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Through the haze, I could barely make out the faces of the few hundred guests, but one stood out like a sore thumb.
Stark.My heart raced.
He stood toward the front of the room near a platform lined with smaller candles around the edges. He wore a dark suit and had his hair pulled back. He looked beautiful and poised, utterly at home among all these bloodsucking degenerates. Except for his eyes, which were laser focused on Lazlo. If hate had a color, his eyes were it.
My stomach knotted, knowing what I was about to do to him. But what choice did I have? Until I was officially recognized as Anna, I had no cards to play here. Even then, any leverage I gained out of this would be used to keep me and my family safe.
The crowd made way for Lazlo and me as we strolled toward the front of the room. All eyes were on us, and inaudible whispers filled the air.
Suddenly, I didn’t feel so good. If I wanted to save myself and Maybell, I would have to address these vampires and make ’em believe I was their beloved queen.
One big side note about me: I wasn’t the world’s best liar. Sure, I was okay with polite lies like, “No, Joe, your hair ain’t thinning. Just as thick as ever!” or “Yes, Maybell, eating vegetarian animals is just like being a vegetarian.” Sometimes it was best to let folks think what they wanted and figure out things on their own. It wasn’t my place to go around bursting bubbles unless they genuinely needed my help. But delivering a big, fat, hairy lie right to someone’s face? Sure, I could do it, especially to save my own butt, but would I be good at it? No.
“I have to use the ladies’ room,” I whispered to Lazlo.
He glanced at me. “It will have to wait.”
“I’m gonna be sick. Y’all want to see that?” Puking didn’t sound like something a brave Anna would do.
Funny. I’d spent the last ten years holding in my emotions, and now I couldn’t keep them inside.
I could see Lazlo mulling. He’d already witnessed my weak stomach.
“Fine,” he growled and turned to one of the men in his entourage following behind us. “Anna needs to powder her nose. Take her.”
The man dipped his head, and I followed him through the crowd to the corner of the large room. He opened a door that led to a small dark hallway with two more doors.
“Pick one.”
“Thanks.” I rushed into the first room, flipping on the lights. The stench of rotting something hit me immediately. There was dried blood on the tile floor, and the sink looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in a decade. I covered my mouth and pinched my nose.Bleach, vampires! Get some dang bleach!
This smell wasn’t going to make my nausea go away.
I turned to go back outside, thinking I might try the other bathroom.
I opened the door and slammed right into Stark. The man who’d escorted me lay facedown on the floor, either dead or unconscious.
“Ohmygod. Stark.” I pressed my hand over my heart.
“Masie, are you all right?”
Hell no. Not even a little.“Alive and kickin’.”
He took me by the shoulders. “We only have a minute, Masie, but whatever Lazlo has asked you to do, I beg you not to.”
I let out a long breath. “He’s my husband now. And I have a role to play.”Or else.
“Masie, no. He is using you.”
Yeah, no kidding. “And you weren’t?” I leaned in closer to whisper, “I know everything, Stark. I know you just want to avoid a vampire civil war to keep your power. I know everyone’s sayin’ you killed Anna because you disagreed with her politics.”
“They may say what they like, but it is not true. I loved Anna. You must trust me.”
“Trustyou? You turned my daddy.”
“I saved him, just like I saved your uncle andyouthe night Ronnie attacked. Think about it, Masie. I have never betrayed or hurt you, whereas Lazlo is a snake who’ll do anything to get his revenge because he believes I stole Anna from him.”
“Did you?” I watched his expression carefully, searching for signs of dishonesty.
