Ten, p.44
Ten, page 44
The phoenix woman curtseyed demurely and lowered her head in deference. Even Merlin gave a small bow. Lord Pendragon turned back to the gobsmacked crowd.
“Well, is this a party or not?” he asked in a far more sly and sarcastic tone. He waved to the rafters. “Let there be laughter, spirits, and merriment for all!”
With a wave of his hands, the upper balcony swelled with music and the lights flickered and brightened to a modest nightclub level.
Full of all manner of vampire-appropriate delicacies, the entertainers poured into the room.
“Was it just me, or did Lord Pendragon just publicly pimp-slap the audience?” Georgia asked, as she and Bam-Yin slipped closer to the stage. “I don’t know all the vampire subtext, but I could practically taste resentment in his words.”
Bam-Yin stopped to grab a popcorn box from a nearby tray.
Georgia grimaced as her companion started popping deep-fried crickets into his mouth.
“Want one?” he asked.
“Vegetarian, sorry.”
“You are a freak,” Bam-Yin said in a chipper tone as he picked a few rogue legs out from between his fangs. “And yes, Lord Pendragon pretty much just called his wife out very publicly. I’m going to guess that the guy in the red dragon mask who is currently hovering around the phoenix is totally Vlad the Annoying. Any guesses on how he will try to comfort his embarrassed lady-love?”
“Look, I need to get to Lord Pendragon sooner rather than later
—” she started.
Before she could finish her sentence, her companion shimmered and faded into the night. A few moments later, a vampire
conveniently tripped and caused just enough of a scene to give Georgia an easy access corridor to the man in the wolf mask. She slipped through the chattering crowd but had to wait as Merlin and some other scary-looking vampires formed a little ring around Lord Pendragon.
“Um, excuse me,” she said as loudly as she dared. A few terrifyingly cold stares turned on her, but she stood tall and tried to make her own eye contact. She choked up once two bold, bright green eyes turned to her. For a moment, the world started to spin. A gloved hand grabbed her arm and pulled her right into the scary circle of bloodsuckers.
“Lord Pendragon, I needed to talk to you,” Georgia said once she caught her breath.
“Well, I always have time for a beautiful skeleton,” he said with a wave of his hand. “Merlin, I’m sure you can handle the rest of this.”
“But of course, Lord Pendragon,” Merlin said with a little bow.
Georgia couldn’t stop her surprised look in time.
“I’m sorry to bother you but it’s me, G—”
“Georgia Sutherland,” he said raising her hand to his lips. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.”
“What, since last night?” she asked. She instantly cringed. “Man, everyone can recognize me instantly, can’t they?”
“Only if they know what they are looking for, my dear,” he said as he eyed her appreciatively. “It’s quite a stunning ensemble you have there. Has my son seen you yet?”
Georgia felt a bit of warmth in her cheeks. “Um, no, I haven’t found Mr. Lambley. You seem so different tonight,” she blurted out.
“I feel like a new man,” he said. “But parts of me will always be exactly who you remember.”
Georgia finally slipped her hand free and reached into her bag.
Her hand actually trembled as she pulled out the scroll with the larger Pendragon seal.
“What’s wrong?” Lord Pendragon asked softly. Georgia had to reach for her head again.
“Sorry, you just always make me a little dizzy, Lord Pendragon.
It’s nothing. . . it’s nothing personal. I just need to give you this,” she
said as she finally handed him the scroll.
“Well, then,” he said as he popped open the seal. His face remained doggedly impassive as he skimmed over the text. He then calmly curled his finger to beckon Merlin back over. He finally looked at Georgia again. “I take it that you have another one for Geoffrey,”
he asked.
She nodded. Merlin held out his hand.
“I will deliver it personally, Miss Sutherland,” Merlin said.
“I really need to do this myself, don’t I?” Georgia asked.
“Very well, then,” Merlin sighed. He walked not ten paces to the right and tapped the shoulder of a redhead wearing a tiger mask.
