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“Er… thank you,” Sebastian said after a moment, sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
The round of applause lasted for a good two minutes before it slowly dwindled down. Music started playing again, but no one started dancing. It seemed everyone was now chatting about what just happened. I turned to Sebastian, grinning widely. “Good job!” I told him, throwing myself into his arms.
He chuckled, giving me a quick squeeze. “Would it be cheesy if I told you I could do that because of you?”
“Because of me?” I repeated, furrowing my eyebrows. “What?”
“You’re the one who made me realize I should do what I want,” he informed me, his eyes smoldering into mine. “Thank you, Emily.”
Taken aback by his words and adoring look, I felt my cheeks flush. “I-It’s no p-problem…”
Fiona laughed lightly. “Look! She’s so flustered! Like a girl being asked out by her crush!”
I scowled at her, slapping my hands to my cheeks in an attempt to cool them down. “Shut up, Fiona.”
“Really though,” Sebastian pressed. “I would have never said anything if it wasn’t for you. I would have taken up a wife, even though I still love Fiona.”
Now it was her turn to blush. “Seb!”
“What?” he asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion at her surprised tone.
“Don’t say it like that!”
“Like what…?”
“Like… Like…”
Vincent snorted. “It’s all good that you two can be together forever happily and all that grand shit, but what about the counsel? They’ll want your head.”
“I’ll be taking care of that,” Solomon spoke, entering the conversation. “Everything Sebastian said was true. You do not need a queen to rule. They won’t be able to say much. The only thing we could be in a little trouble for, is the part where Sebastian turned Fiona, but they don’t know much about that incident, so all should be okay.”
“So it’s like a fairy tale ending for you two,” I sighed romantically, patting Sebastian and Fiona on the shoulder. “How cute!”
Sebastian half-smiled. “We can’t relax quite yet. Ashton is still here, remember?”
My cheerful mood dropped instantly. “Oh, yeah.”
“I can’t locate him,” Sebastian announced, scrutinizing the chatting horde on the dance floor. “Maybe he left.”
“Why would he leave?”
“We did ruin one of his threats,” Solomon told me. “The secret about Sebastian and Fiona. That means he has one last thing against us. If I were him, I’d run away too.”
Frowning, I searched around the room for him. It did seem like he’d disappeared. “I highly doubt he’s gone…”
“Let’s just enjoy the rest of the ball then, shall we?” Sebastian suggested, looking comfortable and please with himself. “I owe you a dance, Emily.”
I smiled at him. “I guess it won’t harm anything. If you’re with me it’s not like Ashton can come out of nowhere and snatch me away without anyone noticing.”
He nodded. “Someone will just stay with you for the rest of the night. This way you stay safe and can still have fun.”
“Let’s dance then,” I responded, putting my hand out for him.
“Don’t worry,” he started, closing his hand over mine, “Vince, you can have her when I’m done. Don’t look so jealous.”
Vincent glowered at him. “I’m not jealous!”
.
.
“You’ve been complaining under your breath all night,” Fiona added slyly. “Don’t lie.”
“He really has,” Luella sighed warily. “It scared away some of the girls wanted to dance with him.”
“Mom!” Vincent cried.
She smiled sweetly at him. “Yes?”
His aggressive stance faltered immediately. “Nothing,” he said after a moment, crossing his arms. “One dance. That’s it, Sebastian.”
“Sure,” Sebastian replied, leading me to the dance floor. “I might step on your feet, Emily.”
I laughed. “Same to you.”
Vampires parted for Sebastian and I as we moved to the center of the floor. Even though the music was still playing, no one had begun dancing again yet. All the guests were still busy gossiping about his speech. A few of the vampires nearest to us stared as Sebastian placed his large hands on my waist.
“We have too much attention,” I murmured.
He chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. Just dance.”
And so I did. Luckily for Sebastian and I, another slow-paced song started playing so we didn’t have to worry about weird waltz moves. Steadily, other guests joined us on the floor, pulling their partners close to us to dance again. I relaxed then, knowing the ball would be returning to normal.
“So you’re not taking up a queen?” I finally spoke up, breaking the silence, and raising an eyebrow.
He smiled mischievously. “Well, not right away. There’s only so much trouble I want to go through at a time. That can wait until later.”
“Ah,” I responded, knowing full well why him taking a queen would get him in trouble. “You think Fiona is up for the task?”
