Chapter 114: Chapter 114
“Yeah, if they can fool even the council…” Snake chimed in. “But enough of this, we’re here to have fun and not to worry over things we can’t control.”
James nodded in agreement. “Will you stay for a while? My next class only starts in an hour, so I have free time until then.”
“We’ve got all day,” Ryder shrugged. “Why?”
“Since we’re in our dance studio, Snake and I could teach you a few things,” James grinned. “What do you think?”
Elena’s eyes widened—at first, she wasn’t thrilled about the idea because she wasn’t the most elegant person when it came to dancing, but then again, getting an opportunity to see her soulmate dance was a tempting prospect, so she nodded vigorously. “Yes, sounds good.”
Ryder raised his eyebrows at her enthusiasm and felt the cool sensation of jealousy crawl into his chest. He crossed his arms, scrutinizing her. “Why are you suddenly so… interested in this? I don’t think you’ve ever been into dancing.”
His icy blue eyes made her nervous—so she blurted out her thoughts without realizing that James and Snake were still here. “I want to see you dance,” she admitted.
“Me?” he echoed in surprise, but quickly recovered and smirked. “You want to see me dance?”
Her cheeks grew redder by the second—why did he have to repeat it like that? “Yes, now stop saying it.”
“Are they always like this?” James asked Snake, who watched the scene with raised eyebrows.
“Yes, always. It’s nothing new to see them flirting wherever they are, regardless of the company they’re in.”
“You’re just jealous because you haven’t found your soulmate yet,” Ryder replied with a provocative grin.
“No, I’m…”
“Enough talking, let’s begin,” James interrupted before the two vampires could start a long-winded discussion. He turned on the music and stood in front of the wide mirrors on the wall. “Repeat my movements, we’ll warm up first.”
And thus, they had their very first dance lesson with plenty of smiles from James (and eye-rolling from Snake) when Ryder insisted on showing off—he clearly wanted to impress his soulmate, and it was working. Elena was blushing, staring, and getting flustered because of the suggestive movements he made. His agility and elegance as a vampire certainly made him a natural at dancing. He didn’t have any problems following James’s instructions. Elena, on the other hand, got confused a few times, which resulted in amused grins from her dance teachers. They had chosen a modern pop song with a fairly well-known choreography, which was difficult to memorize. And keeping up with vampires and their insane stamina was a whole other challenge.
By the time the hour was up and James’s young students arrived, Elena was out of breath and wiped the sweat off her brow.
“I need a shower when I’m home,” she panted, catching a certain someone’s attention. Ryder arched his brow, lips twitching in excitement.
Elena saw his hopeful expression and was torn between laughing and groaning. “Let me guess, you want to join?”
“How could I refuse such a divine opportunity?”
“You didn’t even break a sweat. There’s no reason to take a shower.”
His smirk was devious. Pure evil. “I disagree. There are a hundred good reasons to take a shower with you, buttercup.”
“Someone’s having naughty thoughts again,” she breathed, unsuccessful at hiding her grin.
---
The night was calm, the stars were visible, and Elena sat comfortably on the small balcony of her room. She had covered her legs with a fluffy blanket and listened to the faint sounds of a guitar from somewhere in the building, assuming it was Chump working on one of his songs. It was a nice addition to the serene atmosphere, so she closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall behind her as she listened. The past days had been very eventful. She had many things on her mind and wasn’t sure if she felt happy or anxious.
On one hand, it was nice to be in her flower shop, doing what she enjoyed. She had grown closer to several clan members as well, spending time together and discovering new things about them. Moreover, her and Ryder’s relationship had never been better—everything could be perfect, if it wasn’t for the strange vampire running rampant in New York, killing humans or turning them into bloodthirsty monsters.
They were no closer to finding the one responsible. It unsettled her since it took an impressive amount of skill to elude so many vampires at once, to never leave a trace or any hint of their identity. All of New York’s clans were prepared to defend their territory against the disturber—and as Elena had learned from Edgar, it was rare for them to band together like this. It demonstrated how serious the issue was.
She glanced at the blanket on her lap and removed a lint, sighing to herself. Life could be so easy now that Steph was gone, but it seemed like things were never easy when you were a part of the supernatural world.
A change in the atmosphere accompanied by a warm shower of magic alerted her to the presence of her soulmate. He had arrived suddenly in the room behind her and reached the balcony door in the blink of an eye. When he joined her, she wasn’t surprised to see him.
“Hi, Ryder. Were you looking for me?”
“No, I can smell you through the entire house. I don’t need to look for you,” he said with an incredulous expression—because this should be obvious.
She cracked a smile. “When you word it like this, it sounds like I stink.”
Ryder rolled his eyes, laughing in disbelief. “Flowers don’t stink. You smell sweet, buttercup.” He sat down next to her and embraced her so that she was more comfortable, tucked into his chest, the safest place in the world. And her favorite as well.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked.
“Just thinking.”
“About?”