Under the vampire Lord's protection-Chapter 72: Lingering eyes

The very second face Arabella had set her eyes upon after Lord Edward had been a foreign yet somehow familiar one.

Eyes and hair dark as coal, the vampire even towered over Lady Persephone when standing tall.

The grin he offered held no warmth as he patiently waited for the Lady to stop in front of him.

"Lord Dragomir," Persephone greeted him, smiling and bringing her hands together downward by the skirt of her gown, earning her a graceful outlook.

The name Dragomir resounded, bouncing off the inner walls of her skull, more familiar to the young woman than his face was.

However, and right behind him stood a young man that Arabella immediately recognized as Lauden who gave a slight bow upon making eye contact. He was none other than the vampire she’d encountered in Mr Kallum’s shop.

The connection was easy to make after that as he’d mentioned working for the Dragomir family that same night.

"Radiant as always, Lady Persephone," the Lord held out his hand then brought it towards his own lips the instant Persephone took it, "And who do we have here?"

Releasing Persephone’s hand, Lord Dragomir turned his attention towards the entertainers behind the Lady. Though he’d mainly focused on Arabella.

"Yes, may I present my newest recruits, Katherine, Grace, Allegra and the youngest of all, Arabella. I believe it is of no use for me to state her nature, but I’ve been thinking of broadening my horizons for a good while now. I thought it was time to finally welcome one of her kind to the team,"

Gaze still soldered on Arabella, the Lord spoke again, "But, of course, what an amazing idea! I can’t wait to get to know her. Such beautiful eyes you have there, young Lady. I wish to thank whichever of your parents passed them down to you,"

Her heart made a little leap in its cage at those words. The Lord had this curious look on him when mentioning her eyes, but before Arabella got the time to dwell longer on it and thankfully, before her face could fully be painted red, Lady Persephone came between them, thus effectively shielding the young woman from his glare.

"Now, now, you’ll have all the time in the world to admire her gemstones in due time," she offered a soft and collected chuckle.

"True that," he nodded.

"I see you’ve come unaccompanied," the Lady’s eyes glanced over at Lauden momentarily, "I do hope Lady Anastasia is doing well,"

"You know how the seventh month can be heavy. Just yesterday she’s tried to rip my throat out and almost succeeded, might I add," the Lord’s hand traveled up to caress his own throat as he told the story.

"Yes, I am afraid I know it all too well," the Lady chuckled again, although the second time it sounded heartier, "Patience, my dear Lord, it’ll be over very soon. Once she’ll give birth, her charming person will return better than ever before,"

"I couldn’t hope for it to end faster," he slowly shook his head.

Arabella’s face never recovered its natural color as every conversation with every guest after that mostly revolved around her. Whether it be her race, her size, beauty or the "divine scent" of her blood. Those were the actual words that some guests had used to describe it.

Although, most of the tension in her shoulders came from the burning holes in her back due to Lord Dragomir’s glare alone.

Far from being the only one to stalk her every move, his gaze had been the only one to truly cause Arabella’s stomach to churn.

There was something in the way he eyed her, many unspoken words that the young woman held no hopes for to be compliments or plain thirst.

Despite trying with all of her might, she couldn’t help but turn his way from time to time, catching him staring at times then murmuring into the ear of his servant Lauden at others. The sight sure triggered chills that crawled all over and under her skin, multiple times.

"Right then," Jostled out of her own trance, Arabella took a sharp breath when feeling Katherine’s warmth much closer to her, "It is time for us to join the others up on the balcony," the vampire had leaned in her direction to communicate those words.

Grace and Allegra walked away first, one after the other and only when Katherine gave a slight bow before the Lady who acknowledged it, did she then guide Arabella away.

The four of them threaded through the crowd of eager creatures, all grinning and smirking at their view, causing Arabella to keep her eyes down while nudging closer to Katherine. The women aimed for a grand, thick and red curtain separating the ballroom from the stairs to the balcony.

"Some of the Lords and Ladies present here were invited by Lady Persephone to attend the smaller gathering you and I will be very much a part of," Katherine had spoken up the moment they’d reached the balcony where the rest of the entertainers stood, "Getting a glimpse of the entertainers without a chance to speak or interact with them is a great way to ensure the conveyed will answer present to the invite," the vampire smiled.

Looking down at the ballroom, many of them had their eyes up, gawking at the sublime creatures garnishing the veranda. Although Arabella was aware she’d whisked most of the attention away from the rest.

"I am sure they can hear our... Conversation from here," Arabella forced an awkward smile out towards one of the vampires nodding at her from a distance.

"No matter," said Katherine, "Most of their business tactics are now pretty much an open secret," she chuckled.

"Though I am quite curious," Arabella started, "Why would the Lady need them to attend her gathering after the ball? I wonder,"

"Well-"

Katherine seemed ready to answer her question, but a masculine voice blared through the entire hall to announce, "Ladies and Gentlemen! Would you please make space around the front for our first piece tonight?"