Page 65 of The Star's Sword

I looked up at Mark gratefully, touched by his support. But the room went deadly quiet, save for a few furious murmurs.

Simon looked over, meeting my eyes and giving me a strained smile and a wave.

“They don’t belong in this room, Mark,” Vasara said tersely, her voice the only one to speak up. She looked at the other vampires around the room. “We all agree, don’t we?” She moved her hand gracefully to gesture to the ballroom. “This place is for the best friends of vampires. Cleo, have you even fed one?” She cocked her head. “We never even see you here, and now you think you can use your friends in high places to just waltz right in?”

“Yeah.” One of the other vampires in her group stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. “You can’t just come in here, not with what you do when no one is looking.”

Mark’s neck cracked as he moved it ominously side to side. “Anyone who has a problem with my guests must answer to me.”

“But Mark,” Vasara whined, gliding over to him and grabbing his arm, trying to pull him off me and away. He merely held firm, glaring at her in a way that made her let go, looking at Simon with a pout like she expected him to fix the situation.

Simon just shrugged. “I don’t control Mark. And Cleo is my good friend, as anyone knows. I can vouch for her frequent donations.”

“Then how come no one feels her blood?” another vampire in a different group at the other end of the crowded room said, drawing titters of laughter. “I guess her blood must be weak, if we don’t even know we have fed from her.”

“It is a problem,” Simon said. “Vampires who have lost any sense of blood loyalty.”

A male vampire stepped forward, a ridiculous amount of jewelry distracting from his garish orange tux. “We have blood loyalty. To Vasara, who has regaled us with her tales and saved our lives with her blood for months.”

Mark moved to the drink table and came back with glasses of red punch for Zadis, Samael and me.

Zadis took the flask and quickly poured a bit of it into each of our glasses, mouthing to me, ‘we’ll need it’.

Samael was still eyeing the crowd like it might attack at any moment, so he reached out and took the glass offered him, drinking back the liquid in it without even looking down to see what it was.

Music was playing, soft and haunting, and I looked around the room, wondering if there was anyone I could convince.

Anyone I should ask to dance.

But the vampires were moving back from all of us, to gather around the edges of the rooms, the walls, the few tables with chairs.

It felt like we had killed the party. Or perhaps the party was going to kill us.

23

Vasara cocked a hip. “Cleo, no one wants you here. Mark, you’re ruining the mood.”

Simon stepped forward, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her back in against him. “Vasara, dear, why don’t you let Cleo campaign a little? It won’t be very fair if you accuse her of not coming and then attack her once she’s here.”

Vasara sent me a frustrated glare that said she’d been hoping to do exactly that, but then turned on her heel and left the room.

“I’ll go check on her in a minute,” Simon said, giving the direction she’d left a harried glance. “Can’t leave her alone for long, you know.” He turned to the room. “Friends, I brought all of you here long ago. Some of you have known me for centuries. I have always been a good king. A good protector, have I not? I have given you leave to pick your own candidate, but you must at least give Cleo a chance. Especially when the person speaking out against her is her enemy and rival.”

“If they are enemies, why are you Vasara’s friend?” a vampire asked.

“I am Vasara’s host,” Simon said sharply. “And I know more about her, and Cleo, than any of you smug assholes could ever hope for.”

“He’s too obsessed with his humans. Can’t even see what’s in front of his face,” another vampire said.

“He shouldn’t be king any longer,” another said.

“Maybe Vasara should rule the keep, after she ascends as Morningstar,” another vampire said.

Simon looked around the room, as if flabbergasted. “If I am worried about the humans, it’s because as vampires we all should be. When have you ever seen Vasara fight for others?”

“She performs miracles,” another vampire said. “Everyone knows that.”

Simon looked to the ceiling as if praying for patience. Then he turned on his heel, giving me a dark glare. “I’m sorry, Cleo. I have to go keep an eye on her. Mark? Keep an eye on things.”

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