Sebastian dropped her hand and walked toward the end of the aisle. Curious, she followed.
In among the boxes with pink and purple castles pictured on the fronts, a small girl huddled, clutching a ratty-looking stuffed animal, her chubby cheeks blotchy from crying.
Sebastian approached the girl, slowly. Then he crouched so that he was eye level with her.
"Hi there," he said softly. "Are you lost?"
The little girl clutched her animal tighter, refusing to look at him.
"It's okay," Sebastian assured her. "We'll help you find your mommy."
At the word mommy, the little girl's face crumpled and more tears rolled down her face.
"Shh," Sebastian soothed, then held out a hand. "Come on, Mina and I will help you find her."
The little girl still hesitated, but finally she blinked up at Sebastian, and Mina saw large cornflower blue eyes. The child couldn't be any more than three or four.
When the girl saw Sebastian, she blinked again. Then she slipped her hand into his, her chubby baby fingers looking impossibly tiny against his broad palm.
Sebastian rose and helped the girl stand. When he turned and saw Mina's stricken look, he offered her an encouraging smile. "Don't worry. We'll find your mother."
Mina knew that reassurance was for her as much as for the child.
They walked down the aisle, back toward the open space at the entrance of the dollhouse façade.
"What's your mommy's name?" Sebastian asked the girl.
"Mommy," she said, in a soft, quavering voice.
Sebastian smiled at Mina. "Of course. Silly me."
Mina watched as Sebastian knelt again. "What's your name?"
"Ananda."
Sebastian paused. "Amanda?"
The girl nodded. Mina noticed that the girl was now watching Sebastian with wide, awed eyes as if she was looking at a fairy godfather or an angel.
"Hi, Amanda. I'm Sebastian, and this is Mina. Can you tell me what your mommy looks like?"
"Like me," she said, "only big."
Sebastian laughed at that. "Okay, so we'll just look for the second prettiest girl in the store."
Mina smiled as the girl stared at him, not sure what he meant, but then she smiled shyly. It seemed no one was immune to his charm.
Sebastian rose, and they headed toward the escalator. "Let's go see if they can page your mother."
But before they even reached the escalators, a blond woman with an older boy in tow came bustling toward them.
"Amanda!"
The little girl squealed, "Mommy," and pulled her hand out of Sebastian's, running to the woman. The woman scooped up her child, her relief reaching Mina, making her take a sigh of relief too.
Amanda explained to her mother who Sebastian was, not even remembering Mina. But then Sebastian had been her hero. The mother thanked them, and Mina noticed that mother, like daughter, seemed enchanted by Sebastian.
But, as much as she didn't want to admit it, so was Mina.
On the walk back to her apartment, both Mina and Sebastian were quiet. Occasionally, Sebastian would comment about something, the weather, something in a shop window, but then he'd fall silent again.
"Are you all right?" he finally asked, when they reached the outside stoop, which led up to the green front door of her apartment building.
She nodded, but then she admitted, "I don't know."
"What don't you know?" He tilted his head, trying to catch her gaze, but she continued to stare at a wad of chewing gum flattened onto the pavement.
"You confused me," she admitted, still not meeting his gaze.
"Me?" he said, sounding surprised. "Hell, I'm easy to figure out."
"No, you're not," she said, looking up at him.
"Well, what's confusing you?"
"Why you helped that little girl."
He laughed. "That's easy. She was lost and scared and needed help."
Mina bit her lip, considering whether she should ask her next question. Finally she decided she had to ask. "You didn't do it to impress me? You know-to make me think you are nice?"
Sebastian's smile faded, and his golden eyes grew cool, the fire in them extinguishing.
"To make you think I'm nice," he murmured. "I guess that would be the only possible reason, wouldn't it?"
He didn't say another word. He simply turned and walked down the street away from her. Even though she wanted to call him back, she just let him go. Maybe it was for the best if he left and never saw her again. Before she decided to think he was one of the nicest guys she'd ever met.
Sebastian stormed into Rhys and Jane's apartment, barely acknowledging his brother, who leaned on the kitchen counter, as he strode to the refrigerator, whipping the door open.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he did see Rhys raise an eyebrow and set down the mug he was holding.
