BRIAR
Unbidden excitement burned through my blood as I adjusted the large black wings strapped to my shoulders. A fallen angel seemed an appropriate costume to wear at a vampire ball. My leather corset pushed my breasts up far beyond the limits of societal decency. But I wanted Lucas to see. I wanted to witness the spark in his eyes, the lust I saw in the forest.
“Briar, it’s time.” My mother’s voice betrayed her nervousness about tonight. We were all on edge.
“I’m ready.” I stepped out of my bedroom and into the hall where I found her, not in costume so much as in an extravagant gown. “You’re not in costume?”
“I will don a mask when the time comes. Besides, you are distraction enough.”
She held out a hand, and I laced mine with hers before the two of us walked down the stairs and to our waiting automobile. There were times I missed the days of horse and carriage, before these new inventions, which were nothing but cold machines.
Father held the door open for both of us as we took our seats, then we were off, down the long driveway lined by trees. It took near on ten minutes before we found the entrance to Blackthorne Manor. The sprawling, spiked wrought iron gate was nothing short of menacing.
A chill ran down my spine, skittering across my skin in a way that made me shudder. The place felt like death.
“I don’t think I want to go in there,” I murmured.
Father looked back at me and smiled. “They won’t do anything to us tonight.”
“How do you know?”
“It’s against the accords. An attack on invited guests will cause censure from the High Council. Believe me, no one wants that. There’s a reason the High Council is never seen. They stay in their ivory tower, and we follow the accords.”
Something loosened in my chest. My costume wings pressed into my back, bringing with them sharp pain. We drove up the long driveway and stopped the car not a moment too soon. I had to stand to get these frustrating things to stop poking me. I was out of the car and adjusting my costume before my father could open the door.
The sun had fully set, bathing the Manor in moonlight, but the glow of the lamps inside the home made it look alive in a sinister way. Like if you walked through the mouth of the home, you may never return. Swallowed whole by Blackthorne Manor.
“Allow me to escort you, Briar. We don’t want these creatures to think you’ve been sent in unclaimed.” Nik placed his palm on my waist, and even through the leather of my corset, I felt his heat. I knew my parents wanted us mated. A strong bond between their daughter and their most loyal pack member? What could go wrong?
He was handsome. Golden locks, a rugged edge to him that rivaled the refined fashion of the people here. His broad shoulders and hard, muscled chest gave him the appearance of a warrior. And truthfully, that’s what he was. He fought for my family, for our pack. But there was no spark between us.
“You seem to have left most of your costume back at the house,” I teased, glancing at what looked to be a Roman soldier outfit, complete with a sword.
“It will be less effort to shift.”
Unease curled in my chest once again. “Do you think we’ll need to?”
“It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”
Behind us, more of the pack began arriving, along with people I didn’t recognize. “Who are they?” I asked, pointing to the group of at least ten men and women, all dressed in black, all stony-faced even through the lace masks they wore over their eyes.
“Those are the witches. The ones the Blackthornes couldn’t kill.”
My brows rose. “They tried to kill them?”
“Not these ones specifically, but yes, they attempted to kill the most powerful coven in America back in the 1600s.”
“Salem,” I whispered.
The front door opened with a creak and, God help me, my heart seized for just a second. Nik’s grip on me tightened, and his other hand went for the hilt of his sword.
“Steady, Nik,” my father growled.
Four vampires stood at the entrance, all dressed to the nines in black-tie rather than costumes, except for one. She was dressed in ethereal gossamer, with sparkles on her cheeks and fairy wings sprouting from her back. The man in the center wore an ostentatious crown covered in blood-red jewels. He was tall, regal, and beautiful, with his dark brows twin slashes across pale skin, and a cruel mouth twisted into a mockery of a smile. That was the king. I had no doubt.
“Welcome, all of you, coven members, pack Dumond. You are all welcome in Blackthorne Manor tonight.” He held out his arms and smiled, looking down at all of us who stood at the bottom of the five stairs leading to the door.
“Elias, you understand that if this is a trick, you break the accords?” One of the witches stepped forward without a shred of fear in her voice.
“Of course, Cita. I simply feel now is the time to usher in a new alliance. We are, after all, neighbors of sorts.”
The other three vampires stood still as statues, their stoic expressions revealing nothing. If Elias was beautiful, these three were created in the images of angels. Perhaps of the fallen variety. Two women and one man. All with blazing eyes in varying shades of amber. They had their father’s dark hair, except for one of the women, the only one dressed in a costume, whose locks were chestnut. But they had to be blood related. They resembled each other and Elias too strongly not to be.
“My children, Cashel, Sorcha, and Calliope.” Elias waited for each of them to step forward and offer a slight bow.
