Masquerade (Vampires Realm Romance Series Book 10) (23 page)

That only confused her further.

She blew out her breath in a long sigh and started towards the house, her feet flapping around in the oversized boots.

The lords and ladies had gone inside but Commander Tynan remained on the patio. She kept her left hand over the marks on her throat, afraid of the questions he would ask if he saw them, and saluted him by pressing her right hand against her chest.

“We will be having a meeting in the grand reception room. I expect you to attend.” The grim edge to his tone told her not to delay in heading for the meeting as much as his glance at her footwear did. She was thankful she couldn’t blush when he raised an eyebrow at Vivek’s boots on her feet and then turned away and headed inside through the French doors.

The ballroom was empty now but the house was buzzing with activity. Had the guests returned to their rooms? Had they done so out of choice or because someone had ordered them? She didn’t think that such a minor outbreak of fighting would deter most of the attendees so the lords and ladies must have sent them to their rooms.

Sophis hurried across the parquet to the entrance hall and then carefully climbed the mahogany staircase to the first floor, scrunching her toes up each time she lifted her foot so the boots wouldn’t slide off. The hallway was busy with servants moving back and forth between the rooms. Many of the doors were open, revealing groups of attendees deep in discussion. Most of the guests appeared calm but there were several who were panicking, screeching about vampire hunters and fighting their friends’ attempts to comfort them. Sophis supposed they were younger vampires or those who had never come close to fighting before. The attack had taken place far away enough from the mansion that most attendees wouldn’t have heard or seen anything. It could only be fear or the heavy scent of human blood in the air that had stirred them into a frenzy.

She managed to get through the pandemonium in the hall and reached the stairs at the far end. She checked no one was watching before ascending to the second floor and then checked that the hall there was empty before moving as quickly as possible towards her small room. The moment she was inside, she closed the door and locked it. It wouldn’t do to have someone recognise her. She had removed her mask so she could fight without any blind spots but it had been dark outside and everyone’s focus had been on the fight so there had been only minimal risk of someone in the guard recognising her and noticing her ball attire.

Vivek was a different matter. He already knew that she was posing as an attendee. Sophis kicked off his boots and stripped out of the scarlet dress, letting it pool around her feet. What was wrong with Vivek? Could he have been jealous?

She closed her eyes and frowned. It wasn’t Vivek’s behaviour she should be pondering. It was hers. Her actions tonight had been wrong. She wasn’t sure what was worse, that the man she had openly screwed in the middle of the maze had turned out to be a Venia and she didn’t know who he was, or that the man might have turned out not to be a Venia and she would have committed a sin. The intensity of it all shook her along with Vivek’s reaction to what she had said to him.

She felt terrible about it.

The spiteful words had left her lips before she could think about what she was saying and he had looked so wounded, had walked away from her and left her standing alone in the middle of the lawn, reeling.

Sophis tried to get him out of her mind as she dressed in her uniform. He crept back in when she stopped to wipe the blood off her neck. Why did she feel so terrible about what had happened? There had been an attraction between her and the man, desire so intense that it had been impossible for her to fight it. She had only been able to go with it, to let it sweep her along and into the man’s arms. What was so wrong about that? For once, she had found someone who looked at her with hunger and heat in his eyes. She had longed for him, wished for him to appear at the ball and dance with her, showing her the adoration the other women on the floor had been receiving from their men, and he had come to her.

Her eyes drifted to the curtains across her window. Where was the man now? Did he hate her for what she had done and how she had fled? His request had scared her and she hadn’t been brave enough to face him then in case he had turned out to be someone important, someone who would have laughed at the thought of entering into a relationship with a guard. She wanted to find him now, needed to discover who he was and reveal herself to him, so she could see whether tonight had been a moment of pure fantasy or whether there was something between them that might grow into a relationship.

Sophis muttered an obscene curse and continued dressing. She had to change and get to the meeting, had to focus on her duty not a moment of insanity. Her personal life had to wait. She was a guard first and foremost, and needed to remember that.