"Good morning."
Sebastian grunted, staring into the white interior of the fridge.
"Can I help you find something?" Rhys asked, his tone blasé, even though Sebastian knew he must be curious about his abrupt behavior.
"I'm looking for some of that crap that you and Jane drink."
Rhys moved to peer into the fridge over Sebastian's shoulder. The only items on the shelves were several clear bags filled with blood. And an old bottle of mustard-still hanging around from Jane's mortal days.
"Hmm," Rhys said, pretending to ponder Sebastian's gruff request. "Well, good luck finding that."
Sebastian fought back a sneer as he snatched one of the bags and brushed past Rhys to get to the counter. He opened the cupboard and pulled out a mug. He started to open that bag, then paused, turning to his brother.
"Do you think I'm nice?"
Rhys frowned. "Excuse me?"
"Nice. You know. Do you think I am?"
"At this moment? Or in general? Because at the moment, you're coming across more deranged than nice."
Sebastian glared at his brother. Okay, he did know that he had just barged into his place. He knew that the shirt he'd thrown on was wrinkled-he glanced down-and misbuttoned. He knew that his hair was sticking out in a fair impression of Einstein's, but he was thoroughly incensed. He'd been livid when he got home last night, and he hadn't risen feeling any better.
"Did you know that I'm on the list of the most dangerous vampires in New York City?" Sebastian pointed at himself. "I am the third most dangerous vampire in this whole city."
Rhys raised an eyebrow again, although he didn't look like he knew whether to be impressed or shocked. "Really?"
"Yes," Sebastian said, turning back to the bag of dark red liquid, popping the stopper with more force than necessary. "Apparently some group called the Society of Preternaturals Against the Mistreatment of Mortals-do you know this group?" He turned a suspicious eye to Rhys. "Are you a part of it?"
Rhys gave him an exaggeratedly wounded look. "Sebastian, dear brother, don't you think if I was affiliated with the Society, I'd have made sure you were the Number One most dangerous vampire in the city?"
"Ha-ha," Sebastian said, scowling down at the mug as he poured himself a full cup of the cold blood.
"I do know of the Society," Rhys said, all humor gone from his voice. "They are an extremist group, who branched off from Dr. Fowler's teachings."
"Yes, I know that." Sebastian took a drink of cold liquid. He made a disgusted noise and set the mug aside.
"They're pretty out there," Rhys added.
"I know that too."
"So how did you learn all this? I wouldn't expect you to even pay attention to this sort of stuff." Then realization lit Rhys's eyes. "That vampiress who tried to sabotage the club was a member of the Society."
Sebastian nodded, picking up the cup again, taking another sip. "Yep."
"Shit."
"Yep."
Both brothers were silent, lost in their own thoughts about the whole thing, when Rhys asked, "What does this have to do with being nice, though?"
Sebastian stared at his brother. "I went to confront Mina."
"Mina?"
"Wilhelmina. The saboteur."
Rhys nodded, waiting for Sebastian to continue. When he didn't, Rhys said, his voice more than a little confused, "And she said you weren't nice?"
"Well, not so straightforwardly. But yes."
Rhys stared at him for a moment. "And her opinion bothers you why?"
"Exactly!" Sebastian exclaimed, banging his mug onto the counter.
Rhys's eyes flashed to the mug, probably expecting it to be broken, then back to Sebastian. "I'm really, really not following this."
How could he not follow?
"I went to confront Mina, and I made a deal with her that I'd not bite any humans for a month, but in exchange, she would have to allow me to show her how great it is to be a vampire. Because frankly, I'm so sick and tired of being surrounded by self-pitying undeads. No offense."
Rhys shrugged. "None taken."
"So last night, we went out. I thought it was going pretty well. She seemed to be enjoying her vampire nature. Hell, she even smiled. And then… " Sebastian found, as he had with their first kiss, he didn't really want to share the details with Rhys. Strange, since he was usually prone to sharing more about his women than Rhys would ever want to know.
"Well, let's just say it didn't end like I thought it would."
