“Kelsey,” Gray said achingly, and when I looked into his eyes I saw such devotion in them. It scared me, but I decided to try a little bravery.
“Gray, I don’t know about the whole love thing,” I said honestly because it was all too fast for me. “But how about we start with dinner?”
He smiled. “All right, sweetheart.”
* * * *
“So who was the vampire you appeared to have a distinct dislike for?” I polished off the last of my excellent lobster. I’d drowned it in butter.
We’d spent the majority of dinner on safe topics. He talked about being a Texas Ranger and how obnoxious it was when people called him Walker. I talked about the weird parts of growing up with two ridiculously overprotective brothers. We stayed far away from anything too emotional. We’d had that portion of the evening and it was nice to laugh. Now I was ready to push him on the professional level.
He smiled as he finished his steak. “His name is Marcus Vorenus. Until tonight, I really didn’t have a problem with him. He’s fairly easy to deal with and almost always reasonable. I didn’t like him looking at you though. He seemed interested.”
“He felt old.” I ignored his possessiveness. I wasn’t used to anyone feeling that way about me, but I couldn’t forget that odd connection I’d had with Vorenus. I played with his name in my mind, rolling it around and letting it run through my brain.
“He is old, sweetheart,” Gray said and I was getting used to the endearment. “He’s roughly two thousand years old. He was born in ancient Rome. As far as anyone can tell, since the coup Donovan led, Vorenus is the world’s oldest walking vampire.”
“He seemed sad.” I could still see his face when he realized Gray was there. He’d been smiling before, and then I’d watched it all go a polite blank. I wondered what it must be like to be so unique in the world, to remember a time no one else could recall, to have seen so many people he undoubtedly cared about grow old and leave him.
Gray made a choking sound. “Uhm, I don’t know what the guy has to be sad about. According to my research, he’s worth about a billion dollars, has an important seat on the Council and the king’s ear. He backed Donovan in the fight and Donovan won. He’s one of the most influential individuals in the supernatural world.”
“He was sad,” I reiterated. Money didn’t fix all your troubles and power sometimes caused more. I’d felt his weariness. Even with the distance between us, I’d felt as though I’d bumped against his soul.
Gray considered me for a moment. “What did you get off him? If you had to guess, what class of vampire would you say he was?”
He was testing me. I didn’t mind. I was actually kind of happy he wasn’t treating me like a china doll the way he had before. I had no desire to be anyone’s sweet little princess. I wouldn’t be good in the role. “If you forced me to guess, I would say he’s an academic. He’s not physically strong, but he has mental powers. The other vampires walked right into the club, but not him. He knew I was there. He felt me.”
And I’d felt him.
Gray’s lips turned up in an approving smile. “If I’d had you, I wouldn’t have needed six months worth of research to tell me that. Vorenus is an academic. He’s also an intensely powerful persuasive, which is why it’s a damn good thing I was there tonight. He was trying to pull you to him.”
I sat back. I didn’t think so. He’d asked, and politely at that. He’d felt my interest in him and replied with an invitation. I hadn’t felt like he was taking my will. The push to go to him had come from inside me and not some outside force. As attracted as I was to Gray, I’d felt something for the vampire, too. He’d felt a little like a kindred spirit.
I let that image go as Gray continued talking. “There are some people who believe Vorenus was the one behind the coup. It makes sense in some ways. Donovan was a king, but it seems hard to believe a kid a couple of years out of college could pull off something like taking down the Vampire Council. He had to put together a powerful group to back him.”
“This Donovan guy is the king?” I tried to wrap my brain around the fact that the entire supernatural world had changed while I’d been hiding.
Gray poured himself another glass of wine. “Yes, he is, and he’s dangerous. Do you understand what the term king means in reference to a vampire?”
“It’s a technical term. A vampire king would be stronger, faster than other vampires,” I responded. He would be able to kill other vampires with ease. “Genetically they’re extremely rare. He’s a super predator.”