A Vampire's Life Book 6

Chapter 16

Ariella pulled Zane to the circle of lounges, all that remained were two single seats that sat directly opposite the new guy. The new guy that had not stopped watching him.

'Ariella.' he grinned at her 'Who is your new friend?'

'Oh forgive my poor manners. This is Zane...' her eyes looked to Zane expectantly 'My boyfriend.' she whispered with a soft smile.

He grinned back at her, unsure of why she would go so quiet all of a sudden.

'Zane, this is a friend of our family, his royal highness Finn Stiofán.'

'Finn is fine Ariella, you know that.'

'Of course.'

They sat into their respective seats, Zane was very quiet as everyone chatted about all manner of things. Everyone except the new guy. He sat there with his elbows resting on the arms of the chair, his fingers tented in front of him. Staring at him with an inane grin on his face. Zane felt incredibly uncomfortable, wondering if Ariella had something with this guy once, maybe he was a former boyfriend. He was certainly good looking enough. But he wasn't nasty to him or to Ariella either. Maybe he was wrong, or maybe he wanted something with Ariella. It seemed plausible but again there was no malice in his expression. If he was once with her or wanted to be with her, Zane would expect there to be a certain element of distaste or hostility towards them. But there was just one man watching him with humour etched on his handsome face. Those eyes were far different to any he had ever seen. They seemed narrower in the light, the black of his pupil stretched thin like someone was pulling them at the top and bottom of his eyes. Almost like a cat he thought. A tiny curl crept into the corner of his mouth, showing just a hint of the fang behind it. It seemed a fraction larger than what he had seen on a vampire. Thoughts and possibilities of what this man was, was plaguing his mind. It was all Zane could think about. Distractions are a problem, somewhere in his thoughts about this odd creature one tiny fracture appeared. It was enough for Finn.

The butler appeared and announced that dinner was ready, everyone began to move to the formal dining room. But two held back. Zane watched as Lucas and Finn stayed in the room, continuing their conversation about something. Ariella pulled his hand through the entry to the dining room, not wanting him to focus on the fact that not everyone was following. Clearly Finn had made progress and she was praying that all went well. Minutes had passed as they waited, the steam rising off the plate was causing the pain in Zane's stomach to worsen. His mouth watered at the smell, wanting to eat everything on the plate, wanting to lick it clean. But he had to remember his lessons from earlier, do not lick your plate. Lucas and Finn entered the room, apologising for their tardiness. Ariella looked to her father who had a hard line pressed into his mouth. He wasn't impressed but he also wasn't calling the guards to drag Zane out of the room. Not good but there must have been a ray of hope, somewhere.

Well? she whispered in his mind.

We can discuss this at a later time Ariella, for now he will continue as we have discussed.

Ariella knew her father had just shut down all conversations about what he and Finn had discussed, what had been found. She knew there would be no point asking Finn himself, he would have been asked to refrain from speaking about it. So she had to sit and wait for her father to tell her. She wondered if he held his tongue because she was pregnant to Zane, was he protecting her and her unborn child? What could Zane be hiding that would annoy her father but not to the point where he would die because of it? It was bugging Ariella, she desperately wanted to know.

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'I think it would be wise not to sleep in your bed until after I am turned.'