“You didn’t hear wrong. Her first name is Isabelle, but when she’s with me, she’s Rachel.”
Rose felt confusion spread, when Yvette put her hand on her forearm. She snapped her eyes to her hostess.
“Don’t mind him. He likes to be cryptic! He’s her mentor, you know, the one she bit first? Anyway, you know what that means. In human terms he’d be her godfather, and that’s why he was the one who gave her her second name, Rachel.”
She nodded, feeling suddenly overwhelmed. There was so much that she didn’t know. But she couldn’t admit that. Somehow the vampires around her seemed to be so much more civilized and educated than the ones who had crossed her path. They appeared to live decidedly human lives, not like the hidden existence that she had led, always on the move, always worried about who was waiting around the next corner. Was that why she had never met vampires who lived like this? Like humans?
As she glanced around, she noticed bottles of blood on a small side table. Next to it, human food was spread out. It looked almost natural, almost as if the two things belonged together.
When her gaze drifted away from the table, she noticed that Haven and Quinn had entered the room. But Quinn didn’t come toward her; instead he steered in the direction of a young couple, Haven directly behind him. Yvette had not yet introduced them, but something was odd about them. With suspicion she eyed them.
“Oh, that’s Wesley and Kimberly, my in-laws,” Yvette said. “I’ll introduce you.”
“Later. I don’t want to interrupt their conversation.” It was only half the truth. In reality, she felt like her head was ready to burst, too many realizations slamming into her all at once.
She found herself in the middle of a tight-knit group, a unit that could only be described as a family. Names bounced around in her head: Amaury and his mate Nina, Samson and Delilah, Yvette and Haven. She’d also been introduced to Gabriel’s mate, the beautiful Maya, and now to Zane and his hybrid mate Portia. Then the baby. Now in-laws. She needed some air.
Now on full alert, she inhaled deeply and her nostrils flared.
Battle-ready she shoved her hand into the inside pocket of her light jacket. Her heart beat into her throat, her pulse raced.
Yvette’s hand arrested her movement.
“Intruders,” Rose tried to warn her and glanced around the room, trying to find out where the scent of witch emanated from.
“What?”
Rose leaned closer to Yvette, still scanning the room. “Witches. I can smell them. We have to defend ourselves.”
Yvette’s giggles took her by surprise. Had the woman lost her marbles?
Rose stared at her.
“Sorry, I guess nobody told you, but Wesley and Kimberly, my brother- and sister-in-law are witches.”
Rose took a quick step back, surprised by the revelation. “You consort with witches?”
“They’re harmless. Besides, Haven was a witch before he became a vampire. His siblings would never hurt us.” Then she leaned in closer. “Their powers are negligible anyway, even though Wesley seems to think otherwise.”
Rose felt her throat constrict. She couldn’t take much more of this. Too much was happening, too many of her beliefs suddenly put in question. Weren’t witches sworn enemies of every vampire? She felt heat spread in her body.
“Could I freshen up a little?” she pressed out, wiping pearls of sweat from her neck.
Yvette gave her a curious look. Then she pointed toward a door. “Through there, then the first door on the left.”
“Thank you.”
Her feet carried her outside into the corridor, where the music was less loud and the temperature lower. She felt as if her body was burning up with fever. She’d never known that vampires lived like this. Why had she not known? Why had she never realized that she could have had a different life, that if she hadn’t been hiding all these years, she could have had friends like these, maybe even a family of sorts?
Gasping for air, she turned the door handle to the bathroom and swung the door open. Only the light over the sink was switched on, but it illuminated the small room sufficiently for her to realize what she’d walked into.
Samson’s fangs were lodged deep in his mate’s neck, his fully clothed body grinding against hers in an unmistakable rhythm, Delilah’s hands pressing him closer to her as if she didn’t want him to stop.
Instantly, Samson released her neck and snapped his head toward Rose, his eyes glaring red, blood dripping from his extended fangs.
Rose jerked the door shut. Shock and disgust collided in her. These vampires weren’t any better than the ones she’d been with. No, they just hid it better.