A Valley of Darkness (A Shade of Vampire #52)(55)

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She smiled, then took her gloves off and extended a hand.

I instinctively reached out and shook it, then stilled when I realized I’d used the hand I’d painted with. Amalia’s hand was left with smudges of Patrik’s red paint mix. My eyes nearly popped out, and my cheeks caught fire.

“I am so… so sorry about that,” I croaked, wishing for the ground to split open and gobble me up.

She was delicate and refined, so ladylike and beautiful. I felt like a scrappy kid in front of her. Her laughter befuddled me even more, as she looked at the paint on her hand.

“Oh, it’s okay!” she replied, then glanced at the wall behind me, visibly amused. “I know Caspian was exceptionally rude last night, but do you think painting symbols on his house will make him change his ways?”

I blinked several times, then shook my head.

“This isn’t… This isn’t what it looks like.” I sighed. “It’s for a spell. Our Druid is putting together a protective shield for the city tonight, and he needs these symbols painted on specific walls.” I then pointed at the wall behind me. “This one just happens to be one of those… specific walls.”

“As was the fa?ade, right?” Amalia grinned. “I saw your artwork when I came up…”

“Not my fault if Kifo built his mansion in the middle.” I shrugged.

Amalia seemed pretty cool, from where I stood at this point. Elitist, but friendly and nice. Didn’t exactly look down on me, but I didn’t see her bending over backward to accommodate me as a guest at her regular tea parties. At least she wasn’t snide and stuffy, like most upper-class creatures I’d met on Earth.

“It’s okay, Harper. I won’t tell him you did it.” She chuckled.

“Nah, by all means, please do,” I replied with a smirk. “You can even describe the face he makes later. I know I’ll enjoy it.”

She laughed again, but quickly turned serious, her brows slightly furrowed.

“Harper, about last night,” she said, her voice low. “Please accept my apologies on behalf of the Five Lords for what Caspian said. I didn’t know your hearing was that good. I knew we shared some crucial similarities, despite our different species, but I really didn’t think you could hear us, so… I’m sorry. I would’ve stopped him sooner, before he made a fool of himself…”

That was an interesting fact to learn. Neither Jax nor Heron had ever told me the reach of their hearing ability, but Amalia had just clarified that for me. I made a brief mathematical calculation in my mind, and stored the result somewhere in my memory palace, knowing it would come in handy at a later date. I then gave her a half-smile and a polite nod.

“There’s no need to apologize on Lord Kifo’s behalf,” I replied. “He’s a big boy. He can do it himself, if he wants to. Although, to be honest, I don’t care—and his elitism means nothing to me. It means even less to GASP. We’re not here to dress nice and pretend we like you. We’re here to help and protect your people.”

I must’ve hit her hard with my statement, based on the brief flicker of pain in her expression. She took a deep breath, then nodded.

“You are absolutely right, Harper. Will you at least accept my personal apology for not shutting him up, regardless of your physical presence at the time?”

“I do. It’s okay,” I said. “We come from different worlds. I know very little about yours, and you know even less about mine. There’s bound to be a cultural clash, sooner or later.”

“You know,” she chuckled, “Caspian isn’t usually so rude and mean. He’s actually very kind, honorable, and noble. I think he likes you, and that’s why he acts like such a—”

“Jerk?” I offered with a raised eyebrow, prompting another chuckle from her.

“Well, yes. And he seems to be very interested in you. I’m not sure if he’s just curious or if he’s attracted to you, though. It’s too early to tell with him, because he always puts on this brooding and quiet mask. Caspian is a good Mara, but he’s not very good at expressing his emotions.”

My heart started beating a little bit faster, enough to tell me that I wasn’t indifferent to the idea of Caspian’s interest in me. But that was very difficult to digest, as a premise, especially after all the things he’d said and that motherlode of glares he’d reserved exclusively for me. I scoffed and shook my head, once again annoyed by what he’d said last night.

“Please don’t go there,” I replied dryly. “First of all, I highly doubt Caspian has any interest in me whatsoever, unless it involves pissing me off, in which case he’s first in line. Second, I wouldn’t touch Caspian with a ten-foot pole, especially given his rotten behavior from the very moment we landed on Neraka.”

Amalia stared at me for a few seconds, looking genuinely confused. She clearly hadn’t expected me to reject the idea, though I wasn’t sure what part of my behavior had made her think I might like him.

“Excuse me, but I need to go back to the infirmary now.” I decided to end our little exchange there. “Thank you for your kind words, though. I appreciate it.”

I gave her another curt nod, then turned around to leave and bumped into something tall and solid. I moved back and felt my temperature drop below zero in an instant, then spike to volcanic levels.