He chuckled and brought his mug up.
Taewyn pushed back from the table. “I’m going to try my hand at cards. See you two later.” He bumped into my chair as he passed by and winked at me. Could he be any more obvious?
“Are you really here because you missed me or is there something else?” After the past few days of events, I worried.
“I have no other motive, Aesira.”
I loved when he said my name. The way it rolled off his tongue was like a song. I pressed my lips together, trying not to smile.
“I used to come here often when I was younger. I haven’t been here in a few years, but it still looks the same. A lot of the same faces too.” He did a quick scan of the room. “My sisters loved this place. It upset our father that we were seen at an establishment that people with money and status shouldn’t set foot in. His words, not mine. I’d drink too much, find a stranger to dance with and promise women things I didn’t mean and waste half my monthly allowance on gambling. I’m not proud of it.”
I set my mug down. It was hard to imagine Vander rebellious. I’d never even seen him drunk or sweettalking a woman. He rarely talked to any women but me and Falcon. Ghost on occasion, but there still seemed to be a rift between them because of me.
“Was there ever a woman you loved?” We’d never spoken about his past with women or much about his personal life.
He shook his head. “I didn’t care about love then, and after I became what I am, I didn’t want it. My father always had it in his mind that he’d arrange a marriage between me and... my mage friend. He said it would be a powerful match, bringing our two families together. Her family has staggering amounts of wealth. But he hasn’t spoken to me since Oriana passed, so I’m sure he’s dropped that notion.”
My heart beat faster. A cold dread flooded my body. “Did you want to marry—” I tried to say Jaeda’s name and couldn’t, again, “—her?Doyou?” My voice came out higher pitched than I wanted.
“She’s beautiful and charming, but neither of us has ever felt more than friendship. And thankfully I’ve always respected her too much to ever try anything, even when I was younger and stupid.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. Vander was in rare form tonight. His openness took me by surprise. “Have you been,” I hesitated to ask but I wanted to know, “intimate with anyone since that day?” With the way he spoke of his past with women, I couldn’t imagine he was a virgin.
“No.” He stared at the foam in his mug. “I’m afraid to.” He said it so quietly, I barely heard him over the music and the cheer from a group of gamblers. “Life with me is dangerous now. You know that. And not just because there would be a target on her back because of my reputation with the vampires. Indulgingin that pleasure could make it very difficult for me not to give in to... other desires of mine.”
I swallowed. “You think you could lose control.”
He lifted his eyes to mine and he didn’t have to answer for me to know what he was thinking.
“I think you’re the most controlled person I’ve ever met.”
“If I was, I wouldn’t be here tonight.”
My pulse quickened and a strange rush coursed through my veins. I was sure he heard my pounding heart despite the crowds around us. “Are you worried about tomorrow?”
“Not for myself. I almost wish your team hadn’t won. The more I think about it, the more I don’t want you anywhere near Dravyn Knox. Not because you aren’t ready. I can’t stop thinking about what happened with Oriana and if he knows you’re important to me, if something goes wrong.” He shook his head and raked his hand through his thick, wavy hair.
“But you want to kill him. I had to win the game so you could.”
“I know. I’ve wanted revenge against him for a long time, but the what ifs are eating away at me. Stay close to me tomorrow. We’ll have archery support from the warriors for this mission, given the rumors of these winged horses, but it’s still going to be dangerous.”
I shuddered. “I always stay close to you. Everything will go well. We’ll kill Dravyn Knox and save those people they plan to take.” The Commanders told us before we left that Dravyn planned to attack the village of Northbend and capture a host of humans. We were supposed to be there waiting to ambush them before dark hit. Even though Dravyn was a daywalker, not all of his battalion was.
Vander’s throat bobbed and his blue eyes were glassy. “I like your hair down like that. You are beautiful with it pulled back too, but you’re enchanting with it all flowing in waves.”
I pawed at the ends, too stunned to find words. He didn’t usually compliment me on my looks. He indirectly told me I was beautiful, but he didn’t say it.
“Why is your eye black like that? What truly happened to your hand?”
I gulped and picked up my mug. He’d seen enough of my dreams. “I think you already know the answer to that.”
He scooted until his chair touched mine and his fingertips brushed over my hand resting on the tabletop. “If it is what I think, then how are you not like me?”
I stared into his hypnotic blue eyes. In the back of my mind I wondered if he was charming me into confessing, and that was why he was different tonight. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “It’s impossible.”
“Your blood does smell unique, like that vampire said. Humans and ducai smell slightly different, ducai have a stronger metallic scent. Vampire blood smells like their last meal. Yours is... words fail to explain. I just know it’s not quite the same.”
I dropped my voice to a whisper. “What if I was never ducai? What if that bite changed me but not in the way it changes others?”
