Claiming the Vampire (8 page)

Jessica bristled. “Liz is one of the best warriors we’ve got.”

“I know, I know.” Talia smiled now as she returned to her daughter’s side. “You are a true American in many ways, do you know that? You’ve always insisted that people should be judged on merit and not by birth. I sometimes think you would make a better queen in North America than I would. You seem so suited to the sensibilities here. But your destiny is to rule in another land, over a proud and ancient people. In truth, I envy you, my dear. Now let’s go downstairs, where a handsome prince is waiting for you.”

Jessica looked her mother in the eye. “I want to know what you and Hawk were talking about.”

“Jessica!”

She held her ground. “I’m serious, Mother.”

For a minute the two women stared at each other in silence. Then Talia huffed out an angry breath.

“I don’t know what’s gotten into you tonight. Hawk was here because of a misunderstanding. I hired him to help with a…situation. Involving another vampire, which is why I thought he’d be useful. Now he’s insisting I didn’t give him his full payment.”

“I see.” Jessica felt a little sick to her stomach. “That’s what his urgent business was. Money.” She rubbed a hand across her eyes. “I hope you agreed to pay him. You should do whatever it takes to get him the hell off our continent. He’s the one I told you about, you know. The vampire who was in the alley that night. The one who was hired to kill Celia.”

Talia’s eyes widened. “I didn’t know that. Is she still in danger?”

Jessica shook her head. “No, that job was called off.” She smiled without mirth. “He hasn’t had much luck on this side of the pond lately. Maybe after this he’ll stay in England.”

Talia pursed her lips. “Once he has his money, I’m sure we’ll never see him again.”

“I’m sure you’re right.”

Jessica took a deep breath and looked at herself once more in the mirror.

This time, when she pictured Hawk, she felt only disgust—for herself as much as him. She’d known what he was all along, of course, but her conversation with her mother had brought it home to her somehow.

Those were the hands she’d allowed on her body. The hands of a hired killer, interested only in money. Hawk was an assassin who couldn’t care less about the lives he took or the lives he destroyed, as long as he was paid. And he wouldn’t hesitate to use any tool necessary to achieve his goals.

Including her.

As her mother had said, he was a master manipulator.

Talia came up behind her again, repositioning one of the jeweled clips in her hair. “Are you ready to go downstairs?”

Jessica nodded.

Talia smiled at her in the mirror. “That’s my girl. I’m very proud of you, you know. I probably don’t say that often enough. I wish you would change your mind, and stay here until your wedding.”

The thought of spending her last few weeks on Earth surrounded by courtiers and nobles made her feel like she was choking.

“No, I want to go back to Boston.” She had an apartment there, an elegant brownstone, and she was looking forward to returning to the privacy of her own home. In fact, she was planning to dismiss the guards and servants her mother had sent to her when she first moved into it.

Growing up, she had never had enough time to herself. Now, for the first time, she was going to indulge in the luxury of solitude.

At least for a little while.

“Very well. But you’ll come here on weekends?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Now let’s go find that handsome prince of yours.”

Handsome prince.

Somehow, describing him that way made him seem less real, like he was a character in a fairy tale instead of a flesh and blood man. As Jessica descended the marble staircase with her mother beside her, she spotted Kel near the entrance to the ballroom, surrounded by Fae royalty from all around the world. He smiled politely at something the Icelandic princess said, and Jessica paused on the staircase to watch him.

He came from another dimension, but if she hadn’t known that she wouldn’t have guessed it from observing him. Was it possible that his world was as similar to theirs as her mother had promised? That the myths of the Dark Fae had been exaggerated?

“Good idea,” her mother murmured behind her, and before Jessica had time to wonder what she meant the crowd downstairs began to quiet gradually, as more and more people looked up and saw them.

Her mother thought she’d stopped here on purpose, for effect.

She hadn’t, of course, but it certainly was effective. In less than a minute a hush had fallen in the great hall, and even the servants with their trays of champagne had paused. The sudden silence and stillness felt like a tableau.

