Compeer

Chapter V

I heard someone gasp, and immediately, all eyes widened. Prince Michael snapped his head in my direction, his eyes narrowed. Then, Evanon stood up. I was surprised he was even here.

"It's nice of you to finally join us, Amanda," he said, smiling for my sake. At least he didn't look completely depressed. Maybe he had managed to sort everything out. "Everybody has been waiting to meet you. Won't you two sit down?" He gestured at the two empty seats at the end of the long table, looking pleadingly at the prince. Giving me one last hard look, the prince led me to the seats, sat me down, and sat down himself.

"Well?" He looked at the still-staring, silent members of the table. "She is human. Is there a problem?" He raised one eyebrow inquisitively. Immediately, everybody stopped staring and resumed conversation. "I didn't think so," he muttered. Then, he leaned towards me and said in a low voice, "What did I tell you?"

"Sorry," I muttered, tugging at my bracelet. He put his hand around my wrist.

"Stop that," he said quietly.

"Nervous habit," I said, dropping my hand. He released my other one.

"So I've noticed."

"So," I heard someone say. We both looked up at the vampire addressing us. He was dressed in a dark gray that matched his eyes. His dark hair was neatly styled back. "A human Compeer, hmm, Prince Michael? How very interesting."

"Quite," the prince agreed, his voice flat.

"Well, human or not, we are all very happy that you have finally found her." He raised his silver goblet. "Here, here."

"Thank you," Prince Michael murmured, nodding at the others who repeated the gesture. "This is Gareth Parite," he said to me.

"Hello," I said politely, smiling for the prince's benefit. Gareth smirked.

"Pretty and poised," he remarked. "What a find."

"Indeed." All eyes turned to the figure resting against the doors. Clad in a forest green that matched his eyes, he had an amused look on his face. Nobody had even noticed they had opened.

"Nice of you to join us, Damon," Prince Michael said calmly, reaching out to grasp the goblet in front of him and taking a sip. He placed it back down on the table, and I noticed that its contents were red. Vaguely, I wondered whether it wine or blood, but then realized I probably didn't want to know.

"I am sorry for my tardiness," he said smoothly. "I had important matters of business to attend to."

"Of course." The prince inclined his head towards me. "This is Amanda, my Compeer."

Damon walked the long length of the table, stopping before me. "My name is Damon Percy. I am very pleased to meet you." He reached down, took my hand, and kissed it. His lips were cool, and I noticed that as he slowly tipped his head up to meet my eyes, the corners turned up into a smirk. "Very pleased indeed." I saw the prince stiffen out of the corner of my eye.

"The pleasure is all mine," I lied smoothly, discreetly extracting my hand from his. He noticed and his smirk only became more pronounced. Something about the look in his green eyes reminded me about the look in Elliot's eyes when he had pounced on me. Damon's eyes were cold, and his slow smile was dangerous. I remembered how his too-pointy teeth glimmered in the dim light...

I scootched farther away from him and closer to the prince.

"Won't you take a seat?" Prince Michael asked, gesturing towards an empty chair at the middle of the table. My eyes followed his, and widened slightly. Seated next to the empty chair was a scowling, familiar figure in red. Her bright eyes were fixed on my necklace, swirling in rage, and her red lips were screwed into a frown.