Page 59

Raphael arrived at my door a scant hour later, and when I opened it, I thought I might cease breathing altogether.

He wore a black silk tunic draped over his shoulders in a wide vee, a stark contrast to his alabaster skin. Red jewels ornamented his skin—his fingers, his shoulders, his chest.

The same, glowing red of his eyes.

The same red as my dress.

An iron crown settled on his brow, menacing spikes that reminded me of vampire fangs. Its fierce, unyielding shape served as a contrast to the luxurious tailoring that engulfed him.

He was otherworldly .

And yet, my dress made me the perfect extension of his outfit.

“Samara. You look…” He trailed off.

I had never known Raphael to be at a loss for words. But there he was, staring at me like he’d never seen me before.

“I’m ready,” I said, covering the fact his appearance had rendered me similarly speechless.

“Are you?” Raphael asked.

It was a good thing I was a human and could lie. I nodded.

Raphael extended an arm, and I just stared at it. I’d never actually hooked arms with a suitor. Not that Raphael was anything of the sort to me, not that he could ever be… but just that crook of an elbow made me ache for the life I could have had.

A life I could still have. With the pardon.

“I don’t believe this tradition is any different in the Witch Kingdom,” he prompted with dry humor.

Despite everything, I wanted to smile at the jest.

I slipped my arm around his and that was all it took.

Raphael strode down the hallway, keeping to a pace I could manage in heels.

No doubt he heard every fluttering beat of my heart as we grew closer to the ballroom.

I hoped he continued to think it was simple nerves, not a warning bell of my betrayal.

Act normal , I willed myself. Just go along with everything and let him bite you when the time is right .

We didn’t go the way I expected. The hallway wrapped around and around as we rose to the very top of Damerel.

The ballroom was different than the one from the welcome ball. There was no staircase to descend from, only two massive twin doors, ornately carved from stone that were thrust open at our arrival, an abrupt trumpet cutting through the din that emanated from the room.

“His Majesty, King Raphael, First of His Name, Chosen of Anagenni, Ruler of the Vampire Kingdom of the West, and Lady Samara, the king’s Chosen, have arrived!”

All eyes were on us at once, then quickly cast down as everyone bowed low.

For Raphael, of course.

He stepped forward, as was his right, and I followed along, helpless.

The room itself rose to a peak at the top.

A grand chandelier, the size of my bed, hung from a massive chain, with crystals and candles that filled the space with light.

It was a feat of engineering it held up.

Parts of the mountain were cut away to reveal the outside world. A glimpse at the three red eclipses.

If I’d thought the last ball had prepared me for a crowd, I was sorely mistaken. The ballroom was larger than the other one, but it was even more filled with vampires and humans alike. There were many, many humans. Not just the ones who disguised themselves wistfully as vampires.

No, when I looked at them… I saw myself .

It took everything in me not to pull from Raphael’s grip and run. “It seems I’ve complied with the dress code.”

I ran a sweaty palm over the red full silk of my skirt.

The humans were easy to identify—each of us wore red.

Sleeveless dresses, vests with no undershirts.

Pulse points exposed nearly everywhere. The fashion was ornate on humans and vampires alike, with the others cloaked in darker shades of gray and black.

Many wore black, but only Raphael was fully cloaked in the color—save the red jewels embroidered into his tunic.

“It is… symbolic,” Raphael said carefully. His voice was quiet, but in a room full of vampire hearing, I doubted there was such thing as a private conversation.

Symbolic of the blood they would spill? My poisoned blood.

On some silent signal, the bows came to an end. Everyone watched us.

Oh gods, now? “Is this the part where you drink from me?” Why had I refused to let Thea tell me any more of what was expected?

Raphael adjusted and moved so he was directly in front of me without relinquishing our interlinked arms. His large frame blocked my view from the others.

“Now is the part where we dance.”

He didn’t break eye contact while he gestured to the band, and a fresh song started. I could hardly hear the first notes over the invisible cotton that clogged my ears .

He bent towards me, his breath caressing the shell of my ear. “They’ll stop staring once we start dancing.”

“I don’t know the steps,” I hissed under my breath.

This close, I could nearly feel the rumble of his low laughter. “Just move. I’ll do the rest.”

So I moved, needing no further convincing if it meant three hundred pairs of eyes would go elsewhere in the room.