"Okay," Rhys said, still looking perplexed. "So it didn't work. How can you be that surprised? She's a follower of the Society. She was willing to try and ruin your club. Why should you care about her opinion?"
"It-it doesn't matter. Forget about Mina." He straightened and tucked his shirt into his jeans. He smoothed down the wrinkles and ran a hand through his unruly hair. "I'm going down to my club and I'm biting seven-no, eight-women and each one will be even more beautiful than the last. And then, I'm going to bite one more, even sexier woman. Just because I can, dammit."
Sebastian picked up the mug and polished off the rest of the blood.
"That sounds good," Rhys said after he was done. "I just have one question for you?"
"What?"
"If the bargain is off, then why are you still drinking cold blood, which you absolutely hate?"
Sebastian stared at his brother, then set the cup on the marble counter, shoving it away from himself. He left the apartment without speaking to Rhys, slamming the door behind him.
Jane entered the kitchen, her hair damp from her shower. "I thought I heard Sebastian?"
Rhys stared at the door where his brother had just exited. "You did."
Jane frowned at her husband, who looked a tad bemused.
"What's wrong?" she asked, moving to wrap her arms around his waist, rubbing her hand over the hard muscles of his abdomen.
Rhys looked down at her, his amber eyes still a little dazed, but he smiled. "I think my little brother has finally met his match."
Mina curled her legs up onto the sofa and tried to concentrate on the book she was reading. Persuasion by Jane Austen. She read one page at least half a dozen times, but the words didn't seem to make any sense to her, or they simply blurred as her mind drifted.
Giving up, she dropped the dog-eared paperback onto the cushion beside her and wandered to the kitchen. She considered pouring herself a glass of her protein drink, but she decided against it. She'd drunk three glasses already. Apparently, vampires ate when they were bored too.
She wasn't bored, exactly, she told herself. She was restless and twitchy and… lonely.
She paused at the thought. She was never lonely. She preferred her solitude. After all, that was easier than being around others and seeing over and over that she was nothing like them. Nothing like humans. And not like vampires. She'd had years to become accustomed to being alone. And alone, she was just Mina.
Mina? When had she come to think of herself by that silly name? Mina. She wasn't Mina. She was…
Mina. She thought about the way the name sounded when said in Sebastian's deep, rich voice. A voice like the brush of dark, warm silk on her skin.
She shivered. Stop it, Mi-Wilhelmina. Stop. Sebastian was gone, for good, and it was for the best.
She walked back to the sofa, flopping down on the soft cushions. What was he doing right now? She closed her eyes, not really wanting to think about it.
He was probably surrounded by a gaggle of beautiful women, each vying for one of his charming smiles. For the touch of his hand. His lips.
Her eyes popped open. She couldn't keep thinking about him. Okay, she did like him. She did have fun with him. She did sort of… miss him, which was stupid since she barely knew him, really. But she needed to stop this nonsense now!
A sharp rap rattled the door. Her head shot up, a rush of excitement making her stomach swoop. Sebastian! But as she rushed to the door, she told herself she was being an absolute ninny. He wouldn't be back. And even if it were him, which it wasn't, what did she expect to happen. Friendship? Some torrid fling? Love?
Her hand hesitated on the doorknob, and a startled laugh escaped her. Love? She really was going mad. Love? Really.
To prove to herself that her overactive mind was just getting out of control, she called, "Lizzie? Did you lose your key again?"
She swung the door open to find Sebastian. He stood there, looking very disheveled and absolutely dazzling.
"It's not Lizzie," he said coolly. "And I think we both know that losing the key wouldn't keep me out."
Mina stepped back, stunned by the angry sparks flashing in his eyes. She knew he'd been mad last night, but there was more rage on his face now than she'd ever seen.
She considered closing the door, her flight impulse telling her that was the wisest course of action. But he had just said he didn't need a key to enter her apartment, so she couldn't keep him out if he was intent on getting inside.
And there was also another part of her, a small, tenuous part of her that was beginning to believe, despite his apparent anger, Sebastian would never hurt her. He'd never threatened her since they met, even after everything she'd done to him.
