Masquerade (Blue Bloods 2)

"Why not?"

"Because. It's complicated." Schuyler shrugged.

"Now, now."

"It is. He's...he's not interested," she said, thinking of Jack and Mimi, and the bond between them. Whatever she was feeling for him was irrelevant. He had made that clear at her grandmother's funeral. He had responsibilities to his family. She couldn't escape the image of the two of them holding their hands aloft. Azrael and Abbadon. The magnetic charge between them was electric. The whole ballroom had tingled with excitement at the announcement. Two of our most powerful vampires. They have been revealed to us at last. Who was she, Schuyler Van Alen, not even a pure-blood vampire, to come between them?

"How do you know he's not interested?" he asked in a serious tone.

"I just do."

"You might be surprised."

Schuyler realized that the boy was standing close to her as he spoke. His eyes behind the mask she could detect a hint of green. Her heart skipped a beat. The boy moved closer.

"Surprise me," Schuyler whispered. In response, the boy lifted her mask gently, so that her lips were exposed, and then he leaned down and brought his mouth to hers.

Schuyler closed her eyes. The only boy she had ever kissed was Jack Force, and this was like that--but different somehow. More urgent. More insistent. She inhaled his breath, felt his tongue in her mouth, rolling on top of hers, almost as if he wanted to devour her. It felt as if she could kiss him forever.

And then it stopped.

She opened her eyes, her mask askew from her face. What happened? Where had he gone?

"Hey!"

Schuyler turned. Mimi Force was standing in the foyer, wearing a dazzling Indian princess headdress, her "mask" expertly drawn on with makeup and face paint.

"Have you seen my brother anywhere?" Mimi had been upset at first to find her party overrun by human gatecrashers, but then she'd just chalked it up to her own irresistible popularity. So she wasn't fazed to find Schuyler, another non-invitee, at the party as well.

Before Schuyler could answer, Jack Force materialized by his sister's side. He was wearing an Indian headdress like his sister's. And his mask too, was made of face paint.

"Here I am," he said jovially. "Oh, hey, Schuyler. How was Venice?"

"Great," Schuyler said, trying to keep her composure. "Cool."

"C'mon, Jack, the fireworks are about to start." Mimi said, pulling on his sleeve.

"See ya," Jack called.

Schuyler felt numb. She was so sure it was Jack she had been kissing. So sure it had been him behind that black mask. But his relaxed attitude, that casual friendliness, made her doubt her assumption. But if it wasn't Jack she had just kissed, then who? Who was the boy behind the mask?

With a pang, she realized tomorrow was the start of the Christmas holidays, and she wouldn't see Jack Force again for two whole weeks.

;

Like many of the guests, when Bliss arrived at the after-party, she gasped in delight. The abandoned synagogue was lit by a thousand tea light candles, casting long and gloomy shadows on the walls. Mimi was right, it looked like a beautiful ruin, and there was something spooky and romantic about dancing only in firelight.

The masks lent the evening an eerie glamour, since all the guests were still in their ball finery. The boys were so handsome in their tailcoats, and the girls gorgeous in their couture ball gowns, and everyone looked a little bit wicked with all those masks.

Bliss fixed the feathered and jeweled mask on her face. It was a little hard to see everyone from behind it. She noticed Schuyler arrive. Good. Bliss had forwarded the message to Schuyler without Mimi knowing.

The DJ was spinning Bauhaus, a dark, violent tune, "Burning from the inside..." A boy in white tie and tails walked up to Bliss, his face hidden underneath a sad Pierrot mask.

He motioned toward the dance floor.

Bliss nodded and followed him. He held out his hands and she stepped into his embrace.

"So you have survived," he whispered, his mouth close to her ear, so that she could feel his breath blow softly.