I swayed slightly, imitating what I recalled from the dances I’d observed in another life.

It was more swaying and shuffling than anything as elegant as a waltz, but Raphael was true to his word.

His hand slid into mine, lifting our palms while his other hand dipped lower, burning into my side while mine naturally moved to his bicep.

I looked around as the others began to dance, and tried to mimic the movements to better fit the style of the Vampire Kingdom.

“You’re thinking too hard,” he mused.

“I’m trying to not step on your feet.” The quip was out before I realized the irony. I was concerned about stepping on his feet… as if I didn’t plan far greater harm.

I faltered in my shuffle-dance, but Raphael rescued me.

“Don’t worry about them, little viper. They don’t matter.” The chandelier light caught the brutal iron of his crown as he moved easily in his improvised steps. “Only this matters. What you feel in this moment, what you’re doing. ”

I tried to let them fade to the background, but my thoughts were now caught in another swirl. That was why Raphael resorted to another tactic—distracting me.

“Tell me your opinion of the music.”

Now that we had settled into a rhythm, I let the notes entrance me.

I’d spotted the small orchestra on the edge of the room when we’d arrived.

The acoustics of the ballroom were excellent, the volume not distracting, but loud enough to drown out the worst of my thoughts.

Dozens of instruments came together in a harmony that thrummed over my skin and made me want to move, even if my steps were still uncertain.

“They’re skilled,” I conceded.

“But do you like them?” he pressed.

On this, there was no need to lie. “I do.” If I could have done nothing but sit in the empty ballroom with the music playing for eternity, I might have been content.

They didn’t have music like this in the Witch Kingdom.

Once more, I pushed the thoughts of my old home away. Keep acting natural .

“Are there always so many for an event like this?” I lifted my chin in the direction of the small orchestra. It was disproportionate for the event, surely.

Raphael’s lip quirked. “No.”

“Then why?”

“For you. I brought them here for you.” He spun me, and I managed to keep my balance while I twirled across the floor before winding up back in his arms, secured once more. “I wanted to show you another side of this kingdom.”

“Another side?” I shut my eyes, trying to figure out what he meant. “Raphael, tell me, why are all the humans in red?”

The symbolism was obvious, but I wanted to hear it.

Wanted to make him paint the divide between us clearly.

“I told you it was symbolic.”

Surely he didn’t think I’d give in to such obvious evasion. “Symbolic of what ?” I pressed.

He didn’t need to breathe, but he sighed anyway. “The blood the humans offer, and the darkness that triumphs over them. While three red moons hang full, ripe, in the sky, while the dark sky surrounds them.”

There were no pleasantries I could use to cover that truth. That would always be the chasm between us. The vampires were powerful, eternal. Humans nothing but fodder.

The song ended and another started. We kept moving, now in sync, even as I made the steps up.

“I do not wish to deceive you, little viper. My world is a brutal one. But I want to share it with you, nonetheless.”

The name reminded me of the venom currently running through my veins. I hid my reaction and looked away.

“What if I don’t want to be part of this world?” What if this world is wrong?

“Everywhere has its ugliness. Some places just cloak it better.” The knot on his throat bobbed. “If you cannot find solace in my kingdom, then I will find you somewhere else, with all the gold you can carry. Yet I hope you would choose to stay at my side.”

“But… I was only meant to stay a few days. Then to translate the grimoire.” I forced myself not to give anything away when I mentioned the tome I’d already made progress translating.

“I only wish for your happiness.” His eyes held me, making it impossible to look anywhere else.

Happy . Like it was so simple. “Why?”

The vampire king was quiet for a moment. Then—“I suppose a part of it is because you’ve known so little of it.”

I couldn’t look at him anymore, so I cast my gaze around the room. What was a normal amount of happiness for someone to have? How did you measure it? Had I had a happy childhood before Greymere? It had been better, surely, but happiness had been a superfluous pursuit in my mother’s mind.

Happiness can be found at the bottom of a choice bottle , she’d once told me. You’re meant for more, my little princess .

I wasn’t happy. Maybe in fleeting moments here—but I was trading all those small moments for something more.

A purpose.

“And your life?” I challenged. “Is it happy?”

The silence that followed was a damning admission for a vampire who couldn’t lie .