Fateful (28 page)

A smile rose to her lips, because Danielle
secretly wanted to see Ethan fight the knightly Max. A knight and a
nobleman, both of them armed with swords, now that would be
fascinating. She watched them wrestle with the mess of cables as
Ethan appeared to become almost as frustrated as Max.

“Ethan showed me your dress. It’s lovely. I
can hardly wait for the girl time we get to have together while we
get ready.” Danielle turned to meet the smile upon Nadia’s
face.

“Me too.” Danielle found herself enchanted by
Nadia’s beauty and the lullaby of her British speech, but her eyes
didn’t muddle her like Ethan’s did. And Danielle couldn’t help but
wonder if Nadia was being so sociable in an attempt to make up for
what had happened with Celeste.

Music erupted into the room without warning,
the volume way too loud. Ethan quickly turned it down to a more
tolerable level. “Oops, sorry about that,” he muttered.

The music playing wasn’t Victorian style
music, it was modern. Danielle hadn’t expected that. “Is this what
they’ll play at the ball?”

“No, there will be a live band, and it will
be authentic for the era. But this has the same rhythm.”

Imagining a group of musicians like she’d
seen in that one regency movie, she then chastised herself for
being fool enough to envision something so safe and mundane ...
because this band would more likely be a group of old vampires just
as all of the other guests besides her.

Nadia’s dark brows turned up in concern when
she took in the look on Danielle’s face. “Are you nervous about
this?”

She’s observant as well as pretty,
thought Danielle as she tried to re-school her expression. “A
little,” she admitted reluctantly. “But I
do
trust Ethan, and you.” She gazed at Ethan as
she said his name, and a smile lifted his lips as though he heard
that.

Ethan straightened, brushed off his hands and
jogged to her side. “Sorry for the delay.”

Max followed and bowed as he greeted her.
“Hello, my lady,” he said alluringly with a deep, husky voice.
Danielle didn’t want to call him Max, she wanted to call him Sir
Knight Maximilian because he fit the part to a tee.

“Thank you,” she said and blushed. He was
just so genteel and knightly, she couldn’t stop the color from
rising. Max stepped closer and took up her hand. She couldn’t help
but notice how roped with muscle he was. He met his brown eyes to
hers as he touched her knuckles with a kiss. While Max was gorgeous
enough to draw any girl’s eye, she found she wasn’t bemused at all
when looking into his gaze either.

“Max, you’re in her space,” Ethan rasped in a
deep voice, tugging her closer to his side.

Max just laughed at Ethan’s angry tone and
winked at Danielle. Clearly he knew that would frustrate Ethan even
further, drawing out the possessive side of him she knew he tried
to hide. This banter between them was all just too amusing.
However, she feared Ethan might attack any second, so she grasped
his arm and said, “Are we going to dance? Or are you two going to
duke it out? If it’s the latter, I think I would like to
watch.”

Max laughed hard and loud, then offered,
“Should I go get my sword?”

“You’d like to watch, huh?” Ethan asked,
incredulous.

When she nodded, Ethan shook his head and
gifted her with a heartbreaking smile and powerful dose of those
blue eyes. Drawing a sharp breath, Danielle tried to keep from
dropping limply to the floor. Every time he did that he beguiled
her and she again recognized the stark contrast between his
influence on her and that of the others.

Taking her by the hand, Ethan said, “Let’s
dance, or you’ll never be ready for this ball.”

“Yes, sir,” boomed Max.

“Please lets,” chimed Nadia.

“Okay, the
pavane
is a processional dance and used to open
the ball,” Ethan instructed. He guided her by the hand around the
room in the
pavane
pattern of
steps, which was simply step, pause, step, pause, step, step, step,
pause. It was so simple she thought maybe she could handle this.
Until they tried to teach her a figure dance called
la pantalon
. She stumbled through a
series of turns, taking hands, switching places and little curtsies
at what seemed like a pretty fast pace.

