Dark Heart Forever (20 page)

‘I told you. Mint and bay leaf is an excellent foil against the smell of mortal blood. It is written in mythology here. Trust me.’ I rubbed at my arms, hoping that ten minutes of rubbing leaves into my skin was enough.

I was beginning to relax when Luca gave me a serious look. ‘One thing though, Jane. Don’t accept too much wine … Or it will be your own mouth that betrays you.’

The entrance to the palace shone with dazzling crystal-white tea lights, attached to a delicate gilt rope. The front of the palace was strikingly like the Palace of Versailles, white and glistening, but solid, like a wedding cake set in stone. Somehow the effect was not sugary or twee, but grand and charming at the same time.

Two sentries stood guard at the gates to the palace, letting guests through. Ahead of us I saw a tall, dark-haired couple. The woman, whose profile was in view, had skin the colour of fresh snow, her thick, black hair hung in a loose chignon at her neck. Around her shoulders she held a fur cape. Her partner, who looked strangely like a young, svelte Elvis, his hair combed into a quiff, wore a stylish take on a dinner suit: his white collar upturned, his jacket draped Teddy-boy style down his long body.

Luca saw me staring at the two of them.

‘Vampires,’ he said in a low voice. ‘They are ridiculously glamorous, but be very careful. They look cool and civilised, but they are master manipulators.’

I shivered, hoping that what Luca had said earlier was true and his blood antidote would work tonight. I suddenly felt vulnerable and Luca intuitively took hold of my hand. ‘It will be all right. Just stick with me.’

Eventually we walked into the reception hall. Beneath my feet, marble tiles were polished to perfection, above me a network of snowdrop chandeliers cast light like fairy rain on the tops of our heads.

To the right stood an Amazonian woman dressed in a silver tulle gown. Her white hair was piled elegantly on her head. She smiled warmly at each guest as they passed her. She had startling sapphire-blue eyes and a small upturned nose. Apart from a few small lines around her eyes, she could have been anything from thirty-five to fifty. Her skin looked as though she had spent her whole life underneath a lace parasol, protected from the elements. She clasped her hands together, showing off a large jewelled ring that glinted powerfully.

‘Celeste.’ Luca’s tone was reverent and, as we came closer, her eyes widened fondly at the sight of him.

‘How handsome you look,’ she said quietly, straightening his jacket in a maternal gesture. ‘Dear Luca.’ Her eyes turned to regard me, standing awed beside him. ‘And who is this?’ She raised an eyebrow at Luca.

‘This is Jane, Mother Celeste.’ Luca pulled me forward gently. I bobbed in an awkward little curtsey, feeling faintly ridiculous.

Celeste laughed. ‘How charming,’ she said as another group of guests nudged up behind us. ‘Excuse me …’ She turned graciously to greet them and Luca and I continued on towards some grand double doors, through which servants bearing trays of drinks attended to the crowd inside.

I breathed out loudly, bracing myself for what was to come.

‘Brother.’ A familiar voice halted us. Lowe, standing with a couple of angelic-looking boys his age, waved insouciantly. Whispering something to his companions, he left them and crossed the hall to us.

Luca frowned. ‘Shouldn’t you be making yourself useful, Lowe? Not just hanging around.’

‘I’ve done my fair share.’ Lowe’s eyes slid over my dress. ‘Gracious, don’t you look a sweet sight, Jane?’

The faint derision in his tone made it difficult not to glare at him, but I managed a tight smile.

‘Thank you.’

‘To think we barely knew of your existence until now,’ Lowe went on. ‘It seems impossible.’ His gaze rested a little too long on me, though I stared unblinking back at him, willing Luca to send him away. Or do something.

‘Run along, Lowe,’ said Luca, taking my arm. ‘I’m sure the kitchen staff are short of a pair of hands.’

‘Oh didn’t I tell you,’ Lowe said lightly, ‘Celeste has given me special dispensation tonight … to mingle …’ He paused. ‘As a guest.’

‘She has?’ Luca looked surprised but smiled, pleased for his brother. ‘You’d better not let her down, then, I suppose.’

Lowe glanced back at his friends. ‘Don’t worry about us. We won’t embarrass you … or your lovely companion.’ With an infuriating smile, he drifted away.

