“We can’t do anything simply.”

Xavier sits at the head of the table, while Victor and I are on one side, Faith and Richard on the other. I can’t complain about the food. I’m served steak and various vegetables. Everything is delicious. While vampires derive no real nourishment from food, they do enjoy the sensations of taste.

I glance over at Richard. He’s not enjoying anything. Not eating, not drinking, not joining in on the conversation. Probably because no matter to whom Xavier is talking, his gaze is always honed in on Faith.

“The Council just didn’t give any thought to the inconvenience of putting humans within walled cities,” Xavier says before sipping from an ornate silver goblet that I’m pretty sure doesn’t contain wine. “Someone has to watch them. But there is nothing except desolation around the cities. No one comes to see me. Do you have any idea how long it’s been since I’ve seen an Old Family female? How can I court? How can I bond?” He takes Faith’s hand and presses a kiss to it. “How can I entice her into being my mate?”

“Have you explained all this to your father?” Faith asks. “Maybe he can send one of your brothers to watch over the territory for a while.”

With a pout, Xavier sits back. “I have. He doesn’t seem to care. I simply wait around for the sun to rise, the sun to set, and blood to be delivered. Night in, night out. Week after week. Month after month. Boring.”

“Do you get enough blood?” I ask.

He jerks his gaze to me as though he’d completely forgotten that I was there. He furrows his brow. “You allow your diva to speak?”

“She’s very knowledgeable,” Victor assures him. “I’d like to know the answer to her question.”

“Not as much as we used to. I shall have to punish them soon. But I don’t want to think about that now. Let’s dance.” He gets up, goes to an old phonograph sitting on a table, cranks it up, and sets a needle on a disc. After a few moments of static the room fills with scratchy music. Xavier rushes over to Faith, bows slightly, and holds out his hand.

“Xavier—” Victor begins.

“I know. You must leave. But what is three more minutes?”

Faith places her hand in Xavier’s. “Yes, Victor, what is three more minutes? Dance with Dawn.”

She goes with Xavier to an empty space on the other side of the room, and they begin to glide over the floor with graceful movements. It’s very different from the way I dance at parties. Xavier has a hand on her waist. Hers is on his shoulder.

Victor stands and extends his hand to me. “Dawn?”

I gaze at him, standing there, looking incredibly handsome, so enticing. “I don’t know how.”

“Just follow my lead.”

I can’t deny that I’ve always wanted to dance with him, to have a moment that seemed normal. I follow him to the uncluttered area. Taking me in his arms, he sweeps me over the floor.

I want to laugh with the joy of it. Gazing into his eyes, I can almost forget that the world around us is such a mess. It’s only the two of us, keeping in perfect rhythm, even when the music skips and plays over, skips and plays over. A broken record.

I feel elegant and beautiful in this gown. I’ve never worn anything this elaborate before. If this were a fairy tale, I’d be a princess. But I stopped believing in fairy tales a long time ago.

“You’re so beautiful,” Victor says quietly. “I wish I could give you more moments like this, when there is nothing but the music and the two of us. No worries, no evil, no problems.”

“Is this what Old Family life was like before the war?”

“We had balls and dances almost every week. But we had orchestras playing the music. Not scratchy old records that grate on the ears.”

“Do you miss it?”

“I miss the peace of it. The laughter. The happiness. Everything changed when we came out of the shadows. We couldn’t hold on to this any longer.”

“Xavier is trying to.”

“Yes, many do.”

They hate technology and modern conveniences. I try to envision what it was like back then, but I’m distracted by the candlelight in the chandeliers as the flickering flames cause light to flutter over Victor’s face. The shadows ebb and flow. It’s magical, lures me in, and I realize that I’m nearer to him than I was when we started. My skirt brushes against his legs. My hand has moved from his shoulder to his neck. I can feel his warm breath on my cheek. I could fall into the blue depths of his eyes. I wish we could stay here, constantly moving in a circle over the polished hardwood floor.

Victor lowers his head. His lips graze my ear. His voice is low, mesmerizing. “I’m sorry we can’t have this forever.”

My heart gives a little lurch. Is he answering my earlier question when I asked what would become of us? Or is he simply referring to the fact that it’s as though we have no cares?

“What exactly is this, Victor? What can we not have forever?”

A hideous screeching fills the room and the music stops. I glance over to see Richard standing by the phonograph, holding up the needled arm.

“Hate to break up the party, but if we don’t get on the road soon, we’re not going to get to the capital before the sun rises,” he says.

Victor steps away. I want to clutch him back to me. I want to keep dancing. I want to pretend that no dangers exist in our world. But these few moments were only an illusion.

“Stay the night,” Xavier says. “Go tomorrow.”

“We can’t,” Victor tells him. “Richard’s right. We have to go.”

Xavier turns to Faith. “Stay with me.”

Faith smiles and pats his cheek. “I wish I could, but Victor will be taking his place on the Council. I must be there to give him my support.”

“Afterward, come back. You’ll never want for anything. I’ll make you happy. We can dance every night.”

Leaning in, she brushes her lips over his. “We’ll see.”

With that she turns from him, marches across the room, grabs my hand, and begins pulling me toward the door. “Come on, Dawn, we can’t travel in these clothes.”

It seems the moment of pretending all is right with the world has passed.

Half an hour later, we’re hurtling through the night, Victor at the wheel. The tension in the backseat is so thick that I could pierce it with a stake.

“Richard, don’t pout.”

“I’m not pouting, Faith.”

“Then don’t be angry or whatever it is, because I don’t like it.”

“I’m not angry, either. I’d just forgotten, that’s all.”

“Forgotten what?”

“That you’re all about flirtation. A new guy steps into your path and off you go.”

“That’s not fair.”

“Isn’t it, Faith? In Los Angeles, I thought—” He sighs. “Never mind. We have larger issues. I intend to focus on those.”

I dart a glance back to see Richard staring out the window. I can’t blame him for being upset. I know he and Faith have some sort of past. I know he cares about her. While we were in Los Angeles, they actually had a date. I thought maybe they were becoming a couple. I think Richard thought the same thing. Guess we were both wrong.

“This system that VampHu set up doesn’t seem to be a good thing for anyone,” I tell Victor. “It isolates humans and vampires.”

“All humans, not all vampires. We travel as we please, and Old Family tend to socialize with one another whenever we get the chance.”

“If they’re not forced to watch over humans. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all the walls came down?”

He glances quickly over at me. “You’re thinking of Crimson Sands.”

I sigh. “Yeah, I am.”

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