Chapter 7 #2
“Do you know her?” Selena asked the moment my arms were around her. She had no reason for jealousy in our relationship, but she favored the feeling anyway. She hadn’t mustered much of it for Fallon, though.
“That’s the Hunter.”
Selena sparkled at the taste of gossip. “She’s with the tamed vampire?”
“Tedious, isn’t it?” I kissed Selena, though not as much as I’d have liked. We were in dull company. Vampires playing human games, taming their passions and sanding away at their natures.
“A vampire with no fangs,” Selena laughed darkly. “Poor girl.”
I turned Selena around and molded her back against me with a hand on her belly.
The Hunter’s eyes couldn’t look away as her lumbering oaf of a vampire twirled her around, barely making any use of her natural grace.
I’d have loved to give her a proper show with my lovely fiancée, but I had something more important to give her.
I whispered into my beloved’s ear and kissed the side of her neck.
I had politicians to puppeteer, but I could have a little fun tonight, too.
I may not have been allowed to kill the Hunter, but someone else certainly could try.
The slit in her emerald dress skimmed all the way to mid-thigh, and there were no sleeves to hamper her arms, but it couldn’t have been easy to fight in a dress and heels.
Would her vampire who fancied himself human protect her?
I forced myself from the welcoming warmth and scent of Selena.
She could hold her own in any room, so I kissed her hand before my brief departure to search for some much-needed privacy.
I returned to the foyer and marched up the left set of stairs.
Just like everywhere I went, I was greeted by nearly every vampire in the room.
The Reyes name demanded respect. Whatever was happening with my father and me behind closed doors hadn’t made it to the gossip mill.
Of course, with the way Santos had been avoiding me lately, very little was happening behind closed doors.
That would get around eventually, but for tonight, I was still royalty.
I ignored the desperate stares when I reached the cordoned-off hallway where a security guard stood watch.
“I need to get through,” I told the younger vampire, who followed the order without question, unlatching the rope.
There were benefits to owning this building, and even more benefits to being Lazaro Reyes.
I passed the room set up for organizers, meeting more curious gazes that diverted once the recognition hit, then continued to the furthest door.
From that room, I stepped out onto a familiar balcony.
Still not content with the level of privacy, I used the wrought-iron guard railing to step up onto the roof in two quiet jumps. That was better.
I was used to seeing the city of Cibola as a collection of glowing lights from my home in the mountains to the east, and up close, its charm faded.
The glittering balls of orange were humans driving recklessly in their cars, or the fluorescent glow of fast food signs, or drab office windows caging meaningless existences.
The city was too loud from here, and it smelled of stale concrete and oil and human mediocrity, but at least it cleared my lungs of the Hunter’s musk.
Once I’d caught the scent during our bout of murderous banter, I couldn’t escape it.
The summer air was hot and dry, crackling on the edges with tension.
The taste of the Hunter’s death was making my mouth water.
What luck it was to meet her tonight, looking so much more alive than the last time I’d seen her.
That dress, that hair, those eyes, that smile, what a beautiful corpse she would make.
It was a shame I wouldn’t be there to do it myself. Almost unfair. Absolutely dishonorable.
I got control of my laughter before I made a phone call. Life could be disappointing sometimes, but I would move on.
* * *
I clapped as hard as I could when Virgil finished his speech and exhaled a visible sigh of relief. His eyes honed in on me from the stage and never broke contact until he’d found his seat beside me again.
“You did great.” I rubbed a comforting circle on his shoulder. He tucked his index cards into the pocket of his tux, then practically collapsed. I offered my hand under the table, and he held it like letting go meant falling off a cliff.
You’ll get better. This was good practice.
I held back the likely unhelpful thoughts and listened politely to the two remaining speakers.
I met Lazaro’s gaze for the hundredth time that night.
I hadn’t missed that he’d disappeared for about twenty minutes just after we’d spoken, and now his eyes were like daggers that I couldn’t help but imagine plunging into my back where I sat unarmed and too exposed.
My plate was still mostly full, but my appetite was lacking.
Everyone else at the table had been served warm wine goblets of blood, and the sight of it had made me bizarrely woozy, despite the amount of blood I’d seen in my life.
