Page 14 of Wolf Queen Ruin
I was already ignoring him when I stepped into an entrance hall.Crystal chandeliers cast rainbow prisms across marble floors.Artwork hung on walls covered in what appeared to be actual silk.Antique furniture stood in perfectly arranged groupings.
The cool air inside smelled of sandalwood and something older, like the pages of antique books.It was a striking contrast to the perpetual mustiness of my tiny closet/apartment.
“So this is how the one percent lives,” I murmured, turning slowly to take it all in.“No sex rooms or dungeons?I’m disappointed.”
Damien paused behind me, so close I could feel the coolness radiating from his body.“The dungeon is being renovated,” he said dryly.“And I converted the sex room into an office.The sex swing in there was terrible for the spine.”
Yeah, I still had no idea if he was joking or not.I was beginning to suspect that beneath his composed exterior, Damien Cross might actually possess something resembling a personality.
He led me through the house to what appeared to be a formal dining room.A massive table of dark, polished wood dominated the space, currently set with enough silverware, glasses, and plates to confuse a catering company.
“Please tell me we’re not going through a full formal dinner,” I said, eyeing the multiple forks with suspicion.“The only things I ate this morning were a granola bar, a pickle, and a raisin I happened to find in my pocket, so I might be tempted to stab you with one of these forks if my blood sugar drops any lower.”
Damien walked to a sideboard and lifted a silver dome, revealing a plate of pastries, fresh fruit, and what looked like my favorite breakfast sandwich from the café around the corner from the Repository.
“Felix mentioned your random and unusual diet,” he explained, noticing my surprise.“I thought this might make the etiquette lesson more tolerable.”
“Oh.Thanks.”
“Dig in.”He nodded down at the table, and then his eyes met mine with surprising warmth.“Hungry partners make terrible students, and I need you at your best.”
I grabbed the breakfast sandwich, trying not to appear too eager.“So the table setting is just for show?”
“Merely for demonstration purposes,” he said, gesturing for me to take a seat.
Instead of sitting at the opposite end as I expected, he took the chair adjacent to mine, close enough that I could see the intricate blue patterns in his irises.
“Before we begin,” he said, his tone growing serious, “I should explain that supernatural gatherings operate under different rules than human ones.There are protocols that, if broken, can have consequences beyond simple social embarrassment.”
“Yes, you’ve explained this.”I sighed wearily.“But such as?”
“Such as inadvertently pledging yourself to a century of service to a Fae Lord because you accepted a drink with your left hand instead of your right,” he said.“Or insulting a vampire elder badly enough to warrant a blood duel by failing to acknowledge their age ranking.”
I blinked.“That escalated quickly.”
He nodded.“The supernatural world maintains many old traditions because they’re tied to magical bonds and obligations.What might seem like harmless etiquette to you could be binding contracts or deadly insults.”
“Okay.”I took another bite of my sandwich, chewed, and swallowed it down.“Give me the crash course in ‘How Not to Get Yourself Magically Enslaved or Murdered at a Fancy Party.’”
Damien’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled genuinely.It transformed his face from merely hot to something that made my heart skip a beat.
Damn it, Luna.Get your head out from between your legs and focus.
“First,” he said, leaning toward me, “basic greetings.You’ll need to know how to properly address the different factions.”
What followed was an intensive hour of supernatural protocol that made my head spin.Vampire houses had elaborate greeting rituals depending on their age and status.Fae Courts required specific phrasing that avoided giving offense or making promises.Witch covens had their own hierarchies that needed to be acknowledged.
And apparently there were at least seventeen different ways to accept a drink without accidentally binding yourself to magical terms.
“This is ridiculous,” I said, after failing to correctly remember the proper greeting for the third time.“How does anyone keep all this straight?Do you all just sit around memorizing how to properly compliment a fairy’s wings without accidentally offering to bear their children?”
To my surprise, Damien threw his head back and laughed, a rich, melodious sound that filled the entire room.
“You have no idea how accurate that is,” he said when his laughter subsided.“I once witnessed a young vampire lord tell a fae princess her wings reminded him of the finest silk from the Ming Dynasty, only to discover he’d proposed a breeding arrangement.”
“No way.What happened?”
His eyes danced with mischief.“Let’s just say their triplets are attending university in Switzerland now.”
