Page 4 of The Vampire Court

“You truly did not know?” Cassius asks, his voice filled with amusement. “Our dear Alaric didn’t tell you…” He feigns a scandalized gasp then murmurs, “This is fantastic…”

Lawrence shoots him a warning glance.

Things that have been said and done start to piece themselves together. How Alaric ordered the three vampires, the footman calling him Sire and the guard not arguing with him…

I pry my gaze from Alaric and look at Lawrence from the corner of my eye. I’m embarrassed that it has taken this moment for me to learn the truth.

Lawrence’s expression changes, taking me in as though seeing me for the first time. His features soften to something akin to kindness. I swallow thickly. That can’t be right—hehatesme.

“Who did you think he was?” he asks under his breath.

Alaric stands and walks up the dais and into the open arms of the queen. She wraps herself around him. He doesn’t return the embrace, but he doesn’t fight it. My heart squeezes painfully in my chest.

“I… I don’t know. I suppose I thought he was just a vampire,” I say. I probably shouldn’t admit anything to him, but I don’t think he’s asking out of malice or trickery.

“Just a vampire?” he scoffs.

I cringe.

He shakes his head, genuinely shocked that I never had a clue—as if who and what Alaric is was common knowledge among humans.

As the queen releases Alaric, the crowd resumes movement and sound. Conversations pick up, but the path leading to the queen remains clear.

“You had no idea he was the first of Elizabeth’s creations and the most powerful of us all and fated to be the vampire queen’s consort? You didn’t want him for his money or the things he could do for you?”

His questions rip the air from my lungs—painful realizations. My face heats with every word that comes out of his mouth because I naively believed everything was simple. I believed Alaric was an ordinary man.

“How could I?” I ask, voice cracking. “I’ve never seen him until he claimed me.”

He looks at me for a single heartbeat then throws his head back and lets out a sharp laugh. I cross my arms and wait for him to finish.

“Look,” I say, attempting to keep my temper in check. “I never wanted anything from him. Not his money, or that manor, or…” I trail off shaking my head, feeling foolish. I wrap my arms around my middle. Then in a small voice, I add, “I still don’t want anything of his.”

“Then what is it youdowant?” he asks.

Then I understand. When he questioned me about where I would want to be if I could choose, his cold demeanor, trying to scare me off in the library the day he arrived at the manor, and all the accusations that I might want what Alaric has… Lawrence was worried about my intentions. He must be a good friend to worry for Alaric like that. Even from someone with such a limited lifespan, such limited strength… someone powerless.

“I want—” I shake my head. “I don’t want anything,” I say.

Lawrence’s eyes narrow on me.

I only want him.

I don’t dare speak the words aloud. How can I admit that to Lawrence when I haven’t even admitted it to Alaric, let alone to myself?

I can’t.

It would only complicate things, but knowing that doesn’t stop the words from building and bubbling up to the surface. I lo—

I close my eyes for a brief moment and push the thoughts back down, locking them away.

The rest of our conversation dies on the air as Cassius pushes off the wall, clearing his throat. He moves across the floor toward the queen. Lawrence grabs my arm and drags me along.

The queen and Alaric descend the steps of the dais and walk toward us. He avoids looking at me as if I don’t exist, but I can’t help but frown at her arm linked with his.

Our two groups meet in the center of the room. The crowd closes in behind us but spreads out, giving us privacy.

I study Alaric’s face.