Fateful (34 page)

She felt Ethan shrug when he replied, “They
knew you’d be here and they still came.”

“Hello, Beon, thank you for putting on this
lovely ball,” came the deep accented voice of someone she didn’t
recognize. The step closer to Ethan she took was pure instinct. He
hooked one arm around her waist.

“Hello, Seth, thank you for coming,” Beon
replied.

Danielle looked at his face while his eyes
were on Beon. This was the Seth she’d heard about, the Seth who
invited Beon to become a vampire. The Seth who started the Order
with Beon. He was tall, and he wore his long dark hair pulled back
into a ponytail. His eyes, though she couldn’t see them completely,
were dark, almost black. There was a pompous air about him. He
frightened her because she sensed that he’d been a vampire much
longer than the others. Suddenly his gaze shot her away, and she
threw her eyes to the floor.

“I see you decided to have the mortal here,
despite my cautions against it. I’m surprised you would risk such a
thing, Beon,” Seth said reproachfully.

“Ethan wanted her here, and it seems I
couldn’t deny him,” Beon said.

Surprised by his show of loyalty, Danielle’s
gaze twisted his way. He still didn’t look very happy though.

“I see.” Seth then addressed Danielle
directly, “And what might your name be, little one?”

Trying to look at the buttons on his coat
instead of his face, she said, “Danielle Darcey.”

“It’s lovely to make your acquaintance, Miss
Darcey,” he said.

“Thank you, sir.” She was trying to be polite
despite the fact he alarmed her immensely. Did he have more control
than Beon? Could he be the one to force the issue of her
mortality?

“She must be something quite special to make
Ethan want to leave all of this behind. Won’t you miss it?” he
asked Ethan. She knew he was talking about Ethan’s wish to find the
cure and be free of the curse that also gave immortality.

“She’s more than special to me,” Ethan said,
responding to the first question but not the second.

“If you feel that way, how can you stand
having such a restrained relationship with her?” Seth asked while
he twisted one of the many large rings on his fingers. “You could
turn her now for her safety.”

“You know I’ve already discussed this with
Beon. I will not turn her.”

“You’ve got your heart set on solving the
riddle to cure your problem,” Seth noted coolly with one eyebrow
raised.

“Yes,” Ethan said, equally cool.

“I see. Well, if I hear of anything new that
could help you with that, I will be sure to let you know.”

Was there a good side to him that wasn’t
clear from first impressions? Of course that certainly could be
true since he’d helped create an order of vampires where their sole
purpose was to protect mortals like her.

“Thank you,” Ethan said.

She was relieved when the music changed,
signaling it was time for the ball to start, and her worries
shifted from Seth to remembering the steps to the dances.

The enormous room filled with an intricate
rise and fall of notes surging from the classical instruments, and
she loved it because it further fed her Jane Austen fantasy. As
Ethan moved her forward, the sights and sounds surrounding her
swept her to that time that she’d only witnessed in movies. Now
drawn in to this vintage atmosphere she nearly forgot the room was
filled with vampires instead of normal people. As everyone avoided
eye contact with only her, she remembered the truth. This was not a
regency novel.

She swallowed, trying to drown the
butterflies inside her as the
Pavane
began.

Ethan took her hand gently and began leading
her as they’d practiced. His touch soothed and quieted her nerves.
She made it through the easiest dance, but knew the others that
followed would be more difficult.

Knowing that, Danielle kept her eyes on
Ethan most of the time. Partly because he was the perfect
distraction and partly because she knew he would protect her from
his hypnotic gaze. An enormous smile filled his face as they danced
through the
Catillion
, and
she took pleasure in watching his expression of rapture while he
danced with his eyes closed to tiny slits.

They danced through these and the other
social dances without too much trouble on her part. She did,
however, get a little confused during the
English Country Dance
, and noticed Ethan
chuckling at her silently. She tried to watch the footwork more
closely then. This dance did mix with other partners, and their
feet were the safest place for her to gaze, though she found she
would subconsciously look for eye contact. It was a natural
tendency for her. But Ethan had said he trusted them to not take
advantage of her vulnerability.

