A Call of Vampires (A Shade of Vampire #51)(25)

As if anything could ever happen with the Druid and me, I thought to myself with a sigh, and danced through the rest of the song. I shook away the idea of Patrik walking toward me.

I’d most likely imagined it.





Avril





(Daughter of Lucas & Marion)





The incubus I’d been dancing with was a sensational partner. For a soldier in Luceria’s defense unit, Galen sure knew how to move and lead the way across the dancefloor. He was also shameless with his incubus nature, keeping me light on my feet and giggling throughout the entire song. Once the final drum kicks played, however, I politely removed myself from his seductive hold, looking for some fresh air on one of the balconies on the other side of the hall. He didn’t really want to let go, asking me for another dance, but Bijarki had intervened with a dry smile and cold gray eyes, inviting Galen to find another dance partner.

I felt thankful to have Vita’s husband around. He’d become good friends with my parents in these past three months, often visiting our GASP base in The Shade to discuss various military issues with Tenebris.

“I promised your parents I’d look after you,” Bijarki said gently, nodding toward the main exit. “You might want to put some distance between yourself and Galen now. He has quite the impact on the ladies, in general…”

I couldn’t help but giggle, nodding my agreement. Bijarki had been very protective of Fiona and me, since we’d both been genuinely fascinated and interested by the incubi from the first day we’d set foot on Calliope. We’d found their natural effect to be enticing, but we knew not to pursue the attraction unless it felt genuine in their absence. Bijarki glanced around and noticed Fiona giggling with her incubus dance partner, then raised an eyebrow.

“Speaking of which, it seems I need to hover over Fiona, too.” He sighed.

“Thank you, Bijarki.” I laughed lightly, placing a hand on his shoulder. Unlike most incubi, he was quite adept at keeping his seductive nature under control. From what Draven and Serena had told me, his desire for restraint had emerged only after he’d met Vita. Until then, he’d been as shameless as Galen and Shen, Fiona’s partner.

My senses were enhanced from the spiced rosewater, and, combined with Galen’s incubus nature, I was dealing with heatwaves coursing through my body. I left the banquet hall and checked my hair in one of the hallway mirrors. Other guests passed by me, some heading back inside and others going back up to the platform. I’d enlisted Shayla’s help with a designer-style outfit, and she’d more than delivered.

The dress was superb, made of three pieces and mimicking the 1950s style, with a waspy waist and a skirt that revealed the lower half of my calves and my baby-doll pumps. Shayla had used a thin and soft type of pale, grayish pink chiffon for the outfit, molded on a tight corset that really brought out my round chest and hourglass figure before it vanished into the skirt. She’d completed the look with a slim bolero that covered my arms and only half of both shoulders, accentuating the length of my neck and somehow bringing out my hazel eyes.

My blond-highlighted hair was pinned back with pearl pins and faux flowers, and I loved the way it all fit me; it gave me a mild confidence boost and a spring in my step.

I looked around, then moved down the hallway, searching for one of the secluded balconies farther away from the banquet hall’s main entrance. The incubus’s effect was still making my blood sizzle. Sure, Galen was as hot as a Los Angeles sidewalk on a July day, but I wasn’t really attracted to him per se.

A sniff to my left as I passed one of the balconies made me turn my head, and I stilled, noticing Hansa looking up at the now-purplish night sky. She was on a chair, slumped against the white marble railing, her silver sandal pumps on the floor next to her bare feet, as she cried and sipped from a pitcher of spiced rosewater.

I couldn’t stop myself from moving closer to her, and I sat in the spare chair in front of her. I didn’t say anything for a while, and neither did Hansa. Even with tears streaming down her cheeks, she looked ravishing, her thick, silky black hair undulating over one shoulder.

“Are you okay, Hansa?” I finally asked.

I’d never seen her like this before. She was a warrior, her voice booming across the Plateau on Mount Zur during our training sessions, her sword blows hard and unforgiving. It had already been a surprise to see her as a bridesmaid in a silk dress. Watching her sit like this, crying by herself, bordered on shocking.

“Not really, no,” she managed to say between hiccups.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know.” She looked at me, her emerald-gold eyes glazed with tears and her lower lip trembling. She took another sip of her drink, holding the pitcher with both hands. I had a feeling her state might have been amplified by the spiced rosewater, but I’d never seen anyone get so sad from drinking it; hence, there was no precedent for me to use for comparison.

“Anything I can do to help?”

“I… I don’t know.” She sighed. “I’ve been so stressed about the wedding and making it all perfect for Anjani that I’ve bottled everything up and felt like I was about to explode. I also haven’t seen Izora in a month, since I last checked in on her on Persea. I likely won’t be able to see her for another month, as per her request, and I miss her and that has taken its toll on me, too. I needed something to relax me, so I asked Ori to help me out with a potion or something to take the edge off, which he did. I emptied the flask by the time I walked down the aisle, and as soon as the ceremony was over, I knew I could breathe and unwind again. And yet, here I am, weeping on a balcony like a little girl, with my shoes off and my second pitcher of spiced rosewater, and I don’t know what the hell is wrong with me! Or why I’m crying! I don’t know why I’m crying!”