Page 67 of The Star's Sword

“But you are a vampire,” I said.

“Right,” he said. “And right now, I don’t love being one.” He swayed slightly, turning to look at the door. “I wonder where Card went.”

“I’m sure he can take care of himself,” Sam mumbled, walking over to the table and looking down. “What is the green one?”

I heard vampire laughter titter around the room.

“Don’t drink it,” Mark said. “Aphrodisiac.”

Sam sniffed it. “Hm. Smells like incubus blood.”

Mark just shrugged. “I would never use it, hell knows.”

“So they drug people in here?” I asked.

“Well, people move from this room into the revelry room fairly commonly, and that’s where the elder vampires feed.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I guess we could all head in there. That’s another way to bond.”

“Didn’t you figure out any other way to win people over?” I asked.

“Well, bringing you here was one of my ideas,” Mark said. More vampires were entering the room, and it was getting crowded.

But as they gathered around us in little cliques, it was hard not to feel the tension in the room rising. The feeling that we were being slowly surrounded, rather than welcomed.

And I felt the whispers get louder. Rude and passive as they moved by me, talking loud enough for me to hear but quiet enough to get away with their insults if questioned.

“Look at her, so gauche. Showing off her body.”

I grimaced, wondering why they didn’t say the same about Vasara.

“And she has all of those men around her. Like she’s not secure,” a vampire said, stepping by with a grin.

So perhaps bringing men with me hadn’t been helpful.

“Look, I have to stand on my own, I think. You three patrol the room. I’m going to try to talk to some people.”

The three men all looked at me with stubborn frowns, and then moved together to the other side of the room, leaving me in the middle.

As Sam leaned back against a wall, looking gorgeous, I saw him take the flask from Mark and drink another swig, his eyes focused on me like lasers, so hot I could feel his gaze at all times.

I moved to a group of vampire women who looked dressed somewhat like me. Perhaps I could fit in there.

But as I came over, the group went silent, and all of them moved away from me and reformed a few feet away, glaring at me resentfully.

My fists tightened at my sides. I couldn’t give up yet, no matter how it hurt. After all, they didn’t know me. The world was depending on me, and it was my fault for not doing any diplomatic work.

I moved to another group, this one made up of mostly male vampires.

“Hello,” I said, and unlike the women, these vampires closed in around me, blocking my way back out.

“Well, she has a nice body,” one vampire said, moving in and putting an arm around my waist. “Feed us, and maybe we’ll vote for you.”

“Yeah right,” one said. “I’d take all her blood to punish her for what she’s done to Vasara and the vampires.”

That vampire was jerked out of my sight, as an angry Samael appeared where he’d been.

Sam’s curls were mussed, and his cheeks were flushed, but he was reaching down at his waist, where his sheath had just appeared.

His other hand, which had grabbed the vampire, tossed him to the ground, where he landed with a thud.

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