Where Loyalty Lies (31 page)

I frowned at him. “You can’t feel it?”

We sat watching each other for a moment and then he shook his head.

“I don’t think so. I know how I’ve felt when I’ve seen the female vamps but I don’t feel like that with you.”

A weight I didn’t know I’d been carrying lifted off my shoulders. Right here, at this very moment, something truly fantastic had happened to me. Dale was unaffected by me. I was so happy I couldn’t help but grin. I didn’t know if Dale knew what he meant to me. He was one of those genuinely good guys you don’t meet very often.

It was fate. The fact that, out of every human being here, it had been Dale that had found me that day by the pool and he was probably the only guy here to be unaffected by my Attraction was a revelation.

“You’re looking kinda goofy there,” Dale said.

I gave him a playful shove and stopped my stupid grinning so that I could finish eating.

When we went back to the party the attention on me had faded. There were still heads turning, and snippets of conversation about me found my sensitive ears, but the interrogation was over. I got my wish and managed to enjoy the evening dancing and laughing.

When everybody started to pour out the doors and into another room, Dale’s eyes lit up.

“It’s midnight,” he said. “Time to walk the plank.”

Not bothering to explain what that meant he grabbed my hand and started pulling me along in the direction of the crowd.

Everyone came to a stop at the swimming pool. This one had none of the extravagance that the one at the main house had. It looked like your standard leisure centre pool except that four long wooden beams had been laid out across the width of the pool. The beams were about fifteen feet apart and, with the ends resting on the tiles on either side of the pool, they were about a foot above the surface of the water.

“Okay,” I said. “I guess people have to walk across the planks, but they’re not very narrow. Where’s the challenge?”

“Look.” Dale pointed to where four guys were now standing at one end of the planks. They stripped down to their boxers to the whoops and cheers of the audience. Then bottles of drinks and shots glasses were brought forward. A guy counted down from three, all four boys drank a shot and then raced across the planks to where another shot waited for them on the other side. It sounded simple enough but it was fantastic entertainment. On the fourth run one guy lost his balance and splashed into the water where he proceeded to swim to the edge and haul himself out, ignoring the friendly heckles he was getting. On the sixth run another of the guys slipped and his falling made the guy next to him lose his concentration and they both fell in. The last guy standing finished his run and took his bow to rapturous applause.

The game carried on for a long time. It seemed that everyone wanted to have a go. Health and Safety would have had a field day. I could only imagine what they’d think of the alcohol/swimming pool/racing combination. Nobody seemed that bothered though and I guessed that knowing doctors and a hospital were just a minute away made their tradition worth any risks.When more than half of the audience was dripping wet after their turns, there was a lull in volunteers. Two guys were already standing in their boxers waiting and the guy, who’d taken on the job as commentator, was trying to coax two final people to have ago.

“What about the vampire girl?” someone shouted. I didn’t know who it was but I took an instant dislike to them. I tried to shuffle a little to my right so that I could hide behind Dale but it was too late.

Murmurings of agreement spread across the room and eventually every head was turned towards me.

I shook my head but the commentator guy shouted, “Oh come on, vamps can drink tons more than us so this’ll be a walk in the park for you.”

Again I shook my head, knowing I’d gone bright red.

“Vamp-girl, vamp-girl, vamp-girl!” the commentator chanted and, much to my horror, the crowd picked it up and joined in until it was deafening.

Talk about peer pressure. I gave Dale a desperate look, only to find out he was chanting too. That brought an idea to mind. If I was going down, I was taking him with me.

I conceded with a nod and got a cheer of approval. When the cheers had died down I raised my voice.

“I’ll do it, but only if my good friend Dale fills the last space.”

Dale’s grin vanished and with a smug smile I turned and started making my way to the start line.

As I waited, a guy explained the rules to me. I wasn’t sure if he thought I was stupid enough not to understand after I’d been watching it for over an hour, or if he thought the vampire part of me meant I might not understand the concept of careless drunken antics.

Dale was on the plank next to me and I raised my eyebrows at the black boxers he was wearing. I didn’t miss the stares his body was getting from the girls.

“Ooo, Calvin Klein boxers, very nice,” I teased.

Dale waved his hands at me. “Why, thank you. Your turn.”

It hadn’t escaped my attention that the girls had also stripped down to their underwear or bikinis to do this. I wouldn’t be doing that, not because I was embarrassed but because of the cuts on my arms. They looked too deliberate to be passed off as accidents and I didn’t want to have to explain them.

“Don’t see the point, really, it’s not like I’m going to be getting wet,” I said. “In fact, I think I’ll even keep my heels on, might give you a chance.” There were suitable noises of interest from everyone in the room.

Despite my four inch heels, it was a doddle. Not only did being half-vampire mean that the alcohol didn’t have half as much effect on me as it did on everyone else, but it also meant my balance was good.

After eight runs it was just down to me and Dale. He’d had a couple of close calls but grim determination had kept him upright. On the eleventh run his luck ran out and he splashed into the water.

I accepted my applause with a small bow and stood at the edge of the pool to meet Dale. He held his arm up and I grabbed his hand to hoist him out of the pool. The second his fingers closed around my wrist, I realised my mistake.

“I can’t believe you fell for that,” Dale said with a grin, and then he yanked me in, shoes and all.

An hour later we were both back in Dale’s room using a heap of towels to dry ourselves. The party was far from over but, as it was a Sunday, I’d have to get up early for my medical day.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” Dale asked.

“No, I need to get back. Besides you can go and have a little fun without me cramping your style.” I gave him a wink as I slipped back into my trainers and coat.

