Masquerade (Vampires Realm Series Book 7) (Reading Sample) by Felicity Heaton (reading fiction txt) 📕

Sophis put her black uniform jacket back on and fastened the gold buttons that formed a V down the breast as she followed Tynan across the pale yellow entrance hall and then descended the stone steps to the basement. The guards there whispered as she passed, loud enough that she knew word had already spread about her fight with Vivek and how things had ended.

With her pinned under him in the most intimate of positions.

Why had fate sent her commander into the room at that exact moment?

She didn’t want Tynan to start believing she was a weak female too. He was one of the few guards in the household who believed in her and in having women in the ranks. He had commended her several times on her abilities. She doubted he was going to be commending her this time or that he would be as understanding and supportive as he had been when reading Vivek’s report to her. He led the way into his small cream-walled office near the armoury in the dingy basement of the mansion. The bright lamp on the oak desk struggled to add warmth to the windowless room and the sparseness of the furniture lent it a cold empty air.

Sophis stopped on the other side of the desk to him, her back to the door. Vivek filed in behind her and came to stand on her left. He pressed his right hand to his broad chest and she noticed that he hadn’t put on his jacket. It wasn’t like him to be so disrespectful around Tynan. As an officer on duty, he should be dressed appropriately, especially when in the presence of their commander. Sophis’s gaze caught on the dragons dancing down his right arm, entwined with each other and so detailed that she could have spent hours studying them, picking out each lily or thorny rose in the gaps between them, and each scale on the dragons’ multi-hued backs. Tynan’s tattoos sparked curiosity because of the way they disappeared from view but Vivek’s were beautiful, breathtaking, and fascinating. They were art that enhanced the allure of his honed muscles and had always captured Sophis’s attention.

She dragged her gaze away from them to find Tynan watching her, one eyebrow raised high. There was a look in his eyes that she couldn’t interpret. It had an edge of disbelief to it, a hint of shock, and a smidgen of amusement. Why?

Her eyes widened.

No. It was nothing like that. He was wrong. Just because he had found her underneath Vivek and had caught her looking at him just now, didn’t mean that she felt anything for him. Vivek’s tattoos had always interested her. Her staring at them was like her looking at a painting. It was an appreciation of the skill of the artist and the beauty of the design, not an appreciation of the canvas. Tynan had it all wrong. If Vivek hadn’t been standing beside her, she would have told him that too, regardless of how much trouble she would get in for speaking out of line to her commander. The days when her appreciation might have been more about the body the art was painted on were long past.

Tynan looked as though he was going to settle himself in the black leather chair behind his large desk and then turned his gaze on her and Vivek instead. He frowned and his already near-black eyes darkened further.

He plucked his white shirt from a row of coat hooks on the back wall near a large corkboard crammed with what looked like rosters and other snippets of information and slipped his arms into it, leaving it hanging open.

His gaze worked over both her and Vivek, scrutinising and assessing, slowly filling with shame that eventually had him shaking his head. He ran his fingers through his short dark hair and then took his seat, leaned back into it and loosed a long sigh.

“What am I supposed to do with you two?”

Neither she nor Vivek answered. Tynan didn’t want them to respond. It was written in the hard set of his jaw and his brown eyes.

Sophis straightened, standing tall with her feet shoulder width apart, and placed her hands behind her back, locking them together over her bottom. Vivek mimicked her pose, bracing his feet so his right foot was close to her left and tipping his chin up. He made her feel small when he stood like that, towering several inches over her. She fixed her eyes ahead, on the dull cream wall and corkboard behind Tynan, and waited for him to explode.

She could sense it coming.

Tynan shook his head again. “The leaders of our bloodline are starting to hear rumours and I do not like being questioned by Lord Timur about my ability to lead his guard. If your behaviour continues, I will be forced to kick you both out. No demotions or punishment. You will be dropped to the rank of servant of this bloodline or you will leave it completely, whatever path your pride allows you to choose.”

Sophis’s heart fell into the pit of her stomach. Her gaze ate the flagstones under her feet, shame burning her cheeks even though they couldn’t colour. She scuffed the grey stone slabs with the toe of her right boot. Her life was the guard and she had worked hard to achieve her position within it. She didn’t want to throw that all away because of petty arguments with Vivek, but more than that, she didn’t want to jeopardise Tynan’s position as commander. It was one thing when only her and Vivek’s positions were on the line, completely another when their lord was going to pin blame for their actions on Tynan too.

“We cannot afford to have any weak spots in our defences, not after what happened with the hunter and Lord Timur, and with the approaching masquerade... and that’s what you both are.”

