Dhampirica

XXIV

SHE FELT HERSELF GO PALE.

Oh, no, she thought. What in the world was he doing here? Lord Luciano Azarro at a seedy downtown bloodletting establishment? Yvanna was of the full belief that no sane noble would dare come here – but then again, after everything she had seen and heard of him, was Lord Luciano even remotely in the category of 'sane'?

Evidently not, she concluded as their gazes crossed each other's. In that instant, a thousand thoughts scurried through her mind. He seemed, all things considered, equally surprised by her presence as she was his. Yvanna was unsure whether he was taken aback by the fact that a minder was here or the fact that the minder was her. She wondered, then, how much of her conversation with Damian he had caught onto. Regardless, she needed to get out of here before he inevitably made a scene.

Spinning on her heel, she marched quickly out the door before anyone could get a word in. She made haste for the nearest cab, flagging it down and barking out her home address to the driver. When she got home, she raced to her bedroom and quickly closed the door. Oh, dear. Oh dear, oh dear.

Her sleep was restless and fueled with anxiety. In the morning, she went for a run with Lord Dante and then to school as usual. She was still as hungry as she was yesterday — more so — but the constant dread she felt overshadowed her hunger. She kept waiting to hear Lord Dante's watch ring with news, or for another student to whisper something in his ear, but no such horrors came.

The day flew by in a dizzying rush. Yvanna almost believed that nothing would become of the grossly understated mess that was last night, until she saw Lord Luciano leaning against a tree outside Invictus Academy on her way out that afternoon.

Yvanna's boots screeched to a stop. "Lord Dante!" she said, her voice unintentionally shrill. She cleared her throat, correcting her volume immediately. "You forgot to ask Professor Larkin about the word limit leeway for your assignment."

He stopped as well, appearing confused. "Did I? I could have sworn I already..."

She nodded, hoping her expression appeared convincing.

He shrugged. "Well, I suppose I did have another question for him anyway. I'll be back in a moment. I think he should still be in the classroom — wait here."

When he turned around and left, Yvanna almost sighed with relief. She contained it, however — not wanting him to hear it. She waited until he disappeared down the hall before walking out the doors of the Academy and approaching the unwelcome visitor.

"What do you want?" she asked him, cutting straight to the chase. She knew that Lord Luciano did not attend Invictus Academy. She also knew that he wasn't one for loitering around schools. He was here for only one reason: her.

"Straight down to business as usual," he smiled, not moving from his current lax position.

Yvanna wondered if it was an intentional choice by him to wear the same clothes as he was wearing last night. They were unusually flashy for a Tuesday afternoon, after all. She had a feeling that everything he did was a calculated attempt to unsettle people.

"Well, since I'd hate to jump to any inappropriate conclusions," he continued, "do you normally make a habit of attending bloodletting clubs for work after 10PM?"

"I wasn't there for work and you know it," she said, seething. "Let's not do this whole song and dance of word games, my lord. Tell me what you want." It was one thing for him to know that she was at a bloodletting establishment, it was an entirely different thing for him to know that she was there for vampire blood. If Yvanna was going to have any sort of bargaining power here, she needed to find out the exact information Lord Luciano held over her.