Longing for You, стр. 5
“They are so nice too. They might look intimidating, but theycouldn’t be nicer to my parents and me,” Katie said.
Out of nowhere Daisy grasped the table and closed her eyes.
“Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
“Just feeling a bit dizzy. I think I might be coming down withsomething.”
Katie beckoned a waiter over. “Can you get me a bottle of coldwater, please?”
“Yes, miss.”
Katie covered Daisy’s hand with hers. “Do you want to go upstairsto your room?”
“It’s okay. It usually passes in a minute,” Daisy said.
Katie was concerned by that answer. “Usually? How long hasthis been happening?”
“Not long.” The waiter returned with the water. Daisy clasped herhand to her silk neck scarf that perfectly suited her 1950s style dress.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” Katie asked.
Daisy nodded. “Absolutely. Don’t worry about me. Worry about thescary Duca.”
“What? Why?”
“She hasn’t taken her eyes off you. Every time you dance, her eyesare glued to you. I think she maybe wants to eat you,” Daisy joked.
Katie laughed. “Hardly. She can’t stand me, and I’m the lastperson she’d want to eat.”
She turned around and tried to find Alexis, and there she was,standing at the bar, gazing over. When she saw Katie, Alexis turned quickly andspoke to Slaine.
“Hmm…she is a super scary vamp with everyone, but she really seemsto get under your skin. Does she make you angry?”
“Infuriated, mostly. I think because she disappointed me. Can youkeep a secret?”
Daisy rolled her eyes. “I’m a paranormal hunter who has discoveredthe paranormal world and can’t tell anyone. I think you can trust me.”
“True—well, the secret that I never told anyone was that I had acrush on Alexis Villiers ever since I can remember. Even before I understoodwhy I found another woman so interesting. She strode through the Debrek estate,all-powerful and telling people what to do. She was exciting.”
Daisy leaned in closer. “Oh, this is getting interesting. Whathappened next?”
Katie sighed. “People rarely live up to the pedestal you put themon, do they? I went off to university, then came back to work with the Debreks,and I was put on the blood rota.”
“The blood rota?” Daisy questioned.
“All the humans who work for the Debreks provide blood for theclan’s vampires. We are well rewarded, and we always have the right to leave orrefuse. Blood rights are always about consent for the Debreks.”
“Weird, but if it works for you, then great.”
“I was called down to the blood room, and it was going to be myfirst time, and Alexis walked in,” Katie said.
Daisy rolled her eyes. “Just your luck to get scary features.”
“I was so nervous and yet so excited at the same time. The vampirewho’d been my crush all my life was here to be my first.”
Daisy took a drink and said, “I can imagine she behaved like anarsehole about the whole thing.”
“That’s the strange thing. She was so gentle, so caring, walkingme through every step of my first time. It was like a dream. Then—”
“Then?”
A feeling of utter sadness descended on Katie. “Then she tastedme, tasted my blood, and was so disgusted that she tore her teeth away and ranout of the room, just leaving me there.”
“She did that? I was right—she is a bloody arsehole, Katie,” Daisysaid.
“To this day I don’t know what was wrong with my blood.”
“There’s nothing wrong. If I were a vampire, I’d happily feed onyou.”
Katie laughed. “Thanks, friend. At least I found out who she was.A cold, heartless vampire. Not worthy of my teenage crush.”
She looked back round at Alexis. What she didn’t tell Daisy wasthat in the brief moment Alexis was feeding from her, it felt better than anyfantasy she’d ever had. She felt her everywhere. In her mind, her soul, hersex, everywhere. Katie remembered being so overcome with the need to touch andbe touched that she’d reached back and grasped Alexis’s dark hair.
But then Alexis ran like she was some cheap one-night stand. Whatwas so wrong with her?
* * *
“How long before we can slip away, mia cara?” Byron whispered intoher wife’s ear as they swayed to the music.
Amelia giggled and kissed Byron on the nose. “A little whilelonger. We have to be polite. So you’ll need to put up with your hunger for themeantime.”
“Fine, but I will be in misery until my fingers touch your bodyand my teeth graze your neck.”
“Aww, you are sweet.” Amelia tugged on Byron’s stiff jacketcollar. “I must say, I love your wedding outfit.”
“Hmm. Debrek ceremonial wear. Thankfully I don’t have to wear ittoo often,” Byron said.
She wore a formal navy military jacket with large gold buttons andswirled gold braid on the sleeves, gold tassels on the shoulders, and matchingnavy trousers. A loose gold belt was slung around her waist with an old lookingrapier hanging from it.
The outfit was similar to Byron’s father’s outfit, only he haddifferent gold braiding. Amelia guessed that it signified their different rankswithin the clan.
“I think you look very sexy,” Amelia said.
Byron smiled. “Then wearing this uncomfortable uniform was allworth it.”
Byron’s mother and father swept past them as they performed someelaborate ballroom dance moves.
“Your parents really know how to dance,” Amelia said.
“Yes, they very much enjoy dancing together. The Grand DuchessLucia used to tell me of the great balls the family would host when the Debreksstill lived in Vienna, and how they danced together.”
Amelia sensed a sadness in Byron every time she talked about hergreat-great-grandmother, a sadness she’d be able to feel even if she didn’tshare a blood bond with her partner. Lucia was killed by Victorija in aterrible confrontation.
“You miss her a lot, don’t you?” Amelia said.
“I do. It can be lonely when you’re a leader, but I always hadLucia at the end of the phone.”
Amelia kissed her cheek. “You know you’re not alone any more,don’t you?”
She pulled Amelia closer. “I know that.”
Byron twirled them around and tipped her head to the bar at theback. “Look at my Duca, nursing a glass of blood