Chapter 5
“Nice touch, you two,” Dad said, grinning at me, then Lucius. “Very thoughtful!”

I smiled down the table at Lucius, too, loving him both for his consideration of my parents, and for the gentle humor in the gesture. His secret, last-minute addition to the menu – “Lentil Casserole a la Vladescu” – was definitely an inside joke, given how he’d despised my parents’ reliance on grains and beans, and especially lentils, but it was also just a nice thing to include for them.

“The casserole is Lucius’s idea,” I said, ignoring the confusion on my vampire relatives’ faces. I was sure they all knew what lentils were, but their significance on the menu was going right over the Vladescus’ and Dragomirs’ heads.

Mom knew that Lucius was joking with her, though. He hadn’t exactly been shy about sharing his opinions on her cooking in the past. “You should have called and asked for my personal recipe, Lucius,” she said, giving him an arch, but affectionate, smile. “I would have shared it!”

Even from far down the table, which was being circled by two servers filling long-stemmed glasses with red wine, I could see the amusement in Lucius’s eyes. “Oh, I couldn’t trouble you like that!” he joked. “Let’s see how my cook handles this ever-so-adaptable and persistent little legume on her own. I am always eager to taste a new variation!”

All at once, to see Lucius at the head of that huge table, in control of the menu and the
conversation, I was really struck by the magnitude and speed of the changes taking place in my life. Less than a year ago, Mom had practically dragged Lucius by the ear from our modest dining room table and scolded him for being rude to Jake during our first date. I looked from Mom to Lucius and back again, thinking that could never happen now. Lucius was far beyond anyone’s control.

I was living independently in a new country, but was I a real adult like that, too?

I squirmed on my chair and glanced at Mindy, who struck me as small and young and still a little uneasy in such a formal gathering. She seemed to be eyeing – warily – the almost dizzying, dazzling array of silverware that was spread out before each of us.

I scanned my own place setting, not sure if I knew when or how to use some of the gleaming implements, either, and the confidence that I’d felt when Lucius had taken my hand was rattled again.

I’d wielded power with Lucius on the night that I’d stopped the vampire war and claimed my place as leader of the Dragomir clan. But I couldn’t help wondering in that moment... Who did I resemble more?

Lucius, at ease and in command?

Or Mindy, smiling – but nervously?

Was I ready to be at the end of this table, like the prince I saw far, far across from me? Or did I still look like I belonged on the sidelines, a humble guest at my own party?

The two servants pouring wine reached Lucius and I simultaneously, their performance choreographed to serve us last, and I nearly placed my hand over my glass to signal that I didn’t want – couldn’t drink – wine. Then I looked quickly to Lucius and saw that he seemed oblivious to being served. I glanced at my parents, too, as if for approval, before remembering that a sip of wine was legal for me in Europe, and I no longer needed permission. More to the point, I would be expected to take part in the toast, even if the taste made me cringe.

I slipped my hand back down to my side, hoping that nobody had noticed my near mistake
and watching as the dark, almost black, liquid swirled into the glass. In the firelight, it looked a lot like something else that I wanted much, much more. Craved and needed, actually.

My eyes stayed fixed on the inky liquid. Blood and wine… Two things I’d tasted only a few times, each, now about to become regular parts of my existence…

Then out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lucius rise, and my attention – along with that of all the guests – shifted back to him as he raised his own glass high to toast us all.

I knew, as I watched him, that he was enjoying himself. That I was seeing Lucius Vladescu in his element. Yet I was also keenly aware that part of his enjoyment stemmed from the very fact that, given who was in the audience, even something as simple as welcoming guests could be fraught with peril. That one snub, intended, unintended or merely perceived, could have serious repercussions.

But of course the pressure didn’t show on Lucius’s face as he began a toast that would not only thank our guests for sharing a special meal, but could also, if not handled with grace and finesse, someday start a war.

I looked around at my Dragomir relatives – and to Lucius’s Uncle Claudiu, who sat stiffly in his seat, his long, pale fingers gliding up and down the stem of his wineglass, and my throat tightened, as if those fingers were twisting around my neck.

Claudiu would probably love a war. As a Vladescu Elder, he’d been part of the plot to have Lucius dispose of me some dark night in the bed that we’d share, so the Vladescus could wield unchallenged power over an empire of vampires…

I tuned back to Lucius, almost terrified, suddenly, by my own future, and desperate for reassurance that the powerful warrior-prince who stood across from me, presiding over the table, would keep me from harm.

And seeing Lucius did calm me – for an instant. Of course I’d be safe alone with him in that huge bed he’d shown me when we’d toured the castle…

Still, my eyes darted back to Claudiu. But what about those times when Lucius couldn’t be at my side?

I was so preoccupied with fighting a rising panic that it took me a second to notice that Lucius hadn’t started his toast yet. Wasn’t even looking at his guests – or at me.

No, his attention was drawn to the wooden door at my back, which squeaked open on its old hinges. As the door swung wider, ushering in a chilly draft that made the candles flicker wildly in the chandeliers, Lucius’s expression changed dramatically, so that I forgot all about Claudiu and secret plots.

I started to swing around in my seat, certain that whoever was entering the room wasn’t just some servant bearing a tray of food or more wine. And just as I twisted to see behind myself, Lucius confirmed my suspicions that someone important had joined the party.

“Although he arrives deplorably behind schedule,” Lucius announced, as I caught my first glimpse of the last, late-arriving guest, “I ask you all to welcome my one and only brother!”

Continue to Chapter 6.....