As though it had been choreographed, Prince Kel stepped forward and bowed low. Then he straightened and held his hand towards her.

Feeling again that strange sense of unreality, as though she were acting a part, Jessica began to descend the stairs again. People shifted to create a path from the staircase to the prince. When she reached the bottom, she put a smile on her face and walked towards Kel as he began walking towards her. When they met, he took both her hands in his and kissed them.

“I am glad to see you looking so well after everything that happened,” he murmured.

His voice was really rather pleasant—smooth and easy and cultured. But Jessica found herself comparing it to another voice, a voice deeper and rougher and with a British accent.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“None of that between us,” he said with a smile, offering his arm as a servant threw open the doors to the ballroom. “You will call me Kel—and I will call you Jessica. We are affianced, after all.”

“As you wish—Kel,” Jessica said, taking the prince’s arm as they led the way into the ballroom.

It felt like someone else was walking beside him into the elegant room, smiling as the musicians began to play their first notes. When Kel had led Jessica to the very center of the room, right underneath the massive crystal chandelier, he turned to face her.

“May I have this dance?”

She nodded, still smiling, and the two of them moved into a waltz with easy grace.

“They have waltzes in your world,” she said after a moment. Kel was a wonderful dancer, and she was trying to feel something from his touch. One of his hands was at her waist, and she tried to will her body to take notice, to shiver and tingle the way she had when—

“Yes, we have waltzes. Our worlds are similar in many ways. I think you will feel at home there, Jessica. That is certainly my wish.”

It was weak and foolish to feel this longing for another man’s touch. And it was up to her to conquer that feeling, to do everything she could to accept her new life.

“Would you tell me about your home? My mother said you live in a castle in the mountains, with your mother. Queen Navril.”

She’d actually seen it, once—or a room inside it, anyway. When she and Celia had gone into absinthe trance, their spirits had traveled to the Dark Fae realm, where they’d observed the queen discussing her plans to unleash the demons of their world upon Earth.

But that was all she’d seen—and she didn’t remember much about the castle itself. Her vision had been blurred and strange in the absinthe trance, and Celia had dragged her away as soon as they’d heard what they needed to.

Her mother didn’t know much more. She’d gone in spirit to meet with the Dark Fae queen, but since that wasn’t a particularly safe mode of travel, she hadn’t stayed long. And after that first meeting, the queen had sent Talia a magic mirror that functioned as a portal between the worlds, to allow them to communicate that way.

Kel smiled at her. “Our fortress was built eight hundred years ago, by my great-great grandparents. It’s very beautiful. It’s high in the mountains, above a lake and an ancient forest.”

“Are there cities? Towns? Where do your people live?”

“There are fewer of us than there are of you, remember. And no humans in our world. Our entire population is no more a hundred thousand, perhaps. Most of our people live in villages, although there are several cities—what we call cities, anyway. When I say that you will find much that is familiar in our world, I don’t mean in comparison with human modernity. Our ways are older, as are our arts and crafts and sciences. We honor blacksmiths and silversmiths and glassmakers, not mass production and factories. Our sciences tend towards astronomy and navigation and medicine, and have not followed the path of your world.”

“The humans in our world, you mean.”

He nodded. “Yes, that’s exactly what I mean. The Fae here have adapted to humanity—and adapted beautifully, I might add—but our culture developed without that influence. And in the last few hundred years we’ve come to know of Earth’s existence, we’ve rejected that influence. We find little to admire in humanity.”

“But now you need us.”

She’d used the word
us
deliberately, as a reminder that she herself had human blood in her veins.

Kel had no visible reaction, and she marveled again at how flawlessly cool his expression was. That emotionless demeanor was the Fae ideal—the court ideal, anyway—and one she’d always striven for. But looking at Kel now, she knew she’d never achieve it.

