Page 33 of The Vampire Curse

Clara

We arriveat the party in time for the last three carriages to pull up outside. Murmuring filters down the hall, the voices mixing with the soft lull of the string quartet.

Kathrine beams as she leans in close to whisper, “It looks like I will be fashionably late to my own party!”

I don’t understand the point.Why would anyone want to be late?But if it makes her happy, then it makes me happy. She was always more attuned to social nuances, expectations, and other such things.

Kathrine hooks an arm through mine and pulls me along with her to the room where everyone awaits. When we near the threshold, she releases me and pushes me forward. I stumble a few steps before entering without her.

One or two people look my way, only sparing me a passing glance before they turn away. I am not the face they want to see.

There are several people I recognize here. Many whom I have helped myself to their coin a time or two. Unsurprisingly they all seem to be doing well.

A moment later, a few heads turn. Murmurs fill the room. Kitty strides in, smiling and beaming at the crowd. She pauses to greet everyone she passes.

I feel like a fish out of water. Though Kathrine looks as if she was born to this life.

Abraham crosses the room in a few strides and takes her hands, leading her back to where he was standing moments before. The two of them laugh and talk excitedly with another couple, a few years older.

I keep close to the wall, taking in the throng of people milling about. There are older couples and younger, and one group of girls standing in a cluster, whispering as they look at a nearby group of young men close by.

The room is similar to the music room at Alaric’s manor, though it is smaller and brighter. Instead of dark mahogany and crimson, the room is decorated in creams and golds with green accents.

Alaric… I can’t seem to stop thinking about his name… comparing everything I see or experience to my month and a half in Windbury. Even on the drive here, I couldn’t stop thinking his name—mostly cursing him for not instructing the driver to stop at an inn for the night.

But since arriving, how many times have I thought of him? It hasn’t even been a full day yet.

I need to stop. That is no longer my life. I am no longer beholden or indebted to him. He is no longerinmy life and—demons take that sickening twinge that stabs at my heart—just thinking about the finality of our inadequate goodbye.

I blow out a breath and shake away the things that threaten to take me away from this moment, away from Kitty. Right now isn’t the time for thoughts that need long, quiet hours to sort through. This is my sister’s engagement party. She is the reason I am here, the reason I was able to return to Littlemire.

Attempting to be more social, I search the faces near me for someone who looks amiable.

A familiar laugh breaks through the steady din of voices. The warmth of the deep timbre stops me dead in my tracks, overwhelming me with a wave of memories.

It can’t be. I’m imagining things. Slowly, I turn my head and look over my shoulder.

The blood drains from my face. Xander stands near the entrance of the room with a bright-eyed blonde woman on his arm. She’s not his sister—he is one of four boys… Perhaps a cousin then? It’s hard to tell from this distance, but she is several years younger.

She responds to something he says, her voice sweet and delicate is followed by her bell like laughter.

I hadn’t expected to see him here, let alone with a woman on his arm.

My pulse thunders in my veins and I want to hide. This is not how I planned to see him for the first time. I’m not ready to face him yet. But Xander’s eye snags on mine before I can look away. His smile slips a fraction before reforming, broader this time, as confusion transforms to recognition and then to surprise.

He moves in my direction and I take a step back. This is not how I wanted our first meeting to go after all this time. It’s far too crowded.

I feel like a caged animal… the need to get away is overpowering. But then the woman points to another part of the room, tugging on his arm until he follows.

I blow out a breath, relieved.

If I thought for half a second that I could sneak away and hide for the rest of the night without Kathrine noticing, I would. So much has changed in the last two days.

Surrounded by people I don’t know, I feel like I'm standing in the eye of a storm. There's too much happening at once, and I'm unable to handle any part of it without being dragged into the maelstrom. All I can do is wait for it to die down so I can breathe again.

I skirt the edge of the room, keeping an eye on Xander as I move. He has managed to separate himself from those he arrived with, and as I move deeper into the room, he makes his way toward me.

When I’m only a few feet away from a long table with filled glasses of various colored liquids, two girls step into my path. Somehow, I just barely avoid running into them. They wear pastel gowns, one a creamy, butter yellow, the other a summer sky blue. Their hairstyles match—pinned up with short cascades of curls falling over opposite shoulders.