Fearless Fiery Beauty

Chapter 18: The Colossal Mistake

Edana had been completely cut off from all her friends for two weeks.  Two whole weeks.

She was still angry with Lucian and Gabriel but her mood had lifted since she began making friends with the other vampyres inhabiting the huge mansion.

Lucian was actually starting to get quite irritated with Edana as well.  He enjoyed partying and being irresponsible every now and again, more so than usual since his father had informed him that he would be made Prince of his people almost immediately after he and Edana are wed and would therefore no longer be able enjoy the freedom of irresponsibility.  The problem was that while Edana was all up for a good party, she never seemed to loosen up and her prude attitude was starting to work on his nerves.

Lucian wandered aimlessly around his expansive house, trying to find a way to get Edana to loosen up.  He was throwing a large all-vampyre party that night and was determined that she would have fun.

He had tried to get to know her but she just refused to open up to him.  She had admitted to accepting her fate within the prophecy but still refused to set a wedding date until she fell in love with him, but at the rate things were going he doubted that was going to happen any time soon.  Lucian was unsure how he felt about this though.  On one hand he felt some inexplicable need to protect the insufferable woman and knew that the sooner they were wed, the sooner she would agree to be turned which meant sooner until she would be as strong as possible and have the best defence against the Gaunts.  On the other hand though, the sooner they were wed, the sooner he would be made Prince, which he was dreading for more than the fact that he would start having to be responsible.

Lucian loved his people fiercely and understood the hope, trust and love his people put in their Prince and was forever fearful of disappointing them.  Now, as if that kind of pressure wasn’t enough, it turns out that he was expected to be the greatest ruler vampyres will ever know with Edana at his side.  Lucian knew – though he pushed it far down and ignored it as often as possible – he avoided responsibility as much as he could so that he wouldn’t inadvertently raise people’s expectations of him.  Better they thought he was useless.

At twelve o’clock that night, heavy drum and base music was rattling the windows of the main living room.  The entire overly large room had been cleared of all furniture.  A DJ booth had been set up in the corner furthest from the door and the pale peach floral wallpaper was almost completely covered in multi-covered strobe lights.  The bottom half of the wall on the right hand side of the room was completely hidden by a long bar filled with every type of alcohol under the sun and servants worked tirelessly to make sure the bar never emptied.

Lucian stumbled through the room, already slightly intoxicated, greeting friends and strangers alike; looking for the one girl in the room he knew would still be dead sober.

After a while, he managed to find her.  Edana was wearing a black high-necked halter dress that revealed enough thigh to make Lucian growl in lust.  He had to shake himself a moment and remind himself of the task at hand to control his raging hormones.

When he reached her, he thrust one of the two drinks he was holding into her hands, “Drink!”  He demanded, grinning wildly.

Edana gave him a tolerant smile and took a few sips of her drink.  She noticed the drugs immediately.

“LUCIAN!  WHAT THE FUCK?”  She hollered.  She looked furious.  Lucian wondered whether this had been a good idea after all, his alcohol-addled brain told him it was.

“It’s just to help calm you down!  This is a party, have some fun!”  He yelled back, still grinning.

Edana could practically feel the drugs working through her system.  Out.  She thought.  I need to get out of here, and quickly.  She started pushing her way through the crowd but Lucian grabbed her arm and spun her around.