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“Excuse me for having emotions, unlike some people,” I said, shooting him an extra hateful glare.
Erianna leaned forward, her necklaces spangling together. “Enough.” She suppressed a smirk, then shook her head, her eyes rolling up. “Laveniuess’s energy will remain in your veins for weeks, so it’s not too late, and Zach’s right, we will make time when we’re at the castle.”
I rubbed my temples. “It’s just happening so fast.”
“I know, but we couldn’t delay the trip. Once news of your engagement reached the castle, the clock started. The king is already upset about Sebastian not asking permission first.”
“So stupid,” I mumbled. “I suppose I should get ready.” The woman on the box of hair dye from my nightstand taunted me, smiling, fangs exposed, as she flicked back dark-brown curls. Grabbing the box, my mouth twisted as I prepared to say goodbye to my red hair. “I’ve never done this before.”
“Why do you think I’m here, honey?” She stood and took the dye from my hands. “Come. Let’s make you look like the wife-to-be of a court official. I have the perfect dress, and makeup picked out to go with your new hair.”
“I have to start now? I thought we don’t arrive at the castle until tomorrow?”
Zach rushed to the window, running his hand over the thin layer of dust on the ledge. “You’ll begin the ruse as soon as you’re at the hotel.” He gazed out over the spires and roofs of the city. “Most of society’s elite stay there. It’s where many dignitaries stop to rest between visits to the city and the castle.”
“Okay.” I eyed Erianna, who seemed just as uncomfortable with makeovers as me. Although I used to love doing them a few years ago, I stopped bothering once I was with Astor. He hated me wearing makeup, and I didn’t exactly go out anywhere to bother dressing up. “Let’s put on some music while we get ready.”
Erianna smiled. “I can’t recall the last time I listened to music for fun.”
“I’ve never had this, like a girlfriend to do these things with. It was always Draven or Astor, and neither seemed particularly interested in makeup.”
She laughed. “Neither have I, nor do I care much for it, but I don’t see why I can’t make this fun.”
A sense of normalcy settled over me, and I couldn’t help but feel a swelling of excitement building. Was this what I was missing out on all these years? Real friends to hang out with? Draven and I mostly watched TV or talked about his work, and Astor and I just talked, cuddled, or got takeout.
“That’s my cue to go.” Zach headed out the door. “Anna’s waiting for me.”
“Bye,” I said a little too cheerily, happy for him to leave.
Once he was gone, I joined Erianna, who sat me on a chair at the bathroom vanity and prepped the dye. “One day, I’m sure you will both be good friends,” she predicted out of the blue.
“I know you can’t mean Zach.”
“He can be a lot of fun once you get to really know him. It takes him time to warm up to people and open his heart. He guards it heavily.”
“Luckily for him, I don’t want anything to do with his heart.”
She scoffed a laugh. “No, but he does value the few friendships he has. He’s good to Anna, and before her, he was with Levian for fifty years.”
“Levian?” I inquired.
“He was Zach’s soulmate, but he was killed.”
“Zach’s bisexual?”
She shrugged. “I don’t think gender means much to him. He falls in love with the person’s soul, and as for Levian, they were perfect for each other. Finding your soulmate is rare, but once you do, it’s like being with the person who completes, understands, and challenges you, unlike anyone else. I’ve heard it can be quite the tug-of-war. It definitely was with Zach and Levian.”
“How do you know you’ve found your soulmate?” I asked. Normally, I’d never believed in such things, but I couldn’t ignore that I was sitting with an immortal in a kingdom of vampires, so being open-minded wasn’t really a choice.
“You just feel it. Vampires feel it more. They can sense it in each other. Levian and Zach didn’t know they were until Levian was turned.”
My eyes widened. Perhaps Draven was right, and soulmates did exist. If so, was mine out there? Knowing my luck, I doubted it, but still, I couldn’t help but feel intrigued. “How did he die?”
“A hunter found him.”
My eyebrows knitted into a frown. “Hunter? Like you?”
“No.” She cast her eyes down as she started layering on the hair color. It filled the room with a polarizing odor that burned the back of my throat, watering my eyes. “There are mortal vampire hunters.”