Luca shook his head. ‘I suppose I do worry about him. He is too … what do you call it? Cocky?’

‘Cocky is exactly the right word,’ I said, dryly.

Inside the great room – the ballroom – the noise was almost deafening. It was more than a hubbub of voices, it was a hissing, whispering nest of creatures. I was amazed at how distinct the assembled groups were.

There was Tilly and her coven, chattering. Tilly’s nervous energy gave her the appearance of an agitated little bird, sharp-nosed, her head darting this way and that.

In the corner, the vampires I had seen earlier stood coolly, observing others. The woman with the fur cape held a small, painted, wooden fan in one hand, and I saw her whisper to Elvis as she waved it in front of her, pausing to seize a flute of what looked like champagne from one of the staff. Taking a long drink, she put her head back and hiccuped. I smiled. It made her seem more human at least.

And in the orchestra, seated on a curved stage by a huge stained-glass window looking over the grounds, was little Dalya, bent intently over her violin.

I suddenly wished that Dot was here to see all of this, and felt a pang. She would never know about any of this. She couldn’t.

Dalya lifted her head and found us. Two small pink spots appeared in her cheeks and she lifted her bow in greeting.

‘Dalya spends most of the evening bored as a snail,’ said Luca, waving back at his sister. ‘She cannot wait to make her entrance as a proper guest.’

I secretly envied her, observing safely from her place in the orchestra. If it weren’t for Luca by my side, I would hardly say I felt at ease. The night opened out before me, unknown and forbidden. I looked almost longingly at the tray of glasses carried quickly past us by a waiter.

Luca followed my gaze. ‘One sparkling grape juice won’t do any harm,’ he said, stopping the waiter to take two glasses from him. ‘Though in large doses it’s said to have an hallucinogenic quality, so maybe go easy on it.’ He handed me a glass.

I drank, to find the taste was like lemonade. Effervescent, but harmless – I hoped.

‘I hesitate to break it to you,’ Luca murmured over the top of his glass, ‘but you are a source of interest already.’

‘Really?’ I looked subtly about me, my stomach clenching. As my eyes travelled around the room, they met a few curious stares. The vampires in particular gawped brazenly at my dress.

‘Come on,’ said Luca. ‘Let’s get this done with.’ He took my arm and led me through parting guests to the imposing couple in the corner.

‘Hello there,’ purred the woman in the fur cape. She lowered her fan, smiling spectacularly at Luca as he approached. ‘Rather rude of you to leave it so long to introduce us to your companion.’ She extended one long arm towards me. ‘How delicious you are,’ she said, her smoky eyes taking me all in. ‘Where on earth have you come from?’

I opened my mouth, but Luca intervened by kissing her hand.

‘Vanya, this is Jane. A distant southern cousin of mine.’ He smiled in a relaxed fashion. ‘Jane, this is Vanya. And her husband Milton.’ He gestured at Milton who was half turned away in pursuit of more grape juice. ‘They rule the vampire nests on Nissilum.’

‘Not that we live in such a hovel,’ said Vanya. ‘We have worked hard to enjoy a more luxurious existence. And it gives our lowers something to aspire to.’ She blinked at me and I felt myself becoming almost swept up by her. I looked down at my glass, remembering Luca’s warning. ‘Heavenly dress,’ she said, a tiny laugh escaping her lips. My own mouth was frozen in a smile. ‘Very nice for one of your breed,’ she told Luca over my head, as though I wasn’t present.

Having secured his drink, Milton stepped forward, towering over the rest of us; he held a flute of clear sparkling liquid in one gloved hand, extending the other towards me.

‘Enchanted to meet this beautiful creature,’ he said. I was fixated by his mouth, wide and red, though his skin puzzled me. Contrary to what I had expected, he had a healthy pallor and his eyes were a regular brown, not the black I had imagined.

Luca nodded warily at him, then, glancing at Vanya, he cleared his throat, attempting more conversation. ‘Vanya and Milton are Borgia vampires. A great dynasty.’

Vanya preened in a self-entitled kind of way, flicking her fan back and forth.

‘We took the name from some mortal acquaintances of ours, hundreds of years back.’ She looked dolefully at Milton. ‘We had so much in common with them. Didn’t we dear?’

