Chapter 2
The room hummed with music and chatter as the party continued in full swing.
Outside, three women walked through the gate, but a redheaded one stopped the other two.
“Why are we doing this again?” she asked.
“Leona, they want to be like us. I have spent a lot of time around them, I think they could be good additions to the coven. They’re wealthy, they understand the need for secrecy, and they seem to be like-minded to us. I wanted you to meet them. Whitney approves,” the blonde woman said.
Between them, a brunette woman spoke next, nodding her head in agreement. “They’re the ones we’ve been telling you about. I think you’ll like them.”
Leona shook her head and folded her arms. “You know I don’t like shit like this.”
“You used to love parties and dances and being social,” the blonde said. “Try to have fun. You can’t let a dark cloud loom over you forever. Just remember: ‘WWPD.’”
“What the hell is ‘WWPD?’” Leona asked.
“‘What Would Piper Do?’” she said with a laugh.
“Okay, just because I need to see people other than you due to that, I’ll go in,” Leona teased.
Piper gave a small noise of excitement and looped arms with the other women.
They entered.
Leona looked around the ornate entryway that led to what must be a ballroom. It reminded her of her childhood. The balls her parents would throw and she’d sneak out and watch from the upper floor. She’d always dreamed of the day she was old enough to be a part of them, and when she turned sixteen, she was.
It had been the worst mistake of her existence.
“There they are,” Piper said, pulling her friends with her.
“Hello, darling,” Charlotte said as she leaned forward to embrace Piper, the blondes both exchanging kisses to the cheek. “Glad you came.”
“Of course,” Piper said. “You know Whitney, of course, but this is?—”
“Leona Abrin,” Victor then chimed in smoothly, giving her a rehearsed smile. “We have heard so much about you. I’m Victor Labasque, this is my wife Charlotte.”
“Pleasure,” Leona said, not taking the outstretched hands in front of her. “I need a drink and someone to dance on,” she mumbled, moving past them and through the crowd.
Whitney shot the Labasques an apologetic look. “You’ll have to excuse her. It’s been a while since she’s been to a party. She’s…”
“Prickly,” Piper finished, smirking to herself. “She’ll loosen up. Anyway,” she sighed, looking around. “This is quite the party. You didn’t go to all this trouble for us, did you?”
“Of course we did,” Charlotte said. “We want to show you that we’re serious. And we want Leona to like us. And…” she said as she turned a bit, her eyes darting around the room. She then looked up at her husband. “Where’s Sebastian?”
“Lurking somewhere probably,” Victor muttered.
“Who’s Sebastian?” Whitney asked.
“Our closest friend. We wanted you to meet him tonight. Vic, can you go find him?” she asked. “We aren’t sure if he’d also be interested, but… we feel responsible for him. Either way, he ought to be in the loop.”
“We didn’t discuss another person,” Piper said. “We don’t even know this man.”
“You will,” Victor said, then he disappeared to find his friend.
Sebastian peered down into his drink, wishing he was anywhere else but there. As usual, Charlotte and Victor had completely abandoned him to do God knows what. He could feel a headache coming on, which was stopping him from imbibing any more alcohol.
Though, these parties made for good people-watching. It was always the same caliber of people trying to get in good with his friends. He wondered if they had any shred of self-respect with the way they behaved.
“Where’d you get that drink?”
Sebastian jolted slightly and turned to face the most beautiful person he’d ever laid eyes on. He re-focused and processed her question. “Kitchen,” he simply said.
Leona tilted her head slightly, staring at him intently. There was something about this man that seemed familiar to her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. He was a human, that much she could tell. The only immortals in the building were her coven. “Are you going to show me where the kitchen is?”
Sebastian furrowed his brows and lifted the hand holding his drink to the room adjacent to the one they were in. “If you bothered to look around, it’s right there.”
Leona narrowly avoided smirking. “Aren’t you the gentleman?”
Sebastian wasn’t sure how to respond. Universes in which women this beautiful spoke to him merely didn’t exist.
“There are also servers with drinks and hors d’oeuvres floating around. And bartenders.”
“So why do you get the privilege of making your own drink?” Leona asked.
“Because nobody else makes it right and I don’t enjoy speaking to most humans.”
Leona did smile at that. “Is that so? Do you spend a lot of time speaking to non-humans then?”
Sebastian regarded her carefully. She was weird. But he’d play along. She hadn’t walked away yet. “Oh, yes. New Orleans is full of my supernatural best friends. I have a date with a poltergeist in about an hour.”
Leona laughed under her breath. “I won’t keep you then. I’m—”
“Sebastian! There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” Victor interrupted. “I see you’ve met Leona.”
The dark-haired man looked down at the redhead. Leona. Interesting name. “I suppose I have,” he said.
“Leona, this is Sebastian Beliveau. Mine and Charlotte’s best friend. Sebastian, this is Leona Abrin. One of the guests we were telling you about,” he said, giving him a pointed look.
“Ah,” Sebastian merely said. “I was just telling her about your bartenders’ lousy drinks.”
Victor glared at him and pressed his lips together in a thin line. “Come, I want you to meet the others. Charlotte has requested your presence. Leona, will you be joining us?”
Leona sighed and lolled her head to one side. “I still don’t have a drink.”
“What would you like?” Victor asked, and then he hesitated. “Or…”
“Don’t,” Leona said, putting a hand up. “I’ll make Sebastian fix me one in a minute,” she said, eyeing him.
Sebastian tensed. Something about this woman unnerved him. He wanted to be as far away from her as possible.
He followed Victor and Leona to Charlotte and the others. They gave him the same sort of unwell feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. He liked to think he was a good judge of character, and it threw him off that three seemingly normal women could set him on edge so much.
“Finally,” Charlotte said with a smile. She pulled Sebastian closer by his arm and squeezed him next to her. “Sebastian, this is Piper Aldene and Whitney Blackwoode. I see you’ve already met Leona. Piper, Whitney, this is Sebastian Beliveau. The friend I was telling you about.”
“You don’t have to be scared of us,” Piper said to him, gently shaking his hand. “We won’t bite.”
“Unless you ask,” Leona said.
Sebastian looked between them, wondering what sort of alternate planet he’d fallen on. Why the hell did they want to be around these people? Why did they need any more friends?
“Let’s go somewhere more private to talk,” Victor suggested. “We can go to my study.”
Knowing better than to try to escape, Sebastian followed. He walked in with them, Victor shutting the door behind them. He wanted to ask what was going on and why they were all acting so strangely, but he had better manners than that.
“Judging by the confused and downright unnerved look on Sebastian’s face, I’m going to hedge a bet that you haven’t told him any details?” Piper asked.
“We thought it would be better to let you explain. He wouldn’t believe us,” Charlotte answered.
Sebastian looked between them. He felt like the butt of a prank. “Believe what?”
“That we’re vampires,” Leona said. “And your friends want to become immortal. That’s why they invited us.”