Page 85 of When Night Falls

It's all the confirmation I need to know that I will never be able to get this girl out of my system even when it comes time to break her heart.

27

heartstrings

Lucynda

I watch as Rivian makes his way down the steps and disappears toward the bar.

I track his every movement because I can't keep my eyes off him, but something stops my heartbeat for a second when I see him approach a pretty girl and whisper something in her ear. I can't tell if he's flirting with her but she smiles as he walks away. Within the next second, she's dumping her drink on the floor and looking longingly at my fiancé.

What the fuck was that?

Jealousy plagues me again, because something twists in my stomach at the thought of Rivian getting that close to any kind of woman.

I dip my head to mask the anger and look back up to try and distract myself while I wait for him to come back.

I don't feel as out of place this time around, but something does feel different. I feel more eyes on me, I hear more whispers under the bass of the music.

I look around and see a few people glance up at me every so often. I've never had this many eyes on me at once. I see vampires bite into the necks of who I'm assuming are humans and the humans don't scream. They let them drink and then they get back to dancing.

The sight of it all makes me shiver but sinful thoughts invade my brain all the same.

I look around to see Troian in a corner with another woman and a man. I can't tell if either of the other two are vampires or not, only until the other female bares her teeth at the same time as Troy and they both bite into the man they have pressed up against the wall.

After they take what they want from him, they both turn to each other and kiss. Blood dribbles from their chin as their tongues reach for each other. I watch a little too intently, not sure how I feel about what I'm seeing. Not at the revelation that my future sister-in-law seems to be obviously attracted to women, but because of how sinful the scene was, displayed for everyone to see.

Almost as if they feel me watching, they both turn to look up at me.

Troy seems almost shy at the fact that I caught her in this act, which seems off brand for her. But then she just wipes her mouth and walks away.

The other girl, dark black eyes contrast to her bright blonde hair hidden behind a dark green mask, stares up at me with a look that bleeds condescension. She stands there for a few seconds, purposefully making me uncomfortable before I decide to turn away and break her glare.

I take a deep breath, feeling nearly violated by her eyes, before turning back to see she's gone.

"Nice party." A husky tone comes from behind me. I turn to see the man who was looking at me earlier when I walked in, a face full of paint instead of a tangible covering to hide his identity.

I noticed him immediately when we walked in. Guiltily, I can admit that he is attractive. Tall, colored eyes, nice hair. But he's not the man who’s taken over my dreams and whose touch has altered my brain chemistry. No one holds a candle to the Dark Prince.

But here I find myself with the guy who couldn't keep his eyes off me and I don't feel eager to push him away, seeing as Rivian has left me alone. Maybe this will teach him to not leave his broken toys abandoned. Maybe he'll develop jealousy too.

As the guy settles in next to me, getting closer than I like, I allow him to stay knowing that Rivian will be here any minute. I know it's cruel, but something is telling me to let this continue to see how Riv will react.

Intrusive thoughts and all.

"Have you been here before?" he asks as I avoid eye contact. Regardless of my dumb plan to make Rivian jealous, I still don't want this guy to get too many wrong ideas about my intentions.

"Once before. You?" I keep my answer short on purpose.

"Can't say I have." Duh. If he’s been here before, he won’t remember any of it. As soon as he leaves the threshold, his memory evades him.

Silence lingers between us as the music thuds around the building. I mentally rush Rivian to come back, hoping he'll walk into view any moment now. Only to see his future wife standing too closely to someone who shouldn't be comfortable trying to swoop in and take what's not his.

Rivian says I'm his. I want him to prove it. Besides, he can't go around whispering in girls' ears and not expect me to fully behave myself.

But part of me does feel guilty for allowing this human to be the guinea pig to my experiment and my rage.

I tense when I feel his hand creep around my back, hovering over my skin before he gently glides it over my shoulder blade and letting it rest on the shoulder furthest from him. He moves himself a little closer so that our arms are touching and I can smell the alcohol seeping from his breath. Attraction levels retracted.