My entire world narrowed to the message.
"Smug motherfucker." I murmured, my voice shaky.
Downing the fifth glass of whiskey, I got up, grabbed my purse, and tried not to stumble on my way down the stairs. A strange sense of weightlessness dragged me down, each step lighter than the last, and each heartbeat louder than the last.
I would see my family.
Stand in front of them.
Be judged by all of my peers and their families.
Bow.
I would have to bow.
I pushed the door to the building open and stopped as soon as I noticed the limo. Dorian stood leaned against it, his legs casually crossed, wearing a two-piece black suit and a simple gold bow tie around his neck. It contrasted heavily the silver of his hair and the dark blue of his eye, but it suited him. God, it suited him.
For a split second, his eyes were on me, but he looked away too quickly to discern the expression.
He opened the door for me without a word.
"Good evening to you too." I murmured as I pulled up my hem and tried not to step on my dress while entering the limo.
Dorian closed the door behind me and walked to the other side.
My palms were sweaty around the Fendi purse, and my heart thumped in my chest as I took in my surroundings. Leather seats, gorgeous dim lighting, champagne bottles lined up in the fridge. The smell of citrus and leather and luxury filled the air.
"Let's hope there's no traffic." I murmured once Dorian entered the car.
He said nothing.
I scoffed, hoping to mask my nervousness with annoyance, "You could at least pretend to be glad to see me, you made me come."
There was anger in his voice, contempt, "Când te văd, nu pot respira."
"Fine, I'm sorry. You don't have to throw curses at me." I mumbled. "I shouldn't have made you wait till 10PM to say I'm going."
Dorian's shoulders relaxed, "I knew you'd wait till the very last second."
"You're being awfully agreeable." I glanced at him and the silver strand falling over his eyes. "It's creeping me out."
Dorian met my gaze, and it felt as if the limo had suddenly shrunk and turned claustrophobic. Jax was right, there's been unfinished business between us and I tried hard to avoid it. I didn't dare to talk about it, address it, remember it.
Dorian reached behind him and pulled out a light leather Bvlgari box. Despite my annoyance at myself, a smile still crept to my lips. Not because of another gift, but because I knew he would never forget jewellery.
"I figured you were too much of a metrosexual to forget accessories." I chuckled and let him put the box in my head.
I opened the lid and my smile turned upside down.
Tiny gold earrings stood proudly above the thin gold necklace. And the necklace held an oval red pedant - simple, elegant, yet somehow antique and mysterious. And dangerous.
He gave me a blood ruby.
My heartbeat soared with sudden panic, and the limo space turned even more claustrophobic. I centered my gaze on Dorian.
"This is a blood ruby." A whisper left my lips.
Dorian nodded, "With your name on it."
Confusion settled into fear, and a twinge of surprise and disappointment. Despite all our threats and fights, I never thought Dorian would actually-
"Are you threatening me?" I asked on impulse. "Do you want me dead?"
Dorian chuckled and leaned against the seat, "Not exactly."
I clutched the box and tried to keep my voice from trembling, "Then what? You can't just hand out blood rubies, Darascu."
Dorian crossed his legs and took in a breath.
"I had it made ten years ago. When you had me banished from NYC and shipped to Romania."
My heart skipped a beat, "Dorian-"
"I'm talking." His voice cut through my words and his gaze through my eyes. "I wanted to send it to you then, to let you know I was out to get you, but I never have."
I kept my mouth shut, but my body spoke enough: cold sweat washed over me, my fingertips turned warm, my blood burned.
"It took me ten years to figure out why I had never sent that ruby." Dorian looked ahead.
I managed a whisper, "Why?"
Dorian reached for the fridge and took out the bottle of Dom.
"Because I don't consider you my enemy." He grabbed two glasses. "Never have, never will."
A trap, my mind shouted. Fuck, my heart answered.
"That blood ruby-" Dorian poured us the champagne. "Is an offer of truce."
"You propose a truce?" I repeated. "Why?"
"Because we want the same thing." Dorian looked at me, two glasses in hand. "We want Edmond off the Council and, to add in a bit of wishful thinking, behind bars. On our own, we're vulnerable. But together, we might pull it off."
Hearing him say those words felt like having a knife pulled out of my back. A warm wave of relief flooded me and drowned out the thoughts roaming through my head. Yes. Please. Please, let's be on the same side. Together, we could pull it off. Still, a shred of a doubt appeared, and I knew I shouldn't just outright trust him.
"What do you propose?" I asked, but reached for one of the champagne glasses.
"We go to the ball together." Dorian said. "And we make it known that there's some competition for the throne in NYC."
My entire body began to burn: ears, temples, fingertips. He would let me talk to my father, he'd let me sit on the Council. He would help me take down Edmond. Dorian Darascu I knew was still there somewhere. There was a part of him that was still my friend.
A different sort of nausea washed over me; the bubbly, nervous kind.
