Chapter 6

Elena's POV

That evening, Jason came to fetch me himself.

I was dressed and standing before the mirror, and the woman looking back at me felt like a stranger.

A black gown, pearl earrings, careful makeup. Everything correct.

But the eyes were so tired she looked less like a wife accompanying her husband and more like someone being led out to face a verdict.

Jason stood in the doorway and studied me.

“Ready?”

I nodded.

He extended a hand.

I hesitated, then placed mine in his palm.

Cold. A vampire's natural temperature.

Before, I could always find some small comfort in that cold. Now it only cut.

Downstairs, Vicky was already waiting in the hall.

A deep red gown. Her crimson eyes vivid under the lights.

She saw Jason leading me down, and her gaze paused on our joined hands for just a moment.

Then she smiled, soft and easy.

“You look beautiful tonight, Elena.”

I thanked her quietly.

Jason glanced at Vicky.

“Let's go.”

And I finally understood: tonight wasn't Jason taking me to the reception.

It was Jason taking me and Vicky both.

The ride was airless.

Vicky sat across from Jason and talked lightly about people who'd be at the event tonight. I sat to the side, as if I were listening to a language from another world, with no way in and no desire to try.

Jason glanced at me occasionally.

I pretended not to notice, my gaze fixed steadily on the window.

Tonight I was there to absorb gossip for the two of them. Jason was heir to the vampire throne, and abandoning a wife would look bad.

Perhaps he just needed me to suggest to certain guests that we'd long since drifted apart.

I understood that the warmth in the study earlier was nothing more than familiarity, just a faint reluctance to part with a substitute he’d grown accustomed to.

The twinges of guilt gnawing at him were never love. That wasn't enough. It had never been enough to hold us together.

The reception was held in an ancient manor on the vampire domain's grounds.

The great hall blazed. Crystal chandeliers fell from above, giving every face an unreal, perfect beauty.

The moment I walked in on Jason's arm, I felt dozens of eyes.

Then they drifted to Vicky.

I'd seen that kind of gaze before. Familiar and not kind.

Someone behind a lifted glass, voice lowered:

“That's Jason's human wife?”

“She does look like Vicky.”

“No wonder he married her.”

“Now that the real one's back, how long does she last?”

I heard all of it.

I didn't look back.

I'd known tonight would be like this.

I'd never wanted to come. These gatherings had always unsettled me — the vampire nobility loved their propriety, and even more loved watching someone else's collapse.

But I couldn't refuse Jason. Before it had been because I loved him. Now it was only the last remaining duty of a wife.

I held my smile and stood beside him.

He seemed to hear the whispers too. He frowned and glanced at me.

“Ignore them.”

I shook my head.

“It's fine.”

I'd heard worse. So had he, and it had never made him react before.

I'd told myself I didn't care about the gossip, didn't care about his belated consideration.

Until I saw my stepmother and stepsister in the crowd.

My stepmother in a dark violet gown, murmuring with other vampire noblewomen. My stepsister beside her, jewelry bright, smile bright.

When she saw me, her eyes lit.

She'd been waiting for a moment like this.

She came over with a glass, her gaze stopping a beat on Vicky, then settling on me.

“Elena. It's been a while.”

My fingers tightened slightly.

She smiled wider.

“I heard Miss Vicky was back. I thought maybe you wouldn't come tonight.”

My stepmother drifted over, her concern measured and warm.

“Elena, you look pale. Not sleeping well?”

A pause, her gaze passing over Jason and Vicky without quite landing.

“Moments like these, they do put things in a person's head.”

Quiet laughter around us.

I looked at them.

Something compressed in my chest.

Being hurt by Jason, I could still tell myself I'd chosen this.

But seeing my stepmother and stepsister pulled me back to the old house, back to the place where I always ended up apologizing.

I didn't want to keep standing here.

I let go of Jason's hand.

“I need some air.”

Jason looked at me.

“I'll come with you.”

“No.”

I smiled.

“I won't be long.”

He seemed about to say something.

Then Vicky gave a soft, small cough.

His attention shifted.

I didn't wait. I walked out to the terrace.