“Almost everyone?” Bast raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah. A celebrity couple who’s attending tend to bring not exactly trouble, but at least some attention wherever they go. Nothing we can’t handle, but it puts me on alert. The old guard might be an issue if they’ve gotten wind of the party.”
“Damn it.” He hated the thought of having to defend themselves against their kind, but the old guard vampires didn’t want anything to do with the newly formed Council and its rules. “Is the couple old enough to be old guard?”
“He is. Not his wife. But there’s some kind of agreement there anyway. They’re not our problem. What gets me hot is the insecurity of the entire situation. One werewolf gets word of the event—that the guard isn’t allowed near the delegation—and it’s over before it began.”
Bast closed his eyes. “Let me think about it. I’ll figure out a way to keep things intact. Give me an hour and I’ll join you.”
“We can’t do our jobs if they won’t let us,” Gray grumbled, then hung up.
Thinking about the limitations being placed on them, Bast returned to his bedroom for a different set of clothing. He hadn’t needed to get dolled up for the muckety-mucks in some time, but he owned a few things that would be suitable.
He stood before the closet, hand on the knob before releasing it as if scalded. Balling the same hand into a fist, he turned and looked toward the hallway. His thoughts focused on Alice.
And then he had an idea.
* * *
Breathing deeply didn’t help with the anxiety ratcheting up Alice’s heart rate as she sat next to Sebastian in the Ferrari. She was going to be the only human in a room full of vampires. The only one.
“No one will touch you. No one will dare come near you.” Sebastian kept providing reassurances, but she didn’t know if they were making her feel better or worse. “You’re with me, and I won’t let anything happen. Not a single hair misplaced on your head. I promise.”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you...” Even her voice wavered.
“I will be by your side the entire time, along with my team. Six of the vampires’ finest warriors at your disposal.”
Her fingers flicked the red tassels on her thigh, another reminder of how dramatically short the dress he’d chosen lay on her. For heaven’s sake, the thing was backless and the cleavage went almost to her belly button. Along with a pair of heels she could barely totter in, he’d managed to turn her into a streamline of woman. All legs. A single teardrop diamond hung from a slender silver chain, stopping at the juncture between her breasts, drawing attention there. Similar diamond studs glittered in her ears.
He’d walked into the boutique, had a quiet conversation with a saleswoman who scrutinized Alice from a distance with her head cocked. She’d withdrawn for a few minutes and came back with three selections. Without consulting Alice, Bast had chosen one and then had ushered her into a dressing room to get changed.
So yeah, not only the sole human in the room, she was dressed to kill. Even if she wanted to run off and hide in a corner, fat chance it would actually be allowed to happen. The barely there thing yelled look at me! at the top of its lungs.
“Tell me about the peo—vampires who’ll be there.” A little knowledge would go a long way.
“All politicians, all very old. None of them will be interested in you. No offense,” he added quickly. “They gather like this every once in a while to parade their ages and their wealth to each other. It’s very tedious and underwhelming to someone who doesn’t give a shit. Underneath, alliances are being made and deals are being struck. It’s subtle yet overdone at the same time.”
They turned into a driveway, and Alice pulled her attention away from him to study the place. The gray building surrounding by box hedges probably wouldn’t have stood out to the average passerby. At least, not until one noticed the wrought-iron fencing surrounding the lot or the multitude of security cameras mounted on the building’s corners. All of the windows were tinted, casting a reflection of the outside world but not allowing anyone on the outside to see in. Hell, she couldn’t even tell if it was occupied because of the dearth of lighting that should have at least hinted at occupants inside.