She slipped her arms into her black uniform jacket and fastened the silver buttons down the right breast. She would have to wait until after the meeting to remove her make-up but she quickly tugged every pin out of her hair and then tied it in a loose knot at the back of her head. Hopefully she didn’t look like a complete mess now and could face everyone without them knowing she had been up to something tonight.

What did it matter if they knew?

The person she hadn’t wanted to see the marks on her throat had already seen them.

What did Vivek think of her?

She had constantly drilled him about not doing his duty and told him that she was a better guard than he was, and in the end, she was the one who had cast it all aside without regret or guilt. The most important mission in her life so far and she had failed and had let her feelings overrule her desire to protect her family and carry her away. She was such a hypocrite.

She looked down at his boots in the middle of her wooden floor.

Why did she have the feeling that she had done something terrible tonight and it had nothing to do with the fact that the man might have been of another bloodline or the fact she had forgotten her duty?

A sense of shame gnawed at her, relentless and vicious, devouring her heart.

Vivek had looked so hurt.

He deserved a taste of his own medicine, deserved to feel hurt so he could understand how she felt. Her bitter desire for revenge stuttered and died, leaving her hollow again inside. He had looked so pained when she had said those things to him, telling him that no matter what she might have felt about him a decade ago, things were different now and there was no chance for them. Saying that aloud had hurt her too. She didn’t want to feel anything for Vivek, not anymore, had vowed that he was behind her and she was going to seek her own happiness and not care about him. Why couldn’t she do that?

Why did she have a terrible urge to find him and speak to him?

An overwhelming desire to see him again?

She had to see him.

Sophis left her room and hurried down to the ground floor. She turned right at the bottom of the staircase and raced along the gaily decorated cream corridor, passing the green and pale blue reception rooms, heading towards the grand reception room at the end. The beautiful gold room was full of life as she entered through a side door. Every lord and lady of the pure bloodlines was present and unmasked, together with their Chosen Sons and Chosen Daughters and some of the higher ranking guards that they had brought with them. The sense of power in the room pressed down on her but she bore it and moved towards the group.

The four Law Keepers in attendance gathered near to the white marble fireplace, talking amongst themselves. Jascha stood close to Marise as she talked, her expression troubled. The other female Law Keeper stood next to her, a slim woman with round fiery eyes and hair a shade darker than Marise’s chestnut brown. Her irises gave her away as the Law Keeper for the Nocens bloodline. Did she think their Chosen Son was a cruel pervert too? Sophis supposed that the Law Keepers didn’t live with their families so the woman probably didn’t know about the man’s behaviour.

The woman moved a step closer to the fair haired broad male who represented the Vehemens bloodline and looked up at him, a flicker of warmth lighting her eyes as he looked down at her and spoke. Next to him, a tall dark haired man leaned against the unlit fireplace, his expression more akin to boredom than concern as he stared at his claws and picked at them. She couldn’t remember his name, but she recognised him as the Law Keeper for the Tenebrae bloodline. His dark eyes shifted to her and pinned her with a look so void of emotion that she shivered. She had never seen such hollow evil in a vampire before. The Law Keepers were supposed to be emotionless but this man had an air around him that went beyond mere control of his feelings. It was as though feelings didn’t exist in him at all, or at least nothing positive.

She tore her gaze away, afraid to look into his eyes any longer in case she saw into the darkness of his heart, and swept the room searching for Vivek.

Lord Hyperion sat in an elegant red velvet gold-framed armchair furthest from the fireplace, his legs crossed and black jacket undone to reveal the white shirt he wore beneath. Beside his chair stood the man with long black hair, the one he had spoken of as Commander Winter and she had seen in the garden with the werewolf female. Dmitri and the blonde woman were present, standing close to Lord Hyperion, but the commander’s blue eyes weren’t on her now. He was dutifully leaning over and looking at his master as Lord Hyperion spoke to him.