“Why did it have to be a tiger?” she whispered as Mr. Lambley pranced over to join them. He clutched his hand over his tiger-striped vest.
“Is that you, Georgia?” he asked the skeleton. “I must say, Nicolette outdid herself. Miss Sutherland?”
Georgia handed him the scroll. “I needed to give you this,” she said softly. “I’m sorry.”
“Merlin, if you could give me and Miss Sutherland a moment. I think Geoffrey will need your guidance as well,” Lord Pendragon said. “Georgia, if you would be so kind as to follow me.”
He handed the scroll over to Merlin and once more took her hand. As he kept staring at Georgia’s neckline and the slit of her skirt, she blushed.
“Excuse me, but—” she started. He responded by pulling her so close that she almost crashed into his chest. For one moment, she smelled a faintly familiar perfume that quickly became ruined by the overwhelming smell of dog hair. She felt an arm against her back, and the way his fingers slid around her shoulder blade brought back memories.
“Please, stop that,” she said as she shuddered.
He pulled away slightly. Georgia studied the wisps of black hair around his mask and the color of his eyes. The vampire smiled and showed off his fangs.
“See something that you like?” he whispered. This voice made her shudder again.
“Just something painful and familiar,” she replied. “Please, am I free to go?”
“You know what that letter says, don’t you?” he asked as he slid his finger under the chain around her neck. “It releases you from the service of my son.”
Georgia nodded. His finger slid lower along her collarbone.
“It would also, however, remove the protection that you have from my house and from the Jaeger house. Are you so sure that you want to go through with this?” he whispered in her ear. Georgia trembled uncontrollably.
“Lord—”
“Of course, it is a sanctuary right now, so no one can harm you; but unless it is declared again, you’ll be vulnerable once the sun rises—”
His hand slipped around her waist again, and Georgia stiffened.
She shook her head as she remembered the same embrace from long ago.
“You’re remembering, aren’t you?” he said softly. Georgia nodded. “That’s because it’s a very special night at Pendragon Castle. Merlin is working his magic, you see.”
“Magic isn’t real,” Georgia said even as the music began to swell in her ears, and the lights flickered and dimmed all around her.
“Of course, magic is real,” the vampire said as he started swaying in time to the music. He led her out on the dance floor with effortless grace. The lighting changed, and mist puddled around the dancer’s feet, transforming the ballroom into a cool, mystical meadow. In the new ambiance, Lord Pendragon’s jaw seemed sharper, his skin darker and more of his long, straight black hair fell over his shoulders.
“What is happening?” Georgia dared to ask. More twinkling fireflies drifted around them as he swirled her around the center of the room. Somehow, the mist had become so thick that the other vampires faded away, and Georgia and Lord Pendragon were left alone in a crowded room.
“Magic, my dear,” he whispered. “Right now, you have the power to see anything you desire. All you have to do is close your eyes and
make the wish—”
“Wishes aren’t real,” she said shaking her head. “None of this is real.”
The vapor tickled her nose, and the song continued to echo in her head. She blinked as furiously as she could to contain the tears.
“Just close your eyes, and let it happen,” Lord Pendragon whispered. “Enjoy your last moment of serving vampires. Let us, for once, give you something in return. Trust me.”
“Never trust a vampire,” she all but breathed as she closed her eyes. A single tear rolled through her once pristine makeup and got caught on the edge of her mask.
“Just dare to dream a little,” he whispered in her ear. This time his voice sounded flat and American. . . almost robotic.
As she opened her eyes, his sleeves inched up his arms. On one forearm, she saw circuitry and on the other a rain of feathers. She shook her head furiously.
“No, this can’t be,” she choked out as he reached for his mask.
“It’s not real—”
“Georgia—”
She slapped his hand away and stumbled back into the mist. She ended up crashing into a stunned tiger and his date— a white tigress with familiar red eyes. “Autsch! Watch it, you little. . . Berliner, is that you?” the tiger lady snapped in a familiar German accent.
The mists rolled back, and the imposing figure of Lord Pendragon loomed over the trio. His eyes began to crackle as the shadows wrapped around him again.
