“Well, thank the stars for that at least.”
With Jupiter’s help, I freed the sleek black gown from the bag. It was cut in a mermaid-style, the bottom flaring away from the form-fitting bodice. The sweetheart neckline was classy while managing to still be sultry. Plus, it left plenty of real estate for accessories, which Jupiter produced half a minute later, revealing a crushed-velvet bag clipped to the hanger inside. A string of diamonds and a pair of pear-shaped studs to match.
“Speaking of stars!” I exclaimed, fingering the jewels. “Where did you get these?”
“Aunt Gemma.”
Fresh tears sprang to my eyes. Of all the people I’d left behind, my Aunt Gemma was the one I’d missed the most. Our monthly letters, while treasured, were never quite enough. She’d practically raised me herself when it turned out my parents weren’t exactly up to the task. I’d thought we shared everything with each other, almost more like friends than family, but after seeing Jupiter’s tattoo, I couldn’t help but wonder what else Gemma had held back over the years.
Jupiter took the hanger and started toward the bathroom. “She sent the dress and jewelry over a few days ago, once it was confirmed you were back in the New York Haven.”
I winced. I’d returned to the secret community known as the haven, three days before finding the courage to show up on the Vaughn mansion’s doorstep. It hadn’t occurred to me that my father would have spies combing the streets for me.
“So, everyone knows that I’ve returned? They all know what the gala is for?”
“Yes. Lord Vaughn made the announcement at the last Court gathering and it spread from there. Your mother wasn’t at the last meeting, but I’m sure someone has told her, too. Whether she shows up or not …” She didn’t need to finish the thought. We both knew what she meant.
A new kind of pang twisted through my chest. “Have you seen her? My mother, I mean?”
Jupiter drew in her lower lip and shook her head. “Not in a long time. The last event she came to ended in disaster. I think even she knew she pushed things too far with your father.”
I cringed. It must have been a total disaster if Athena herself realized she’d crossed a line.
Athena Persimmon Vaughn, aptly named after the Greek goddess, was a fiery vampire who tended to clash with members of the Court. Especially my father. The Baron and Baroness Vaughn had gone their separate ways years before my exile and Melanie’s scandal. The two had always been a mismatch, one that grew increasingly obvious when their daughters came into the picture.
Though they’d separated, my parents never divorced, and Athena still retained her position in the Court. She tended to use her power to woo lovers far younger than she in order to flaunt them in front of my father. He, in turn, retaliated by periodically banishing her from Court affairs. Which, to her, might as well have been cutting off her oxygen supply. The Eastern Court was a madman’s tea party and she thrived on every juicy morsel of gossip and moment of ridiculous antics.
For all her flaws, I couldn’t help but love her and knew she was likely the only reason I was standing in my glamorous bathroom, surrounded by marble and gold, instead of shoved into a dank cell somewhere buried in the earth—or worse.
“I’m sure she’ll be there,” Jupiter said, forcing a burst of brightness into her voice.
“Let’s hope,” I said. “I have a feeling my father is plotting something a little more than a welcome home party. He said something about an announcement, but it sounds like he already made one about my homecoming. Stars only knows what he’s cooked up. I might need backup.”
Jupiter dropped her gaze.
“Jupe?” I arched an eyebrow. “Do you know something about tonight?”
She glanced up, guilt written in the faint lines at her eyes as she winced. “Maybe?”
I grabbed her arm. “Tell me, please!”
“I don’t think I’m supposed to know, but …” Jupiter started, keeping her voice low as though worried somebody was listening. “Lord Vaughn has been having meetings, every night. It’s like clockwork. Dusk falls and half an hour later, someone’s at the door.”
“Different people each night?” I asked.
Jupiter nodded. “All of them lords and ladies, all with eligible sons. We figured it was some kind of interview process.”
My brows lifted. “We being …?”
“The staff.”
“What kind of interview process?” I asked, full well knowing exactly what kind.
“For your future … um … well, husband? I guess.”
I groaned.
“We could be wrong! That was just our best guess.”
I frowned at Jupiter and then turned my attention back to the task at hand. My suitcases had been brought up to the room while I’d been meeting with my father. Whoever hauled them upstairs to the third floor had taken the time to arrange them smallest to largest along one wall. I selected a medium-size case and heaved it onto the bed, unzipped it, and began rummaging around inside until I found my makeup case.
“It doesn’t really matter,” I told her, marching back to the bathroom, “Whether it’s tonight or three weeks or months from now, it sounds like yet again, I’m not going to be given much choice in who’s standing at the alter on my wedding day. He knows I won’t try the runaway bride route again, so now he thinks he has free reign to shack me up with whoever has the most cha-ching in his pocket or the obedience of a well-trained retriever.”
My nostrils flared. A few months before my disappearance, my father had announced I was to be married off to one Lord Gowen, a slimy little toady of a vampire if I ever saw one. Oh, sure, he was handsome enough on the outside, but inside? He was a wormy specimen that wouldn’t know what a spine was if one started beating him over the head. I knew why my father had chosen him—everyone did. Lord Gowen would make the perfect son-in-law in that he would do anything to remain in my father’s good graces, wouldn’t blink at any order or demand, and most importantly, had no ambitions for himself and therefore wouldn’t challenge my father for his metaphorical throne.
I’d believed any vampire with half a brain would have responded in the same manner, but he’d since married, and my father had gifted him a sizable estate for his troubles following my borderline runaway-bride treatment.
“Either way, it’s not up to me. He’s already made that clear.” I dumped the contents of the makeup bag onto the cool marble counter. “If I try running again, he’ll track me down and make things a whole lot more unpleasant. Maybe I should have just married Lord Gowan and saved myself all this trouble.”
My eyes were less puffy but still rimmed with red. Of course, it didn’t help that I hadn’t fed for days. My skin was paler than normal from lack of nutrients, and it made the irritation all the more evident.
Cover-up was going to be my best friend.
“I don’t know for sure, but it sounds like he hasn’t landed on a candidate yet. There were several repeat visitors. Maybe he’s going to let you choose from a pool of them,” Jupiter said, sagging against the doorway. She watched me in the mirror as I daubed the sponge over the shadows under my eyes. “It makes sense. A kind of reverse Cinderella, if you think about it.”
I stopped and met her gaze in the mirror. “That is giving him way too much credit.”
“I’m just saying, you might want to wait and see what happens. He can’t risk another embarrassment like … well, like last time. You’re the heir to House Vaughn. He might have realized it’s in his best interest to make sure you have a somewhat happy match.”
I frowned at her and then went back to smattering my face with the fair liquid foundation. “Twenty minutes ago, he all but threatened to throw me in a dungeon until I change my mind about giving him a grandson. You’ll have to forgive me if I’m not seeing the chance of sunshine and rainbows in the forecast.”