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I glanced over to the Theseus, but he wasn’t watching. His lips were in a tight line, and he held on to Lucy.
“He would search for you and search for you, then get heartbroken at not finding you, dejected that you were already gone or with someone else. Then he tried to replace you with another, someone who was close, who was here, and then he’d feel guilty and dive back into his search for you. Just because we are vampires does not mean we are not flawed men. Lucy taught me that.” When he said her name, Lucy’s head snapped toward us—I was sure he knew, but he went on anyway. “Well, her dramas did. I hate almost ninety percent of the male characters in those shows she watches. I hate that they are always so weak-willed, doormats for their parents’ ambitions or expectations. I want them to speak up, defend themselves, their right to love their women. I want them to threaten to disown their own mothers for daring to bring that red envelope.”
I laughed at the expression he made, his nose bunching up. “You really watch a lot of those.”
“My mate is Lucy Ming,” he said as if that should have been explanation enough. “I did not realize my emotions toward those males was because of my anger toward myself. I always wanted the characters to be what I sometimes can’t. I want them to be perfect: perfectly independent, perfectly in love, perfectly strong enough to provide on their own and vulnerable enough to speak of their emotions. I want them to be better than me, so I hold them to a higher standard, and rebuke them for failing to be the perfect version of what I want them to be. Doing so makes me a hypocrite. I know it. I can see it, but I can’t help it.”
“Taelon?” I whispered once again stunned. “Everyone must have heard this conversation.”
“Only us four did,” he said, pausing to show me the half-butterfly pendant. “It is like the glass in the car and in the building, it creates a sound barrier. No one can hear us when where are close together. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been doing my best to keep us close to them.”
“How does it work?”
“Magic.” Taelon winked.
“It’s Daiyu’s gift.” I heard Lucy’s voice as if she were standing right next to me, not too loud or soft. “She can create sound like barriers. She can impart that gift to objects. She’s the Swan family sound proofer per say.”
Taelon frowned as she spoke, “You are always telling me not to speak of my gifts so lightly, and you just shared another’s Lucy.”
“Well then, I guess I am a hypocrite,” she shot back, and I smiled, and so did he.
“Lord Thorbørn, would you like to share anything while we are in this private bubble?” Taelon pressed.
“There is nothing to share. I am perfect. It is quite odd to me that you all have such flaws,” he said with his head held high.
I wanted to kick him. I wanted to dance with him. However, the music stopped as Mikhail called out, “My fellow immortals, I do believe it is time to feast.”
One by one, blindfolded humans came into the room, the women wearing nothing but a thin slip and the men in their boxers. Panic for them began to rise; what was about to happen?
“Go back to Theseus,” Taelon whispered to me seriously, taking the broken butterfly wing and putting it on my wrist like a bracelet.
“You don’t have, too.”
“Think of it as thank you gift,” Lucy said when I looked over to Theseus.
Lucy was already doing the same thing. She let go of him and walked to Taelon.
Outstretching his hand, I took it and spun closer to him. We walked off the dance floor toward the double glass doors, which lead to another ballroom; only, this one wasn’t full of decadent furnishings. It mimicked the outside patio, the ground made of the best looking and smelling fake grass I’d ever seen. There were even trees, a small pond, and above us, a clear black night sky with a large moon hung within it. It was beautiful and intimate, which was why there were already vampires inside getting handsy with one another.
“May I be so bold as to ask for the room?” Theseus announced.
At the sound of his voice, they broke away from each other. The female wiped the lipstick off the corner of her mouth before following her friend out. She gave me a wink before leaving.
When the doors closed, Theseus exhaled, putting his forehead mine.
“Finally.” He pulled me close to his body. “I missed you.”
“It was one dance.”
“It’s more than that. We haven’t been able to freely speak,” he whispered, cupping my cheek. Again, being surrounded by vampires often makes it hard for privacy. “I also wish to apologize for all the past inequities being mentioned.”
“You don’t have to apologize. I understand—”
“I do not wish you to think you are like them,” he said. He peered into my eyes, and I stopped breathing to look back.
“Am I different because your mother’s gift said so?”
“I’ll keep saying it until you believe it. You make me feel as if I were a mortal man again.” He brushed my hair from my face, “You are my sun, Druella. I now revolve around you, I crave the warmth of your gaze and touch. I can rest with you, be myself with you, and be the Prince of Night or Lord Thorbørn too. I can be honest. I do not know if I am a hypocrite. I have many character flaws; you will find out.”
