“There you are!” The guy with cold eyes gaped at the young lady and then his eyes darted to the guests.
The stillness of his gaze made Violette's heart quiver like she just touched ice with her fingertips; she could feel his bloodthirstiness. She flinched, Dante could feel it the way he glancedover. Her nails dug in his palm but before any of the vampires continued their speech he backed up, shielding her with his back.
“Caidas waits for us. I wouldn’t want to make him angry,” he said callously, his tone not accepting any excuses.
The smile on the woman's face faded but the eyes of the young man shone in the light with silver, a threat, when he glared at Violette again. She felt like someone took her jacket away and placed her in the middle of a frozen garden.
“So sad,” the guy purred and then hugging the woman by her shoulder, they turned around, walking away down the hallway.
Violette would sigh with relief if her breath hadn't stuck in her lungs. She was almost numb. She couldn't even imagine it would affect her that much. At that moment, she felt so tiny and insignificant that she couldn't even bring herself to hide it.
Dante glanced at her again. He didn't say anything, instead he squeezed her hand. Violette's eyes twinkled at him, the brows arched in bewilderment, her lips parted just a bit before pressing together tight and then she turned away, deciding to share the same silence, instead of saying anything.
Their steps were leading them deeper through the hallway, which seemed to be endless. The walls repeated the same patterns, the same light escorted them all the way. Violette would start thinking they were rambling in circles if her eyes didn't lay on the two tall vampiresappearing ahead. Dante noticeably tensed, however his face remained calmer than the water. He looked rather bored but she knew for sure he wasn't happy to be here. She might think he'd sooner be anywhere else, for whatever reason it was.
One of the vampires with shoulder-length red hair traced his sight to them, while talking to his friend.
The closer they were coming the wider his smile grew. Violette felt her skin prickling as her eyes met his vicious smirk. She bowed her head to the floor, wishing to blend with the walls. For the first time she was ready to listen to Dante's instructions and be quiet without any complaints.
“Dante,” the vampire drawled with mirth in his voice. “What did we do to deserve such a visit?”
“Sinver, Verevor, I hoped such rogues would be already hunting up,” he said carelessly, his disaffection soared in the air.
“We are on our way. Want with us?” The blond vampire bared his teeth, hinting at his inability to really ‘hunt’ but Dante stayed still. In fact, he looked like he heard the oldest joke that walked this world.
And as much as Violette would like to stay invisible in the moment, she wasn't successful in this.
One of the vampires peered at her brazenly. “You brought a snack?”
Her face stranded in disgust,fighting the desire to respond. Dante remained static, although she felt how his muscles tightened.
“Certainly not for you,” he let out and pulled her closer by the waist.
Violette shrunk into herself.
“Don't be scared, pet, we don't bite.” The other vampire grinned.
“I'm not scared of two idiots,” Violette finally stood up, drawing back from Dante. The concern or traces of fear disappeared in seconds as soon as the last spoke. “And I have a name. Calling otherspetsis extremely disrespectful.”
“But I don't want to mislead you and make you think I respect you,” the red-haired vampire spoke again, the young man with a vicious smile. Now he looked half offended as if he stepped on some nasty thing with his shoe.
“You are disgusting.” Violette brows twisted together.
He frowned. “Dante, tame your little toy.”
Violette was nearing her breaking point, her eyes twitching and her hand clenched into a fist. Just as she was about to speak, Dante interrupted.
“You can say it directly to her. She has excellent hearing,” his voice carried a weight of condemnation.
“She must learn to respect others,” the vampire again ignored Violette as if she wasn't standing right in front of him.
“How ironic because I was thinking I'm too kind to youactually. The one who needs to learn respect here is you,” Violette spoke valiantly and proudly tilted her chin.
Sinver pinched the bridge of his nose, clearly irritated by her behavior, meanwhile the other vampire seemed to enjoy this conversation.
“Oh, she's daring. I like it,” the blond guy butted in.
“I might remind you that you are a human in the Vampire Kingdom,” Sinver pointed out.
