“The music is fine.” This whole charade was already too much.
I was even wearing a dress so exquisite I’d been nervous just to put it on. Nervous of leaving my strange room. Or standing next to Lucifer—
“My name, darling, was never Lucifer. And as much as I am trying not to be insulted, considering the situation, I really…” He paused, rubbed his thin lips together, and chose his next words as if they were foreign on his tongue. “I really beg that you think of me as Vladislov. Or anything kinder than comparing me to that prick.” For good measure, and while tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, he added—as if infinitely proud of himself, “Please.”
And the room was enraptured.
“I, um.” I put the glass of wine to my lips and drank, fortified by cool, crisp nectar of the gods. “I um, don’t know how you…”
How he kept reading my thoughts as if such a thing were natural.
And in my distraction between wine, embarrassment, nerves, and general sense of being completely overwhelmed, I allowed him to grasp my fingers and bring my knuckles to his lips for a kiss.
“I have many talents, as do you. As do my guests this evening. Normal talents you’ll navigate beautifully with a little practice.” Flicking his fingers, he summoned a servant bearing a beautiful tray with a single treat on top. “Canape?”
“Vladislov.” I’m not sure if I had ever spoken his name before.
I couldn’t do this. Be here with demons playing dress-up, who I had been told would be dining in their usual style when humans were brought in for sampling later.
“Deep breath. Drink your wine. Look at me.” The orders were effortless. The way he subtly squeezed my fingers, familiar.
Those eyes….
Lifting the snack from the tray, he held it to my lips. “So long as I am with you, my soul, there is nothing ever to fear.”
I ate, unsure what a canape was. I ate from the hands of Luci—
“Vladislov.” With a wink, he smirked. “We’ll work on it.”
Acidic tomatoes, something savory I couldn’t place. The flavors on my tongue paired with the wine and left gooseflesh on my arms, because a drop or two of the host's blood brought all the culinary glory together. Almost as delicious as the various immortal blood vintages I had been served over the weeks.
Probably from the very donors in this room.
“You look lovely, Pearl. The most beautiful woman ever to walk the earth. And I would know,” he added with a chuckle. “I’ve walked it for ages. Never thought I’d be quite so pleased to be robbing the cradle.”
Men only gave compliments when they wanted something, most likely to lure a girl into sex.
“As much as I would love to lure you into bed, that was not my goal in the praise. I love you and simply cannot help myself.”
Bed? The last memory I had of a man taking me to bed was so utterly awful the canape was about to come up.
Like a snap of fingers in my mind, what was in one instant horrible and so real I could smell the damp of the cell and feel the burn between my legs, was gone. Just gone.
“Now that, I will stop. I’d rather not fiddle where too much has already been done, but no thoughts of that nature will ruin your party.”
The book. The journal. All the entries and explanations of a mind wiped clean each day.
Another mental snap.
“Not tonight, Pearl. All of this can be discussed tomorrow. Tonight, be in the present. Get to know your kind. Feel safe.”
And instantly, I did.
Contrition was in his voice, in his countenance. “I apologize. Really, I’d prefer not to, but you require a bit more than handholding to progress into our future.”
A servant appeared to pour more perfectly chilled wine in my glass. Wine I drank staring over the rim at my host… Vladislov.
Who smiled an extremely beautiful expression on an interesting face. “Well done, brave queen.”
“She really is a vision.” A female interloper. One who approached so regally I felt the need to call her ma’am. And would have had Vladislov not clearly unh-uh’d me under his breath.
“Maya, might I introduce my bride? This is Pearl.” He kissed my fingertips, met my eyes, and finished, “Pearl, she was meant to be your breakfast.”
The statement was so utterly ridiculous that I snorted a quick laugh. Mortified an instant later. Cheeks flaming, I faced the insanely beautiful woman, and said, “Hello.”
Insane had to be the perfect word for all of this. All of me. The fact that my hand was still caught in the clutches of the name I would not think.
To which he laughed, full-bellied and thoroughly amused. When glittering eyes left mine, after an improperly long stare, he addressed the patiently waiting woman. “She’s shy.”