Первородные: Восхождение

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

“MY LOVE,” KLAUS MURMURED, whisking Vivianne aside into an empty corridor. “Are you ready?”

She looked magnificent in a long silver gown that trailed away into unexpected shadows of lace. So far she had held up her end of their bargain, which required her to keep their secret while the Mikaelsons maneuvered for power. But the next steps would probably be harder.

“I have been ready since the morning after the full moon,” she replied. A peal of laughter filtered in from the main hall, and Vivianne’s head swiveled toward it for a moment. Beneath the powders, curls, and silk that made up her elegant armor, she was tense. “But they are all so happy tonight. I can’t imagine many of them will want to see my side, once I tell them.”

Klaus lovingly ran his thumb along the line of her jaw. “I am on your side, Vivianne,” he reminded her. “What the rest of the city does is of no concern to us as long as we are together.”

She swayed closer to him, her entire body seeking contact with his own. “I know you would rather fight your way out of a banquet hall full of enemies,” she teased, a smile playing on her lips. “But as you say, we are our own allies now. And so I will be your ambassador in this, and keep you safer than your own instincts would.”

“A bit,” he conceded with pretend reluctance. “I won’t give up all my fun, but it’s true that the Navarros have far more to answer for than your witches. If they are prepared to accept the new order, so much the better.”

He pulled her face up to his, kissing her in earnest this time. She responded eagerly for a minute, then set her hands on his chest and gently separated them. “Let’s wait,” she told him seriously. “Just until I have officially called off the wedding.”

“You want to be free of Armand, to tell him first,” Klaus interpreted.

“You understand, then,” she said, looking so relieved that he hesitated to tell her no. “Whatever else he is, he is technically my fiancé. It is only decent to tell him first, before making a spectacle of the news.”

A spectacle was just the sort of surprise that Klaus wished on Armand Navarro, but Viv looked resolute.

“Very well,” he agreed, “Tell him, then announce it to the rest, and we’ll deal with whatever comes. Things could get out of hand quickly if he has time to spread the news.”

“What’s the hurry?” she purred, wrapping her arms around his neck. “We still can have a few more minutes of peace.” Klaus folded her against him, inhaling the lilac fragrance of her hair.

“I knew you were a faithless whore, but to betray me with this thing?” Armand’s voice was thin and strangled. “How could you, Vivianne?” Vivianne gasped and spun around in Klaus’s arms.

While Klaus had kept half an eye on the door to the banquet, Armand must have approached stealthily from the other direction. He must have noticed that they were both absent and begun a calculated search. It was a dreadfully inconvenient time for him to have grown a mind of his own, and Vivianne looked absolutely stricken by the development.

“Armand,” she cried, straining forward while Klaus held her back. “I was going to tell you tonight. Within minutes. You should not have seen this.”

“Tonight?” Armand asked, his tone bitterly mocking. “And what about all the other nights you have spent ‘taking air’ in our garden, or sneaking out through your bedroom window? You never thought to tell me then?”

“You knew,” she breathed, shame flushing her cheeks to a deep red. “All this time, you knew.”

“I didn’t know it was him,” Armand spat. “I had nothing but gossip and rumors. No one knew you’ve been spreading your legs for a dead man.”

Before either of them could answer—although Klaus certainly had a few things to say about that—Armand ran in the other direction, making for the lights and music of the party. Vivianne squirmed out of Klaus’s grasp and hurried after him. Klaus saw a few heads turn their way even before they emerged from the relative privacy of the corridor. He was losing control, but he could not intervene without doing even more damage.

Vivianne caught Armand’s arm just inside the brilliant pool of candlelight, where everyone could see Armand shake it off and slap her across the face. Klaus could have slit his throat on the spot for that insult, but he had promised to try to avoid a war. Quite a few eyes had turned toward the supposedly happy couple already. It was unlikely the brutal murder Klaus had in mind could go unnoticed.

