Soothing my wife, claws delicate as the traced skin, I said, “She doesn’t know who you are. You will arrive as only my guest. She needs that now Later, she will need you.”
Chapter Thirteen
Pearl
I’d never attended a wedding, though I had seen some in films and read about them in the papers. Not that I had much basis for comparison, but it would seem vampire weddings were not much different than human ones at first glance. Formally dressed and greeting one another with elaborate displays of affection, guests chatted. Other guests avoided one another, offering their counterpart little more than an icy stare.
It reminded me of the Supper Club: the cliques, the grandeur. The affection and the cruelty.
Vladislov had seen me lavishly dressed. Blood-red so bright it seemed garish to my tastes. I stood out like a sore thumb in a gown fit for a queen. Enough jewels hung from my throat and dripped from my ears that the weight of them was uncomfortable.
The choker must have been ancient, the style odd and the metal imperfect. It circled my throat, from collarbones to jaw. It pinched.
But how he had smiled to drape them around my neck, explaining, “Our kind does not expose the throat at public events. It’s considered… uncultured. Though, if I might say so, the true motivation behind the collars is fear. The jewels are armor. The only bare throat you will see tonight is that of the bride and groom. If someone should expose themselves to you, do not drink.”
No soul had done such a thing at Vladislov’s party. “Why would someone do that?”
“Because you smell of sunshine, and all Vampires desire the use of a Daywalker. Stay by my side,” he teased, “or one of the less wise might just try to snatch you away.”
I was going to be sick. Already nervous to see the child I’d never known—one I had been warned would dislike me at first glance. One I was not to speak with, not on her day. After all, I had been reminded over and over that we had eternity to thaw the ice.
These instructions, given by a monster in the shape of a man, were not for Jade’s benefit. They were for mine. Vladislov didn’t want to see me hurt by what would be obvious and public rejection. I didn’t need to read his mind to grasp that fact.
From the way he spoke as he decked me in jewels that could buy kingdoms, I also wondered if he cared for Jade at all.
As if to defend himself from my thoughts, his fingers stilled, and his eyes turned up to mine. “I find your daughter, my granddaughter… refreshing. Never forget that I gave her a kingdom, though she is difficult and looks too much like her father.”
Which made me all the more nervous. Darius was my living nightmare.
A light peck landed on my lips. “She has your eyes, though the blue turned red when I gave her the throne. Look there and you will see yourself. She has your resilience and your strength. Darius was always a weakling in a strong body.”
Red eyes? Why was I even going to this wedding?
“She’s your daughter. She’s getting married. You will regret it for eternity if you miss it out of unfounded shyness. Think in eons, Pearl. One day, you will be her friend. One day, she will be grateful you made the effort. That day will not be today. Again, do not speak to her.”
“And her fiancé?” I remembered the pale-haired angel who’d torn out my fangs, broken my jaw, and dumped me at the foot of a despotic evil.
“Malcom knows that if he approaches, I will kill him. Which would ruin the wedding.” He said it so lightly, as if so wild a declaration it were nothing at all.
“My daughter loves him. You told me he led you to where I….” I didn’t have a name for that room or for what had happened in it. “I’m not so stupid that I don’t understand why he—”
Echoing my earlier thoughts, Vladislov showed enough temper that his whole form twitched as if he fought to maintain it. “Ripped out your beautiful fangs, broke your jaw, and delivered you to Darius so he might play his games with you when you should have been immediately brought to me?”
I could already see the seams stretching, patting his chest as if to hold back the beast and its wings. “You’ll rip your fine clothes if you don’t take a deep breath.”
My warning only earned me a poke on the forehead. “If you could only see the mess in here. I tolerate Malcom out of some misplaced fondness for Jade. I tolerate him, because he was loyal. But I can clearly see what he did to my wife. How terrified you were, the pain it caused. Why should I care if it was done in service?”
“You don’t get to have an opinion about it. That’s why. It was done to me.” Had those words just come out of my mouth?
“Consider me chastened.” And tamed. He went from smoking devil to playful puppy. Kissing my lips in little nips and calling me stunning as his fingers found my nipple through the daringly low cut bodice of my ridiculous dress. “Before we go, can I fuck you on the counter? In this dress, just like this? I want to know I’m leaking down your leg while peasants approach and fools think to negotiate.”
It was less of a question and more of a prayer. Already, he’d begun bunching up my voluminous skirt, the edge of the dressing room’s marble counter at my thighs. Moving faster than my eyes might register, he pulled himself from his trousers, uncaring that his