Sophis rounded the group to stand near to Commander Tynan where he stood directly opposite Lord Hyperion across the open expanse of a fine antique rug, close to their own lord, Timur, and Deshal and Lorna where they sat on one of the red couches. Lady Prophecy, Lord Valentine and Lord Venturi occupied the couch at a right angle to theirs, bridging the gap between her lord and Hyperion and facing the fireplace. Lady Prophecy sat between the two men and looked paler than she had done in the ballroom. Valentine held her hand, clasping it in both of his, and was talking close to her ear, his lips brushing her cheek occasionally. It seemed even this close to the Law Keepers neither of them were going to hide their relationship. The Tenebrae lord beside Lady Prophecy was staring at the fireplace, and Sophis had the feeling that he was ignoring the show of affection but that he wasn’t happy about it. His eyes were black and hollow, as dark as those of the Law Keeper of the Tenebrae bloodline. Everyone had felt the reprimand in Valentine’s outburst tonight. Lord Venturi had angered him by daring to dance with his mate without permission. Lady Prophecy cast her dark gaze downwards to rest on her lap and shook her head, her eyes closing. The sense of anger coming from Lord Valentine increased again and Lady Prophecy’s eyebrows furrowed. She said something, her mouth barely moving, and then turned her head towards Valentine and rested it on his shoulder. He remained still for a few seconds, as though he wouldn’t comfort her, and then heaved a sigh and placed his arm around her, holding her head to his shoulder. Had Lady Prophecy apologised to her mate? What was it like to be claimed and bonded, to have to answer to another?

Mated males were fiercely protective of what they saw as theirs and likely to punish their mate as cruelly as they would anyone who touched her without permission. Sophis glanced back at Lord Hyperion. He was watching the couple, something akin to concern in his eyes that lifted as Valentine murmured something against Lady Prophecy’s red hair and twined his fingers through it. Had Valentine forgiven her? Sophis couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be in a relationship where another male’s touch would hurt her if her mate hadn’t given permission. It seemed cruel and barbaric, a way of keeping females in line that she didn’t agree with, but she still found the romantic notion of it appealing. A mating was a declaration of eternal love, and mated males were extremely affectionate as well as possessive. They would always remain close to their woman, keeping them safe and doting on them. It sounded beautiful.

Sophis looked from Valentine and Prophecy to the other mated couple in the room, Lincoln and Lilith. Both men were in constant contact with their women, always touching their shoulder or hand, smiling as they spoke, a look of deep affection in their eyes.

In the two armchairs to the right of Lord Hyperion sat Lady Rosea of the Nocens bloodline and Lady Lilith of the Vehemens. Behind Lady Rosea stood her Chosen Son, and Sophis noted that neither the woman he had been dragging around nor the man he had claimed to be his commander were present. Had the two escaped to somewhere private? She hoped they had.

Lincoln leaned casually on the back of Lady Lilith’s chair, his hands on her shoulders, lovingly caressing her bare skin as he whispered something into her ear. She smiled, her eyes brightening with it, and turned to place a kiss on his cheek. The way he closed his eyes and leaned into the press of her lips made Sophis look away. They were so in love with each other. Was it possible she might have found something that could blossom into such a relationship?

Sophis continued her search for Vivek. She found him stood at the back of the room to her left, removed from the group and leaning against the rich yellow wall with his arms folded across his chest. He hadn’t changed and still wore his torn and bloodied white shirt, and still had his sword hanging from his waist. She looked down when his hazel eyes shifted to her and the gnawing feeling inside her worsened when she saw that he was only wearing his black socks. He hadn’t gone back to his room. Had he come straight here like a dutiful soldier, willing to bear any discomfort for the sake of his mission, while she had run away to hide the evidence of her shameful behaviour?

The Nocens Law Keeper moved, brushing against Lincoln’s arm, and he frowned at her. Lady Lilith snarled and rose from her chair, turning to face the female Nocens. A heartbeat later, she covered her mouth, her fury fading into awkwardness, and hesitantly looked at Lincoln, who smiled reassuringly at her. The Nocens said something, bowing her head, and Lilith shook hers, sending her blonde hair swaying.