Chapter Eighteen
Hayes
“I thought I made myself very clear.”
The voice was silky soft with an undercurrent of rage. Adrian.
I kept my face cool, calm and collected as I turned to the undead vampire at my back. “I truly wish I had a clue what you were referring to, but alas.” I shrugged, choosing to ignore the curious glances of the gathered onlookers. “Care to share?”
The frozen expression on his face didn't change, as if we were having a pleasant conversation without any rising tension. “You asked to go back to Ashvale.”
“And you declined,” I supplied helpfully, biting down on my irritation. “So here we are.” Well, here I was, at least. I was trying not to push Nora too hard, too fast, so I'd opted to come to this party alone. There were several vampires I’d hoped to corner and gently interrogate later, but it was hard to do that when Adrian was up my arse. Especially if those vampires had anything incriminating to say about our dear, council leader.
“Do you think me a fool?”
I raised an eyebrow but remained quiet, letting Adrian draw his own conclusions. Maybe I could have held my cool a little better if he hadn’t been elbows-deep in Leonora’s chest only a handful of days ago.
A slip of his fangs made the hair on my arms stand up, my body recognising the bigger predator. Had the room grown quieter? Emptier? Adrian had already aimed a crossbow at my chest once, and Nora wasn't here to catch the bolt this time.
My wolf stirred beneath my skin, and I knew without checking that my eyes were glowing silver from the slight brightening of Adrian's skin. “I don't follow.” My voice was soft and the vampires standing close-by had begun to back away, as if expecting a fight to erupt at any moment.
A taller undead vampire with familiar dark hair and eyes strolled up to us, a smile on his face that seemed borne of confidence. “Now, now. I believe this is supposed to be a party, gentlemen.”
Adrian straightened, drawing himself up to his full height as a self-satisfied smirk flitted across his face. “Indeed.” He walked away slowly, as if relishing the insult of giving me his back and the other vampire offered me a nod before leaving too.
I didn't bother watching him walk away, turning my attention instead to the vampires remaining and offering a nod to Novalie and Emerson as I walked past. There was no doubt in my mind that it was their arrival that had placated Adrian—for now, anyway. Somehow, he must have known we'd left court to meet with Cal, but not that we'd returned. Was he monitoring our comings and goings specifically? Or everyone's? What was he looking for?
There had been a significant crowd in the room when I'd first arrived, but thanks to Adrian's display of power, it had thinned somewhat. Like most gatherings at court, the longer you were there, the more likely you'd be to experience more than a little debauchery.
That suited me just fine. Nothing loosened lips like blood and sex, and I wasn't above seducing my way into information, but since I'd crashed back into court, there didn't seem to be a shortage of people trying to suck up to me. Some were interested in assessing how much of a threat I posed, while others clearly wanted to stay on my good side.
Green eyes flashed in my mind and amusement rose up. Leonora was possibly the only person in my life who treated my heritage like more of an inconvenience than a reason to grovel.
“I'm sure Adrian will settle down eventually.”
I glanced to my left and smiled bemusedly at the tall brunette vampire at my side. “One can only hope,” I said dryly and the coy smile on her mouth widened as she leaned closer.
Her hand curled around my forearm, sharp nails glinting like talons in the low-light. “Don't forget you still have many friends here at court.”
I didn't even know her name, but she was leaning in and looking at me like she would devour me if I'd asked—a thought that shouldn't have amused me as much as it did, but it was hard considering the irony of how many vampire heads I'd had in my mouth lately.
“I appreciate that,” I said finally and was only mildly surprised when she opened her mouth to reply and her head instead snapped uncomfortably to one side.