Chapter 38

ROSE

Selene and I had spent all last night decorating the castle.

This evening, it was the twins’ four-hundredth birthday party, and they had decided to invite every single pureblood vampire they had ever met.

Pureblood coming-of-age parties were not common, and twins had never existed before. I knew we were expecting a crowd.

The girls had agreed on a Victorian-themed party to remind them of their youth. The castle in France still had half of its paintings and furniture from the time, so it was the perfect setting.

We prepared the ballroom with plush settees, a grand piano, a twenty-first-century music system, and barrels of wine.

We hung banners with the Mcnoxnoctis seal, black and red tartan with a red phoenix breathing fire, and a small crowd of willing humans.

Guests usually brought their snacks to parties of this size.

Venus and Phoenix had locked themselves in the highest tower with Eloise to get ready. I could just make out the sounds of their giggling.

I could remember my four-hundredth party clearly.

We had been living in Florence, the humans were going through their Renaissance period, so I had chosen to celebrate in the recently refurbished Medici Basilica of San Lorenzo.

It was a lavish event. Most pureblood families were present, pushing their sons at me and my parents.

The Blake family had always been close advisors to the royal family, so Selene and I had been highly sought after.

I had already met Demetrius at the time. Though I was head over heels for him, we hadn’t told anyone.

So I had asked Richard Eternelle to escort me, which had caused Demetrius to pointedly ignore me for the whole party.

Incidentally, it was the same night Aric was conceived, so he forgave me in the end. We were married not a decade later.

“My parents have arrived,” Demetrius murmured, striding into the ballroom.

I glanced up at him. He was already dressed for the party, wearing creamy-colored breeches, high boots, and a moss-green tail suit that matched his eyes perfectly. It was a good style for him.

I missed Victorian men’s clothing. I didn’t miss the corsets.

“With the king.”

I breathed in deeply, then nodded, giving him a small smile. It wasn’t news. Venus and Phoenix had been overjoyed when they heard the king had agreed to attend their party.

I clenched my fists, trying not to let my emotions overflow. Demetrius was eyeing me warily.

“Could you show them to their rooms?” I asked him.

“Of course.” He bent down and kissed my forehead gingerly, his eyes wide.

“Why don’t we go get ready ourselves?” Selene suggested with a small smile.

“Yes, go ahead. I will welcome the first guests. I believe Phoenix and Venus are making an entrance later.

“I assume my mother has organized for them to descend with escorts. Did they mention anything like that to you?” Demetrius murmured.

I nodded. “Alexander Night and Henry Chen, I believe.”

Demetrius nodded once.

“They should all be arriving very soon.”

“Go get ready,” Demetrius encouraged us.

I followed Selene downstairs to her wardrobe. She had already chosen a baby blue gown she’d had tailored in Boston before the American Civil War.

She handed me a deep burgundy gown with a low-cut pearled collar. We dressed quickly in our stays, adjusting the old dresses.

Above us, I could already hear the hum of voices as purebloods, their half-bloods, servants, and human snacks shuffled into the ballroom. The music had started. I recognized Vivaldi.

Selene and I were quick to pin our ringlets up in loose buns and decorate them with matching jewels and flowers to our gowns.

“Ready?” Selene asked me, slipping on her pearl earrings. I glanced at her and nodded once.

“Hold me back if I go for the king. Don’t hold me back if I decide to bite Elizabeth,” I told her.

“~I~ won’t hold back from biting Elizabeth,” she winked, then hooked her arm with mine, and we made our way back upstairs to the ballroom.

It was already crowded, teeming with pureblood families and their human snacks. The scent of all the open wounds immediately made my throat grow dry, and my eyes flash red.

A human girl danced past me, being dragged by Caroline, the young princess.

I quickly scanned the room. Aleesha and Angus were by the fireplace with Demetrius. Jude was around. I could smell him, but I hadn’t placed him yet.

Orion was talking to Richard Eternelle and his wife, Josephine. The Shahalia family was present, along with the M’bah-ilamoko family.

Henry Chen stood with his father, dressed in a dark navy tail suit, chosen to match Venus’s gown.

In the back of the room, utterly surrounded by turned vampires and weak humans, King Lucius, Queen Rebecca, Elizabeth, Damon, and his brother Russel sat in heavy armchairs—easily the oldest things in the whole building.

As I entered, the king turned slightly and held my gaze. I found myself fighting every instinct in my body not to throw myself across the room and tear his head from his shoulders.

Sharp memories of Eleanor’s screaming and fighting against my grip washed over me. I was clenching my fists, and only when I smelled my own blood did I realize I was clenching too hard.

Demetrius was immediately by my side, grasping my bloodied hands.

“I’m here for you,” he reminded me quickly, lapping at the blood on my hands. I gave in to the warm, familiar feeling of him suckling my blood.

He moved to stand behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist and burying his face in my hair. I felt him breathing heavily. “You look beautiful,” he whispered.

I smiled and turned to him, placing my hand against his cheek. He kissed it quickly. “Do you remember my four-hundredth?” I murmured, trying to change my murderous thoughts.

He grinned at me, his eyes sparkling. “Best night of my life.” He leaned down and kissed me gently, pressing me against his body.

“Let’s have something to drink. I saw Richard and his wife earlier.”

Demetrius chuckled but let me guide him around the room to where Richard and Josephine Eternelle, Orion’s family, were sipping from two slight, petite brunettes.

“Rose.” Josephine smiled at me. She wore a glamorous pink gown and had her dark brown hair curled and cascading down her back.

“You must be so proud of your daughters. I wished I had a daughter,” she mused.

“I can assure you, they’re just as much of a handful as sons.” I gave her a warm smile.