When they then reviewed the
cotillion
, and the
waltz
, she decided she had to stop
looking into his eyes! His enchanting gaze wasn’t helping her
remember any of this at all. If she was having so much trouble now,
what was going to happen at night? Tomorrow night! Then when she
realized she wound up facing Max almost as much as Ethan, she
wondered if she’d survive dancing with other vampires. Vampires she
didn’t know, and all they had to do was make eye contact and she
would faint helplessly. Plus, her hip was starting to hurt
again....

“Lunch is ready!” Sophia’s voice came barely
audible over the music. Danielle breathed a sigh of relief because
her shoulder was aching along with her hip now. These bruises must
have been deep for them to keep troubling her after so long.

And it seemed Ethan remained intently aware
of how she was feeling when he swept her off her feet and headed
toward Sophia, who turned and guided them to the dining room.

“You plan to lug me around all day again,
don’t you?” It was more of a statement than a question.

“Every chance I get,” he said with a roguish
grin now playing on his lips.

Her aches subsided and she rested her head on
his delicious smelling shoulder. That involuntary smile found its
way back to her face.

Danielle lifted her head when they entered
the dining room, which she hadn’t yet seen. The walls were deep
red, and adorned with gold framed paintings of Ethan and his
family. The artwork looked like old portraits of royalty you see in
history books, before they had cameras.

She struggled from Ethan’s arms, and he let
her down, clearly against his own wishes. In the portrait Ethan was
wearing a doublet and a cape, with a sword hung about hips. His
hair was long, draping just past his wide shoulders.

“Ethan, you’re not this old.”

Smirking he nodded. “That’s true, we had
cameras in my time and I’d more likely be wearing a frockcoat with
a crisp white cravat.”

“Then why?”

“These were done for fun. Sort of like going
to a Ren-Fest.”

“Are any of you this old? Renaissance
old?”

“A few of us, yes. I do have that sword
though. It’s been in the family for a while now. Would you like to
see it?”

“Yes. Now?”

“No, my lady, you must eat first,” he
counseled in a perfectly medieval sounding voice.

She laughed.

He pulled a rich, tapestry covered chair out,
and seated her at a long table.

“I saw the ones in the drawing room too,” she
said when he sat down at the end next to her. “The photos of
you.”

“Those were taken before I was cursed,” he
divulged.

“You as a mortal?” After marveling over that
for a moment, she asked, “How do you explain stuff like that to
people who don’t know what you are?”

“We tell them they’re fakes like those
western ones people do.”

“And that works?”

“Every time.”

“Hm.” She touched the cold smooth surface of
the wood table. “And, what about when people ask why you don’t
age?”

“Easy, we switch jobs, and don’t bother
getting to know the neighbors. This place is secluded enough and
the city large enough that we can stay put.”

Sophia came out of the kitchen with her
feminine arms lifting a huge overloaded tray, which looked way too
heavy for her to carry. Vampires clearly didn’t lose all of their
powers during the day. She was wearing the same messy apron as
before over a blue designer dress. Danielle didn’t think the apron
had been washed since, and wondered if it ever had.

Her lovely face was smeared with powdered
sugar, or something else white and powdery. The white substance was
also in her auburn wavy hair.

Sophia littered the end of the table closest
to her with elegant serving dishes full of crusty bread, hot soup,
a variety of cheeses and crackers, little tarts, her favorite peach
tea and fresh fruit. She felt like a princess in a castle because
the setting really didn’t belong in a vampire mansion.

Of course, she couldn’t eat all of it, but
when she discarded her napkin on the table, Ethan frowned and
asked, “You’re done?”

“Honestly, Ethan, I would be the size of a
house if I actually ate as much as you people think I should. How
do you think I keep my figure?”

“Exercise?” he offered.

“Exercise
and
a well balanced healthy diet. I can’t starve
myself nor can I overeat. I would think
the physician
would know this.”

“All right then, ready for that tour I
promised you?”

“Yeah.”

Before she even had a chance to rise from her
seat, Ethan had her in his arms, bridal style.

“I really am capable of walking, Ethan.
Exercise is something I need, remember?”