Near the end of that dance, she found that
she trusted too much. She glanced up to the face of a male vampire
with long blond hair and hazel eyes. She shouldn’t have been able
to see the color of his eyes. But he knew what he was doing because
a twisted smile formed on his lips as he focused his magic on her.
She was helplessly pulled into his trance.

She kept telling herself to look away, but
her eyes wouldn’t do as they were told. She could smell his breath
in her face as she began sinking to the floor.

Chapter 19

Possible Murder Scene

Ethan must have been watching closely while
she was with the other vampires, because he had her in his arms
before she’d fully collapsed. He removed her limp, but still
conscious, body from the room at superhuman speed. She could feel
the fabric of her dress fluttering in his draft, and the side of
her body sink into his chest from his quick acceleration. He laid
her on the sofa in the drawing room, and then knelt on the floor
next to her.

“Danielle, bring yourself out of it,” he
crooned encouragingly.

She didn’t have it in her to even try for a
response, but she did understand she needed to fight her way
free.

Gathering her hand into his, Ethan asked,
“Are you having trouble, Danielle?”

Her potion-soaked brain focused in on his
words. He didn’t sound very concerned. In fact, it seemed she
actually heard mirth in his tone. Did she have that right?
Shouldn’t he be feeling overprotective and angry instead of
entertained?

“Danielle ... are you all right, darling?” he
asked again, but as before, surprisingly—mirth was in his
voice—like he was almost trying not to choke on a round of
suppressed chuckles.

Shoving that unfathomable thought aside, she
closed her eyes and worked harder at trying to clear her head. She
remembered Ethan saying the victim knows what is going on, but
can’t move. And that’s just how she felt, she knew where she was,
she knew why she was there, and she couldn’t move, or speak, or
even breathe normally.

After several minutes she was finally able to
string a sentence together. “This was ... harder ... to fight than
your magic.”

She opened her eyes to see Ethan smirking at
her with half-closed eyes. Wasn’t he mad that someone had done this
to her? Intentionally? “Is this funny to you?” she asked feeling
dismayed, and slightly offended.

“No. Well, okay, maybe a little bit, but I
knew you wouldn’t be harmed. It wears off. I sort of expected this
from Alex,” he confessed slowly.

“Why didn’t you warn me?”

“I, well, honestly, I wanted to see what
happened when another vampire tried that on you.”

She sat up quickly and her head swam
painfully. “You told him to do that?” she asked horrified.

“No, of course not! I wouldn’t do that.
I just knew he
might
try it,
I mean I didn’t know he’d actually—I just thought perhaps—and I
knew he wouldn’t hurt you,” he sputtered, and she could see that he
was realizing his error, and was now scrambling to make it
right.

“Oh, that’s just wonderful!” Her words were
seething with sarcasm. “So, what did you learn?”

“It seems you can fight my magic better than
the others.”

“Ethan, I didn’t want to spend the evening as
a test subject. I can’t believe you let him do that to me!” She
pushed him to the side so she could stand and stumbled like a drunk
toward the door.

“Please don’t be angry. Danielle, I’m sorry!
I swear I would have been angry if I’d thought you were in harm’s
way, but I knew you weren’t. Where are you going?”

“I need chocolate!” But as soon as she got to
the door, she stopped and did an immediate about-face, returning to
Ethan. The vampire who put her under his spell was heading toward
the drawing room. She sat back on the sofa and covered her
eyes.

“Does this mean you forgive me?”

In reply she lifted one finger toward the
doorway and kept her eyes covered.

“Ethan, I’m sorry. I just couldn’t resist,”
said Alex, she guessed. He was laughing as he spoke, clearly
thinking it was funny to do this to her.

“You know how Alex is, he can’t resist a
joke,” a sultry female voice said. She was probably
jerk-face-vampire’s date.

Her shoulders wilted. Great, she thought, now
she’s the brunt of a joke, and she still wanted chocolate to
comfort her. Parting her fingers, Danielle peeked to see if she
could get past them, but they were still blocking the doorway.
Darn.