Lazaro hadn’t even tasted his a few tables over, and as much as I’d have liked to imagine it was because he preferred hunting and killing, it was more likely due to him being a snob.
He carried himself like this gala was beneath him.
With the speeches finally over, I picked at my food just a bit more, guilty at wasting it, but not objecting when the staff offered to take it away from me. Virgil eyed me with concern, but he was too tired to press the issue. The back of his fingers brushed over my bare upper arm.
“Thank you for being here.”
“Thanks for inviting me.” There was likely much more to say, but we just enjoyed the atmosphere without any words, at least until Virgil got a second wave of attention after his speech.
He shot me an apologetic glance before he was pulled away into more important political conversations.
That was why he’d come here tonight. With nothing left to distract me, my thoughts went to their usual place, the journey back to my home.
The same irritating thoughts echoed through my head, getting louder as the room cleared out and grew quieter.
“Reyes wants a word with me,” Virgil spoke in my ear, then put a hand on my shoulder when I flinched at the unexpected sound.
“Be careful.” I put my hand over his. I watched every movement while Lazaro gestured towards the front entrance of the room and guided Virgil out, leaving me with another one of his infuriating looks while he did. Evil bastard. If he hurt Virgil just to get at me…
My mood sank to its lowest that night, and that’s where I wallowed as minutes slugged by and the museum nearly emptied. The night was over, but there was no relief for me.
Lazaro’s girlfriend slunk into the chair to my right.
She plucked her phone from her sparkly clutch bag and tapped at it, her long, acrylic nails wrapping around the back.
The enormous engagement ring demanded my attention.
It was vintage and intricate, and the main stone was emerald, much like my dress.
Even I had to admit it was a dazzling piece of jewelry.
“Selena,” she said as a greeting. “I’m here with Lazaro Reyes.”
I considered not giving my own name. She likely already knew it, though. “Fallon.” She was gorgeous, which irrationally annoyed me. Lazaro was an evil killer. Couldn’t she have done better? I wasn’t successful at keeping my tone quite as neutral as I should have. “How long have you been together?”
“Such a funny question,” she giggled. “You’re with a vampire, too, aren’t you?”
I didn’t understand what was funny about the question. “Well, Virgil’s not like Lazaro.”
“A vampire by any other name,” Selena shrugged her dainty shoulder. “Will you be spending forever with him?”
“Of course not.” I flinched hard enough to lift the front legs of my chair half an inch. “Don’t tell me you’re letting him turn you into a vampire.”
“Mmm hmm.” She pulled a deck of cards out of her clutch next, and though they were long in her small hands, she shuffled them deftly. Tarot cards. Amanda had a set, and all of us had been her test subjects when she was learning their meanings.
She flipped one card over, then another, then another. Despite my distaste for anyone who would associate with Lazaro, I peeked curiously. Justice, The Moon, and Eight of Cups. It didn’t mean anything to me, but Selena’s pretty pout deepened.
“When were you born?” she asked suspiciously.
“Did Lazaro ask you to do this?”
“Are you that self-involved to think he would?” She tapped the point of her nail on the first card. “When were you born?”
“October.” I craned my neck to look at the doorway to the foyer, as if that would make Virgil rematerialize. “He would, though.”
She flicked her annoyed eyes up to me again.
“Are you a Libra?” She stretched and exaggerated each syllable.
It was too bad she wasn’t a vampire, because my hands were craving violence.
She was lucky that Virgil and Lazaro returned just then, though her vampire boyfriend’s amusement at seeing us together only added to my annoyance.
“My love, sorry to keep you waiting.” Lazaro kissed the top of Selena’s head. “Were you ladies getting along?”
“Like family,” Selena smiled. She collected her cards and tucked them away.
Virgil looked as exhausted as I felt, so I stood to join him, wrapping my arm around his.
“Let’s keep in touch, Mr. Miller,” Virgil said, shaking his hand once more. His eyes lingered on me next. “Fallon. Lovely meeting you.”
My lips were a tight line as I searched his face. Something was wrong. I just didn’t know what. Lazaro draped an arm around Selena and led her away. I watched them, staring at the exit even after they disappeared.
“You think it’s him?” Virgil’s voice made me jump, seemingly answering his question. “The L.S. Reyes from Derrick Hope’s case.”