So she took a deep, calming breath and pushed her fear aside.
"Please, come in."
He strode into the apartment, stopping in the middle of the living room and then turning to look at her.
Mina calmly closed the door. She hesitated, but then took a couple of cautious steps toward him.
"Let's get this straight, right off the bat," he said, his tone hard, no hint of his usual smooth, silky resonance. "I didn't help that little girl for any other reasons than the ones I told you."
Mina opened her mouth to speak, but Sebastian continued on. "I realize that you have been brainwashed or whatever by the Society, but I refuse to allow myself to be vilified by a group of crazy preternaturals who actually thought that an organization with the anagram SPAMM was a good idea."
Mina frowned. She'd never noticed that before.
"And," Sebastian said, "I agreed to this bargain with you, and I'll be damned if I'm backing out of it. Because that is exactly what you expect me to do. You don't believe I can go a month without biting a human. And I intend to prove you wrong. But if I'm keeping my end of this damned bargain, so are you."
She nodded, but he didn't notice.
"And I'm also not going along with your stupid rules. I flirt, that's what I do. And as far as I know that isn't a crime against humanity."
"No, it's not," she agreed, but he didn't seem to hear.
"And this rule about touching is ludicrous. If I touch you and it bothers you, then just tell me. I can certainly stop, it's not like I'm some uncontrollable monster who's going to ravish you against your consent…»
The rest of Sebastian's words faded away as his face was replaced by another. Dark hair, dark eyes, and a wide smile that suddenly twisted and distorted.
Mina made a tiny noise in the back of her throat, then blinked, her eyes refocusing on Sebastian. Tall, lean Sebastian with his unruly golden hair, his golden eyes, and lopsided smile.
Not that Mina could see the last attribute at the moment, because he continued to rail on, his golden eyes darker in his anger.
Suddenly Mina could feel laughter bubbling in her belly. He was mad. As mad as she'd ever seen him, and really she wasn't scared.
She was scared of the things he made her feel. She was scared to open up to someone like him. But that was her own problem. Her own issue to overcome. She believed him when he said he'd never do anything against her consent. That didn't make her own fears any easier to overcome, but it did mean that she owed him an apology. Maybe for a lot of things.
She walked toward him.
"I've never forced a woman, and I sure as hell wouldn't start-"
"I'm sorry," she said, touching his arm. "I shouldn't have asked that question last night. Not after the wonderful things you showed me."
He stared down at her, his eyes roaming her face. Then slowly that smile she'd been imagining returned, lopsided and lovely.
"You're forgiven."
She blinked at the sudden shift in his mood, not sure what to say. He'd been very angry, and though she honestly had no experience with the moods of men outside of her father and her brother and they'd been gone from her life for nearly a hundred years, she hadn't expected him to forgive her so easily.
"Great," he said. "Now go get dressed. Not that I don't really like those."
She looked down at the pale turquoise silk pajamas that she'd forgotten she was wearing until he pointed to them. The pajamas were cut in a baggy men's style, but suddenly she was very aware that she was naked underneath the smooth, fluttery material.
She nodded and hurried down the hall to get away from the hungry glow in Sebastian's eyes. And she knew the small jolt of fear inside her was not due to his look, but the fact that she liked it.
Sebastian watched her dash toward her bedroom.
Well, that had gone better than he'd expected. He'd expected her to either shut down or run away as she had during their other confrontations. But she hadn't. She'd reached out to him. Touching him, apologizing. Huge, huge steps. And he'd sensed very little fear in her. That realization made him ridiculously happy.
He sighed, relieved that his angry outburst hadn't frightened her. He hated to lose his temper. Anger was emotionally draining, not particularly fun, and usually unproductive. And frankly, he'd lost his cool more in the time he'd known Mina than in most of his undead existence. And with Mina, getting angry could have been the end of any possible trust. She wanted to believe the worst about him, yet she hadn't.
He had to be making headway with her. She couldn't truly believe he was an ogre and agree to continue the bargain. All progress. Maybe she was starting to trust him. Again happiness zipped though him, and he smiled.