“You get enough exercise. I’ve seen you in
your garden.”

“And did you also notice I’ve been neglecting
that with my sore joints?”

“All the more reason for me to carry you now.
With the ball tomorrow night, I don’t want to risk wearing you out.
You have to last till midnight,” he said, and that rascal smirk of
his was back.

“Fine, you win.” Because she couldn’t exactly
argue his points.

He took her down a wide hallway with a silver
suit of armor displayed at the end of it. “Does that belong to Max?
I would love to see him in it.” Especially since she’d already
imagined it.

“Yes, that’s his. You fancy Max don’t you?”
Ethan asked, sounding bothered.

“Yes, I fancy him, he’s very knightly.” She
then realized Ethan was showing that possessiveness again. And that
possessiveness made him overprotective, which brought out something
else. “Are you jealous?”

“I don’t know if I would put it like that,”
he said stiffly.

“Really, how would you put it then?” She
pulled up more tightly around his neck so her face was closer to
his.

“I don’t know,” he confessed, sounding
abashed. He glanced into her eyes with the daytime magic that she
could never escape.

“Ethan, I made direct eye contact with Max
and Nadia. Neither one of them can move me even remotely like you
can. I felt absolutely nothing when I looked into his eyes today.
But when I look into your eyes, you spellbind me every time, day or
night, it doesn’t matter. Do you have any idea how hard I have to
fight to resist being staggered every time I make eye contact with
you? And on top of that, I have that feeling of familiarity wash
over me. It’s overpowering. Max has nothing on you, at least where
I’m concerned.” She closed her speech with a kiss, hoping she had
him convinced.

A slow smile filled his face. He dropped her
legs and pulled her into a closer embrace. She matched her smile
with his and gazed into his eyes, just letting the wooziness and
familiarity have her. When he released her, she stumbled like a
drunk and he lifted her again. “You can’t even walk straight,” he
said laughing.

“You see? Do you see what I’m telling
you?”

“Yes, thanks for reminding me. It’s just that
Max—”

“Yes, Max is very hot.”

“Excuse me?”

She laughed. “He’s the knight, and you’re the
noble gentleman, silly. You’re both hotties.”

Ethan snorted with a laugh.

“On with the tour you noble hottie, you.”

“You’re a funny girl, but also quite
hot.”

“Thanks.”

Ethan carried her into a room filled with
sculptures, vintage artwork, swords and shields. She figured it
must be some sort of gallery. Items were displayed on pedestals and
hung artistically on the walls. Everything was illuminated by
gallery lighting. He set her on the floor again, the dizziness had
passed, then led her to the sword he wore in the painting and
removed it from the wall.

Danielle ran her fingers along the curving
designs etched into the metal. “I’m guessing you know how to use
this?”

“Of course, I’m the son of a Duke. It was
common practice for men of my class to know sword fighting, though
I usually used a foil instead of a heavy blade like this.” Ethan
slid it from the sheath and tossed the handle from hand to hand,
playing with the weight of it—which she figured was quite
heavy.

Thinking of how Beon had turned his daughter,
she wondered aloud, “Why didn’t you turn them?” She could see being
tempted by that.

“Beon suggested it, but I couldn’t curse them
like I was. So I let them pass on. I may have been tempted more so
if any of them had been threatened with death at a young age, but
they all grew old without any mishaps. However, as each family
member was on their death bed, I did expose my secret to them. I
had to give them that much. Just before they passed on to the next
life they knew I was still living. Strangely, they were all very
happy about it.”

“I don’t know if I could have been so
strong.”

“You would if you knew what it was like to
lust for blood and need to kill another living being to get it.
Have you ever even killed an animal?” he asked.

Goose bumps crawled up her spine. “No, but I
have squashed a spider before.”

“That’s not even remotely the same. Just
consider that nothing wants to die, not even an animal. When I have
to kill to satisfy my thirst I know it wants to live, but I have to
kill it or I will become more dangerous and end up killing a mortal
instead. I truly am cursed.”