Page 86 of Bite at First Sight

His lips twitched. “You stepped on his foot?”

She nodded. “Stomped on it, more like.”

“I am reluctant to interrupt, but we are drawing an audience.” Blackpool inclined his head toward the door where several people were unabashedly peering at them through the glass.

Rafe sighed and held out his arm to Cassandra. “I suppose we had better return to the crush. Shall we fetch you some punch?”

The moment they returned to the party, Clayton intercepted them. “Do you honestly think hiding among these humans will keep you safe from me, Villar?”

“To think myself safe from you, I would have to consider you to be a threat,” Rafe said mildly.

Clayton’s eyes flared, but he closed his mouth as Lord Deveril arrived with the Duke of Wentworth. With a curt nod, Rafe dismissed Clayton to exchange pleasantries with their host.

Two other strangers emerged to flank Clayton. The Lord of Blackpool glared at them and bent to whisper in her ear. “Clayton’s minions. At least three others wait outside.”

“Will Anthony be all right?” A pang of worry gnawed at her heart. He was out there with the carriage.

Blackpool nodded serenely. “He will be fine. They can’t do anything to jeopardize our secrecy among mortals. Besides, I’m certain Rafe has more of his own people stationed around this house.”

The music stopped and footmen made their way through the ballroom carrying trays laden with glasses of champagne. When everyone had been served, the Duchess of Wentworth stepped forward and gestured for silence.

Cassandra sucked in a breath, freezing where she stood. It was time.

“As much as I regret interrupting the evening’s festivities, it gives me the utmost pleasure to be the first to announce an engagement!” Jane declared with a grin.

Immediately, pleased gasps and speculative whispers echoed through the cavernous room. Clayton and his minions leaned against the wall, eyes heavy-lidded with boredom. Cassandra’s lips twitched. They wouldn’t be bored much longer.

“Lady Cassandra Burton, Dowager Countess of Rosslyn, has accepted an offer from Don Rafael Villar!”

Her blood turned to ice as all eyes swiveled in her direction, staring at her as if she were a new laboratory specimen. Rafe took her hand and she gripped it like a lifeline, forcing a bright smile. All she wanted was to tug him away from here and flee to the safety of Burnrath House.

Applause broke out all around and many people who’d given her the cut before were now regarding her with friendly smiles, as though their previous hostility had never occurred. Plenty continued to give her sour glares, while others held expressions of profound relief. All looked positively rabid with curiosity, and within a matter of moments, an army of ladies would descend upon her for the inevitable interrogation.

However, Clayton’s thunderstruck expression was so comical that her spirits lifted enough for her to gather her thoughts and recall the story Vincent and Rafe had worked out.

As she was congratulated by the ladies of the ton, Vincent, Lydia, and Blackpool glared at Clayton and his companions with thinly veiled hostility. Cassandra’s senses reeled and she wondered once more how her life had taken such a turn to the incomprehensible.

* * *

Rafe couldn’t hold back a smile in the face of Clayton’s fury. The expression on his face nearly made the ordeal of this evening worthwhile.

He watched as a group of matrons swept Cassandra away, clucking congratulations and questions like a brood of overanxious hens. She cast him a desperate look over the mass of jewels and furs. Rafe moved forward to rescue her, but Clayton blocked his path.

“Do you believe that this ridiculous farce will save you and your pet countess?” his former second hissed through clenched teeth.

“Why shouldn’t he?” Vincent stepped forward, looming over the other vampire with such a menacing air that he stepped back. “It saved me and mine.”

Clayton bristled. “That was different. She was Changed.” His eyes narrowed on Rafe. “A feat that neither of you are capable of performing again for at least another century.”

“That may well be.” Rafe shrugged. “Though at least I’ve repaired the damage I did to her reputation.”

His rival stared in confusion. “Why in the hell would you care about that?”

“It’s a matter of honor. Something a traitor like you wouldn’t understand.”

“Honor won’t keep her alive,” Clayton sneered.

“No, but I will.” Rafe turned on his heel and waded through the crush of females to take Cassandra’s arm for one last dance.

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