“Father?” Mr. Lambley asked as he helped the shaking Georgia to her feet.
“Finish the dance,” Lord Pendragon commanded as he snatched the surprised Minerva to his side. “After all, we still have a show to see.”
Paige shoved her throbbing feet into the only pair of shoes that would contain her bruised, aching toes. She winced as she took her first step onto the floor, while a concerned trio of onlookers begged her to get right back into bed.
“The stress is getting to you, kiddo,” Kyle said as he felt her sweaty forehead. “There is no way you can face a room full of vampires. I barely got here in time—”
“Morgan, how much longer do you think it will be before you are missed?” Lorcan asked as he eyed the only working phone in the room.
“I’m already getting urgent texts to be on the floor. It’s supposed to be all hands-on deck,” Morgan said as he tucked in his shirt and slicked back his hair. “Don’t you think that you should be out there first and foremost, Lorcan?”
“Mina is more than used to handling these sorts of events,”
Lorcan muttered as he watched his wounded arm bubble but not heal over. Kyle finally ripped part of the sheets to tie off the wound.
“You’re really not up for this either, Grandpa,” he muttered. “You know, it would be nice if, just for once, I got called down to join the party rather than stitch you up. I was totally getting play from one of the house servants before Paige decided to have a code-moon on us in the middle of a vampire-infested castle!”
“Well, excuse me!” she snapped. “Sorry, my problems interrupted your sex life again—”
Morgan’s phone buzzed once more. “I have got to get out there,”
he muttered. “Kayleigh and Nadia are ready upstairs if we need to run, right?”
Kyle and Lorcan both nodded. The vampire slung his wolf-pelt cloak over his shoulders and let out a deep sigh.
“Look, I’ll go out and make an appearance. Kyle, take Miss Paige to Nadia and your sister, and get the hell out of here. I’ll make sure that Mr. Blaylock escapes—”
“Don’t you think it will be a little weird if you show up without your date?” Paige asked.
“You are in no condition to be around vampires. Kyle, please get her out of here—”
“For once, Lorcan and I are in agreement,” Morgan said. “Paige, please—”
His face turned deathly white as he read the new message on his phone. He looked over at the vampire in utter horror.
“What is it?” Lorcan asked.
“Apparently Lord Pendragon made quite the opening speech at the ball. I missed it,” Morgan said flatly. The vampire yanked the phone out of his hands.
“Kyle, get the girls out of here now. No more questions. Morgan, you go too—”
“If I just disappear it will cause more questions. I’ll take one loop, and then be gone—”
“Morgan,” Paige growled.
Morgan turned to Lorcan. “Worst case, I’m there as a distraction, while Paige and Kyle get out of here, right?” he asked. “We know where I stand.”
“Agreed,” Lorcan said as he yanked on his mask. “Now go, so I can root out whatever imposter—.”
Paige growled and made a grab for her mask. Lorcan snarled as the shadows wrapped around him. He knocked it away so hard that her happy wolf face snapped in half.
“Go,” he barked. “Am I clear?”
“Crystal,” Paige sighed as Kyle led her to the door.
32
“YOU KNOW, usually when someone says something is crystal, it means that they totally understood what that person said, and are not about to do the exact opposite, Paige,” Kyle snapped as she dragged him towards the ballroom door. “Paige!”
“Crystal clear,” she said with a tight little grin. She pointed to the vapor oozing under the main doors. “And I’m also telling you that something is wrong. You haven’t been down here. There is something in the air that is messing with our heads—”
Kyle stopped to sniff. His face turned ashy. He pulled Paige away from the cloud.
“I am getting a whiff of something, but Lorcan should have noticed this too—”
“When I was in college, I had this awful job in the mall at the candle store,” Paige explained. “At the beginning of the day, it was always terrible but as it went on—”
“You go nose deaf,” Kyle finished. “There is mint in there too and a little bit of weed. It kind of smells like some of the sedatives we—”
“If it’s a bunch of happy mist, then why did I go nuts?” she asked.