My father didn’t bow in response, so neither did any of the pack. He took my mother’s hand and waited for an invitation to enter. The tension between the three groups crackled and arced like lightning. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.
“Well, what are we waiting for? This is a party, after all. Come inside, the ball has just begun.” Elias stepped back and turned away from us. If he was afraid of treachery, he didn’t show it. “Callie, be a love and explain the rules to them, won’t you?”
Callie turned her attention to us and grinned, the shimmering jewels attached to her décolletage and cheekbones catching the moonlight. “No shifting, no magic. We won’t bite you, you don’t bewitch or attack us.” Then she beckoned us to follow her through the massive estate, her steps making no sound on the polished wood floor. “The ballroom has been enchanted. Warded to ensure you can’t transform or cast.”
“And what has been done to protect us from you?” I asked, my voice causing Nik to tighten his hold on me in warning.
Callie locked eyes with me and smirked. “If the answer is nothing?”
“Surely you don’t think us foolish enough to walk deeper into a spider’s web without a way to protect ourselves?”
“Smart girl,” she murmured. “Inside, you’ll each find a place card that bears your name. Each holds a box containing a solid silver chain you may wear in any way you choose. Though I recommend around your throats.”
“Silver?” I asked, thinking of the discomfort I experienced every time I came in contact with the metal. Every shifter did. It was an irritant. But to a vampire, it was poison.
“Yes. A gesture of…good faith.”
My father let out a low growl. “If a hair on the head of any member of my pack is harmed—”
“We’ve done nothing to make you think we’d harm you. Any of you. Please, join us and let this rivalry end.”
I looked at my father, then my mother, and said, “It’s a step forward in the right direction.”
He nodded.
“Splendid.” Callie knocked on the tall French doors, and they opened to reveal an older man with gray hair in a butler’s uniform and a short round woman with a kind face dressed as a maid. My instinct told me these two, though clearly vampires, were not joining the party.
The ballroom smelled of jasmine and bergamot, a rich scent I found more than enticing. But I couldn’t stop to take in the decor because the twenty or so vampires waiting had their eyes on each one of us—the outsiders. They were sizing us up. Watching and waiting for someone to make a wrong move. I could feel it.
“I thought it was just the Blackthornes,” I whispered to Nik.
“It’s the royal family and some members of court,” Callie answered without being asked from at least fifteen feet away. I forgot how good a vampire’s hearing was. I’d have to be more careful. She’d donned an iridescent mask that did little to hide who she was.
As I followed my parents to the table bearing our pack’s name, I had to swallow back a curl of fear. They could kill us here and now. No one could stop them. My father handed Mother and I each a silver chain, waiting as we both wrapped them around our necks. A deep itching settled where the metal touched me, but I knew it was a necessary discomfort.
Music swelled, dark and sensual, and with the warm light from the dimmed chandeliers and the scents filling the room, my head swam a little. Nik stood guard, a sentinel ready to pounce if need be. But everyone stayed in their respective corners. No witches spoke to vampire or shifter, and none of us stepped away from the familiarity of the pack.
“This is uncomfortable,” I muttered, letting my gaze roam the space.
I took in the groups of vampires, some with human companions, collars and chain leashes around their necks. They openly bore the marks of their lovers, bite wounds on their throats, the tops of their breasts, and who knew where else. Was that what it meant to be with a vampire? Did one become their property?
Dark laughter rolled over my skin like a blanket, but it sent shivers down my spine instead of warming me. The King stood with a human woman at his side and his son Cashel next to her. Clearly, something strange was happening between them because the woman was trembling and Cashel looked angry enough I worried he might attack.
Callie was across the room, talking with a witch, the first step toward integrating all of us. I sighed. “We are here to build bridges, not burn them.”
I began a slow stroll toward her. But halfway to my destination, I had to stop under the weight of a vampire’s gaze from behind me. It was physical. Heavy. Powerful. And trained completely on me. I turned slowly until my eyes locked with his. It was him. Even through his devil mask, I knew. Lucas. My nerve endings tingled as everything in me reacted to being in the same room as him again. I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t looked for him, tried to catch his scent, run too close to the property line every one of the four nights since our last meeting.
Lucas stood at the entrance of the room, dressed in a black suit, looking every inch like the Devil himself. Something low in my belly tightened at the wicked smirk on his lips.
“Ah, I see you’ve found my brother,” Callie said, at my side before I had time to see her move. “Lucas is charming, but still a vampire. Our kind doesn’t mix with shifters. You’d do well to remember that.”
Shock hit me in the chest, a bucket of cold water dousing the heat in my blood. “Your brother?”
