The Den of Shadows Quartet - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes [97]
He hung her jacket in the closet and turned his back to her, leading her deeper into the house. She wanted so much to put a knife into his back immediately but his next words discouraged her.
“What about you, Sarah? I do not kill until midnight. As it is, I’m not sure that I plan to kill you at all. Do you have any rules for yourself, or should we forget all manners and throw ourselves on the mercy of chaos?”
“You want me to wait until midnight to kill you?” she asked incredulously, and Nikolas turned back to face her.
“If that’s what you plan to do tonight, then yes, I would like for you to wait until midnight to try. You are a guest here this time — you must abide by our rules.”
“Hardly” She leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms. Her right hand rested over the handle of the knife strapped to her left wrist, and she was comforted by the cool feel of silver beneath her fingertips.
“Honor, Sarah,” Nikolas sighed. “Does the Vida line no longer teach its children honor? I invited you, and you accepted the invitation. It would be rather unsporting to spoil the game because you are impatient.”
“I am never impatient.”
“Just like you never shout out,” he answered. “And never cry, even when you make enemies of your friends. Yes, Nissa told me about your conversation,” he said before she could ask. “So, will you follow our rules?”
“I can wait until midnight.”
“Do I have your word on that?” he asked, his gaze intense.
She did not answer immediately. When a Vida gave her word, she kept it, so Sarah was careful how she phrased her answer. “Unless you threaten me, I will wait until midnight to kill you. You have my word on that.”
Nikolas smiled, and for an instant the expression reminded her of Christopher. “Very well, then. Enjoy the bash — you’ll probably never make it to another one.”
CHAPTER 18
BY ELEVEN-THIRTY, Sarah had been introduced to others, some humans, some vampires. She wondered just how much needed to be done before these killers would drop their social detachment and retaliate, and whether Nikolas even cared that his father’s murderer was among the guests.
“Not until midnight.” Kaleo’s voice slipped through the noise of the room, a hint of laughter in his tone, and Sarah repressed a shiver. She glanced over to see a young woman gazing up at Kaleo with the intensity of love — or terror.
“Midnight is only half an hour away,” she argued.
“Is there some hurry, dear?” Kaleo bent his head to kiss his victim’s throat; she sighed, leaned her head back, and when he stood again she leaned against a wall, clearly disappointed.
Sarah jumped when she felt hands on her shoulders. “I thought you never reacted,” Nikolas said, laughing.
“I’m standing in a slaughterhouse where the cattle are begging to become hamburgers. I have a right to be jumpy.”
“Ah.” Nikolas followed Sarah’s gaze. “Heather is Kaleo’s favorite. She has been frequenting these bashes for longer than I have been alive.”
“God,” Sarah whispered, sickened. A blood bonded human did not age. This girl could remain alive, Kaleo’s personal prey, for thousands of years unless he tired of her and killed her. Or, Sarah thought, forming an instant hatred of the vampire, until I kill him.
“Welcome to my world, Sarah,” Nikolas answered. “Why are you wearing these?” He reached to the bandages on her right arm as she pulled away. “Are you ashamed of what they hide?”
“Ashamed?” she echoed, incredulous. “Should I be proud to show the world that you’ve sliced your name into my skin?”
Nikolas laughed. “Look around you.”
The comment was well placed. Sarah had already seen several humans with Nikolas’s marks on them. When he entered the room, they greeted him with adoration. While they were discreet in human society, in Nikolas’s own lair they wore tank shirts or sleeveless dresses, going out of their way to show off the marks.
“I’d rather burn them off, personally,” she growled.
“If you really want to, you can always do that later, though I’ve heard it’s painful,” Nikolas commented, apparently serious. “Of course, I don’t suppose you