Chapter Twenty-Five
They borrowed the limousine again. Trixie leaned forward in her seat and inspected the contents of the minibar. Teeny, tiny bottles of liquor, soda, crackers… “Oh, hard candy.” She inspected the bag, looking for her favorite flavor. “Can I eat hard candy?” That couldn’t be considered solid food.
Silence.
She glanced at her quiet companions. Chris sat legs apart, arms crossed with a stern frown aimed in her direction.
Viktor grinned from ear to ear. He sat next to her with his arms extended over the back of her bench, jacket button undone, his long legs taking most of the space. “Yes.”
She plucked the strawberry shaped one and popped it in her mouth. The sweetness was muted but not unpleasant. She made note to buy a bag if she ever returned home.
Chris eyed the candy bag. “That doesn’t belong to us.”
She sighed and set it back inside the bar, but continued to investigate, no matter how hard the alpha glared. “They won’t miss one candy. I won’t take anything else.”
“You could have whatever you want.” Viktor leaned closer to Chris. “Fucking bill me.”
“I really don’t want anything else.” She needed a clear head walking into Riverbend’s vampire nest. No alcohol for her. Neither her sire nor the wolf alpha liked Sybil, the nest leader. Trixie expected she and Sybil wouldn’t be exchanging best friend bracelets at the end of the party. “I’ve never had a chance to explore a limo and have never seen the insides of a minibar. I’m just curious.” She pulled out a box of condoms. “Oh.”
Viktor threw back his head and laughed while Chris snatched the box out of her hand and returned it inside the minibar.
“What kind of limo service is this?” She quirked her eyebrow and bit back her own grin.
Chris straightened his tie and glared out the window. The alpha didn’t answer.
Viktor winked then leaned toward the werewolf. “Do you have a business card? Maybe I will rent this vehicle for Trixie and myself to tour the city later tonight.”
Her blush matched Chris’s. “Viktor.” She kicked him in the ankle with her sharp heels.
Chris pointed at her sire but stared at her with narrowed eyes. “Why him? What could you possibly see in him?”
The limo pulled to a stop.
Viktor leaned forward, elbows on knees. His dark eyes a pool of mischief. “I am waiting for the answer as well.” They both stared at her expectantly.
The driver opened the door.
She kissed the tip of Viktor’s nose. “A girl has to have secrets.”
This time Chris roared with laughter as he climbed out. He extended his hand to hers and helped her exit the vehicle.
She appreciated it. The heels were higher than anything she owned. She felt like she was walking on stilts. The slightest breeze and she’d fall over.
Viktor joined them. He stood a head taller than her even with her new shoes. Her sire half-naked and in chains had weakened her knees. In a suit, he was devastating. He withdrew her hand from Chris’s grasp and set it on his arm.
She then remembered what a jealous lover she had. She didn’t want to hurt him and set a shy kiss on his cheek.
The quiet of their surroundings piqued her curiosity. “Not a nightclub.” She took a step forward as her gaze landed on a sprawled mansion. “Nice.” White, colonial, with a huge flower garden.
“The Riverbend nest inherited this home before I took over the territory. I no longer approve acquiring wealth by turning the rich.”
Offering eternal youth in exchange for wealth seemed quite a deal. But that was the poor girl in her talking. “Look at all the space.” She had thought Betty’s new home massive. It was a normal bungalow in comparison to this gorgeous piece of brick and mortar.
“It’s a very pretty place.” Viktor stood stiffly next to her, face devoid of emotion.
“The nightclub is finer though.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I mean, it must take all week to sweep the floors of this place.”
He kissed the top of her head. “They have housekeepers.”
Damn, he wasn’t going to make this easy. They strolled to the front door via a garden path. “And the flowers can only be enjoyed in the day…” She paused to smell a pink rose, inhaling the sweet fragrance.
He plucked it and wove it into her hair. “I will buy you a prettier home.”
She slowly blinked as he climbed the stairs to knock on the front entrance.
Chris took his place. “Did he just offer to buy you a mansion?”
She nodded.
“Is that why—”
She snapped her teeth at him. “No.”
“I don’t understand women.” He gave that distinctive wolf expression.