She laughed. “As much as my father would like to deny it, yes. Lucas is the bastard prince of the Blackthorne line. He’ll chew you up and spit you out just as soon as you let him, Briar.”
Nik took my hand. “She willnae be entertaining him.”
I jerked my palm away and straightened my shoulders, my wings moving with each shift of my body. “And you won’t be telling me what to do, Nik.”
Striding across the room, I left the two of them behind and kept my gaze on Lucas the whole time. His grin widened along with his eyes. The vampire excused himself from the conversation he’d been involved with and met me halfway, swooping me into a dance without asking.
“A devil?” I asked.
“Except for Callie, we’re all dressed as demons tonight.”
“Not far from the truth.”
A low hum of appreciation vibrated in his throat. “You chose a fallen angel, I see. We go together quite well.”
“How’s that? The devil and an angel?”
“No, a fallen and a vampire. We are descendants of the fallen. Without them, we wouldn’t exist.”
My breath caught in my chest as he spun me out and then back, effortlessly avoiding my wings. “I’ve never heard that.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to know our origins, just as I don’t know what makes you turn into a wolf.”
I couldn’t keep my eyes off his as we danced. For two whole songs, we didn’t speak. We simply moved together. But something was nagging at me. Something I couldn’t let rest.
“You lied to me.”
He pulled me closer. “I did nothing of the sort.”
“You said you were a guard.”
“No. I said I look out for the family and protect the crown. That’s the duty of every Blackthorne.”
“And do you always do as you’re told?”
“Rarely.” Intense focus trained on me, he took in my costume. His grip on my waist tightened. “Did you come here tonight with the intent of serving yourself up like a tempting treat?”
“What’ll you do if I say yes?”
Lips brushed my cheek as he leaned in close. “Perhaps I’ll take you to my rooms and fuck you until you scream.”
My breath came in sharp little pants at the mental image of him pressing me against a wall and burying himself inside me. I swallowed down the rising tide of need.
“Would you like that, my wolf?”
A large, warm palm wrapped around my bicep and tugged me free of Lucas’ arms. “You’d do well to keep yer hands off what’s nae yours, vampire.”
“Nik—” I started, but he interrupted me with a sharp slash of his free hand through the air.
“Hands to yourself. This is our alpha’s daughter, as you, I’m sure, are well aware. The last thing he wants is for a dirty bastard like you to spoil her.”
Lucas’ eyes blazed. “Just for that, I’ll make sure she cries my name loud enough for you to hear.”
Nik growled, low and deep, his chest puffed forward as though he’d stand a chance against a vampire. I placed my palms on both of them and pushed. “That’s enough. I don’t want either of you. Put your beasts back in their cages.”
Lucas laughed. “Once mine is out, there’s no taming it.” Then he tipped his chin at me and took my hand in his. Bringing his lips to my knuckles, he brushed a kiss there; the soft feel of his tongue on my tender skin had me biting my lip. “Until our next encounter,” he murmured.
I felt that kiss all the way up my arm and through my body. He’d only touched my knuckles, but it seemed much more intimate. Bringing my hand close to my chest, I turned to face Nik, my expression carefully schooled. He couldn’t know Lucas had gotten to me.
“A dance, Nik?” I asked, hoping to distract him from what had just happened.
“I dinnae dance.” His strong golden brows pulled together in a frown. “Come on. I don’t trust these vampires.”
“Of course you don’t. But the accords—”
“The accords were written hundreds of years ago, and there’s not a single member of any council here to witness an attack. We are sitting ducks.”
I glanced around at all the vampires in the space. They were chatting with each other, but he was right; things didn’t feel…good. A heavy layer of disquiet in the room made goosebumps rise on my arms.
The two of us returned to our table where a meal had been placed at each of our spots. It looked perfect, but I had no appetite. It seemed none of us did.
Elias stood and tapped his glass with the tines of a fork. How ridiculous. A fork for a man who doesn’t eat food. “It’s my pleasure to have you all here under my roof. Our kind has always stayed in our own world.”
My father shifted in his chair, disbelief written all over his face. I looked across the table at a group of witches who seemed similarly affected.
“But that ends now. We share a common enemy. The hunters. It’s because of their hatred for all supernatural beings that we have to hide. Consider my offer: join with me and take them down. Give us all freedom to live as we truly should rather than hide in the shadows for fear of death.”
One of the witches actually snorted out a laugh. Elias’ gaze shot to her, but he ignored it. Instead, he raised a full glass of a sickeningly red liquid. “To new friendships.”
My father followed suit, looking to me and nodding as an indication I needed to do the same. Then we all drank. I half expected every single one of us to drop dead then and there. But we didn’t. The wine was just…wine.
Until my father began to choke.