Dinner With a Vampire (The Dark Heroine #1)(77)
Author: Abigail Gibbs

Tick, tock …

‘This Athenea is where they’re coming back from right? S-shouldn’t you let me go?’

He released me from his arms, but kept one hand in mine. ‘Listen, Violet. Girly. I’m sorry about last night. I should never have—’

‘Me too.’ He seemed taken aback, but I nodded furiously, avoiding eye contact. I pulled my hand from his, feeling my heart squeeze painfully.

‘I—’ Suddenly his head shot up, his eyes blazing red, his nose flaring. ‘They’re here.’

He snatched my hand back and lifted my chin with the other, planting a soft kiss on my lips. He let me down and I felt my knees go weak I was so sore and stiff. And then I was stood on the other side of the room, breathless, wind knocked from my lungs, tossed away by Kaspar.

Tick, tock … Deep from within the mansion a great boom sounded; the first strike of a great clock and I counted each one, unable to block out the sound.

Twelve … I shuddered as the sound passed through me, my stomach churning with nerves. I wanted to cry but refused to in front of the servants.

Eleven …

The butlers stood beside the doors, immaculately clean gloves poised on the handles, ready to swing them open.

Ten … The dread and the horror was rising as my mind raced, reeling at what the King could possibly do to punish such disobedience; things never would have turned out well if we had slept together under different circumstances, but now on the eve of such anger, when Kaspar had already thrown so much shame upon his father, I didn’t dismiss anything.

Nine …

What can he do to me that will be worse than not allowing the two of us to touch?

Eight …

He can’t force me to become a vampire without giving my father an excuse to call upon the slayers and rogues. Turning doesn’t seem so horrific now anyway.

Seven …

Why did I waste all that time hating him?

Six, five, four …

‘Kaspar, what’s Athenea?’

Three …

He didn’t answer.

Two …

‘Kaspar, what lives in Athenea?’

One.

The doors were flung wide open, the high noon sun masked by towering clouds. A group of thirty or so cloaked figures strode up the steps, flinging their hoods back and almost instantly becoming pink under the daylight, skin burning.

Furious at their head was the King, and I glanced at Kaspar, fear holding a vice-like grip on my heart. He stared straight ahead, passed the gathering crowd, all glaring at the both of us, his expression fixed and detached.

I felt a tear trickle down my cheek and turned back. The figures were gone. My eyes searched the room but I was cut off as the King came towards me, his eyes afire and raging. I let out a meek whimper as he came to a halt. I wanted to run. Instead, I curtsied.

His head turned towards Kaspar, eyes still fixed straight ahead but cringing now.

‘Kaspar!’ He did not speak the words. He hissed them. ‘Go to Varns’ Point. I will talk to you there.’

Then he turned to me.

‘Do not touch my son again, Miss Lee, or I will ensure you never hear your heart beat again. Is that clear?’

When I did not respond he shouted, ‘Answer me!’

I nodded, choking, holding back tears.

‘You are not stupid. You realized that you were to never become involved with any of my children.’ His mouth set in a firm line. ‘This is the end of your freedom, Miss Lee. The end. And as a symbol of the end, I think we’ve found the perfect sacrifice at Ad Infinitum. Don’t you think?’

Kaspar hissed and I raised my head. He immediately fell silent and steadily held my gaze with an intensity that took my breath away. And then he was gone. Yet again.

‘Slut,’ a voice hissed.

Lyla, hand in hand with Fabian stood in front of me, smug smile dirtying her face. She clung onto him – he refused to look at me but as she tugged him on I heard him mutter one word.

‘Bitch.’

They all hated me now.

FORTY-SIX

Violet

I mentally kicked myself as I realized I was thinking about that day again, the events replaying themselves endlessly in my mind. I could still feel the bitter breeze around my ankles and the soreness around my legs, every word analysed; every thought churned over and every detail remembered.

It was almost two weeks ago, let it go, my voice advised and I was inclined to agree. Yet however much I wanted to, I couldn’t.

Kaspar has been gone for two weeks. You try letting go.

My hands gripped the sheets of my bed again and I stared at the ceiling, reciting words that had become engraved on my mind.

‘Vampires were not gentle, loving creatures. It was not in their nature to change, or to adapt, to accept others. Their love is not what humans would call love, and lust consumes them on a level we will never understand. They do not grow old as we do, but age as stone does: they gradually weather, slowly perish, so slowly it is unnoticeable. But in the end, stone is a fixture forever, as are they.’

Kaspar had become a fixture in my heart. I thought the King could not punish us any more than not allowing us to touch. But he had.

October had given way to November, the trees in the grounds bare now. But the forest was as dark as ever and tomorrow came the promise of yet more torture: tomorrow was the twelfth, and the twelfth meant it was Ad Infinitum.

I was the sacrifice. I had learned the steps and the dress had been measured and made. I had met John, the other sacrifice. He was a quiet guy, turning at Christmas to be with his love, Marie-Claire. That was the strange thing about sacrifice. It could be done for love – or for hate.

I played along at being the sacrifice, learning my part like a nice little human, but for one reason only: it was the only way I would be allowed to go to the ball, and Kaspar would have to return to attend. Return from wherever he is.

Wiping my dry eyes I swung my legs over the side of the bed, dragging the corner of the sheet with me. I grabbed a comb off the bedside table and ran it through my hair, ragged and knotted from almost endless days spent in this room, avoiding the rest of the house. That seemed to suit them just fine; nobody ever talked to me, save for Cain, who had lately picked up an annoying habit of asking about my family – particularly Lily. Always Lily. I couldn’t take that.

So it was just me and my voice.

For a moment I wondered whether it was really worth going downstairs, but I was hungry and could hear loud talking. Pulling on a pair of socks from the wardrobe I quietly slipped out, creeping down the corridor. Just a few feet beyond my room I swallowed hard. Kaspar’s door.