He couldn’t help himself from looking. Trying to see past shadows and darkness and perhaps get a glimpse of someone within.
Gray stepped into his sightline, obscuring any chance of catching a glimpse of the magnet. “Under control?” he asked softly.
For a second Bast hesitated, almost ready to shake his head ‘no.’ Damn it, he was sick of this shit. Tired of feeling like he’d been dragged behind a pickup. Worn down to his bones. Maybe he needed to confide in Gray, if only to make sure the Council vampires remained protected. If he wasn’t at the top of his game, Bast just couldn’t be effective at doing his job.
Then Alice laughed.
A coiled spring of tension unfurled deep inside Bast, reacting solely to the sound of joy coming from the woman next to him. He released a slow breath, pure habit, letting ease wash over him. The annoying tug still wrapped tight around his center, but knowing that she stood next to him, ready to claim and save him, made it that much more bearable.
Before turning to see what had tickled her, he did another scan of the room. Familiar faces greeted him, the remaining members of the Council gathered in groups of two or three. Other vampires surrounded them, some secluded in their own little cliques, while vampire staff served food. Keeping the crisp white uniforms of the latter group that amazing gleam of white must have been hell on the laundry bill, but that wasn’t his problem. He tagged one of the servers as a little too flamboyant before his gaze lifted and then collided into eerily black eyes.
The man with the boxer’s jaw and classic Grecian nose was a legend among those vampires who fought the good fight. Corin Gerulaitis, former gladiator and current vampire exterminator, stood over six feet tall and looked every bit the death dealer. Clothing wouldn’t have hidden his dark aura and apparently he’d thought so too, choosing to dress in gray slacks, a black T-shirt and a duster. The latter item caught Bast’s attention the most. He skimmed its surface, looking for telltale bulges, and found them. Stakes. Designed for vampire execution. He probably had a few other items hidden beneath the duster, but just knowing they were in the same room as the Council made Bast’s blood run cold.
“Our celebrities,” Gray said almost beneath his breath, having caught on to the threat in the room.
“Where’s the wife? Rose or something...” Bast whispered back. He glanced at Alice, who seemed deep in thought while still continuing an animated conversation with Renner.
Bast was curious to see the woman who’d somehow managed to make the executioner not only disregard his order to kill her, but ended up mated to him instead. According to rumor, she’d defied the Council mandate just by being alive, until the couple had convinced—maybe coerced—the Council to rescind the command. It was something never before done. Not done again since.
“Jasmine,” Gray corrected. “Over there.”
He followed Gray’s direction and when he finally spotted her, the force of the double heartbeat almost punched through his chest. Bast released an anguished sound, unable to bite back the surprise and recognition. She stared back at him, blood draining from her face in a rush. Jasmine was petite, the roundness of her very pregnant belly almost comical. But Bast saw the way she swayed when she looked at him, and thankfully she grasped her husband’s arm for support.
“Oh God...shit.” Bast felt a tremor hurtle through his veins and every muscle, the shock of seeing his very first blood issue keeping him rooted to the spot. Physiology didn’t lie. “What. The. Hell.”
The executioner pulled his wife close to his body, his mouth moving frantically near her ear. Despite acute hearing, at this distance Bast had no idea what they were going on about. No doubt, it had loads to do with him. The connection between them.
“Excuse us, Councilman,” Bast said to Renner. Later, he’d do damage control on interrupting the man mid-sentence, but for now, he grabbed Alice’s hand and hastened her toward Jasmine Gerulaitis.
The woman he’d sired. Somehow. She was his vampire progeny. His.
“What’s going on?” Alice sounded breathless beside him, but he couldn’t stop looking at the other woman. The consequences of having an unauthorized bloodborne were huge. Astronomical.