“Yeah, okay,” he relented.

“Thanks, Dale, I had a really good time.” We shared a hug and then I left, out of the window as always. It was hardly raining now so I didn’t bother with my umbrella.

Halfway back to the main house an idea hit me and I changed course. The Halloween banquet was in the same ballroom that the Autumn Ball had been held and I couldn’t resist passing by to see what I’d missed out on.

When I neared the stretch of windows that covered one side of the ballroom, I kept far enough away so that I could keep hidden in the woodland. I sank down behind a bush that was thick enough to distort my outline.

I’d been surprised when Holt had said the word “banquet” as it implied eating and, seeing as vampires only had one source of food, it had conjured up some pretty gruesome images. But as with everything else that I misunderstood, Holt had explained it to me. The evening would be more like a Ball except, instead of dancing, they’d all sit and watch some sort of entertainment and when that was finished they’d do what vampires seem to do best. Socialising.

It seemed like they were onto the second part of the evening. Despite the late, or rather early, hour the room was full. I scanned the crowds searching for a familiar face and found Henry. He looked like he was in deep conversation with a female member of staff and the adoring look she was giving him told me that Henry had turned up his charm. Further scanning revealed Saul and a shiver ran down my spine. I’d known that, next to The Sénat, Saul was one of the most respected people here but I’m not sure that information had actually sunk in.  I’d never seen Saul like this before.

He was standing with a drink in one hand and the other hand alternated between brushing his hair back from his eyes and gesturing as he spoke. His stance somehow seemed both relaxed and powerful and I can’t have been the only person to think so because he had a constant stream of people coming up to talk to him.

I watched in amazement at the reactions that people had to him. Their gazes were constantly flicking to Saul and he wasn’t left on his own for longer than ten seconds before someone new would approach him. It hadn’t been like that at the Autumn Ball. I strained to see his face, wondering if he was enjoying the evening. It was always clear that he was a hell of a lot more sensible than Henry, but I’d often seen Saul laughing and happy. This seemed out of character somehow.

I realised how difficult it must be for him to always ensure his guard was up when people were around, to always have to portray this hard exterior. I didn’t really understand it. I knew his true personality shone out when he was around Henry, but I couldn’t see why anybody would spend such a large portion of their time playing these vampire games and having to be so calculating. What was the point? Yes, he was top enforcer but was that title really worth having when he had to make such an effort all the time instead of just living?

I wondered what would have happened if I’d agreed to go with Saul. Would I be standing there next to him, pretending to be interested? As I was trying to picture it, Saul’s head turned just a fraction of an inch towards me. I froze. Was he really looking at me? I was sure it was just a coincidence, but I closed my eyes just in case; I didn’t want the light reflecting off them and giving away my location.

I sat there for a while just waiting for someone to open up one of the doors and shout out “Why the hell are you sitting out in the rain with your eyes closed
?
” but nothing happened. When I eventually did peek, it was to see that nobody had noticed me and Saul had disappeared. I wanted to stay and search him out again but my close call had made me realise how utterly ridiculous I’d look if I was spotted out here.

I slipped in through the front doors again, pausing to take off my trainers so that I didn’t leave muddy prints all the way to my room. I did my best to wring all the water out of my clothes and hair and, when I turned back into the hall, Saul was standing watching me.

Damn, he had seen me.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I lost my temper earlier.”

For a few stupid seconds I stood in silence. Watching him a few minutes ago, I’d seen him from an entirely different perspective. I understood now how strong and dominant he could be, but here he was apologising to me for losing his temper when, actually, I thought he’d been well within his rights to do so.

“No, I’m sorry,” I finally said. “I was the one who was out of order.” I wasn’t sure if it was due to my new perspective of Saul or just the incredible amount of alcohol I’d consumed, but I decided it was time we came to some kind of truce. “I didn’t mean to be a bitch but I just can’t handle this, well, I mean... you. I have enough on my plate right now and I just want to keep my head down and get on.” I picked my words carefully. I knew that, if I told him again that I didn’t want to be part of his game plan, it would just irritate him and we’d end up arguing. “It’s too much and I really need to keep my mind focused right now.” I almost crossed my fingers hoping he’d understand. I had no idea if he’d accept my excuses and back off a bit or if he’d shun me completely, but either one was better than this constant battling.

There was another moment of quiet while he processed my request. “If that’s what you’d like,” he said.

I nodded. Then we both turned and headed in our separate directions.   

There was a definite spring in my step as I made my way through the hallways of Rillith. I jangled my car keys in my hand as I trotted down the stairs of the main entrance and down a passage that I knew would lead me to the west side of Rillith, where the car park was.

I yelped as I turned a corner and walked straight into somebody.

“Well, I thought that might be you coming; only you could make so much noise,” Henry said.

I held my hand over my still racing heart and let out a long breath.

“Bloody hell, Henry, you scared the hell out of me. Could you at least try to make a bit of noise when you’re moving?”

I looked over Henry’s rather ruffled state of appearance and smiled. Maybe he was trying to be quiet for a reason.

“Well, I don’t need to ask what you’ve been doing,” I said.

Henry followed my gaze to his crumpled red shirt and he gave an evil grin as he attempted to straighten it out and tuck it in.

“There, is that better?” he asked when he’d finished fussing.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Not really, you have lipstick on your neck.”

Henry’s hands moved towards his neck but then he seemed to decide he didn’t really care and propped himself up against the wall instead.

“So we’ve established where I’ve been, but I’m intrigued to know where it is you’re heading in such a jolly mood.”