thick of the crowd, he squares himself in front of me and lifts his hands, making it clear that he intends to lead yet again. Sighing, I take my position.
Alexander has been on his best “I’m a perfect and wholesome purebred prince” behavior this past week, too. He’s so breezy and amicable at times with his sunshine-blonde hair and bright eyes that I physically feel myself shrinking in his shadow. As if I’m being crushed under the moral weight of his having everything he could ever want in his life and my having absolutely nothing.
“Your face looked different a second ago, when you were dancing with your sister,” he observes, guiding us in a slow-tempo waltz. Everyone on the floor moves with the same flow and rhythmic pace, like the second hand of an oversized clock. “I’m jealous. Why can’t I have that smile?”
“Because… my relationship with Sasha is different than my relationship with you. Why would I act the same way with you?”
“But we’ve grown up together, Ollie. Things have been strained because of all the strict rules, but we’ve known each other for a long time. You can’t even manage a smile for me? Am I so horrible?”
“I never said you were horrible—”
“Then what is it? Tell me.” Alexander swoops me around. I’m not expecting it, so I lose my footing and clumsily trip. He thinks this is funny, because he laughs.
His spontaneous movement, his statements and his affable demeanor suddenly irritate me. He always irritates me, so I tell him as much.
“Yes, we’ve known each other for a long time. But you haven’t been nice.”
“Haven’t I?” He smiles. He’s constantly grinning like this. Supercilious and teasing, like everything about me is a joke. Nothing I say matters.
“You’re condescending. You belittle the things I like and you call me a nerd, short and a horse.”
“I’ve never called youshort,” he interjects, chuckling. “I believe I said you weren’t very tall, which isn’t a lie.”
“You tell me I’m uptight and that I need to relax, and yet you pressure me about sex all the time. Bursting into my room without being invited and trying to kiss me—alwaystouchingme.”
For once, Alexander doesn’t hit me with a quick rebuttal. We’ve stopped moving, like the center cog of the clock face while all the vampires dance and twirl around us.