Vivek audibly swallowed and her gaze crept across to his boots. His shame radiated through her, touching her senses, his feelings open enough for her to read them. They both valued the honour of being a guard, and she had fought to keep a level head and act in line with expectations, but Vivek pushed all the wrong buttons in her. He constantly goaded her into fighting and she had a feeling that he really did want to get her discharged. She just didn’t understand why.

They held the same position so it wasn’t done out of an intent to gain rank, unless he wanted to lead both squads. Tynan would never allow it. All squads had nine members now. Seven guards, a second in command, and a captain to lead them. Getting her kicked out wouldn’t gain him any more than the eight guards he already led.

Was he doing this purely to have her dropped from the guard then? He had said in the past that she didn’t deserve her position so soon after becoming a guard but did it go beyond that? Did he believe that she didn’t deserve to be a guard at all?

She had been a civilian once, when she had been newly turned and still learning from her sire. He had wanted her to remain a civilian too and to go away with him to one of the other Venia safe houses in Europe. She had declined the offer and joined the guard instead, choosing to protect the most important members of her bloodline.

She wasn’t sure she knew how to be anything other than a guard now. Without her duty, she would have no sense of purpose. If Vivek succeeded in getting her kicked out, she would probably leave Saint Petersburg and join her sire in Nice. She had always wanted to travel and he wrote to her sometimes, talking of the warmer weather and how different the blood tasted down there, spicy and exotic, full of vitality and nutrients that the blood of Saint Petersburg lacked. What was Nice like at this time of year? Spring in Saint Petersburg was chilly and it often snowed. Her sire had always made it sound as though it was warm all year round in the south of France. Unlike most vampires, she enjoyed summer, but that was when daylight ruled in Russia and the night was short. The lingering heat in the air when it eventually grew dark enough to leave the mansion relaxed her and made the world seem a better place.

“Sophis!”

She jolted to attention, saluting Tynan and snapping her heels together.

“Both of you will stop this foolish behaviour. Do you understand?” Tynan said and she nodded without hesitation.

Vivek saluted and dipped his chin.

Neither of them had ever queried Tynan’s orders. That only led to more questions in Sophis’s mind. Tynan was younger than both her and Vivek, but he deserved the rank he had achieved in the short years that he had been a Venia. Both he and his brother, Jascha, were exemplary and perfect soldiers, trained as humans in special operations for the Russian government, and then as vampires to be the elite of the guards. Sophis knew that Vivek felt the same as she did about Tynan. If he could accept a man younger than him as his commander, why couldn’t he accept a woman as his equal?

“I have a mission for you, and it will require you to work together.” Tynan stood and pushed his chair back before planting his palms on his oak desk. He levelled them both with a hard stare. “Perhaps it will knock some sense into your heads. You will hunt in the city tonight, without your squads, and will find out how many vampire hunters have arrived since our last count.”

Sophis blinked. That sort of mission was something usually reserved for elite guards and Tynan himself. It was an honour to do it in his stead, but it was daunting too. The mission was important enough normally. With the Creator Day masquerade starting soon, bringing almost one hundred high-ranking vampires from the other six pure bloodlines in Europe to their mansion, scouting the number of vampire hunters in the city was critical. A wrong count, even if it was only one missed hunter, could spell disaster. The number of guards and their position in the grounds could prove ineffective and result in failure to protect the lords and ladies of the bloodlines.

She wouldn’t be responsible for that.

Tynan was showing faith in both her and Vivek by giving them this mission and she wouldn’t fail him.

Tynan nodded as though he had seen the resolve in both of their eyes.

His brown gaze shifted to her and softened. “Are you sure you’re up for this mission?”

Sophis cast her eyes around the room, searching for her strength and battling the sudden wave of fear that swept through her blood. After what had happened during her last city patrol and encounter with a vampire hunter, and the events of her past, it was only natural for her to feel apprehensive about heading out of the mansion grounds in search of them. Once she was out there, everything would be fine and she would overcome any residual fear of facing the hunters again.

She nodded. “I am.”

A hint of a smile touched his mouth.

“Good to hear.” He regarded both her and Vivek, his deep voice losing its warmth and regaining its commanding edge. “I do not need to tell you how important this is. Many hunters have entered Saint Petersburg in recent weeks. We must discover what is happening. Hunters have never known of the masquerade before but we are beginning to suspect that they know now. Head into the city, scout them and report to me. Can you do this?”

Sophis and Vivek moved as one, pressing their hands to their chests and speaking