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Del looked toward the musicians. “I’m beginning to understand why you’re not invited to many parties.”
“I was invited to this one.”
“You look offended by it.”
Marcus covered her hand with his. “I’m waiting for someone to explain the mistake.”
No one did. Gabriel met them near the entrance and directed them toward the long table at the center of the room. Places had been set among pack members rather than at the smaller table where visiting vampires usually sat.
Luca occupied one of those places already. He wore a black suit and the look of someone prepared to enjoy every moment of Marcus’s discomfort. Sebastian stood near the windows speaking with Gabriel, their conversation too low to carry.
Ramsey passed Marcus on the way to the bar. The bandage had been removed from his arm, leaving a narrow healing line. He looked from Marcus to Del and grunted.
“What does that mean?” Del asked after he moved away.
“For Ramsey, it may qualify as a blessing.”
The first hour passed without an attack, an argument, or anyone being poisoned. The evening might actually be what it claimed to be. People ate, drank, and watched one another across old boundaries that hadn’t vanished but were no longer walls.
Galen crossed the room twice to consult Gabriel. The second time, Gabriel listened without correcting him, then sent him to handle the problem. Del caught the exchange. “He has changed.”
“They all have.”
“Have you?”
Marcus looked at her. “I asked you here.”
“You asked me to a ball after warning me that a dark mage owns my true name.” Del lifted her glass. “Your courtship needs work.”
“I also asked you to dinner.”
“You did. This is the sequel.”
“This is surveillance with food.”
Her laugh drew several glances from the table. He didn’t mind them. He had spent years making himself useful enough to tolerate, and tonight he sat among people who had asked him to come.
The musicians changed songs. Couples moved toward the open floor, including Gabriel and Autumn. Luca appeared beside Marcus with a glass in one hand.
“She’s waiting for you to ask,” Luca said.
Marcus glanced at Del. “Are you?”
“I was waiting to see whether Luca would lose patience first.”
Luca raised his glass and stepped away. Marcus offered Del his hand, and she placed hers in it without pretending to consider the choice.
They joined the dancers. Marcus knew the steps because he had learned them when formal dancing was treated as a necessary social skill. Del knew enough to follow but ignored the pattern whenever it bored her.
“You’re moving too quickly,” he said.
“You’re dancing as if someone will grade you.”
“Someone always did.”
Del moved closer, forcing him to shorten the next step. “No one is grading you now.”
Marcus looked over her shoulder. Sebastian and Luca stood at opposite ends of the room, while Gabriel spoke with Ramsey near the bar. The pack and nest remained watchful, but no one expected him to hold the entire room together.
