Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99700 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 499(@200wpm)___ 399(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“Shall we take drinks in the parlour?” Ophelia asked, rising to her feet, prompting all of the men to immediately follow.
Victor reached for the back of Pandora’s chair and then waited for her to step out, before following her out into the hallway, then down the hall toward the parlour.
“Wow, that’s an impressive clock,” Victor said as he noticed the cherrywood grandfather clock with its ebony inlays and brass Arabic numerals. The swan-neck pendant sat unmoving.
“It’s a shame it hasn’t rung since 1832,” Lucian said in passing, forgetting the situation for a moment.
Victor shot a confused look in Pandora’s direction. “How does he know that?”
“Oh, er, it was … in the owner’s manual,” Pandora said. “Very detailed,” she added with a nod.
“Mind if I take a look at it?” Elias asked, making Lucian straighten.
“By all means,” her father said. Pandora tried not to roll her eyes as she led Victor further into the room, pulling him down with her on a sofa.
“You’re still freezing,” Victor said when her hand brushed his. He reached for it, holding it between both of his as Ravenna asked him no fewer than fifty rapid-fire questions, barely giving him enough time to answer before shooting him another one.
Pandora was endlessly thankful for Ravenna, though. She was clearly trying. To be accepting. To make Victor feel comfortable.
While her own mother tried to insert a new love interest into her life. Right under her fiancé’s nose.
“There we go,” Elias said a few moments later, waving toward where the pendulum was now swinging lazily.
Who was this guy?
Pandora thought he was starting to seem like one of those Mary Sue characters in books that were universally hated because they were just too good at everything. Too pretty, too smart, too talented. With no real depths, vulnerabilities, insecurities, or flaws to even out all that perfection.
What was the male version of a Mary Sue called, she wondered. A Larry Stu? Gary Stu?
If they were taking suggestions for new names for the male version, Pandora would love to volunteer Elias Thornwell.
No, it didn’t roll off the tongue quite as easily, but it would sure make Pandora feel a lot better if a hated characterization was named after the vampire who was currently schmoozing her mother and father without any effort.
“Pandora?” Victor’s voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
“Yeah?” she asked, horrified that Victor might have seen her staring at Elias and assumed she might be ogling him, instead of imagining what it might be like to stomp over there and push him into the fireplace. “Sorry. I’m getting tired.”
It wasn’t a lie per se.
She was tired.
Exhausted, actually.
But mentally, emotionally. Not physically. If she went up to bed, she was sure she would toss and turn endlessly, replaying the events of the night, beating herself up for things she’d done, or hadn’t done, to make the evening go more smoothly.
“Maybe we should call it a night,” Ravenna said, looking concerned.
“Oh, no!” Aunt Anastacia got to her feet. “My Bellatrix was just about to honor us all with a song.”
As if the night hadn’t been painful enough.
Pandora turned her head so she could speak without anyone reading her lips, and whispered to Victor, “I apologize in advance for this.”
Victor turned his head closer, his lips nearly brushing her ear, his warm breath teasing over her skin. “For what?”
He found out soon enough, though, as Bellatrix got to her feet, clasped her hands in front of her, elbows out wide, opened her mouth, and made them all regret the great acoustics in the room.
“Victor,” Anastacia said afterward, beaming. “What did you think?”
Victor paused for the barest of seconds before saying, with a straight face, “I have no words.”
A laugh built in Pandora’s throat before she could fight it off, making her cover it with a hard cough instead.
“Sorry,” she said as Victor patted her on the back, his green eyes bright with barely contained laughter himself. “Wine went down the wrong pipe,” she said, despite not having taken a sip.
“Bellatrix,” Elias called out, making everyone turn to face him. “Wherever did you learn to sing?” he asked, making Pandora wonder if his one true flaw was being tone-challenged.
“Oh, my Bellatrix is entirely self-taught.” Aunt Anastacia beamed at her daughter.
“You wouldn’t want a vocal coach to ruin such … raw talent,” Elias said smoothly, making Pandora put a hand over her mouth, looking like she was covering a yawn, not suppressing a smile.
Maybe he wasn’t as boring and annoying as she’d first thought.
Still, that didn’t mean she was going to fall for the guy, no matter what her mother wanted.
She was with Victor.
Just then, Victor’s thumb started to absentmindedly tease over the back of her hand. She felt that familiar sizzle of interest, of attraction, of longing moving up her arm and across her chest, making that newly familiar heat warm her from the inside once again.