The music faltered, and Klaus saw Elijah gesturing furiously to the band. Elijah had arranged a spectacular party, Klaus noticed belatedly. The room glowed with thousands of chandeliers and candelabras, and every bit of space was packed with flowers and vines. The music was lively, the wine flowed freely, and up until this unfortunate interruption, everyone had seemed to be having a good time. The musicians resumed their cheerful reel, if a bit shakier than before. Klaus stepped between Vivianne and Armand, ready to defend her from another blow if he couldn’t avenge her for the first one, but Vivianne was only getting started.

“We were never in love, Armand,” she shouted recklessly. “You coveted me, and I was willing to do my duty. But once I understood what you demanded of me, what you let your family put me through...I never loved you, Armand, but after that I could not even bring myself to respect you.”

Armand laughed coldly. “You lost your respect for me? It’s mutual, Vivianne. You have been smitten with this abomination since the night we announced our engagement, so you’ll have to forgive me if I’m not too concerned with your opinion of me.”

“If he’s an abomination, what am I?” she asked, and Klaus could see real despair on her face. He had not thought about the next full moon, but he realized that it must be always on her mind. “What did you make me?”

“Nothing you weren’t before.” Armand shrugged. “Nothing like what your undead lover will change you into.”

Klaus saw the light glitter off Vivianne’s eyes as they flicked toward him. Armand had touched on the one topic that still divided them. Vivianne was tremendously powerful now, but she was still mortal. She would want to become a vampire eventually, he was sure of it...but she wasn’t.

“He has asked nothing of me,” Vivianne retorted, showing no further sign that Armand’s blow had hit home. “He loves me for what I am, not for how he can use me.”

Armand’s laugh was bitter. “And when he does? Will you change your mind again, and slink around behind his back, too? I’m sure you will. It hardly matters what else you call yourself, Viv: That is what you are.”

She slapped him in turn, and now any pretense of a private argument had ended. Guests stared openly, curiosity and suspicion mingled on their faces. Vivianne noticed them too late and froze, caught in the glare of the attention. The music stopped, and this time it did not resume.

“They might as well all know now, Vivianne,” Armand remarked, letting his voice carry, twisting the knife. “I think this farce has gone on long enough.”

He stalked away, and the crowd parted to let him through. Vivianne and Klaus remained alone, exposed, with every eye on them. It was not the announcement he had hoped for, not by a long shot. If he had to fight his way out of the ball he would, and he would enjoy it thoroughly. But he cursed Armand for setting him up.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Vivianne began bravely, and though Klaus would have preferred to stand proudly beside her, he knew he had to separate himself, to look more like part of the audience than a player in this disaster. If they thought it was her choice, if they had missed some of Armand’s words or mistook their meaning, perhaps this still could be contained. “I want to thank you all for coming tonight, but I also owe you an apology. As you have perhaps guessed, Armand Navarro and I have ended our engagement tonight.”

Whispers became an angry buzz of conversation. Klaus deliberately avoided looking in his brother’s direction, as no good could come from seeing Elijah’s expression.

“Have you nothing to say, vampire?” Sol Navarro prodded, his voice deceptively mild.

Klaus had a great deal to say, but in a moment of inspiration he decided that Captain Moquet had already said it best that same morning. “She knows her own mind,” he said, wishing that Rebekah were here to hear him say it. “I am no part of this alliance—that is for you to sort out among yourselves.”

“No part of the alliance, but you cannot deny your part in ending it,” Sol countered, some heat creeping into his tone.

“I ended it,” Vivianne said, “although you have played your own part in that as well. I am done being a pawn in this conflict, and I will not sacrifice one more part of myself for it.”

Sol’s beady eyes narrowed, and beside him, Louis’s irises turned dangerously yellow. Vivianne stared them down, and then spread her hands wide to include the entire crowd. “Please continue to enjoy the party,” she announced in a loud, clear voice. “And I am sorry again for any damage my behavior may have caused.”

Deliberately, she turned her back on the crowd. From where Klaus stood, he could tell that her eyes were so full of tears that she must be barely able to see. Vivianne made for an exit, but Sol came toward her so quickly that Klaus had to throw himself in the big werewolf’s path.

“She has said all that needs to be said,” he warned Sol, but he heard Vivianne hesitate behind him. He willed her to just go, but she was proud and stubborn. She had been prepared to leave, but she would not flee.

It was what he loved about her, and it was also what could get them both killed.