‘Exquisite country, too,’ Milton added, nostalgically. ‘Italy.’ He directed a look at me. ‘Have you heard of it?’

Borgia? Nefarious Italian family … I blinked and drew my hand out of Milton’s extended grip, unsure whether this was a trick.

‘I haven’t, no. Is it beautiful?’

‘Very. And the food! Pity we couldn’t eat then.’

Luca gave me a slight nudge, reminding me, if I didn’t already know, that ignorance was the best policy.

Vanya opened her purse and took out a small compact mirror and a lipstick. Oblivious to her audience, she retouched her lips, pouting at her reflection. Milton was gazing adoringly at her, I noticed.

‘Isn’t she something?’ he murmured, then subtly looked me up and down. ‘Though I suspect she has a little competition tonight …’

I looked up at Luca to see umistakeable pride on his face and we exchanged a smile. Though I hardly felt comfortable trapped with these imposing vampires, I allowed myself a small rush of pleasure.

Oblivious to any compliments except those directed at her, Vanya snapped her compact shut and replaced it in her purse. She linked her arm through mine and her fur cape rubbed pleasingly against my bare skin.

‘Would you like to see the ancestral gallery?’ she said quietly into my ear. ‘All those fantastically puritanical Seraphim. Gruesome.’

‘Why not?’ I said, my head reeling a little. Was it the drink? Or was it Vanya?

‘I’ll take her, Vanya.’ Luca smiled amiably but his tone was firm. He moved to break us apart, and slid his own arm through mine.

Vanya’s face darkened for a second, but she recovered and smiled broadly. Her teeth were the whitest I’d ever seen.

‘As you wish,’ she said, in a clipped kind of way, and raised her glass at Milton. ‘I need more refreshment darling,’ she told him as he obediently took her glass.

Vanya turned to me and I felt Luca’s grip tighten a little. ‘We must catch up later,’ she said, touching my cheek with her finger. Then, with a nod at Milton, she clutched her fur closer around her shoulders and swept off with her beau.

‘She’s incredible,’ I breathed. ‘And I feel woozy.’

‘Vanya has that effect.’ Luca’s expression was dry. ‘She’s a terrible flirt. But she certainly has an eye for beauty.’ His eyes flickered shyly over my dress and inside I felt myself glowing.

‘I can hardly believe this is happening. It’s all so very glamorous.’

‘I can’t say I enjoy it usually.’ Luca pulled me gently in the direction of the great hall, and as we walked a clutch of witches stared imperiously at the two of us. ‘I’m normally stuck serving drinks to this lot,’ he added in a half-whisper.

At the doorway to the great hall a white-haired man, dressed in a pale-blue and white tailcoat affair, bowed solemnly at us. I nodded in return.

‘That’s Ned,’ Luca said as we passed into the hall. ‘He and I tend to spend a lot of time together at the ball. ‘He has a good sense of humour. For an angel.’

I laughed. ‘They are rather serious, aren’t they?’

‘Goody two shoes,’ Luca said slowly. ‘Now, that’s one mortal term I approve of heartily.’

‘But the angels are supposed to be decent people?’ I said. ‘Trustworthy.’

Luca stopped and put his glass down on a marble-topped table with what looked like solid gold legs.

‘I envy your regard for trust,’ he said, and I thought how soft and kind his eyes looked. ‘As you can imagine, it is not prized amongst the population of Nissilum … Well, apart from the angels. And as for the werewolves … Well, animals don’t trust … they survive.’ Luca’s face was serious. Sad.

He hates it, I thought. He hates not knowing how to trust.

‘But you trust your family?’ I said, wanting to smooth out the anxious creases in his forehead.

‘Loyalty is slightly different perhaps.’

And what about me?
I wanted to ask, but didn’t.

A flurry of waitresses appeared through a door in the hall. Dressed in shades of pale pink, blue and yellow Regency-style dresses they were what could only be described as cherubic. Pale blonde curls, arranged Jane Austen-style and the creamiest skin. I stared, enraptured.

‘Very pretty,’ said Luca, as they carried their trays through to the ballroom. ‘In a sugary kind of way. Not really my thing.’

I grinned. ‘They’re like something out of a fairy tale. Little Bo Peeps.’