Page 103 of Red Masquerade

I reached to brush a strand of hair behind his ear, but he suddenly gripped my wrist with brute strength. I knew all it would take was a flinch, and he’d crush the delicate bones in my hand. But he placed my hand against his cheek, turningso his nose brushed the inside of my wrist. Smelling, breathing in deeply.

“I couldn’t come home,” he said, eyes shut, “because if I returned before I could control myself, control my bloodlust, then I’d find you. I wouldn’t stop until I did, andeveryonewould be dead.” His tongue darted out, deep red between his lips, licking the spot where my pulse fluttered against my skin.

“Do you understand I am a monster?” he asked. He pulled my arm, jerking me toward him. “Do you get it? That I wouldkillanyone for you?”

I couldn’t speak. He held me fast, tight, his grip caging me to him. He leaned in closer so our breath mingled in the air between us.

“Iwantto kill for you,” he said, sending electricity down my spine. “I would turn myself into a demon for you. And I wouldn’t be sorry. I’d be glad to do it, to rid the world of every last person, just so I could have you.”

My eyes slammed shut. His words were vile curses against society and everyone we knew. They were crazy words, damning.

But they felt so good, hearing him say them. To know how much he wanted me.

“You are...” I began, but my voice caught in my throat.

“Yours,” he murmured, once more running his nose over my jaw, my neck. I shivered. “I’ve made myself yours. I’vealwaysbeen yours.”

“I wish I had known,” I whispered, because if I tried to speak aloud, my voice would break.

“I would’ve stolen you away years ago, if I could have. I would’ve come to you in your bed, and shown you just how much I longed for you, before stealing you away fromhim.”

“He doesn’t matter,” I said. “Just show me who you are now. Show me your new world. Everything. I want to knoweverything.”

He kissed my neck. “You must know how difficult this is for me. How much I’ve wanted to show you, but how much I feared you’d run.”

I held his face in my hands. “I’d never run from you.”

He shook his head again. “I am not who I once was.”

“And I’m still here,” I insisted, resting my forehead on his. “I am not the same, either.”

“I will show you,” he said with conviction, his fingers tightening around me. He pulled away enough for me to see his pupils dilate once more. “Tomorrow. I will introduce you to all.”

To the vampires that come and go. To those who attended the blood parties.

He kissed me once, smashing his lips to mine, forcing his tongue between my teeth, my knees buckling.

He pulled away just as quickly, and my head swam.

“I want you to wear these,” he said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled from it a small velvet box. The name of the store was something foreign, scrawled in gold script upon the top. A name that harkened a massive bill. Such money he was ready to throw away, to spend, for me.

When he opened the box, two red rubies shone in the moonlight. In the shape of teardrops—drops of blood, glinting like histeeth. Shining like they’d been forged in the sun. Maybe even one-of-a-kind.

“Wear these, and they will all know.” His voice hardly above a whisper. A promise. “You will see it all, andtheywill be sorry.”

Thirty-Five

My eyes snapped open to the mid-morning sunlight illuminating the room with a soft yellow glow. I was bundled deep into the sheets of the bed, feeling as though I awoke amidst a pile of clouds.

And I was alone.

I realized what had pulled me from sleep was the ringing of a bell on the wall, incessant enough to be annoying, sharp enough to startle me awake. In my sleep-addled brain, it took me a moment to realize it was the telephone, and another to realize I should answer.

“Yes?” I yawned, putting the receiver to my ear.

“Miss,” came a male voice, one I didn’t recognize, but immediately knew it was a servant, a butler perhaps, if Vince even had one. Monotone, unenthused. “You have a visitor. Shall I offer them tea?”

“A visitor?”