Kristen Ashley - Until the Sun Falls From the Sky

“Who’s…?” I began but a female vampire joined our group.

She was tall, thin but curvy, dark curling hair, beautiful blue eyes and she was wearing a strapless dress with a slit up her right leg that ended high on her hip at a graceful drape of material.

“Finally. Leah,” she announced upon arriving at our small group. Before anyone could say anything, she lifted a hand and snapped her fingers.

A waiter bearing a tray of champagne flutes appeared at our sides. Cosmo took a glass and handed it to my mother then another which he handed to me.

As he did this the female, her gaze on me, begged Cosmo, “Please tell me this will be interesting.”

Cosmo, also watching me, affirmed, “This will be interesting.”

I was losing patience.

On any day, even a good day, I didn’t tend to have a lot of patience. But in these extraordinary circumstances I had almost none. Therefore this wasn’t a surprise.

This meant I was also losing my temper, something which also happened easily and, unfortunately, frequently.

“Can someone please tell me what everyone is talking about? Who’s Lucien?” My voice was still cold and now also sharp.

At my words I felt my mother turn to stone in horror at my side. Cosmo grinned. The female examined me for a moment then she threw back her head and laughed.

“What’s funny?” I snapped.

She stopped laughing but, even so, it still danced in her eyes as she replied, “I’m Stephanie.”

“That’s lovely, you being Stephanie and all, but that isn’t an answer to my question,” I told her.

“Leah,” my mother said softly in her mother tone, this one also sounding slightly alarmed.

“Leave her be, Lydia,” Cosmo ordered gently. “No harm will come to her.”

I felt my eyes grow wide. No harm would come to me?

What did that mean?

I thought this whole farce was about urbanity and civility. How could harm come to me? Other than the harm that would come to me if I was selected, of course.

“She is a Buchanan, after all,” Stephanie added before I could form a question.

“Yes. There is that and, of course, Lucien,” Cosmo put in and Stephanie turned to him.

“Where is Lucien? I thought he’d never miss her arrival,” Stephanie asked Cosmo.

“He’s going to be late. He’s having some difficulty with Katrina. She’s…” Cosmo paused and glanced at me before looking back to Stephanie, “not happy about him attending this particular Selection.”

I watched, with no small amount of unease, as Stephanie’s face grew hard. “What would she have him to do? Starve?”

“I think in this instance,” I watched Cosmo’s eyes shift to me again before returning to Stephanie, “she would.”

“Whore,” Stephanie spat with such fierce, terrifying emotion, I couldn’t help myself, I stepped back.

“Calm, Teffie, you’re frightening Leah,” Cosmo warned.

I felt it important to save face. I mean, I was frightened. Stephanie was scaring the shit out of me, but I didn’t want them to know that.

“I’m not frightened, I’m annoyed,” I announced. “No one has answered my questions.”

Cosmo’s eyes came back to me. “You’ll get your answers soon enough, love.”

That didn’t sound too good.

Cosmo moved to my mother and took her elbow. “Let’s get you something to eat, my love. I distinctly remember you like to eat.”

As Mom moved away with Cosmo I heard her reply in a voice filled with fond laughter, “I remember you like the same.”

Cosmo laughed. I couldn’t help it, I grimaced. I mean, even if it was my Mom, it was still gross.

“You’ll like it too,” Stephanie said and my eyes shot to her.

“Sorry?”

“You’ll like it too,” she repeated.

“What?” I asked, even though I knew.

“The feeding,” she replied.

I didn’t think so.

“I doubt it,” I shared icily.

She smiled, all anger out of her expression, she was back to beautiful again. She was also, I noted, not affected in the slightest by my icy demeanor.

Her hand darted out and her fingers closed around my upper arm with a strength that shouldn’t have been surprising but it was.

She led me further into the room. I saw and felt eyes on us as we moved. She stopped us close to an outer wall in a pocket where no one was near. She dropped my arm and took a sip of her champagne which I found shocking. Firstly, I hadn’t even noticed she was carrying a glass. Secondly, I didn’t think vampires drank anything but blood.

I took my first sip as well before asking, “Is no one going to explain about this Lucien guy?”

“I think we should let Lucien do the explaining,” she told me, her blue eyes on my face.

“What does he have to do with me?” I persevered.

I was, it’s important to note, as well as impatient and short-tempered, also stubborn. I had a lot of bad traits. I knew this and I worked on it with people I cared about. Like my mother, my sister, my aunties even though all of them drove me to distraction a great deal of the time, and especially my friends.

I also had a lot of good traits which meant my mother, sister and aunties put up with me. It also meant I had a lot of friends.

However I wasn’t going to show my good traits. Not tonight.

“Everything,” Stephanie responded to my question and then her head moved around sharply right before her eyes narrowed and the scary, hard look came back to her face. “ Fuck, ” she hissed.

I looked in the direction she was glaring. A man was approaching us. Tall, beautiful, dark hair, swarthy skin and, strangely with his coloring, intense light gray eyes.

He was smiling. At me . Wolfishly.

I felt another trill race up my spine. This one was total fear. Complete and total fear . I’d never felt anything like it and it scared the hell out of me.

Yes, this was true. The level of my fear scared the hell out of me. Therefore I was doubly terrified.

Stephanie moved slightly, putting herself closer to me and partially in front of me like a shield.

All of a sudden I decided I liked Stephanie.

The new vampire arrived at our group never taking his gaze from my face until he stopped, then it moved to my throat and I watched in horror as it turned hungry.

Oh my God .

The trill up my spine chased back down. This time it was a chill.

“Nestor,” Stephanie growled, her alto voice held a distinct unfriendly rumble.

Nestor looked to Stephanie. “A guard? At A Selection? Lucien’s being a very bad boy.”

“Leah and I are talking,” Stephanie replied.

His lip curled as he spoke. “You’re implying you’re considering declaring your intentions, right?”

“That’s right. Back off,” Stephanie warned.

“I’m supposed to believe that?” Nestor clipped.

“You’re supposed to adhere to tradition,” Stephanie returned.

“ I am? Did you release Reed and I hadn’t heard?” Nestor asked.

“Back… off, ” Stephanie snapped, then she tensed and I heard a feral snarl come from her throat and I looked beyond Nestor.

Two more male vampires were heading our way, both big, both dark, both with dangerous intentions written clearly on their faces.

Something was not right. I had no idea what was going on, I just knew, whatever it was, it didn’t bode well for me.

Or Stephanie.

She came closer, crowding me, stepping back, forcing me nearly to the wall.

Terror raced through me and my eyes flew around the room searching for my mother. I wasn’t a wimp but these were vampires . They had superhuman strength. They had teeth that could tear your flesh. They drank blood for God’s sake. Human blood! That was what this whole circus was all about!