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)
“I eye-banged his mostly naked body for a solid minute.”
“That’s a good start. But you could have, you know, touched him. Wild idea, I know,” Lucy said teasingly.
“So,” Pandora said, looking for anything else to talk about. “How did things go with Elias?”
Lucy’s growl was a bit more lupine than usual, hinting at the upcoming full moon.
“That good, eh?” she asked, getting narrowed eyes from her friend.
“Let’s just say I’m excited for your wedding. If for no other reason than being able to have that man out of my life for good.”
“Were there issues with the family?” Pandora asked.
“Not really, no. I mean, we did have to do some sticking together to get things to shake out the way we needed them to.”
“I’m afraid to ask what that might mean.”
“Nothing to worry about. It actually worked out perfectly. Your hen party is going to be at Nocturnum,” Lucy said.
“Wait. What? Why?” Pandora asked, gaping at her friend, who kept her gaze forward, pointedly ignoring her outrage.
Nocturnum was one of the handful of underground vampire clubs in London. The kind of place Pandora purposely avoided. Where blood was on tap and human donors could be rented for a snack.
“Listen, you’re just gonna have to suck it up for the night. No pun intended,” Lucy said, smirking at Pandora.
“Why that club?”
“Because there happens to be a human bar right next door,” Lucy said. “Elias and I figured the best way to pull this off is if the parties take place right next to each other. This way, you can pop in and out of the hen party, and go check on the stag end of things.”
“That’s actually brilliant,” Pandora said.
Sure, she had to show her face occasionally so her aunts and cousins and everyone knew she was floating around, having a good time, doing the partying thing that all soon-to-be-married women would be doing.
But she would spend as much of her time as possible at the party next door, keeping an eye on Victor and her male family members.
“Well, I’m glad you think so. Because you have approximately eight hours to get some rest, get dolled up, and get ready to party.”
“What? It’s tonight? We just got back in.”
“I know. The timing is awful. But it was the only time we could get Nocturnum to agree to such a large party. They’re booked solid for the next four months. If we didn’t jump on this, we were going to have to think of a different plan. Besides, you are probably flying off that blood after three days of starving.”
Lucy wasn’t wrong about that. The exhaustion that had been pulling at her eyelids just half an hour before had disappeared after just a couple of sips.
“OK. You’re right. Better to get this over with. After this, things should calm down. At least when it comes to my family interacting with Victor.”
“That’s the spirit,” Lucy said, pulling up outside Pandora’s house.
The two of them climbed out, and Lucy paused to grab two garment bags out of the boot before following Pandora inside.
“Oh, there you are, my dear!” Ravenna said, rushing toward Pandora to wrap her up in a crushing hug. “So glad you got back in time for your party.”
“Me too.” Pandora gave her great-aunt a smile.
“How was Morocco?”
“Beautiful. We had a wonderful time.” Out of the corner of her eye, Pandora could see Ambrosia watching from the doorway of the dining room. “Victor bought me new-and-blue earrings for the wedding at a little shop there. It was just the stress relief we needed.”
Perhaps she would feel guilty about embellishing the truth if it weren’t for the fact that she knew her great-great-grandmother had sent them on the trip to attempt to break them up.
“Oh, that is so lovely,” Ravenna said. “That is a good man you have there. OK, go, go. Get ready for your party. I can’t wait to see this club.”
Was it weird to have family members who were hundreds or thousands of years old going to your hen party? Probably. But Pandora didn’t have a ton of friends, so she was glad to have family to celebrate her upcoming vows with.
Plus, they could all have a good time. Without, you know, feeding on anyone who wasn’t willing.
Pandora, Lucy, Kora, and Maribelle spent a few hours in Pandora’s room. Doing their make-up, getting dressed, chatting.
And then they were all piling into a limo as Dante, Elias, and the other cousins and uncles headed out to pick up Victor, who’d been a good sport about the sudden party, despite likely suffering some jet lag and wanting to just rest.
“Elias said they even managed to get in touch with Victor’s best mate,” Lucy told her as they drove toward the club.
“Sebastian.”
“Yeah. Figured it would be nice for him to have at least one person from his life there,” Lucy said.