“That’s what she told me.”
“That’s good. I hope everything works out well for you guys in the future.”
The light mood surrounding him abruptly came crashing down. It was almost like I could feel his change in demeanor. “Emily, listen. I have something I need to tell you…”
My chest tightened. By the sound of it, whatever he wanted to tell me, it wasn’t going to be good. “What?”
“About Blue Bloods… Actually, you’re only-”
“Sebastian.”
He cut himself off, turning his head to where Vincent was standing. “What?”
“Time’s up,” Vincent told him.
“The song’s not over-”
“Don’t care.”
He sighed, letting me go. “Fine.”
“Wait,” I demanded, grabbing his hand. “What were you about to say?”
“Nothing,” he told me, shaking his head. “It’s nothing. Never mind.”
“Sebastian!”
He waved me off. “Enjoy the rest of the ball. I’ll try to dance with you again later. Vince, behave.”
Vincent rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
I glowered at him as Sebastian disappeared through the mass of slow-dancing bodies. “Vincent!”
“What?”
“He was just about to tell me something about Blue Bloods I didn’t know!”
He furrowed his eyebrows. “He was? We told you everything we knew.”
“You did?”
“Yes. I don’t know what Sebastian is talking about.”
My lips curved down into a frown. Obviously Sebastian knew something Vincent didn’t. But what was it? A nervous feeling spread through me, but I tried to keep it under control. It couldn’t be that bad… If it was really bad, he wouldn’t have kept it from me.
.
.
Unless it was so bad he didn’t have a choice.
“Are we going to dance?” Vincent demanded impatiently.
“You have to put your hands on my waist,” I notified him, bringing my arms around his neck. “You should know that. I saw you dancing with all those girls.”
He snorted. “Like you should be one to talk. How many guys have you danced with? A thousand?”
“It’s not like I could say no to them!”
“Same with me.”
We glowered at each other for a few moments until I finally cracked a smile. “Whatever, we’re dancing together now and that’s all that matters.”
A grin spread across his face too. “I bet you’ve been waiting all night for this.”
“Actually, I’ve been dreading it.”
He gave me a sarcastic look. “Good one, stupid.”
“Call me Emily,” I ordered.
“No.”
“Just for tonight,” I pleaded. “Only for tonight, then you can call me whatever you want and I won’t complain.”
He thought about it for a moment. “Even if I called you ugly?”
“Yeah.”
“What about annoying?”
“That too.”
“How about blonde?”
I narrowed my eyes. “Yes.”
“What about fatty?”
“Vincent!”
He laughed- one of his rare, free laughs. “I’m kidding, Emily. If I said any of that, I’d be lying.”
My heart fluttered in my chest. Hearing him say my name had an amazing effect on me. “So you think I’m beautiful then?”
“Absolutely stunning,” he breathed.
For a second, I was about to snap back at him because I expected an insult. His honest response threw me completely off guard. A warm blush spread across my cheeks and his lips curved up into a smirk. “Don’t say stuff like that so suddenly!” I finally cried.
“Why not?”
“It’s not like you!”
He shrugged. “It’s a rare night and I have a bad feeling about what’s to come. Something bad is going to happen, I’m positive-”
“No,” I interjected, pressing my finger to his lips. “Don’t say that. You don’t know anything. We have to think positively. Hopefully Ashton just left. Don’t say things like that, Vincent. It makes me scared.”
His face softened and he gently removed my finger from his face. “Sorry, Emily.”
“It’s okay,” I responded, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. “Let’s not think about that right now. Just focus on not stepping on my feet.”
He rolled his eyes. “I should be saying that to you.”
“I won’t step on your feet…” I trailed off, a sheepish smile slipping onto my face as I felt something under my foot. “Oops.”
“Oops,” he mimicked smartly. Faking a hurt look, he limped a little bit. “I think you actually broke it.”
I resisted the urge to kick him. “Come on. Don’t be a baby.”
“I think I might die,” he declared dramatically, staggering forward, causing me to stumble backward into another couple dancing.
“Vincent!”
Snickering, he pulled me back to a space where we wouldn’t bump into anyone. “Just kidding, Emily.”
I sighed.
“But seriously, if you step on my foot again it might actually break.”
This time I didn’t resist smacking him. “Jerk.”
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