“I think you need to apologize to her, not
me,” Ethan said diplomatically.

“Yes, of course. Danielle dear, I’m sorry.
That was very rude of me. Please accept my apology.” She noted that
he’d moved further into the room, as his voice was coming from a
different direction. His speech was perfectly genteel and his
apology sounded genuine, but he could have just been a good
liar.

Danielle felt gentle fingers touch her
wrists, and figured it was Ethan. “It’s okay, you can look. He
won’t do it again. And if he does, I’ll go get my sword.”

She lowered her hands and opened her eyes
carefully. They were there in front of her, both looking off in
different directions. Alex sat in a wingback chair with his legs
crossed. His date sat on the armrest of his chair and she was
leaning against him while she played with his long wavy hair.

They were quite a pair. Their outfits
coordinated, like prom dates. She was wearing a fussy red dress
while he wore a coordinating red vest made from the same
fabric.

With strawberry blond hair, the woman carried
a snobbish look on her pretty made-up face. She was playing with
her ruby studded necklace while her long ruby earrings swayed with
her movement.

Danielle’s gaze returned to
Alex.
Do I forgive him? Do I even want
to?
After pondering it for a moment, she decided to be
polite regardless of how she felt. “Apology accepted,” she said
quietly.

“Thank you.” His mouth twisted with wicked
mirth and he then glanced at her. She felt a tug of his horrible
magic.

“Hey!” She dropped her eyes to the floor and
leaned toward Ethan. “Get your sword!”

Alex and his date laughed.

But Ethan loyally defended her. “Seriously,
Alex, stop toying with her. She doesn’t like it.” He slipped his
arm around her waist as though trying to keep her anger under
control.

“Ethan, this is so odd, why are you keeping
her mortal?” Alex questioned while he slung his arm nonchalantly
across his date’s lap.

“You know why. I’m not in the mood to argue
about it.” Ethan tightened his arm around her. His words didn’t
sound ruffled, but the tense muscles in his arm told her
otherwise.

“No one believes in that ridiculous
prophecy,” Alex said, his tone pretentious.

Danielle sighed loudly and put her head on
Ethan’s shoulder. Why does everyone have to bring this up? “Now go
get your sword,” she repeated.

Ethan chuckled and kissed her on the
forehead.

“Alex, I don’t care what the others
think.”

“But, Ethan, you foolish prude, you’re
missing out on so much fun.” Something wicked sparked in his gaze
and Danielle dropped her eyes to his hand even though he wasn’t
looking at her directly. Stroking his fingers suggestively along
the girl’s arm, Alex went on, “Take her upstairs, bite her and...”
The girl giggled in response as he trailed off.

“I hold Danielle in higher regard. She isn’t
a toy to me, she’s immensely more. Therefore, I will not turn her.
And I would never disrespect her in that way.” Ethan’s gallant
defenses of their relationship earned back some of the respect he’d
lost by allowing this situation to happen.

The smirk withered from the girl’s face.

“It was nice seeing you, Alex and Marguerite,
but Danielle needs chocolate. So we must beg your leave.” Ethan
took her by the hand, tugged her to standing and led her from the
room.

“Nice exit,” she whispered as soon as they’d
entered the hallway.

“Thanks. Again, I’m sorry about Alex. I was
just curious—”

“I forgive you … I guess, but don’t let it
happen again.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He looked at her with a
narrowed gaze. “Chocolate cake?”

“Please.”

As they walked toward the kitchen, her mind
returned to Alex and she wondered aloud, “Are you sure all of these
vampires stick to the same diet as you? I’m finding it hard to
believe.” Picturing Alex and his date as murderers wasn’t really a
stretch at this point and she shuddered at the idea.

Ethan hugged her closer to his side. “As far
as I know, they do, but no one here is policed, per se. So I cannot
guarantee it.”

Another shiver moved up the length of her
spine. Ethan snuggled her even closer as though he thought she
might be chilled. But what chilled her was the possibility there
were killers amongst the Order. He had told her they were
repentant, but how many times did they fall off the wagon?