The women fluttered around her, brushing her hair out as they talked softly. They had not said another word to her, nor had she spoken to them for the past few hours. They exchanged gossip, talked of men they liked, and spoke in whispered reverence of the prince. From all of their excited chatter, Aria learned that the blond fancied herself amongst one of the prince’s favorites and often spent time with him here, in his apartment.
Aria tried not to think about the discomfort and confusion that revelation caused her. She should be relieved the prince had other women to keep his attention; maybe he would simply just want blood from her, and nothing more. The thought was repulsive enough, but until she could escape, she felt that she might be able to bear it. Aria winced; flinching away as the blond, Lauren, brushed her hair just a little too roughly nearly tearing it out at the roots. Aria glowered at her, but the woman hardly noticed as she continued her assault on Aria’s hair.
“When was the last time you brushed this mess?” Lauren muttered.
Aria clenched her jaw and her hands, refusing to answer the vapid woman. The brunette, Maggie, gave Aria a sympathetic glance as she finished applying some kind of strange color to Aria’s nails. She stared at them in confusion, not understanding why anyone would want to do that to their nails, but apparently it was popular as all three of the girls had it on. Julia, the redhead, brought forth a pair of shoes that Aria was certain had been designed to kill her. Who walked on such a long and pointy shoe anyway? Whose ankles could take those things?
Aria remained unmoving as they applied their final touches and stepped back to examine her more closely. Aria’s gaze slid away from them, hating the sight of the bite marks that marred their necks and inner wrists. It was apparent that they willingly, and apparently from the way they were talking, eagerly gave their blood away. She wondered if it was just the prince that they gave it to as they appeared very much at ease in his place, and seemed to know where everything was located, or if they gave it away to any vampire that asked.
“Why do you think he choose her?” Julia inquired, tilting her head to study Aria more intently.
“I don’t know; she’s most certainly not anything to look at. The prince must have decided that it would be good to have a blood slave available to him whenever he was hungry,” Lauren replied. “Though we’re always available.”
Julia giggled, her eyes sparkling brightly as she covered her mouth with her hand. “Yes, we are.”
Aria managed to keep her face impassive, she wanted to smack the insipid women, but she forced herself not to react to any of their vindictive words. Though Aria felt that she was no competition for the voluptuous women, it was more than apparent that Lauren felt threatened by her for some reason. Aria was not going to reassure her that she did not have to fear Aria’s competition; she wanted nothing to do with this place.
“Bony little thing,” Lauren muttered.
Aria rolled her eyes, biting back her sharp retort. Julia knelt before her, thrusting the tortuous shoes onto Aria’s feet. She winced as her foot was twisted and crammed into the awful, painful things. When Julia was done, she grasped hold of Aria’s arms and pulled her to her feet. Aria cringed, hating the uncomfortable things strapped to her. She stood, wobbling and uncertain, and trying hard not to grimace in pain.
“You will get used to them,” Maggie said softly, patting her arm reassuringly. Julia and Lauren rolled their eyes, but decided to keep their snarky comments to themselves this time. “The prince is waiting.”
Aria moved forward, trying to get used to the new shoes, but barely able to move in them as she crept forward at an annoyingly slow pace. There would be no fleeing in these awful contraptions, and she found herself cursing whoever the idiot was that had invented them. Maggie took pity on her and grasped hold of her arm, helping her along. Aria did not jerk away from the girl this time, mainly because she needed the help, but also because no matter how much she did not agree with Maggie’s choices, she found she almost tolerated her.
She was led back into the main entrance room. The prince was lying on the sofa, his arm tossed over his eyes, and one leg planted firmly on the floor. The wolf lay on the floor before him; the animal lifted its head to watch as they entered the room. The prince must have sensed them, or heard them, as he dropped his arm and sat up. He was still wearing his glasses, but Aria knew instantly when his eyes landed upon her.
Her heart flipped in her chest, a strange sensation trickled through her as he stared silently at her. “Leave us.”
The three girls nodded briskly before slipping quietly from the room. Aria stood uncertainly, her hands folded before her, frightened by what was going to happen next. They were all alone in this room, and she was at his complete and utter mercy. “Much better,” he said softly. Aria swallowed heavily, biting on her bottom lip as she met his gaze again. “Come here.” She froze, her eyes widening and her heart hammering wildly in her chest. She did not want to get any closer to him, she was terrified of him, and the strange way that he made her feel so frightened, and yet so nervous and strangely excited. “I won’t hurt you.”
She didn’t know if she should believe him or not, but she felt that she could. She stood uncertainly for a moment more before attempting to totter forward on the death traps now strapped to her feet. A small cry escaped as her ankle twisted out, her legs buckled beneath her. He was beside her instantly, catching hold of her before she could hit the ground.
Aria’s eyes widened, she stared up at him in shocked wonder as he lifted her slowly. She began to shake, unable to understand this strange creature before her. Vampires were monsters, they destroyed humans, used them and abused them before tossing them away, but this creature was an enigma that she could not even begin to understand. One moment he was overbearing, intimidating, and threatening. The next he was like this, almost kind and gentle as he held her gingerly in his grasp.
Was this part of his game? Did he want to try and gain her trust before tormenting, torturing, and destroying her? That explanation seemed far more likely than the one that suggested that this creature, one of the leaders of the monsters, might actually be kind.
“I don’t think those shoes are for you.”
Aria blinked at him, her mouth parted slightly as he settled her onto the sofa he had abandoned. “Most definitely not,” she agreed.
Aria watched in stunned disbelief as he knelt before her. Her breath froze in her chest; her heart lumbered heavily in her chest as the prince of the vampires very slowly, and gently, slipped the awful things from her feet. His hands were soft upon her; his touch caused an odd thrill to race up her spine. She found herself wanting to trust him, wanting to like him even.