The Deal Maker (Book I)

Chapter Twenty-Five - Greed

                                                          Chapter Twenty-Five

                                                                     Greed

Matthew had been at the house the evening when I had attacked the vampire he put a hit on. That made no sense to me. It was during the evening when the sun was up, but he could have easily used the shadows to keep from burning. I thought back to when Lacey had said something about vampires conditioning themselves or something. Didn’t she say that some had done it with the sun? Could Matthew be doing the same? Why was he at the house? Suspicion took over then, leaving my fury over what Matthew had done behind me.

I left the garage and blended into the crowd easily. Of course I made my way back to the food table because I never got to try some shrimp that I had been eyeing before Dracula came over. Immediately I snatched up a martini glass that held cocktail sauce and several pieces of shrimp. Along with that I began sipping on some punch as I watched the people dancing. I took notice of the ones that were best at this particular dance. They were graceful as they took their partner in their arms and moved like water across the floor. It was impressive to see a dance like this in person.

“Feeling better?” Matthew asked, now standing by my side.

“Hardly,” I replied duly.

I couldn’t ask him here and now about him being at that house. People were watching us. We still had to put on a show for them. I was thinking more about why we were doing this and realized it wasn’t just about marking my name off the list of the potential killers; I’m protecting myself. I had to do this to keep them from coming after me. Matthew was doing it to keep people off of his trail, so I should try to do the same. If they were to come after me, they’d get to David. There’s no way I’m going to put his life in danger. Ever.

“We should dance,” I asserted, grasping his arm.

He looked perplexed. “You must be joking.”

I looked around us, seeing several pairs of eyes on both me and Matthew. I couldn’t just tell Matthew that I was doing exactly what he had planned. People were still watching. I definitely didn’t want to admit that he was right; we do need to get everyone off our trail. “I just figured that we could dance. You promised me that last night, remember?” I tried to seem flirtatious, like normal couples are. I honestly didn’t have much experience with this. My relationship with David is extremely casual and we don’t get out much.

He eyed me curiously, but I could tell that he knew I was acting. “I had forgotten. We should.”

“Let me just take a little sip of my drink—“ My words were cut short.

I caught sight of someone I hadn’t expected to be here. My heart began pounding in my chest and blood rushed to my cheeks as panic set in. It was him, the guy I saw at the bar months ago. He was the man chasing after the girl he loved. Scratch that. He was chasing after the woman he’s madly in love with.

Xavier.

I knew his name the second I saw him because he was a face hard to forget. He was tall, slender, and had a stance that made me think of a military sergeant. His eyes, black and cold, were scanning the room like a hawk would search for prey. I stiffened beside Matthew, feeling a bit nauseated. Would Xavier recognize me from the bar, or did he even know that I was there? Knowing that he was a level eight and that I was barely a three or four was extremely uncomforting. But, then again, I had Matthew here who was older than Xavier, no doubt. I just hoped that he could fight because, so far, I’ve not seen Matthew throw a punch before.