Page 47 of Fallen

“Then show me,” I returned, and they all grinned. Someone turned up the music and we stopped trying to talk, just danced.

The night passed in a haze of music and laughter and dancing. I finished my second margarita and took a break to use the bathroom.

Someone was in the other stall; I could hear ragged breathing. Then, as I dried my hands, I heard a sniffle.

“Hey,” I called softly. “You okay?”

“Yeah.” Eden’s voice. The toilet flushed but she didn’t exit the stall.

I hesitated. “I can get someone else if you want me to.”

“No. Please.” She exited the stall, cheeks streaked with muddy mascara tears. “I’m good. Really.” She gave me a tight smile.

“You sure you don’t want me to get Pinky? Or Lesa?”

“No.” She washed her face and walked past me into the anteroom, where she sat on a poufy pink stool in front of a large mirror and took out her makeup. Her red, swollen eyes met mine in the mirror. “Go away, Twilight. This doesn’t concern you.”

“Right.” I touched her shoulder anyway.

Her eyes squeezed shut. “Please. Just go.”

Back in the main room, a half-dozen vampires had arrived. They prowled through the kaleidoscope of sexily dressed thralls, drawing their chosen human into the shadowed nooks or onto a couch.

I helped myself to another margarita and was standing at the side of the bar, talking to Pinky, when my nape tightened. I glanced over my shoulder to see a dark-haired vampire in an expensive designer suit and skinny red tie heading straight for me. He stopped a foot away and looked me over without speaking, lean and sharp-toothed as a hungry coyote.

I gave him a vague nod when what I really wanted to do was give him the finger, and turned back to Pinky, praying he wouldn’t ask me to dance. Because I wasn’t sure if I was allowed to refuse.

The seconds ticked by. My neck crawled. I was about to turn back and ask what he wanted when he moved off.

My breath whistled out. “Jesus.”

“That’s Matthew Smith,” said Pinky in an undertone. “An enforcer. Stay away from him if you can—he’s not a nice man. And if he can use you to hurt Brien, he will. He’s Team Prosper all the way.”

“Don’t worry, I will. Prosper’s the Maritime lieutenant, right?” I knew, of course, but a new thrall might not.

“Yep.” Her mouth curved in a brilliant smile. “Smile back, okay? I don’t want them to know we’re talking about them. It’s not like we thralls don’t know what’s going on, but...”

I nodded and grinned.

“Everyone knows the old primus will be in his final grave soon.” Her voice was practically a whisper now.

“But why?”

She fake-laughed. “Because he lost his mate. It’s been over a year now.”

“Ah.” That explained why I hadn’t seen or heard anything of Lenore Leclerc. And it was bad, because losing a mate was enough to drive a vampire blood mad.

“Anyway, when he passes, Brien will take his place as the new primus—unless Prosper challenges him.”

“I see.” A heavy lump settled in my stomach.

The Maritime lieutenant was rumored to be a ruthless, stone-cold killer. If Prosper challenged Brien, it would be because he believed he could win.

“Smile,” Pinky said under her breath, and I obediently arranged my lips into an upward curve. “Good. Let’s dance.”

I set my drink on the bar and joined her on the dance floor. “But Brien’s the crown prince,” I said in her ear.

She slid an arm around my neck and touched her lips to the corner of my mouth, putting on a show for the vampires.

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