A Call of Vampires (A Shade of Vampire #51)(23)

Perhaps my favorite part of the entire wedding party was the cake—not that I could eat it, but what a sight to behold! It was huge and beautifully sculpted, with frilly frosting and sugar pearls. Anjani and Jovi cut into it while we all took pictures to savor the moment forever. They were a gorgeous and funny couple, and the way they looked at one another often made me swoon and wonder if I’d ever find someone whose gaze would be as full of love and adoration as Jovi’s. What they had was precious and rare, and I genuinely wished them nothing but happiness.

I spent most of my time at our table, with Fiona and Avril. They were the Shadians I was closest to, mainly because we trained a lot together. I also didn’t want to miss out on the throwing of the bouquet or the garter “ceremony” —Avril, Fiona, and I had placed a little wager as to how long it would take Jovi to get the garter off Anjani. I didn’t have much faith in him on that end, but Fiona was quite optimistic.

The evening had yet to set, and the late afternoon shades of red were pouring through the hall through wide, open windows. More and more people started dancing, Shadians and Eritopians combined, as the music got louder and the rhythm hastened. Two gorgeous incubi came over and invited Fiona and Avril to dance—in all fairness, all incubi were beautiful, but these two were something else entirely, like fashion models with medium-length black hair, piercing bluish green eyes, and sharp, masculine features that could make any girl’s temperature rise.

I was left on my own for a while, occasionally glancing at my parents on the dancefloor, and capturing slivers of conversation between Benedict and Yelena. Marion and Grandpa Lucas came back to the table, breathing heavily and laughing as they sat down and emptied a pitcher of blood.

“Why aren’t you dancing?” Marion asked me with a smile.

“I did dance.” I shrugged, hoping they hadn’t noticed that I’d been doing the exact opposite, politely turning down every guy who had come over to ask me to dance. “Just resting my feet a little!”

I didn’t know why I felt the need to lie about that. Maybe it was about keeping up appearances. I honestly didn’t want to dance with anyone, but I didn’t want anyone to think I wasn’t having fun—from what I could tell, you weren’t really enjoying yourself unless you were dancing. At least, that seemed like the overall wedding party atmosphere. Normally, I would’ve just told my family that I didn’t feel like it. Which was only partially true.

I did feel like it, but with just one person in particular. I glanced across the banquet hall and saw Patrik standing by the wall, next to Draven and Serena, Ori and Malachy. They were talking and occasionally laughing, and I couldn’t help but smile whenever Patrik smiled, his lips stretching to reveal his white teeth. They formed a beautiful contrast against his slight tan and black hair. His inky curls had been cut to a medium length, covering the tips of his ears in a way that reminded me of ancient Greek sculptures.

I stood up and moved closer to one of the columns, wanting to simply disappear from the public eye and look at Patrik from afar. The Druid was truly a handsome man, with steely blue eyes, a smile that unraveled me every time, a broad frame, and long legs. He knew how to dress in a way that accentuated his best features. He wasn’t infatuated with himself or anything like that, but he seemed to look good at any time in an effortless manner. Whether it was instinct or just preparation, Patrik Raymer was always dressed to look his part, and gathered the hearts of many ladies around Luceria.

The only problem was that Patrik didn’t exactly have a heart to give back, and it was the main reason I kept my distance. I liked him a lot, but I’d already accepted the fact that he would never look at me that way. Patrik had lost the love of his life three months ago, during the war with Azazel. He’d spent decades under the evil Druid’s control spell, stuck in Destroyer form with the lower body of a massive black snake, and he’d put up with a lot to keep Kyana safe. Kyana, a beautiful Lamia and Tamara’s sister, had been captured by Azazel and held as leverage in order to get Patrik to comply.

Patrik was good and loyal, and would’ve otherwise killed himself rather than do Azazel’s bidding. But he chose to live, forced to do horrible things in Destroyer form, in order to protect Kyana. She died shortly after Vita released her from the dungeons below, and it tore Patrik apart. After all those years, after all that suffering, Patrik had finally been given the much-needed relief of seeing Kyana free, only to lose her to Destroyers a day later.

I first saw him when we were first brought to the throne room, right after the time lapse and memory shroud were lifted from Eritopia. My heart thudded at the sight of him, but there was so much pain pouring out of him, I didn’t even dare to look at him afterwards. Once I was reassigned to the Calliope GASP base, we became part of the same team. Patrik was a senior officer, experienced and strong, resourceful, and simply wonderful to be around. But I could tell that he was still grieving. The sadness in his eyes was impossible to ignore, especially when he did his best to stay away from the couples around him.

I truly admired him, and felt pure exhilaration whenever he stopped by during combat training sessions to check my progress with specific Eritopian weapons. I was attracted to him on many levels, but I always held it in. I never even thought of showing or telling him how I felt. I couldn’t. He was grieving, and a high-ranking GASP officer. I was a vampire with no previous relationship experience. I’d yet to even kiss a guy.