“When did you go nuts? It wasn’t in the room, right?” Kyle asked.
“No, it was after I left. I was in the hall following where the entertainment went—” she trailed off and clamped her mouth in horror. “Morgan! If he goes back there—”
A large shadow loomed around the corner. “Is someone there?” a deep islander voice asked.
“Oh god, it’s the giant,” Paige gasped. She shoved Kyle through the ballroom doors, and they both vanished into a cloud of happy smoke.
Across the dance floor, Georgia waltzed awkwardly in the arms of her former employer. He smiled sadly under his tiger mask.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” she said as they traipsed through another cloud on the floor. “It was. . . Ren’s last gift to me.”
“Dear Miss Sutherland, if you were unhappy, you could have simply told me,” Mr. Lambley said. “I would have let you out of your contract at any time.”
“I guess Ren just wanted to look out for me,” she said between sniffles. The song in the background picked up in tempo, and the lights changed to a brilliant fiery-red. Georgia could hear a fan whirr to life as the mist started to drift away from their section of the dance floor. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the remarkably graceful pair of Lord Pendragon and Minerva switch to a tango.
She squeezed Mr. Lambley’s hand. “You never made me unhappy, Mr. Lambley. You’ve always looked out for me, in your own little way,” she said. “You’re the one vampire I know would never hurt me.”
She thought she heard a little sniffle as they sashayed towards one corner of the dancefloor. Georgia cocked her head as she saw none other than Lord Pendragon walking towards the stage. As she whirled around, she saw the same Lord Pendragon still dancing with Minerva.
“Um, Mr. Lambley—” she said as her date continued to shudder.
She leaned in to point out the duplicate vampires. “Are you all right?”
“I’m sorry, but do you smell something?” he finally choked out as he grabbed his head. “It’s like sweaty socks and nights at the amusement park all combined.”
Georgia felt her heart race as she saw the second Lord Pendragon running for the sword. The mist vanished completely, and
she stumbled right into the arms of her dizzy dance partner. As she stomped on his feet, the vampire yelped in pain and reared back his fangs as if he was going to sink them right into Georgia’s bare throat.
An earth-shattering howl echoed through the cavern. The music ground to a shrieking halt as a new form thrashed and smashed its way through the stunned crowd. Georgia screamed as the nightmare crashed into Mr. Lambley. Red streaks splashed across her tattered gown.
Golden fur bristled through a torn suit jacket. The monster howled again and reared on his powerful canine legs. Its talons glistened in the now crimson light. Mr. Lambley cowered and scrambled along the floor, kicking and screaming as he faced the beast.
“No, this can’t be—” the vampire whimpered. “You’re not real.
You were never real—”
Vampires, the most feared creatures of the night, recoiled and ran in terror as the creature howled and beat its chest. Even Minerva, the Kung Fu queen, shook her head and made a tactical retreat.
“Nein. . . unmöglich—” Minerva stammered as the creature reared again.
“Mr. Lambley!” Georgia screamed as she dove into him and shielded him from the next attack. The claws slashed her shoulder.
She whirled around to see the gaping, ferocious maw of a wolf. Its solid blue eyes widened in horror as they saw the blood splashing to the floor.
“Werewolves aren’t real!” Georgia exclaimed, breaking into hysterical laughter. “You’re not real.”
The creature snarled and turned its attention to the shocked Minerva. She whipped off her tiger’s mask and raised her fists.
“I’ve sent you to hell before, monster,” Minerva growled as she maneuvered herself between said monster and the bleeding pair.
Georgia could only stare in awe as the vampire formed a shield in animal print sequins. A gentleman in a Wild West suit and bandit’s mask joined the fray and tipped his hat to Minerva.
“Don’t think you’ll get all the fun, sis,” Steve said as he planted his feet and put up his dukes.
Georgia turned her attention to the shell-shocked vampire. His eyes fixated on the dancing lights of the ceiling, and he gibbered nonsensically about ghosts and monsters.
