Vivian

"I hate dancing—I really do, even watching it," Callan groaned, taking a sip of his drink and glancing with disdain at the dancers twirling across the floor. "I mean, what's the point of it all? Just a bunch of people moving around in circles, pretending to have fun."

I rolled my eyes and reached for his glass, setting it down on the nearby table. "If you don't stop drinking, you'll be passed out before the night is through," I warned, casting a sideways glance at him. "And I need you sober if we're going to get through this night."

He chuckled, leaning in close to me. "You know I'll always take care of you, no matter what."

I leaned against his chest and smiled. "I know. And I appreciate it more than you know. If I could let you feed on all of my blood without dying, I would let you."

"Is that your way of saying I love you?" He whispered, his warm breath tickling my earlobe. I could feel his lips curve into a smile against my skin, and I couldn't help but giggle softly.

"Maybe," I replied, turning my head to meet his gaze. "Or maybe I'm just trying to butter you up so you won't take off my head when things go wrong tonight."

His hand came up, stroking my hair as his eyes darkened. "I wouldn't. I don't care about the curse anymore, little witch. You know that."

Blood rushed up to my cheeks and turned them red as I stared into Callan's eyes for longer. Despite the spell being broken, the intensity of his love for me still took my breath away. His eyes were filled with an unwavering devotion that made my knees weak and he was still completely in love with me.

The sound of the music in the background became a distant hum as we lost ourselves in each other's gaze while the mask covered the rest of our faces.

There were hundreds of men and women at the masquerade ball tonight, all dressed and in Alexandria's castle. She still had to make an entrance. It had been only a few minutes since we arrived, but we waited until she appeared before we proceeded with heading into the throne room.

Callan shared the directions of the throne room with me—where it was and how many doors were leading into, and the guards that were standing outside at all times.

My eyes flickered away from the floral arrangments and to the thin, long table behind where there were snacks and drinks being served. The table was lined with a variety of treats, from finger sandwiches to miniature pastries that looked like works of art. But Elijah had caught my attention.

He stood there, not alone, with a drink in his hand—talking to a woman.

"I'm going to talk to him." I slipped my hand away from Callan and made my way toward Elijah, keeping my head low so as to avoid drawing attention to myself.

As I approached, I could hear bits of their conversation, even when I didn't want to. The woman was talking about the latest gossip in court, but Elijah seemed disinterested—until I reached there. Then, suddenly, he was smiling at her.

"I want to talk to you." I whispered.

"I'm busy," He stepped away from me and placed his attention on the woman standing in front of him. "Where were you, Andrea?"

"Elijah," I grabbed his arm before he went off with her. "Stop brushing me off. We need to talk." There was a hint of jealousy in my voice, but I tried to cover it as much as I could.

He blew out an exasperated sigh and turned to face me fully. "Fine, let's talk," He said, his tone not hiding his annoyance anymore as he grabbed my arm and lead me away. "What do you want?"

As we strode across the ballroom, I could feel a few eyes on me, and even some ears.

"You're still pissed that I rejected you?" I stopped him and asked.

"Yes, Vivian. You know everything, don't you?" There was blatant bitterness in his rough voice now.

"I'm sorry about it. I didn't want to hurt you and I thought it would be better if we didn't bring any feelings into this. Either way, it didn't work out and you haven't spoken a word to me in the past few days. I don't want to complicate things—"

"You want everything to be in your control, don't you?" He let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head in disbelief.

My lips parted in surprise, "I don't. I just thought it would've been better if we kept things simple and didn't let emotions get in the way of breaking the curse."

"That's your problem, Vivian. You're as conniving as it comes. Look at the way you've roped in all of us to your side as if you haven't been the one who had been sharing our names with my mother and working alongside her."

I bristled at his words, feeling a bit hurt that he still thought of me like that. "That's not true," I snapped back. "I did what I had to do to protect myself and everyone else. And as for sharing names, it was a terrible decision I made and I regretted it. You know it well I did."

There was a minute of silence, but I doubted Elijah was forming a reply in his mind. He wasn't. His eyes rolled back and he scoffed before stepping away from me.

"You can't change the fact that you did, in fact, ruin our lives. It was all well before you decided to appear from nowhere and help my mother for your own gains," He turned out and nearly left, but stopped. "I'm not even the one you've fucked yet. Check on Callan and Dion, you've surely ruined their lives, and the worst part is, they can't even run away because you've them roped around your fingers. So it's either death for them or being with you. Nothing else."

I grabbed his arm before he fled from me. "I broke the spell, Elijah."

"It doesn't matters. The effects will remain always, no matter what."

My eyes stung. I clenched my teeth together as a lump formed in my throat. He made me believe that they were pawns when they weren't. He made me believe that whatever they felt for me was a part of my own doing, that I had lulled them in, and that their feelings weren't real.

None of it was real.

I didn't know what I was doing when I cast that spell on them. I didn't know that I was going to fall for them myself. I didn't want to hurt them or use them for my own gain. I just wanted to—

"I hate you." I pushed Elijah back and rushed away, my thoughts in a jumble.

What if he was right? What if I did use them to my own benefit? Alexandria offered me compensation for whatever I did for her. She was willing to give me anything and that was enticing. I didn't care about who got hurt in the way.

I was greedy, just like my father was, willing to take an opportunity no matter what the cost was.

Fuck.

My hand went against my face, but I couldn't touch it as it was covered with the mask. My breaths came out quickly. Anger and guilt swirled inside me, directed at myself and at Elijah for his accusations. I wanted to scream, to lash out, to destroy something.

My vision blurred as I walked past people. The music still played, but it seemed quieter and suddenly, it was all gone—all of the music and the chatter. It became completely silent and still. Everyone stopped moving in front of me.

I continued walking, heading out of the ballroom and near the stairs. The throne room was located on the east wing of the castle, on the first floor.

As I began walking up the stairs, I visioned a golden goblet sitting on a table beside a wall sconce. In the vision, the goblet gleamed in soft light and I saw myself holding it while hearing a few whispers from the spirits.

'Pour the blood of the cursed ones into the goblet of gold, and the curse shall be lifted once and for all.'

The vision ended abruptly, and I found myself standing still on the stairs, my heart racing.

The throne room. The goblet of gold that every new ruler drank from before taking it's crown. It was a significance symbol in the kingdom's history.

Could it be it?

I hurried back down the stairs before being caught by someone. I couldn't go into the throne room alone. There were guards everywhere. I had to take someone with me.

Callan.

But that meant putting him in the risk's way. Taking him would mean that Elijah was right—that I was completely selfish.

I had to go alone.

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