He thought I was using him.
He thought he meant nothing to me.
He thought I was so far beneath him that he would do Viktor a favor and kill me on the spot.
The change in his features became even more striking, and he parted his lips as he had before years ago in my room, enough for me to see his fangs.
“I need a drink,” he murmured, his tone both demanding and husky.
“No,” I said, taking a step back as much as his arms would allow.
“I am not asking,” he growled.
“No!” I jerked my arm back, forcing him to let go of me. Well, not precisely forcing. If he used his strength, I couldn’t possibly have accomplished that.
Taking another step back, I bumped into a dancer, and I realized that I was making a scene. The music had even stopped, making me wonder if there was a band here.
I swallowed hard. “Maxwell—”
“You come here uninvited, and I allow you to stay. I offer you a dress, and you refuse. Still, I allow you a dance, and you spur the one thing I ask of you?” Maxwell’s face was almost hidden in shadows. His face was that dark. “You are banished.”
Immediately, servants stood on either side of me, and I had no time to wonder at how they came to be so quickly. They gave me no choice but to follow them out of the palace.
For a long moment, I stood there, the door shut behind me. Now what?
I would have to figure something out. Maybe I could survive on my own. After all, I was a hacker. I could create a paper trail surrounding Annabel Gates and pretend to have her in one place while I lived halfway across the world.
That would be enough to throw a human enemy off my trail, but a vampire? That I couldn’t be sure of.
What if one of Viktor’s associates was at the ball? I could change my hair, cut it, dye it. Maybe even under the knife and have my face changed. Yes, that would be extreme, but to live… I might not have a choice.
With the start of a plan in mind, I resolved to forget all about Maxwell. He could take that necklace and choke on it for all I cared.
I marched down the pathway with my shoulders back and head high. Honestly, I should be terrified, and deep down, I probably was, but for the moment, I felt a semblance of calm serenity that I thought I would never feel again.
Bypassing the ornate golden fence, I flinched when a shadow stirred.
"Who…" I trailed off when I recognized Maxwell. I inhaled deeply. I'd left because he'd banished me, so why was he here?
He brought a hand up to cup his ear.
I dropped my gaze down to my hands.
“I know vampires think humans are weak, and we are compared to you. That’s just the way of the world.”
I risked glancing up at him. His expression was unreadable.
“Thank you,” I blurted out.
His eyebrows lifted.
"I never did… I don't believe I ever thanked you for what you did. For my parents, for my sister… for me. How did… How did you stop my sister's nightmares? I suppose I don't need to know."
In a slow, calculated move, he crossed his arms. A man of few words, as ever, but the gesture spoke volumes.
He didn’t want or need my thanks. He wanted my story and nothing more.
“I accidentally killed a vampire,” I blurted out in a rush. “I need your protection.”
Maxwell blinked a few times, and I couldn’t help smiling. He was speechless. I had rendered him speechless.
I loved it.
“You…”
“Yes. I killed a vampire.”
“Which one?” he demanded.
“I believe his name was Magnus. I didn’t know that until later, once his father…” I eyed Maxwell. “I don’t understand how a vampire could have a father. I don’t think his father is human.”
“Magnus.” Maxwell briefly shut his eyes, and for a moment, a flicker of distress flashed over his expression.
Maxwell, distressed? How was that possible?
“How did you manage to kill him?” Maxwell asked. “No. Tell me about Viktor. How did you come to know him?”
“After I killed Magnus, I was threatened by Viktor. Not to my face. I… I got the impression he likes to play games.”
“Yes, that he does,” Maxwell growled. “He’s a master manipulator who loves torturous mind games.”
“It sounds like you know him rather well.”
“I have the displeasure of not only knowing Viktor,” Maxwell said grimly. “He and I are rivals. You want protection? From Viktor? You might not want to come to me, Annabel Gates, because I do not know if I can grant you your request.”
4
“Your rival?” I blurted out, not understanding. “Business rival?”
“Does it matter what kind of rival he is?” Maxwell snapped.
I drew back. I knew as much as I could about Maxwell. When you knew your way around a computer and could hack just about any system, you could learn about anything and everyone.
Maxwell was old. He had been turned into a vampire when he’d lived in Italy during the Renaissance. Yes, he was hundreds of years old. I couldn’t uncover any details about his human life, however, but he had left an easy enough trail after he became a vampire.
He migrated over to the United States during the first world war. Why? I hadn’t uncovered a motive. For years, he lived in the capital and then Florida and then Texas, Louisiana, California… Right now, he lived in Pennsylvania, the Pocono Mountains region. It was wintertime now, but in my haste to come here, I hadn’t bothered with a coat or even a jacket. Worse, my dress was sleeveless, but I lived in Texas. Even when I moved out of my parents’ house, I stayed in my hometown state.
Ironically enough, Maxwell had moved away from Texas long before I was even born. How he discovered me, how he found me, why he cared… Those were the reasons
