Masquerade (Vampires Realm Romance Series Book 10) (16 page)

He was about to continue his rounds when a group near the main doors moved, leaving the path to them clear.

And a beautiful woman in scarlet entered.

S
ophis wasn’t comfortable. She hated the dress they had given her to wear. It was impractical and revealed far too much bosom. It had taken her almost an hour to get into the tight crimson boned corset and arrange the skirt of the dress, and then she had realised that there was nowhere to conceal a weapon and no time to amend the dress to add pockets in which she could sheathe her small throwing knives. In the end, she had strapped the blades to her thighs, three on the outside of each. She wasn’t sure whether she would be able to reach them in time if there was an attack.

She growled under her breath when her ankle gave out again and twisted beneath her. The shoes were equally ridiculous, with pointed heels as long as her fingers. She could barely walk in them let alone run if she had the need. Evil contraptions. At least she could use them as a weapon if a fight did break out.

Sophis paused on the balcony at the top of the mahogany staircase and watched the crowd milling around in the entrance hall below. Would she be able to recognise anyone at the ball? She had studied the black dossier that someone had left with her outfit and put everything about the important attendees to memory. What about Vivek? Would she recognise him? She felt as though she would, but she wasn’t sure.

When she had been younger in vampire years and her sire had sent a servant to bring her down to him because he had needed her to do something, she hadn’t recognised him amongst the crowd. The males wore masks that were bigger and more ornate, covering a larger portion of their faces than the ones the females wore. If she couldn’t recognise her own sire by looking, she probably wasn’t going to recognise Vivek. The scent of the blood on offer as a refreshment, the roses that filled the rooms, and all of the attendees would make detecting him that way impossible. She was determined to try though, if only so she could ensure that he was doing his job tonight and not slacking off for the entire evening. She doubted he would, but when he had been talking to her in the ballroom, he had seemed intent on spending the evening dancing. He had sounded like Deshal.

Sophis leaned her gloved forearms on the red-rose-laced banister of the balcony above the entrance hall and smiled as she watched the vampires entering below. They were a steady flow of rich colours punctuated with black and more exotic touches like feathers on some of the women’s dresses and masks. Her own dress was plain satin for the most part. The corset was pure scarlet with gold pearls across the top and flowing down along the bones. The skirt of the dress was two-tone. Scarlet covered most of it and formed a scalloped trail behind her that she had to lift when she walked. The front was different. The scallops continued upwards from her ankles and joined over her navel, revealing a darker shade of red in the triangle of skirt beneath. It was beautiful and she had never worn anything like it. The material was soft against her skin but sturdy around her ribs and breasts even though it looked so flimsy. She was glad of that. She didn’t want to make an impression tonight. She wanted to blend in and had taken steps with her appearance to ensure that. Her long dark hair was pinned in a twisted knot of curls at the back of her head with a few strands allowed to roam free and caress her throat, and she had hunted down her little used make-up and painted her lips crimson and the area around her eyes dark. It had taken her a few attempts to get the make-up on straight and she now had a whole gallery of terrifying pictures of herself on her small digital camera.

She would have asked Ella to help her, but she couldn’t let anyone know that she was attending and she hadn’t spoken to her so-called best friend since finding her perched on Vivek’s lap.

She ground to teeth to contain her growl.

It still pissed her off. She couldn’t forgive her friend for doing such a thing, and she couldn’t forgive Vivek either.

What had he wanted to tell her that night in the city when she had accused him? She hadn’t given him a chance to answer and it played on her mind now. She had been wrong about her men and about Vivek not patrolling. Perhaps she had been wrong about Ella too, and Vivek wasn’t chasing her. She hadn’t seen them together since then and Ella didn’t look very happy whenever they passed each other in the halls of the mansion, so she could only imagine that either she had misread the situation or Vivek had already moved on.

