Inhuman Heritage Read Free Page B

that someone else knew how I felt, especially when I was with Aram and he was, say, shirtless. My cheeks heated up as I thought about that and I looked from under my lashes to the other side of the limo, Jareth was looking again. Oh God, I hid my face in Aram’s shoulder. I wonder if Jareth had known that time I had checked out his butt which much like Aram’s was fantastic. I told my brain to shut the hell up and stop embarrassing me.
    Jareth shifted restless in his seat, he must have been uncomfortable with all the lusty vibes I’d started to give off. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down and for the first time I could feel Jareth there, trying to help me. I had myself back under control when we pulled to a stop outside the club.
    Aribella and Jareth got out first smiling at and talking to the press that were gathered. Aram took my hand again and we followed suit, again assaulted by the bright bursts of flashbulbs and people shouting questions at us. Aram led me through the throng and into the club without answering a single one of them.

Chapter Two
    Then came the dancing. I stood against a pillar that held up the mezzanine floor while Aram was charming a reporter from one of the national papers that had been invited to attend the party inside. I stood there watching the other dancers whirl around the floor. The vampires had gone for a proper dance, not a disco, classical ballroom music and so many of them–the Sovereign vampires–came from eras where they had learnt dancing as part of their education. Etiquette and manners were all proudly observed. I sighed and tilted my head back to admire the decorations that were lining the room along with the lines of male vampires in black tuxedo’s and the females in prom dresses ready to dance with any of the humans present at a moment’s notice. I could see Dusk at the corner of the dance floor; she wore a bright pink strappy dress that fell down her small body in a silken wave. The straps were desperately clinging to her shoulders and as she swayed with the music I could see that the dress had no back to it till it was right above the small of her back. She too was watching Aram with the reporter and I knew she wanted more than anything to dance with him instead of her. Aram was very popular and part of me felt proud that he was my boyfriend.
    Fingers crept across my neck making a shiver run over my skin and I turned to see Sienna leaning over me, a fangy smile on his face.
    “You know I don’t like it when you do that,” I chided him. Sienna liked to play with me. He had a power over cold, I’d seen him turn a ball of flame into pure ice and because I had an affinity with fire his power often irked me when he touched my skin. It was like having Jack Frost skate across my neck or walking through spider webs.
    “Such a beautiful flower should not be left to wither by a wall in the shade,” said Sienna taking my hand. “Dance with me.”
    “I’d rather not,” I said but Sienna did not take no as an answer. He swept an arm around my waist and pulled me away from where I had been resting.
    “I ask not for me,” he said with a wistful smile, “but Vincent is so intimidated by your beauty tonight that I must conduct you to him.”
    I laughed. Vincent was a very flirty, very naughty boy. I didn’t think for a minute that I could possibly intimidate him or that he would be afraid to come ask me to dance with him. I let Sienna whirl me out onto the dance floor and I took up a proper dancing posture with him. Aram had given me a couple of lessons so that I wouldn’t step on anyone’s feet. The vampires had been planning this party since the beginning of the year. There was a bill sitting under consideration in Parliament to grant vampires equal rights to humans and Sovereign vampire groups all across the country were holding events to encourage the bill to pass smoothly. No one knew what the Shadow clans thought as they had no real structure tending to