"Thank you, Enhard." His face remained inscrutable.
Victoria allowed herself to breathe the minute the elevator doors closed. It had been nerve-wracking to try to convince a vampire predestined to mistrust her every word to help her, but somehow she'd done it.
The elevator stopped on the fortieth floor, and as the doors opened, the heat of her amulet scorched her chest. Her eyes snapped to a pair of slate-gray ones. The shock of recognition was followed by the immediate souring of her stomach as Christian's twin brother stepped in.
Again, she was struck by the similarities between them, although each time she saw Lucian, their resemblance became less and less pronounced. Their height, coloring and eyes would always be the same, but Lucian's face was narrower and colder, and his hair was shorter, emphasizing the harsh angularity of his face. Victoria knew in no uncertain terms the danger she was in from the minute he crossed the threshold. The elevator felt suddenly very confined. She felt the steel handrail digging into her hips. Lucian smile was filled with malice.
"Well, isn't this a charming surprise," he said. "So to what do we owe the honor of your presence in Paris?"
"Why did you lie about Christian?" she countered. A good offense was a better defense. He smiled wider.
"I didn't lie. I said he was fine. And he is fine, for now anyway," he said. "But you know more about that than I do, don't you? Where is my dear brother then?"
"As if I would tell you."
"I could make you, you know," he said.
"You could try," Victoria shot back.
Her defiance and complete fearlessness threw Lucian for a loop. All he had to do was take one step and her neck would be in his hands, and he would be ready to tear her limb from limb. Yet here she was openly taunting him and being excessively bold about it, her green eyes flashing fire. He liked it. When he finally got rid of Christian, maybe he would keep her as his own private entertainment.
He pulled the stop button in a smooth motion and the elevator lurched to a sudden stop. Her hands gripped the rail, white-knuckled.
"So why are you here, Tori?" He said her name with a caress, and it sickened her just like it had the last time he had used that suggestive tone at the masquerade.
"It's not really any of your business, is it? After all, you won't even help your own brother. You disgust me," she said. His eyes widened at her arrogance. "For everything between you and Christian, if you were in danger, he would be the first person at your side, just like he was the first person here when the Council wanted to kill you. He saved you from that fate." The bored expression on Lucian's face incensed her, but when he finally raised his eyes to hers, they were filled with a simmering, dark hatred.
"That's one of my brother's greatest flaws. His need to save people who don't need saving," he said. "I, on the other hand, leave the cards to fall as they must."
"So you would just let him die?"
"If it is meant to be, who am I to stop it?" He looked at her with hooded eyes.
"I'm sorry you feel that way," she said, staring at him with undisguised loathing, wanting nothing more than to escape his cloying presence. She glanced at the control panel, releasing the stop button with a quick thought. The elevator whirred to life. Lucian smiled his despicable smile.
"Why in such a hurry? Care to stay for a bite?" he asked, grinning widely, his teeth gleaming and sharp.
"Trust me, Lucian, you won't like what you get," she said. "And I don't want to hurt you." Lucian laughed, a deep full-throated sound that echoed in the elevator.
"You ... don't ... want ... to ... hurt ... me?" he repeated with staccato-like mockery. At that precise moment the elevator glided to a stop on the tenth floor, and they stared at each other in the charged silence. As if things couldn't get any worse, Lena walked in, her face the picture of surprise at its unexpected occupant. Lucian looked even more infuriated by her untimely entrance.
"You did say to meet you on ten," she said, addressing Lucian and eyeing Victoria with barely veiled distaste. The venom from their last encounter before the Council hung thick in the air, and Lena's flawless face with its ice-blue eyes, generous lips and white-blond hair taunted her with its perfection. Victoria stifled her jealousy, knowing that she was in a very small space with two hostile vampires who would kill her without a second thought if she faltered for an instant.
Christian loved her, and that was all that mattered.
"Lena," she acknowledged.
"Baroness, actually," Lena returned coolly.