Sophis straightened and went down the mahogany staircase, her hand on the railing to steady herself as she walked in the heels. The gold with the red of the roses brought such warmth into the entrance hall and she couldn’t help smiling. Whenever the Venia mansion hosted the ball, they always decorated it the same way, and it reminded her of times when her sire was here and life had felt so uncomplicated. These days it felt so difficult.

A flash of crimson shot across her eyes and her side burned beneath her dress, hot with flames that licked her skin and sent an arrow of panic into her heart. She paused at the bottom of the stairs and breathed deeply and slowly, steadying herself. She wasn’t there again. She was safe here, surrounded by her kin and so many powerful vampires, and so was Vivek. Aleksis wouldn’t stand a chance if he dared to attack the mansion. He wouldn’t even make it through the guards and werewolves in the grounds. They were safe.

Ice still crawled in her chest.

She wanted to see Vivek.

The urge shocked her but it wasn’t wholly unexpected. Whenever she had suffered panic attacks in the first year after recovering from the dagger wound they had melted away whenever she had found Vivek. He had been so cold and distant that she hadn’t spoken to him about them or approached him. She had remained out of view of him, watching him from afar, soothing her fear for him and herself with the sight of him alive and well.

Seeing him was impossible now though. They had given her a mask, which meant he would be wearing one too, and she hadn’t been brave enough to find Commander Tynan and ask what they would be wearing so she could recognise her mission partner.

Sophis studied the vampires entering the mansion and flowing past her towards the ballroom, trying to distract herself by seeing if she recognised any of them as lords, ladies, Chosen Sons or Chosen Daughters. She had memorised the faces of the most important members of the bloodlines so she could behave appropriately around them if she were introduced to them at any point during the masquerade.

Most of the vampires passing her didn’t feel particularly strong and she couldn’t recognise any of them. Many of them were giving off excitement in their signatures and she could understand why, and could also understand the ones who were feeling emotions more akin to fear. She clung to the bottom banister of the staircase, wondering where they had all come from and what life was like in their part of Europe. Not all vampires of rank lived at their bloodline’s mansion but all returned for the ball, or met their family at the mansion hosting the masquerade. Would her sire return? He hadn’t last time they had held the ball. Part of her hoped he would come home this time so she could speak with him. She didn’t want to leave the mansion and her duty, but it was so hard to remain here now after everything that had happened. She wanted to run away in search of her own slice of happiness and forget about Vivek.

The chatter in the entrance hall died as a noble dark haired man swept through the double doors. His red eyes betrayed him as a Vehemens and his stature and poise said that he could be the lord of that bloodline, but a lady ruled the violent ones now. She glanced at the fair haired woman on the man’s arm. Nerves radiated from her. The lady. That meant that the man with her was their bloodline’s Chosen Son, Lincoln, and also her mate and sire. Everyone knew of the two half-blood ladies of the pure bloodlines. Lady Lilith Vehemens, who was once a vampire hunter for Section Seven and the first enhanced one, and Lady Prophecy Caelestis, who was born of a witch mother who had been turned during pregnancy.

Sophis cast an eye over Lady Lilith, from the top of her long fair hair to the hem of her beautiful black dress.

Did she find being around so many vampires, especially the powerful lords and ladies, disturbing? Or were her nerves because this was her first masquerade?

They drew closer and Lady Lilith’s brown eyes briefly met hers before darting back to the man walking beside her.

“I’m a terrible dancer... I should have told you earlier,” she whispered and Lincoln paused, turned to face her, and smiled.

“You need only follow my lead for once, as I taught you.” His accent was a mixture of Scandinavian and British. In time, Lady Lilith’s own British accent would become as corrupted as her mate’s was, becoming more Norwegian with every year she passed at the Vehemens mansion in Oslo.

His smile widened, turning affectionate, and he brushed his thumb across Lady Lilith’s cheek, his gaze following his fingers.

There was such heat in his eyes, so much love in that look, that Sophis felt as though she was prying. What was it like to be high-ranking? Could they do as they pleased? Did they feel the burden of responsibility too, or was life void of care and struggle? They both looked so happy and relaxed, completely at ease now as they stared at each other.