“Obviously.” She joined Viktor as the double doors swung open and golden light poured out onto the front lawn.
“Master.” A man well into his forties bowed, sweeping the floor with his hand. “We’ve been expecting you and Ms. Russell.”
“Of course, you have.” Viktor maneuvered past their greeter, taking her along. She would have remained rooted at the front entrance, staring at the golden marble walls and floors. A chandelier hung overhead, sparkling. Little reflected lights swam over her silk dress. She traced their path and realized she and Viktor had stopped moving.
Chris’ way was blocked by the vampire.
“He is with me, Henri. The alpha of Riverbend pack deserves better courtesy than that.”
“Courtesy? His pack did unspeakable things to me a few months ago.” Henri managed to appear dignified as he gave Chris inches to squeeze by. “Unforgivable animals.”
“But you lived.” Viktor’s eyes narrowed as he hissed at the alpha, “What did they do?”
“There was tar and feathers involved. That’s all I know,” whispered Chris.
Viktor slowly closed his eyes. A quiet phrase in Russian slipped past his lips.
Chris met her wide-eyed stare and shrugged. Not an ounce of guilt or regret in his eyes.
“This way, please.” Henri sniffed as he passed the alpha and guided them out of the foyer.
And into an honest to God ballroom. Her hand fluttered to her chest as Viktor drew her through the threshold. Candlelight everywhere. Enough to light the room but keep it intimate. Music played from deeper in the house, not the trance stuff from the nightclub. Classical and soft, the kind needed for couples.
As they crossed the room people turned to stare. Many bowed or curtsied. She cleared her throat and loosened her hold on Viktor’s arm. She shouldn’t be at his side. She would just slip back with Chris while Viktor dealt with the nest.
Her sire pressed his hand over hers, forcing it to stay. Forcing her to stay. He turned a soft smile her way. His gaze not on the vampires gathered to greet him, but focused on her. “Promise me the first dance.”
A flutter of nerves in her stomach. “I’ve never danced to this kind of music.” The moves seem so calculated and trained. “I’ll make a mess of it.”
“Nonsense, I’ll teach you.” He lifted her fingers to his lips. The claim very public.
Suddenly every gaze in the room seemed to train onto her. Hushed whispers followed their wake.
Her flutter of nerves evolved into a slight tremble. She didn’t know where to put her hands and her ungraceful steps grew heavy.
Guests parted to allow a woman in a golden gown made of gauzy, flowing material through. It moved like air around her body and appeared transparent without revealing details. She held out her hand, forcing Viktor to clasp it. “Master Viktor, I’m so pleased you have joined us.”
“Sybil.” His answer short and quick. He released her fingers without any further contact. “How could I refuse your invitation?”
A flash of sharp teeth. “This must be Patricia Russell.” Sybil aimed her attention directly at Trixie.
“Pleased to meet you.” She wasn’t sure if she should curtsy or not, and decided to hold out her hand. She knew her full name? Very few people did. Someone had done their research.
“I understand you are a dogcatcher in New Port.” Sybil wove her fingers together. The condescending tone sharp and lethal.
Trixie dropped her ignored hand. “I don’t deal in just dogs. I rescue any animal in need.”
“And put down the rabid ones,” she muttered under her breath.
Viktor’s gaze softened as he turned away from Sybil, amusement clear in his dark eyes, and Trixie realized he had heard her soft words.
Their host sighed at the sight of the alpha. “Christopher. I don’t recall your name on the invitation.”
Chris had somehow managed to snatch a flute of champagne from somewhere and was gulping it back. He wiped his mouth. “Sybil, nice place. Where’s the food?”
Trixie bit her bottom lip to avoid grinning and gave Chris a mental high-five.
“This is a vampire only event. Only liquids.” Sybil gave him a tart smile. “Next time, I will call your sandwich shop to cater.”
He raised an empty flute. “I’d appreciate the business.”
Viktor scanned the crowd, looking for familiar faces and found none. The guests watching this farce unfold were young. All of them less than a decade into vampirism. He had avoided visiting the nest too long. They watched with fear and curiosity. With Sybil as their role model, it did not bode well for any of their futures. That did not explain why he could not spot any of the older, more loyal vampires that called this place home. It was their support of Viktor that kept Sybil in check.
