Free Darkling by Mima Sabolic Page B

There were many eyes on me, but I was prepared for that. I had promised myself that I would not look frighten again. Since I already looked good I might as well enjoy it. It was about time, after all that insecurity that came of the Kyle-Selene drama—I’d almost lost myself to that one. I was determined to enjoy myself, and it was nice to feel the appreciative looks of other people. People?  . . . Whatever.
    “Blake, what did you mean when you asked me about the moment that I met my Vocati?” It had been bothering me ever since he had asked me at lunch.
    “So much for chitchat.” He grinned and leaned toward me. “It’s just a theory, but it matches each of the seven Inquirers’ cases. It’s like, when each of us met with our Vocati our frequencies connected with him or her. The strongest emotion within us in that exact moment was reflected on their faces. My guess is to create a stronger bond between us.”
    A string quartet played modern songs, including the latest rock and pop and MTV hits. It sounded surprisingly cool.
    “What did you come up with when you compared tests?” I asked, spurred on by our common interest in how we became Inquirers.
    “What tests?”
    “The ones from Psychology classes.”
    “I couldn’t get access. I’ve been told that they cannot give me the results because it’s an invasion of privacy. But the vamps wholeheartedly assured me that their people were looking into it but that no pattern has been found,” he frowned.
    “Have you asked the others to give you their consent? Maybe then the vamps would give in.”
    “I must admit I haven’t.” His brows rose at the prospect.
    “Or we could steal them.” I flashed a crooked grin.
    “Now, that had crossed my mind, but it’s pretty much unfeasible. Baldur keeps them in his office, and I’m not sure how one could trick him, or any vampire.”
    “Well, it just got little more feasible with me in the equation, I’d say.” I winked.
    “I’m so glad someone is interested in this stuff. And I’m glad it’s you.”
    I gave his shoulder a friendly shove.
    We’d split up near the dessert table and I searched the room for Julia. When I finally found her, she was speaking to Mr. Matthews, and I noticed that when she laughed, she touched his arm.
    Tibor was engaged in conversation with Lyndon and two porcelain dolls. Behind them, next to a marble pillar, stood Andrei Belun, all in black. He was talking with a honey-haired doll who seemed fragile and shy, and he was—different. He was drop-dead gorgeous, and serious and relaxed at the same time, like some king, or master, or something. I couldn’t stop staring. Belun looked like a fallen angel who’s seen everything, from the monstrous to the sublime, and that little smile on his face….That was not my team leader! That was some other guy who looked exactly like him!
    “You look like you stepped out of a dream.” I turned and faced a doll who looked to be my age, but was a bit taller than I was.
    “Luckily, you don’t look anything like my nightmares,” I offered.
    She had dark, asymmetric, hair with straight bangs, and the most joyful brown eyes I’d ever seen. Her thin silver dress stopped just above the knees.
    “Doris Lazar.”
    “Nika Young.”
    “The dream thing wasn’t a pick up line, your face really does look very familiar,” she told me.
    “My dreams these days are an endless labyrinth of scary stories I can’t escape. Forests of black eyes, stoning . . . .”
    “So you’re the new girl?”
    I nodded.
    “God, I can only imagine how you must feel. I mean, if I had to live alone among humans I’d freak out. You have my sympathies. I guess one needs huge bravado in the first couple of weeks.”
    “I wouldn’t really know, each of my days seems to last a week.”
    “Spoken like a true pale face.” We laughed. Yes—I actually managed to laugh with this vampire girl. There was something familiar about her, and not in a physical way, just…some