A tiny part of Sophis wished that she felt that way too. Her head was always full of rosters, duties, and a list of things to do. She never had time to be herself and be carefree.

Or was the feeling she got from them to do with the fact they were bonded and mated?

What would it be like to share such a bond, to be able to feel everything that her love did, and to be able to speak with them telepathically? She had heard that claiming led to an intense connection. The thought of it frightened her a little, yet a deeper part of her craved it and feared that she would never love someone with such depth, that she might never experience something so beautiful.

“I wish Eve was here.” Lady Lilith’s look turned pensive but a solemn edge softened her eyes. Who was Eve? There hadn’t been any mention of that name in the information about the Vehemens bloodline’s party.

Lincoln squeezed Lilith’s hand and smiled in a way that spoke of reassurance and affection even with his mask obscuring most of his face.

“She is in good hands and will be with us soon enough. Tor has promised to bring her here to us before the end of the ball and she will be safe with him. You need not fear.”

Who was Tor? Sophis frowned behind her mask and studied the Vehemens party. The files hadn’t mentioned the Chosen Daughter of the bloodline. Was that person Eve? Was Tor her protector? Curiosity sent questions buzzing around her mind but she pushed them away. It wasn’t her place to wonder about those not present. She was here to keep an eye on the attendees and protect her lord, Chosen Son and Chosen Daughter.

The group moved on and Sophis waited until they had given their cards to the guards at the entrance to the ballroom before moving herself. She stepped down off the bottom tread of the staircase and followed another group to the doors. The man on her left took the ornate invitation from her and then she stepped into the room.

It was stunning.

Vibrant and full of life.

Dancers sped in a beautiful whirlwind of colour before her, matching the fast tempo of the trumpets and strings of the orchestra, and other attendees milled around in small groups, sipping blood from pure crystal flutes and talking. The atmosphere in the room buzzed with energy and excitement, and with the power of the stronger vampires amongst the gathered.

Several men paused to glance at her as they passed and Sophis wished that whoever had arranged her attire had chosen a black dress instead. The material was so close to the colour of blood that it was impossible to blend in with the crowd and she felt as though her efforts to do so by applying some make-up and fixing her hair had only made her stand out even more.

Sophis moved into the crowd before any of the men could find a chance to ask her to dance and made her way through it, heading for the long tables under the balcony opposite her. They had been setting the glasses out there earlier, ready to fill them with warm blood. Her throat turned dry at just the thought of feeding. The blood she had taken from the vampire hunter had restored some of her strength but she still craved more, her body hungry for nourishment that would help it finish the healing process.

She claimed a flute of blood, turned her back on those serving, scanned the vampires around her to make sure no one was watching and gulped it down. She set the glass down on a passing waiter’s tray and then moved further along the white rectangular tables to claim another. Sipping this one, she fell into a leisurely pace as she did a circuit of the ballroom, looking for trouble and trying to recognise more of the attendees. Her ankle wobbled again in the heels but she remained upright this time and a touch of pride warmed her heart. She would conquer the infernal shoes before long.

Sophis leaned back against the column nearest the entrance to the ballroom and let her eyes flit over everything. The array of masks that the men wore fascinated her. Each of them was different in some way. Some had horns and some didn’t, some looked devilish and some looked like dragons. Most of the women were wearing slim masks that barely covered their eyes, very similar in style to each other.

A woman dancing caught her eye and Sophis knew from the stars on her skin that she was Lady Prophecy Caelestis. She whirled around the dance floor, a streak of plum that stood out amidst the other dancers, especially when combined with the deep green of her partner’s outfit. His devilish black mask couldn’t hide who he was. His eyes were as green as Lady Prophecy’s but something told Sophis that this man wasn’t showing his vampire side as his lady was and that he wasn’t of her bloodline. It was illegal and wrong, but Sophis found it a touch romantic that two vampires from opposing bloodlines had come together and mated. She would never reveal it to anyone. If she did, they would probably report her to the Law Keepers.