"Okay." I heard myself whisper, suddenly drunk on all the whiskey, sleepless nights, and relief. "Okay, Dorian."
His expression changed, his throat bobbed, and he raised his glass quickly. I clinked against it with my glass and we took a much needed sip.
"Good." He shifted in his seat. "That's good."
Trying to keep my hands from shaking, I put the necklace on, the ruby pedant cold against my skin.
And immediately, like magic, something else had sneaked between us, something much heavier and more visible than it used to be. Like a barrier had been taken down, and thoughts and memories I'd rather ignore popped up.
"Now that we're friends." My shoulders slumped. "How the fuck am I going to stand before my family tonight?"
Dorian chuckled, "Well, considering you're still technically not allowed to talk to them, you can just have some fun for once. They'll be pissed either way."
"Returning feels cowardly." I admitted.
"It's not if you're returning for a reason, and with an agenda." Dorian said. "Which you are."
"They'll all stare at me." I mumbled.
"Yes, and it will be the greatest high you've experienced in a while." Dorian kept my gaze.
"Do you realize that everyone will lose their shit once they see us together?" I raised my eyebrow. "Edmond will not be pleased. Nor will Libby. Not to mention my father."
"So?" Dorian leaned forward, and under the dim lighting his eyes once again appeared purple. "Let them know that you and I are indestructible."
My breath caught in my throat, and I prayed to any god that might listen to let us arrive quickly, because I couldn't handle the heat and the claustrophobia in the limo.
"You and I," Dorian repeated, "got into any club we wanted to. You and I survived in a world full of predators. You and I had each other's back when everyone else stood against us. Let's do it one more time, you and I. Another round for the applause."
For a moment, I was fifteen again, and I was staring into his eyes, my heart pounding in my throat and fingers shaking. For a moment, the fifteen year old me begged me to dance another round with him. But she was young and stupid, and the twenty-five year old thumped her on the head and told her to shut up.
"Easy, Darascu." I tried to sound smug, but the shortness of breath gave me away. "It's gonna take more than sweet talk to make me dance with the devil."
He offered a rare grin and his hand, "How about literally?"
My eyes widened as the car stopped. We were here.
All my worries about Dorian's intentions abandoned me. I was about to walk into a ballroom with him on my arm, and every single one of my relatives would see and judge me. Oh, God, Libby might actually lose it. Me? With Dorian?
"Ette." Dorian called, making me glance between his eyes and his hand. "You're alright."
"That's easy for you to say." I hissed. "You weren't banished."
"I was, wasn't I?" He raised his eyebrow. "I had to return too, and once I did, none of those snobbish assholes said anything. Just like they won't now."
"Okay."
Dorian exited the car quickly, walked over to my side, and opened the door for me. Fuck, my palms were sweaty, my breath was short, and my heart was about to give out. I took Dorian's hand, grabbed my hem with the other one and exited.
The Waldorf Astoria appeared in front of me in all its imposing glory. Being here felt weird and out of place, especially as Dorian led me through the ornate entrance and past the two towering Corinthian columns. My nails felt too ruined and my makeup too cheap for this place.
Dorian hooked my arm and led me through the hotel's grand lobby. It was a breath-taking space with a double-height ceiling and a series of stunning lit chandeliers. The marble floors decorated the entire length of the lobby, and plush seating lined the intricate walls. It was mostly empty, except for a few staff members walking from room to room. So far, so good.
Continuing through the lobby, we passed by the Peacock Alley, a grand hallway adorned with mirrors, elegant furnishings, and art pieces. I remembered the place from a different time. A time when we played hide and seek while our parents made deals upstairs.
"Where are we going?" My breath was short, and my voice sounded anxious, but I walked with my head high to one of the elevators.
"Starlight Roof."
"A bunch of vampires in the Starlight Roof?" I chuckled. "Do they want to burst into flames?"
Dorian side-eyed me, the corner of his lip twitching, "Not a bad idea."
"Shut up." I elbowed him. "We're not killing our entire kin."
"Not tonight."
The elevator was enclosed in a glass shaft with a stunning view of the city skyline, and the cage itself was decorated with polished brass and mirrored surfaces. My breath hitched as we ascended, and the lights from above and beyond reached us through the glass. Dorian's eyes remained that weird purplish colour, and stayed firmly glued to me. There was just something fitting about him in a two-piece suit and the sight of NYC behind him. He matched this place, he lived it and breathed it.
The sound of the elevator and the quick exchanging of the view around caused prickling under my skin.
A smile crept to my lips, "You know, this reminds me of-"
"Of when we snuck into this exact party ten years ago." Dorian's smile mimicked mine.
I laughed, "God, they were pissed."
"Couldn't kick us out, though." Dorian grinned. "Because, what would the Schwabs or the Moreos think?"
"That was a fun night."