And then, in spite of herself, she thought about Hawk. How fierce and angry and riled up he’d been as he backed her into that tree. How hungry he’d looked as he’d touched her, his eyes following his hands.

It was impossible to imagine Kel ever looking at her like that. Of course she didn’t really know him, so it wasn’t fair to make any determinations about what he was like or wasn’t like. But his detachment was so perfect, so…

She noticed suddenly that his dancing had become more purposeful—that he was steering her towards the French doors that led to the back terrace. Two of her mother’s personal guards were there, at the doors. Kel nodded to them and they opened the doors, bowing as the two of them went through.

There were guards out here, too. The monarch’s personal guard was an ancient tradition, one followed by all Fae royalty. With the existence of other supernaturals—and the often antagonistic relationships between them—the guards served a practical as well as ceremonial function. Unlike the famed guards at Buckingham Palace, the Fae guards were occasionally called upon to protect their kings and queens, sometimes with their lives.

Still, because of the extensive magical protections that noble Fae placed around their own mansions and palaces, they usually felt safe when they were at home. Certainly Talia did. She almost never stationed guards outdoors at formal balls. They were usually circulating inside and at the doors, with a few at the front gates.

But now, there were four guards out here on the terrace. Jessica had no doubt this extra precaution was because of Hawk.

Did that mean she thought he might return?

Jessica closed her eyes, hating herself for the sudden rush of excitement that coursed through her body.

“Jessica.”

She opened her eyes again and looked at Kel. He’d led her to an alcove in the terrace, out of sight and earshot of the guards as well as the guests inside the ballroom.

“It is true that we need you. There are fewer and fewer children born to my people, and even with our long lives our race declines every year. The fear of extinction is a powerful thing, and it led us first to plan an invasion of your world—and then to plan for this marriage.”

She hadn’t expected him to speak so openly of the circumstances around their engagement. Why was he talking to her about this? They both knew why the marriage had been planned. What good could it do to bring it up?

“That’s why I came here tonight,” he went on. “Not just to meet you, but to make sure that…” He paused. There was no change in his expression, which remained impassive, but Jessica was sure that there was some feeling beneath the surface. “I want to be sure that this marriage our mothers have planned for us is acceptable to you. That you have agreed to it of your own free will.”

Jessica stared at him. She had no idea what to say. Did he expect her to rhapsodize about how delighted she was to be marrying him? Or was he sincere, and simply looking for reassurance that she hadn’t been coerced into this engagement?

She could at least provide that. “I can assure you that I have agreed to this engagement freely.” A thought occurred to her suddenly. “Have you?”

It was his turn to stare at her. She sensed that he was surprised, although his expression still showed nothing. “What do you mean?”

“I’m asking if you agreed to this marriage of your free will.”

“Of course I did,” he said.

But there had been the barest hesitation before he spoke. And that made Jessica wonder, for the first time, how this arrangement was affecting him.

“You weren’t expecting this any more than I was. Your life will change, too.”

He shook his head dismissively. “You’re the one leaving your home—your very world—to come and live in mine. You’re giving up far more than I am. Don’t waste your concern on me, Jessica.” He offered his arm to her again. “I’m glad to know that all of this is acceptable to you. I look forward to the day when I can welcome you to my world as my bride. And now, we should return to the ball.”

And that, apparently, was going to be that.

The rest of the night passed pleasantly enough, but it felt endless. The music, the dancing, the superficial conversations…there were times when Jessica thought she was going to fly to pieces. She was used to feeling restless at balls and formal occasions, but this was different. This felt almost…desperate.

She’d never felt at home with nobles. Only with the Green Fae, where she was respected for her skill and not her position.

Her one respite from meaningless chitchat was a brief conversation with Yana. Since her father had been killed in battle ten years ago, Yana was the only person at court she felt completely at ease with.

This year, Yana had been named Arbiter of North America—one of the few royal positions earned by merit and wisdom and not by the accident of birth. Tonight, she wore the simple black robes of her office. They went well with her stern expression and long silver hair.