Demetrius presented me with the wrist of one of the humans, and I sucked gratefully.

We chatted with Richard and Josephine and their young son Louis, who came from feeding on the humans and chasing after Princess Jennifer.

I recognized the young Prince Alexander as he made his way over to me. He was a stunning young man. He had the same blue eyes as his grandfather but his mother’s dark curly hair.

He gave me a quick bow and kissed my hand lightly. “Lady Mcnoxnoctis. We weren’t introduced when I saw you last. Unfortunate event. I’m Alexander Night.”

“I’m aware,” I informed him. “I believe you wish to escort my daughter tonight. Phoenix.”

He flashed me a quick grin. “Indeed. I was quite taken with her when we met.”

“I should hope so. Otherwise, she’ll bite your head off.” He chuckled. “I wouldn’t want it any other way. My great-aunt speaks very highly of you.

“I was curious to meet you. When I met your daughter, well, I was enchanted—such a stunning woman. And the mother of twins.” He arched his brows. “How did you survive it?”

“Demetrius,” I replied as he materialized by my side, slipping his hand around my waist and staring down at the young prince. “He let me take all the blood from him that the twins were draining from me.”

Demetrius kissed the top of my head.

Prince Alexander’s eyes widened. “Demetrius Mcnoxnoctis, an absolute pleasure!” He shook Demetrius’s hand vigorously.

“Young prince.” Demetrius gave him a wary smile. “You’ll need to do more than that if you want my blessing for you to go any further than an escort for my daughter,” Demetrius snarled.

Alexander bristled. “Of course!” He bowed quickly, avoiding Demetrius’s gaze. He turned to me. “So, what made you adopt that blood bag?” he asked.

Instinctively my hand flashed out to lash him across the face, rip his head back and sink my fangs into his throat, but Demetrius caught my hand mid-strike. Alexander blinked at me.

“We don’t talk about that,” Demetrius growled at him. I was shuddering with rage; my bright eyes red. Alexander was smiling lazily.

“Of course. I apologize.” He shrugged. “I was just curious. When I tasted her, she was delicious.”

“You bit her?” I snarled. Demetrius had his arms locked around my waist, holding me back with all his strength.

I could feel my heart racing, rage and sorrow rushing through my veins. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to kill them all.

“When she was being tossed around, you remember? After Jennifer had a taste, I bit into her shoulder.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

“She was delicious, don’t you agree? Shame she didn’t survive that turn. She would have been a looker. I might have wanted to keep her around as well, for feeding and playing.” He winked.

“Walk away now,” Demetrius spat at him. Alexander gave us both a curt bow, looking genuinely surprised by our reaction.

Demetrius’s grip on me was loosening. I could feel his rage. He wanted to rip the prick’s head off as well. But that was the fastest way for us both to be burned at the stake.

I pursed my lips and turned away from him into Demetrius’s chest, breathing heavily to control myself.

“Ah, Aric,” I murmured when his scent reached me. I turned to see him enter the ballroom with James and the beautiful Grace Chen.

Aric caught sight of us and made a beeline toward us. Alexander moved away quickly.

“Father, we need to talk,” Aric barked.

“About what?”

Aric glanced at me. “Come with me.” He grabbed his father’s arm and started dragging him away.

At the same time, trumpets started to blast, and the room grew quiet. We all turned to the stairs.

Phoenix and Venus stood, wearing tight-fitted, not-at-all-Victorian gowns, their curly hair piled up elegantly on their heads, their fangs bared, their eyes crimson. They were stunning.

Beside them stood Alexander and Henry Chen. Slowly the four of them descended to the party accompanied by Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

The room erupted into loud applause as the two couples made their way into the ballroom.

They were quickly handed glasses of overflowing blood and wine and disappeared from my view in a throng of young purebloods. I could just hear them giggling and dancing with their escorts.

I went back to making my rounds, breathing as calmly as I could, putting on a happy expression, greeting Aleesha and Angus, who were polite enough not to mention Eleanor.

Jahan Shahalia, Aleesha’s brother, stood beside them, his dark eyes watching me closely. Ignoring his gaze, I returned to where Selene was talking with Josephine.

“Henry Chen. The Chen family would be a good match for Venus,” Josephine murmured.

“I agree. I like Henry,” I concurred with a smile. “He was always a smart kid.”

“And Venus seems to be enjoying his attentions,” Selene mused, glancing at my daughter dancing with Henry. I nodded, smiling.

“What about Aric?” Josephine asked me.

“Well, I thought it was going to be Grace Chen’s last century,” I admitted, glancing at Selene.

We were both aware of James’s childhood infatuation with the black-haired pureblood. “But it never worked out.”

“Perhaps Eloise?” Josephine suggested.

“No, though I was considering pushing him toward Lata Shahalia.” I indicated the youngest Shahalia pureblood. She stood with her head held high.

She had the same inky black hair and dark skin as her aunt Aleesha. Her hooded crimson eyes scanned the crowd. She would be four hundred in the next two decades.

Glancing around, I noticed that Aric and Demetrius had wandered off.

“Excuse me,” I followed their scent out of the ballroom to the foyer.

“Henry saw her in Los Angeles. I went, but she wasn’t—” Aric stopped talking when he sensed me arriving. His lips pursed. Demetrius glanced at me as I turned the corner.

“Rose.”

“Saw who?” I asked.

“Mother, I’ll tell you later.”

“Saw who, Aric?”

He bit down on his bottom lip, scowling.

“Aric! There you are! I’ve been looking all over for you!” Eloise drifted into the foyer, grinning widely, giving us a little twirl to admire her long blood-red gown.