Dorian wore a navy blue suit then, but without a tie or a bow tie, and his white shirt wasn't tucked in. I had a short baby blue dress and flip flops on, and I had purposely left my zipper slightly unzipped, because I knew he'd pull it up, and his fingers would graze my back. For a fifteen-year-old, that meant plenty.
With the elevator suddenly turning too confined for my taste, I checked which floor we were on. Sixteenth. Two more floors to go. My insides clenched.
"Fuck." I glanced at Dorian right as the elevator pinged for the seventeenth floor. "Tell me something distracting."
Corners of his lips lifted. He pushed himself off the elevator handle and stood next to me. We faced the door together. My heart thudded relentlessly and my blood pooled in my temples.
Dorian side-eyed me, "I'm glad we're at peace."
"Why?" I looked up right as the door opened.
He shrugged, "Maybe I finally get some sleep tonight."
My entire brain rewired, every electrified nerve-ending turned to him as the wave of confusion swept over me. Dorian kept a smile on his face and his eyes on the door, but he hooked my arm and led me out of the elevator.
Oh, God, why would he do this to me?
We walked out of the elevator, and were immediately struck by the grandeur and elegance of The Waldorf Astoria's last floor. The ballroom opened up in front of us. Crystal chandeliers twinkled in the soft light, illuminating the high ceilings adorned with intricate mouldings. Rich tapestries, in deep shades of burgundy and gold, decorated the walls, adding a touch of warmth and luxury.
I leaned against Dorian more than necessary as we appeared at the entrance. The dance floor sat at the centre of the room, surrounded by tables draped in crisp white linens and silver chandeliers. Everyone we've ever met was in this room.
Dorian's grip around my hand tightened as everyone at once turned to us. Whispers spread through the room, loud despite upbeat jazz coming from the stage at the far end.
I located my family instantly, sitting around one of the most glamorous tables, laden with food and drink and silverware. My father sat in the middle, Lucien and Edmond on his right, my mother and Libby on the left. Anton was still too young to attend.
Their eyes landed on me, and my heart stood still.
Father's white eyebrow pulled up his entire smooth face, and only a couple of lines appeared on his pale forehead. His eyes, however, remained as green as the mature grass in the shade of a tree - striking, but unnatural. His black hair was styled up, a couple of greys scribbling through it. For a hundred and twenty year old man, he was in amazing shape. However, it seemed as if even the last sparkle of emotion disappeared from behind his eyes. There was nothing in them now, just something cruel and cunning.
Zacchary Zaleria. The Chief of NYC. Aiming for the title of the Emperor.
The moment his gaze snapped back to his plate, my entire family looked down as well.
I glanced at my mother and the waves of blonde hair falling around her, flat-ironed, glossy, healthy. She avoided my gaze, and I couldn't look into the pure blue of her eyes, the same blue both Libby and Elena inherited. The chandeliers cast a light onto her sharp cheekbones, and the thin red line of her lips. She wore a long red dress, which completely covered her legs and her cleavage, but emphasized her figure.
Lucien was the oldest of the siblings, and he looked older than my parents. In his sixties, he was bald, which was a rare thing for vampires, he was also wobbly and weak, and the blue of his eye turned grey too soon.
Edmond remained his smug-self, grinning into his plate as he cut through the raw steak. As always, he acted like this hasn't taken him by surprise at all. He wore a crimson suit and a black shirt underneath. His hazel eyes jumped up to us a few more times, and his smile grew bigger each time. My stomach upturned, but I forced the nausea down and tried to imagine the moment of his inevitable downfall.
Libby was the only one that reacted somewhat appropriately, which I predicted. She tucked her dyed silver hair behind her ear and pouted. Her blue eyes cut through Dorian and me, and she couldn't help but lean towards my father and whisper something to him. I watched him mouth something resembling 'be quiet,' and Libby immediately leaned against her seat and crossed her thin hands on her chest. Her fitted silver dress made me remember Luce's words-
Dorian couldn't decide between a silver and gold bow-tie.
I side-eyed him immediately, "You-"
"Shh." Dorian's lips barely moved as he spoke. "They're listening."
I dug my nails into his forearm and spoke through my teeth, "You did this on purpose."
"You're ruining my suit." He hissed right back. "Come on, let's mingle."
No one. No one, except for Dorian's aunt Ekaterina, looked at us. And her red eyes held as much disdain as I anticipated, the spark emphasized by the chiffon black dress she wore.
I held him in place, my heart beating rapidly, "You did this on purpose."
"It's time you've realised that everything I do is on purpose, draga."
He moved forward with or without me, so I followed, forcing neutrality to my expression and hoping no one noticed I wasn't in on the game. With all eyes on us, Dorian and I walked through the Starlight Roof ballroom, and despite everything between us, I had to admit he was right.
It was a pretty good high.
***
Când te văd, nu pot respira - When I see you, I can't breathe.