"Mmm, hmm, mmm," said the smaller of the two nymphs. "As good from the front as he is from the - "
"No... " The first paled and whispered, "He's not a demon. He's a vampire."
The other shook her head. "His eyes are clear. And he doesn't smell like one."
Kaderin saw Sebastian's brows draw together; no doubt he was wondering, What do vampires smell like?
The first screamed, "Vampire!"
When the two blended into the temple's oaks, Sebastian looked as though he'd just prevented himself from taking a step back. All around him, beings became aware of him and scattered. Most turned humans would be delirious after this show. If anything, Sebastian stood straighter and looked even more arrogant than when he'd first appeared. With narrowed eyes, he scanned the area.
She could imagine his thoughts. Yes, this situation was confounding, but he was here for a reason.
To find his Bride. Because vampires who'd found their Brides didn't tolerate losing them.
Sebastian glanced up, and found Kaderin perched on the balcony railing above.
She was here. By Christ, he'd succeeded.
He'd traced to her.
He almost exhaled heavily in relief, but he stifled the urge, keenly aware that all around him were beings - from nightmare and fantasy - and every eye was on him. When his relief turned to smug satisfaction over his feat, he hid his smirk.
Then he realized what she was wearing. Clad in a sinfully short skirt, a leather jacket, and sleek half-boots, she sat with one bared leg hanging down, the other stretched out in front of her. Infuriated by the display, Sebastian glowered at the males in the motley assembly.
He'd never been a jealous man before. He had never found anything he wanted solely as his own. Now jealousy ate at him, made his fangs sharpen, and made him want to bare them. She was his. And he didn't want to share the merest glimpse of her body.
She turned away, ignoring Sebastian, to talk to a large male with a wild cast to his eyes - who was standing much too close to her.
Sebastian had known he would be the pursuer in this relationship, the one with the most to gain. But after the morning they'd had, he'd at least expected an acknowledgment when she saw him once more. Or even a reaction? Perhaps her lips had parted, and maybe a tinge of pink flushed along her high cheekbones.
What was she doing here with all these other beings? If he even let himself think about what he was seeing all around him, he might go mad. Again. So he tried to ignore them, and any additional appurtenances - horns, wings, multiple arms - they might possess.
Never had he felt more unsure of himself - he felt alternately like a baffled human and like a monster. He hadn't missed that those females who'd disappeared into the trees believed vampires were worse than demons in this world. Sebastian almost cursed Nikolai yet again for forcing him to become something reviled - even to these creatures - but reminded himself that if not for his brother, Sebastian wouldn't have lived to find Katja.
Channeling all the aristocratic arrogance that had been instilled in him from birth, he strode up the stairs toward her. "Katja," he began, and just when he thought she would completely ignore him, she finally turned. As he passed a rotting log on the stair landing, he heard a whisper from within: "Did he just call her Katja? Cover the pups' eyes. This will be messy." A glance back found the log stuffed with troll-like creatures. He'd never even seen them.
At Sebastian's approach, the wild-eyed male she'd been speaking with sank back into the shadows.
"It's important that I speak with you," Sebastian told her.
"He wants to talk to her," came another whisper from the log.
"Were you invited to this place?" Kaderin asked.
"No."
She tilted her head. "Then how did you trace to a place that's not on any known map? I know you haven't been here before."
"It wasn't that difficult," he said, for some reason deciding not to reveal his feat. "I must talk to you about what happened."
From the log: "What happened with Lady Kaderin and a vampire? What sodding happened?"
"Then you've wasted a trip. I've nothing to say to you."
When the man in the shadows gave him a killing look, Sebastian did bare his fangs then - it felt satisfying. He clenched his hands into fists to think that man had been sidling so close to his Bride. But who wouldn't when she was clothed in such a manner? "Why are you dressed like this?"
"Oh, no, he didn't."
"He did!"
She quirked an eyebrow at Sebastian, then parted her red lips to give a casual hiss in the direction of the log. They fell silent instantly.
Down in the gallery, the nymphlike women smirked and whispered about Kaderin "slumming" with a vampire, "just like her sister." Kaderin's dark eyes widened as if she were amazed by their temerity. She feinted as though she was about to jump down, and they fled back into the oaks.
Sebastian's attention returned to focus on Kaderin -
There was no time even to tense for the attack.
9
Bowen lunged from the shadows, barreling into the vampire. As Kaderin watched his furious charge, she only wondered why it had taken Bowen so long to attack, since the Lykae were at war with the vampires. Maybe Sebastian's clear eyes had thrown him, or perhaps the fact that Sebastian didn't smell like blood and death had confused Bowen.
In a tangle of flying fists and claws, they both slammed into a wall, shaking the solid marble temple all around them. A crack surfaced in the dome's skylight.
Sebastian shoved Bowen off and lunged for his throat with one hand. His other was a fist shooting out. Bowen hit at the same time - they smashed each other's face.
Kaderin didn't see this winding down anytime soon. They were attractive, well-built warriors - there were worse things to watch. She settled in, expecting to observe with typical cool dispassion.
Punishing blows continued to connect from each. Sebastian was somehow holding his own with Bowen. The gallery was abuzz with surprise. True, Bowen looked as if he'd lost a stone of weight since the last time she'd seen him, but still...
Merely shaking off a Lykae's punch to the jaw was unheard of.
They crashed over the railing just in front of Kaderin's seat, plummeting to the ground below. Sebastian didn't trace, instead taking the impact. He was fighting a member of the most physically powerful species in the Lore, and if he didn't start sparing himself these blows, Bowen would easily kill him.
On their feet again, they circled, eyeing each other for weaknesses, striking out in intervals. Yes, Sebastian was taking the crushing blows, but he seemed to be ambidextrous, hitting as squarely with his left fist as his right, cleverly aiming and spacing his own as well.