Page 45 of Ouch! My Vampire Doms Don't Sparkle
James gestures toward a pair of chairs and sits in one, so I sit the other.
“I’m James,” he says, holding out a hand to shake.
I accept the handshake and remember to use my fake name.“Abigail.”
“This is your first blood banquet?”he asks.
“Yeah.”
“I can tell.So you wouldn’t know that the wine and food are laced with a potion called médusant—a potion that helps us forget, dulls pain, and makes us malleable.It’s fine if you want those things, because many of the people here do.But you should at least be informed, first.”
I don’t know what to say to that, except I am deeply grateful that he stopped me from drinking any more.Carefully setting the flute down on a side table next to my chair, I say, “Thank you for telling me.”
“Of course.Your vampires should have told you.”
With a little laugh, I say, “They try to get away with telling me as little as possible.It seems to be a theme among us.”
He looks down and fiddles with something on his wrist.“This must all be so strange to you.What else do you need to know?”
“I just don’t know what to expect.What happens next?Are they going to march us out there and drink from us?”
“Pretty much.”
My guess was meant to be sarcastic.I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that I was right, though, what with Gaius talking about Xander spoiling his appetite.Also, heck.The very name of this party,blood banquet.It’s so fucking obvious.
Whatever was in the champagne has me feeling braver than usual, or more loose with my words.It’s more than the alcohol, too.I definitely got whatever “potion” James mentioned, because I feel loose and floaty.I shift in my chair, trying to smooth the puffy skirt of my gown beneath my legs, and ask James, “Are you going to feed Gaius?I thought he has an amant.”
“Right.He’ll primarily drink from Freya, of course.But he also enjoys variety, and he enjoys Freya’s jealousy when he bites other men and women.”
This is so freaking weird.I could already guess that Gaius is a manipulative asshole, but this makes it real.
James adjusts the thing on his wrist, running his fingers over it.Seeing me watching him, he says, “You’re wondering about this bracelet.”
“It’s a bracelet?I can’t really see.”
“It was my sister’s,” he blurts.
From the way he phrases it, to the sad expression in his eyes, I immediately understand that she’s dead, or they haven’t seen each other in a very long time.Somehow, she’s out of his life.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
“It’s…I’m healing.”He sighs, blinking quickly.
She’s dead, then.Oh hell, am I making this dude cry?I reach over and touch his forearm, hoping to offer comfort while I blink back tears of my own.“I lost my mom.We never completely get over it, do we?”
“Thanks,” he says.“I’m sorry about your mother.You’re exactly right.The thing is, you look a bit like my sister.She had light brown hair like yours, and hazel eyes.She would have loved the dress you’re wearing.”
“Oh, wow,” I say, because I don’t know what else to say.
He plucks at the bracelet on his wrist.“She would have wanted you to have her bracelet.”
“Oh, no, I couldn’t.”It’s too much.He shouldn’t give me something so special.
“Please.It would honor her.And it could give you strength.Help you remember who you are, what you stand for.”
Well, shit.I imagine myself in his shoes, how I would feel if I met someone who reminded me so strongly of my mom.If I had something of hers I’d want them to have.
Before I can respond, the ornate, carved door opens and a woman steps inside, announcing, “It’s time for the banquet.”
