avoided her. He could smell the feeling of the unnatural in the air about her, her connection to the aether that mortals found so unappealing. She was a reminder to them, whether they could sense it or not, that their lives were not quite as they saw them.
He had watched her at the gala thrown by that insipid little man Zadok had pretended to be and subsequently had taken for his own amusement. Vlad had stood in the shadows and observed her as she waited for the cruel Vampire King to arrive for nearly an hour.
The living avoided her. Men would glance over to her thoughtfully, then seem to shudder and look away. Like a lonely cemetery angel, standing guard over the corpses and souls of the deceased, she was both beautiful and loathsome to them.
She saw too much in those dark eyes. They looked into the soul. It was too much for the living to endure.
But not for him.
“Why did you dance with me at the gala, Maxine?”
“Hm?” She was startled at his sudden question—they had been walking for silence for some time—and she glanced up at him curiously before she turned away once more in thought. “I thought it would be rude to refuse a man’s request to dance.”
“I do not think you are one to care much for being rude. You were there to bait and potentially attack me. You had a very dangerous game playing out around you. Yet you took the chance to dance with a stranger. Why?”
She paused. He witnessed the moment she came to her conclusion and found it sorely lacking. She took a defiant expression instead. “You know why,” she accused him.
“What makes you say that?”
“The only questions you ask me are the ones you already know the answer to, Count Dracula.”
He chuckled. She was correct. “Then why do you suppose I ask them at all?”
She hesitated, and when the answer came to her, she flinched. Watching her untangle his strings was an addicting game. He had moved a piece upon the board that she had not expected and found herself cornered. She would have to sacrifice a pawn to move her queen to safety. “You ask them to see if I am brave enough to answer you.”
“Correct.” He slipped his hand over the back of hers where it rested at his elbow. “Why did you dance with the man who approached you? Did you find the face I wore more appealing than my own?”
“No.”
“Then why take his hand?”
“I felt…something else about him. Something deeper. Something I now recognize as you. Or you were hypnotizing me.”
“I was doing no such thing. You can sense when I am in your mind. You would have known me for what I was in that moment.”
“Why did you pretend at all?” She shook her head. “Why hide yourself? You know my home, and you need no invitation to come inside. You could have taken me or introduced yourself in any other manner. Why like that?”
“You know the answer.”
“Yes.” A playful grin crossed her features. Oh, how he treasured that look upon her face. He adored her fear. It was intoxicating, but he looked forward eagerly to the day it was replaced with that—her fire—instead. “I suppose I am seeing if you are brave enough to answer me.”
“Touché, madam.” He bowed his head once. “I drew you out into the open because I wished to better know my opponent. I wanted to see if you could recognize the situation in which you had been placed and how you would play your hand. Also, by doing so, I better ensured that you were not simply some whimpering, terrified thing lying at my feet, begging for your freedom. I admit I tire of attempting to converse with catatonic individuals.”
She laughed. That was not the response he was expecting. “Then perhaps you should stop frightening them so.”
“Precisely why I approached you in the manner I did.” He hummed. “And now I am glad for it.”
“You mean to say you enjoy speaking with me, Vlad? That this is not merely the means to the ends you seek?”
“I seek many ends.” He grinned. She slapped him in the chest. He blinked at the sudden show of violence from her, then roared in laughter. “Oh, Maxine. I do enjoy you very much. And not simply because I enjoy playing with my food.” He cast her a wicked grin and was delighted to see the pink rise in her cheeks once more. He paused,