Chris brushed shoulders with Trixie. “Come on, I’ll get you a drink and we can leave the grown-ups to talk.”
Viktor hovered close to Trixie, not wanting her alone with the nest. But the wolf was correct. He needed to speak with Sybil alone. In Trixie’s presence, the bitch would only have barbed words. He trusted the alpha to protect Trixie in his stead. They shared a common interest in her safety, if for different reasons.
“Sybil.” He offered to take her hand. “A dance and then?” He had wanted to save this dance for Trixie. Teach her the steps to a simple waltz, but this was a time of danger, not of leisure.
Sybil set her manicured, long fingers in his grasp.
He escorted her to the sectioned off part of the dance floor. Over his shoulder, he glimpsed Trixie watching while Chris whispered in her ear. He would throttle the wolf later. Even from this distance, he could see the hint of hurt in her eyes. Trixie nodded to something that Chris said and weaved her fingers with the wolf’s. He would skin the wolf too.
Sybil dug her nails into his skin. “She’s very young.”
He settled into a dancing stance, holding Sybil at a distance. With ease, they flowed into the pattern of the other couples. They were both of an age when such skills had been expected at one point in their lives.
“I made her only a few days ago.” Only, and she was already an integral part of his existence. A night without Trixie sounded empty and meaningless now.
“What do you want, Sybil?” Better to start on the offense, especially since she had something he desired.
“Whatever do you mean?” She twirled a long strand of his hair around her finger, tighter and tighter.
“You did not invite me here for nothing. I have visited the city often without being summoned to the nest.”
“My nest.” She tugged hard.
He bared his fangs. His grasp on her waist tightened. “My nest. Do not make me remind you.”
“Maybe I want you to.” She released his hair and laughed. “I miss our play.”
He did not. At the time, he had used Sybil for self-punishment. That was before he’d met Eoin. “My tastes have changed.” He wanted more. He had witnessed the relationship between Eoin and Angie develop. The…happiness his friend now enjoyed. If the self-proclaimed harbinger of smoke and fire could find love, why could not Viktor?
“I see.” Her eyes narrowed. “I asked you here to show you something I have discovered.”
A whisper of memory licked at his thoughts. Ashes. Christopher had mentioned the recent death of vampires. “A discovery?” They continued to dance reflexively, but he moved them farther from the center, toward a quieter section of the ballroom. “Tell me.”
“Did you know my nest birthed a dhampir forty or so years ago?”
“Rumors of her existence have reached my ears.” He did not mention how recently.
“Smart little girl.” Sybil scowled. “Always had a mind of her own.”
He kept his face impassive yet laughed inside. That meant the dhampir did not let Sybil control her. He was not sure if this was a good thing or not, considering the dhampir’s past transgression. “Why have I not been introduced to her prior to tonight?” He had visited the nest in those forty years and never seen a child.
Sybil’s lips twisted. “Her mother hid her until she was an adult.”
“Is this why you asked me here? To meet her?” That would be too convenient, but he could only hope.
“No, no, silly.” She traced a sharp fingernail along his jaw. “So handsome. I almost forgot how pretty you were. You really should visit more often.”
“Sybil…” He broke off the dance as she pressed her body against his. It would be simpler if he played her games. She would be more pliant. It would not take long and these dark hallways had many private nooks.
His stomach rolled at even the hint of the thought. His heart and body belonged to a certain animal control officer. He could not bear even the thought of betraying Trixie. Her affection was so pure and generous. He could not recall the last time anyone had cared for him.
He had not realized how empty he had been inside until Trixie had filled that hole.
“I will confess, Viktor, that I am hurt that you would visit these animals before your own people.” Sybil twisted away, the edges of her dress twirled with calculated practice. She had to own a heart for it to be hurt. Insulted was more her style. Sybil flung open the French doors that led out to the night garden and sat on a stone bench just outside the exit.
Viktor remained where he had stopped, waiting for the next level of verbal attack. He hated these games.
One thing was for sure—Sybil had spoken the truth when she’d said the nest was hers. He still had not recognized anyone during their spin across the dance floor.