Chapter 9

With that said, she slipped out of the back seat to join the boys. I took one last deep breath and did the same. Chase offered me his arm, and I linked to mine through his and gave him a nervous smile. He patted my arm and gave me a wink. Alex and Stevie led the way. As

we approached the stairs leading to the front door, I start worrying I might trip and break my ankle.

I was never any good at wearing heels, but Stevie insisted I wear them because "Converse was not acceptable to wear with a dress." I felt like everything was on display: my back was bare; my breasts were just barely covered. The slits up the sides were making me worry if a gust of wind came, everyone would be able to see the G-string I had on.

As we reached the top of the stairs, Alex gave the guards a curt nod. The guards opened the two massive wooden front doors, and immediately I am assaulted by classical music and voices and laughter. I don’t know what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it. The foyer is beautiful. There are wooden floors throughout, with stunning furs lying on the floor. I had a brief pang of sadness for the animals that had worn those beautiful skins in life and hoped they had not been killed simply for their fur. I loved animals and found value in all life.

As we neared the end of the hall, Alex and Stevie made a left turn into the main area, where the people had gathered. As Chase and I rounded the corner, I stopped dead in my tracks. There were people everywhere! The women were in ball gowns that looked like they were from the 1800s, but they made them look so glamorous and relevant to this era. And though the dresses were elaborate, no clothing could dull their radiant beauty. They were flawless.

The men wore tuxes like Alex and Chase, but there were cravats and elaborately embroidered vests and all manner of colors and fabrics. The men were just as beautiful as the women in their own way. They knew it, too—you could tell by the way they sauntered around the room as they owned it. A server passed by with a tray full of champagne, and I grabbed one, thinking the alcohol would calm my nerves.

Just as I was about to take a sip, a hand snaked around me and nabbed the glass right out of my hand. I froze, and the stranger came around to face me—it was the man from the woods. He stood there, calmly sipping my champagne, a smirk on his unreasonably handsome face. My breath caught in my throat. He looked delicious when I saw him earlier today, but now, done up in his tux, he was a whole meal. Gone was the lumberjack-looking hunk and hello, Mr. Sexy.

His hair was slicked back out of his face, and my God, those chocolate brown eyes! They could peel the clothes off any woman. He had a five o’clock shadow marking his jawline, and he made not shaving look like a new trend. His tux

fitted him like a glove and showed his well-defined muscles. Chase broke the tension-filled silence.

“Jax. What can I do for you this evening?” Irritation was clear in his voice. Jax. I was irrationally pleased to have a name for my mystery lumberjack.

“Chase, I didn’t realize you were in town. Did any of the others return as well?” he asked, his eyes never moving off me.

“We’re all here, Marshall, so I suggest you take a step back from Ryan and remove your eyes from her, before I do it for you,” Chase snapped.

“So, she’s yours then?”

“That is not of your concern now, is it?” I could hear the underlying threat in Chase’s voice. Why did my cousin not like Jax?

“When you bring a stranger onto my lands and you have no claim on her, it becomes my business. She doesn’t smell like one of you.” My hackles rise as they continue to speak about me like I’m not even here. Rude much?

“As you can see, jackass, she is Stevie’s twin sister. If you can’t know that from looking at her, then you’re more fucked in the head than I thought. She has just as much right to be here as you do, pup.”

“Pup?” Jax let out a throaty growl.

“Boy, I am no pup; I can assure you of that.”

I knew things were getting out of hand when Chase grabbed my arm and started pulling me behind him. I don’t know why he felt so much anger toward Jax, and I didn’t think now was the time to ask. I yanked my arm from Chase’s grip and stepped between the two brooding males that looked like they were about to tear each other apart.

“My name is Ryan. As you already know, Chase is my cousin. I don’t know why you two don’t like each other, and at this point, I don’t give a shit.” I then turned to Chase and said

“Dial it down a notch, big guy. We just got here, and I don’t want to get kicked out. Let’s go get me another glass of something to help me get through this, okay?” Chase gave me a stiff nod while still pinning Jax with a death glare. Just as we were turning to walk away, Jax put a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ruin your evening. It’s just that you don’t have the same scent as the others. You are different, and in this world, different can be dangerous.”

Chase was standing beside me, seething, ready to throw the first punch if Jax didn’t let my arm go. Noticing Chase’s discomfort, Jax let his hand slide off my shoulder.

“Look, dude—”

“My name is Jackson Marshall, but my friends call me Jax,” he said, smiling.

“Okay—Jax. I just got here, and I don’t know a lot about what the hell the others do, okay? So if you could just back off and stop freaking smelling me, that would be great.” With that said, I turned on my sky-high heels and headed out to find my sister. Tonight was going to be a damn long night if this shit kept up.

After leaving Jax and finding another server, Chase and I grabbed a glass each time and made our way out to the back patio in search of Stevie and Alex. I couldn’t help but stop and take in the yard. It was like a fairy tale. There were candles along the ground, lighting up the pathways. A fountain sat in the middle of the yard, a twin of the one out front.

Small shrubbery bushes lined the paths, and a dream-like white pergola sat at the end of the pathway. I never thought vampires would have a yard like this. I spotted Stevie in the pergola with a few others. I could only tell it was my sister because she was wearing an off-the-shoulder yellow dress—she stood out like Big Bird. That was Stevie—she loved being the center of attention.

As we were walking toward the pergola, I once again had the sensation of being watched. I scanned the yard, but no one was looking our way. I knew there were lots of people here, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that a predator was lurking in the shadows.

“There you two are! We lost you as soon as we got here,” Alex said, shaking me out of my inner thoughts.

“We got stopped by that dick Jackson Marshall,” Chase grumbled, still tense from the encounter.

“What the hell did he want?” Stevie snapped.

“To ask about Ryan and why she smelt funny.”

“Shut up! I don’t smell! He’s just weird. Hot, but weird.” I swear I heard a growl coming from the forest as I spoke. This paranoia was ridiculous.

“Stay away from him, Ry. His kind doesn’t like us.” Alex always had to be so cryptic.

“Actually, that reminds me—you told him your name and then said ‘but you already know that.’ How would he know that, Ry?” Chase asked.

“I met him earlier today when I took off to clear my head. He was in the woods,” I replied sheepishly, feeling like I had done something wrong. How was I supposed to know who to talk to and who not to?

“That fucker was on our land? What the hell?” Alex hissed. Stevie shushed him.

“Now is not the place to worry about this. We don’t know how far Ry wandered; their lands do back onto ours. She could have crossed the boundary. We need to find Randall and sort out whatever he has to tell us, and then let’s get the fuck out of here,” Stevie said with a grim look.

With that done, the four of us went in search of the vampire king.