An Acquired Taste (The Valentine Society)

Chapter Seven

I wobble on my heels as I make my way away from the latest vampire who made a mockery of me. It seems like a game to them: who can have the most over-the-top reaction and entertain the ever-growing crowd the most. The dress that once felt beautiful and luxurious is now stifling and restrictive; the ballroom full of glitz and glamor is inducing a headache.

Benjamin is close behind me, one cool hand resting on my upper back to steady me. I groan, sinking down into a plush armchair by a window, as far away from the dance floor and the crowd as I can manage. Yet even here, I can feel the eyes on me. I can sense the hunger.

Benjamin was right; these people do value me as a novelty, if nothing else. I can’t say he didn’t warn me. But I didn’t expect it would leave me feeling so… used. Valentines always seem cherished, pampered by their patrons in a way that makes it seem like a more than fair exchange. But this doesn’t feel like that. This makes me feel like I’m just a thing to them.

Still. I just have to fill one more slot on my blood card. Go through this one more time. Then I can dry my tears with the pile of cash I’m making.

“Can I get some air before the last one?” I ask, looking up at Benjamin.

“Of course.” He offers his arm, and I follow him outside onto the back patio.

The cool air sweeps over my too-warm skin with a delicious prickle. The music and chatter of the party are muted now, not so overwhelming. The garden is beautiful and well-manicured, with rows of decadent rose bushes bursting with lush petals in various colors. And there’s an actual hedge maze. I didn’t think they existed in real life, and I can’t help but wander in, Benjamin trailing behind me. The whole area is strung with fairy lights, so that it is pleasantly dim but not dark enough to be menacing.

“ Help !”

A cry shatters the peaceful night. I exchange a wide-eyed look with Benjamin.

He hesitates. “You should go inside.”

“What? No.” I tug at his arm. “We have to help!”

He reluctantly obliges. We head deeper into the hedge maze, toward the noise.

Around the next corner, a woman crouches beside a huddled form. When she looks up, I recognize the tear-streaked face of the human woman who was mocking my blood card earlier. Crumpled on the grass is the man who ridiculed me alongside her.

Benjamin strides forward. “What happened?” he asks, crouching to scrutinize the bite mark on the man’s neck. “Was he attacked?”

“N-no. He was… we were…” The woman is too distraught to make sense. I rub her back as she sobs. She may be a bitch, but I can’t help the urge to comfort her when she’s so upset.

“He must’ve given too much blood,” Benjamin says. “But he’s fine. His heartbeat is steady.” He looks from the unconscious man to me. “I should get him inside, but…”

“I’ll be right behind you,” I promise. I tug the woman’s arm, helping her to stand. “Both of us will.”

Benjamin nods. He lifts the man into his arms with ease and is gone in the blink of an eye.

I pat the woman’s hand and lead her back toward the party. “Come on. It’ll be okay.”

But just as we’re about to turn the corner toward the hedge maze’s exit, two figures in matching gray suits step in front of us.

They move smoothly out of the shadows, a liquid grace in their steps that would scream vampire even if I weren’t at a party like this. For a moment, I swear I glimpse a third in the darkness, a pair of pale eyes watching me—but I blink and they’re gone, and I focus on the two approaching us. The woman at my side stiffens.

Most vampires look as though they were turned in their mid or late twenties, but these two appear younger than me, like college kids. Both are, of course, gorgeous, but something about their smiles makes my alarm bells ring.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the lady of the night,” one says. He has dark hair, a ring pierced through his lower lip, and a skull earring dangling from one earlobe. He reaches forward and plucks my blood card out of my hand without asking. He scrutinizes, and then mutters, “Only one spot left.” His gaze flicks up to meet mine. “But surely you won’t deny us?”

“Oh, um…” I look from face to face—the smirking one with the piercing, and a fair-haired man with an expression as cold as ice and a moth tattoo wrapped around his throat. “My chaperone—”

“Chaperone? How old-fashioned.” The dark-haired vampire gives an exaggerated look around the garden. “But I don’t see a chaperone. Do you, Dante?”

“No chaperone,” the blond agrees.

“He’ll be right back.” I glance toward the maze exit—and see that the woman I was with is inching toward it, making her escape since the vampires are focused on me. Our eyes meet, and I shoot her a pleading look. She turns her back and leaves.

Well, fuck.

My chest feels tight. I thought my body had become accustomed to being around vampires, but that was with Benjamin at my side to protect me. Now I’m alone, and these two are setting off those age-old instincts that scream I’m in danger.

“My name’s Dominic,” the dark-haired vampire says. “I saw Viktoria feeding on you. You like it, don’t you? You had that look.” He moves closer, as close as he can without touching me. “I bet you haven’t been fed on by multiple people at once,” he says with a dangerous smile. “I bet you’d like it even more. And we’re good at sharing.” His gaze flicks to the quiet blond man—Dante, he called him—who is watching me intently.

Part of me thrills at the sense of being so obviously desired , even if it’s just for my blood. But I can’t stop thinking about Benjamin’s warnings… and the sight of that man crumpled on the ground. Are these the vampires who did that?

“I think I should wait for my chaperone,” I say in a small voice.

Dominic chuckles, the sound low and dangerous. “You’re no fun,” he says. He doesn’t reach for me, but he and his friend are still blocking my exit.

All I can do is wait for Benjamin—but can he protect me? He’s a single vampire without a court, and judging from the skull earring and moth tattoo, these two belong to Solomon. The secret keepers. The most dangerous of the courts.

I try to remember what Benjamin told me about vampire weaknesses. Sunlight, silver, and decapitation. Nothing that will help me right now. I’m only armed with my manners. Benjamin insisted they would help keep me safe, which was a lot easier to believe in the glitz and shimmer of the ballroom.

“Please let me pass,” I say.

A beat. Nothing happens. And then—

“You heard her.”

Both vampires’ spines stiffen. Their heads whip away in the direction of the mansion. I can’t see anything in the darkness of the hedge maze that way, but their eyes widen.

A moment later, another vampire steps into the light, and my mortal eyes find him, too.

He’s tall with broad shoulders and a lean build, thick dark hair styled neatly. The tuxedo he wears is all black. His eyes are so dark, they look black as well, like two pools of darkness in his pale face. And what a face… even among the vampires he would stand out, with cheekbones like a marble statue and a shadow of facial hair perfectly accentuating his sharp jawline. He is shockingly , timelessly handsome, and the intensity of his gaze only heightens the effect he has on me.

“Lord Sebastian,” Dominic says, his voice formal now, all the playfulness gone. “I didn’t know you were attending tonight’s ball.”

“What do you want?” asks Dante. His voice is sharp, bordering on threatening. His shoulders are tense and his eyes narrowed, like he sees the man as a threat. But what could possibly threaten a vampire? A pair of vampires, nonetheless?

This “Lord Sebastian” comes to a stop about a yard away from me. He does not look at the man at my side, or the one who seems on the verge of ripping his throat out. Instead, he looks at me, standing frozen, a deer surrounded by wolves.

“I would like to claim the last spot on your blood card,” Sebastian says.