Мелисса де ла Круз - Masquerade

No such luck.

Then she remembered the two of them had been given permission to take their exams early so they could travel to Venice for two weeks. Lucky bastards.

Bliss looked down at her blue composition notebook. The first question had concerned the Mayflower journey, Pilgrims, and the founding of the thirteen colonies. Since she had lived through it, all she'd had to do was close her eyes and she could see their desolate settlement. She was sure to pull top marks.

Bliss felt confident she had aced the exam as she stood up and handed in her paper. Jack Force was in her class, and he gave her a friendly smile as he turned in his paper after she did.

He held the door open for her so they could walk out together.

"How are you?" he asked once they were in the hallway next to the grand staircase.

"Great," she said. "I feel like a cheat, I mean…you know.”

He nodded. "I know what you mean. All we have to do is close our eyes, right?”

"It's like we have an open textbook or something," Bliss said.

"Well, it's not as if we have to use it," Jack mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Bliss asked.

"Nothing." Jack shrugged. He had a faraway look in his eyes, and Bliss wondered what was going on with him. She didn't know him very well, although she hung out with him often enough since Mimi always liked to have him around.

"Good luck this week," Jack said, slapping her on the back in a brotherly fashion.

"You too," Bliss called. She looked at her watch. She had several hours before her next exam. Maybe she could grab a quick bite from a corner deli and then try to score one of those cubicles in the library—if there were any left.

As she walked down the stairs, a girl fell into step with her. Bliss raised an eyebrow "Yes?”

It was Ava Breton, a fellow sophomore—a Red Blood—and yet very popular. Almost all of Ava's friends were Blue Bloods, although she didn't know it. Bliss noticed there were telltale marks on her neck, which meant that Jaime Kip, her Blue Blood boyfriend, had made her a familiar. Interesting.

"Bliss, can I ask you something?" Ava asked, tucking a hair behind her ear. Ava was wearing a thin, long-sleeved American Apparel T-shirt over her boyfriend's basketball shorts, and gray thermal underwear.

"Sure.”

"Do you know anything about this party that Mimi and Jack Force are throwing next week?”

Bliss shifted uncomfortably. "I…”

"It's okay. I mean, Jaime is being really weird about it. I know he's going to that ball at the St. Regis with his parents seriously, how lame is that? But I thought it was weird he didn't even invite me to the after-party.”

"I'm sorry." Bliss said, feeling uncomfortable. She hated when people were left out of the fun. She remembered what her life had been like before Mimi had taken her under her wing. She didn't have it in her heart to exclude people. It was so shallow and snobby, and so Mimi. It certainly wasn't Bliss. Anyway, what was the harm? Maybe the Four Hundred Ball was exclusively for Blue Bloods, but the after-party was for teenagers. In Bliss's opinion, the more the merrier. If someone wanted to join, what was the harm, really?

"I just—it's just—I mean, I know everyone else will get an invite," Ava said, biting her lip. "And what if I don't…”

"It's downtown at the Angel Orensanz Center at midnight," Bliss blurted out. “And it's a masquerade party. You'll need a mask, some sort of disguise, to get in.”

A rapturous smile appeared on Ava's face. "Thank you, Bliss. Thank you SO MUCH.”

Damn.

Now she'd gone and done it.

She'd invited a Red Blood to the party. Mimi was going to be seriously pissed.

TEN

Hopeless. Everything was hopeless now. Her grandfather had turned out to be useless: a scared old man with nothing to live for but his books, his cigars, and his port wine. What had she expected? A tutor, a guide, a patron…a father. Someone who would take the burden off her shoulders for a while.

As she packed her bags in her hotel room the next morning, Schuyler remembered Lawrence's parting words.

"I am sorry, Schuyler. Cordelia was wrong in sending you to me.”

He then began to pace in front of the fire. "The truth is, I no longer have any interest in Blue Blood affairs. I have washed my hands of their plight, ever since Roanoke. They chose to follow Michael then, as they have always done," he said, meaning the coven leadership had reinstalled Michael as Regis when the crisis at Roanoke had been discovered and it looked as if the Silver Bloods had returned. “And if I'm not mistaken, they still choose to follow him today as Charles Force." Lawrence shook his head. "When he turned his back on the family and renounced the Van Alen name, I vowed that I would never return to the coven.

“Alas, you have traveled to Venice in vain. I am an old man. I would prefer to live out my immortal life in peace. I have nothing to offer you.”

"But Cordelia said…”

"Cordelia placed too much faith in me, as always. The key to defeating the Silver Bloods lies with Charles and Allegra, not with me. Only the Uncorrupted can save Blue Bloods from the Silver Blood Abominations.

"I am sorry I cannot be of much help. I swore off the Blue Bloods forever when I went into exile.”

"Then Charles Force was right about you," Schuyler said, her voice shaking.

"How do you mean?" Lawrence asked darkly.

"He said you weren't half the man Cordelia wished you to be. That I would only find sorrow and confusion if I traveled to Venice.”

Lawrence stepped back as if he had received a physical blow. His face registered a myriad of emotions—shame, anger, pride—but he remained silent. In the end, he abruptly turned his back on her and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

Well. That was that. Schuyler zipped up her carryall, lugged it over her shoulder, and walked out to the elevator, where Oliver was waiting. He didn't say hello or good morning.

She knew that if she wanted to, she could catch a glimpse of his mind—his thoughts broadcast as if on satellite radio. But she always switched the signal. She didn't feel it was right to pry. Besides, she didn't need any of her special powers to figure out he was still annoyed with her for not calling him the night before.

Lawrence's chauffeur had brought her back to the hotel late the previous evening, and Schuyler had found several frantic messages from her friend on her cell phone and hotel voice mail. She would have called him back, but it was so late she hadn't wanted to wake him.

"I thought you were dead," Oliver accused.

"If I was, you could have my iPod.”

"Ha. Yours sucks. It doesn't even have video.”

Schuyler repressed a smile. She knew Oliver couldn't stay mad at her for long.

“Anyway, you missed a hilarious European music awards show on TV. David Hasselhoff swept all the categories."

"Sucks to be me.”

He grunted. "Dad's gone, he took an earlier flight. Had to get back for some shareholders' meeting.”

Schuyler glanced sideways at her friend. Oliver's chestnut shag covered his forehead, and his warm hazel eyes, flecked with green and topaz, were filled with hurt and concern. Schuyler restrained herself from touching his neck, which looked so vulnerable and inviting. Lately she had been sensing a new desire in her blood to feed. The thirst was a low hum, like music in the back of your head that you didn't even notice, but once in a while it would raise its voice, and there was no mistaking it. She found herself drawn to Oliver in a new way, and she blushed when she looked at him.

It occurred to Schuyler that her human father had been her vampire mother's familiar, and Allegra had taken him as her husband against vampire law. For the first time in the history of the Blue Bloods, the lines between the races had blurred, and the result had been Schuyler. Half human, half vampire. Dimidium Cognatus.