Integra sighed. She'd managed to avoid it for almost three months, but here she was again, leaning against the wall of a pretentiously decorated ballroom, relying on nicotine to get her through the next two hours. She carefully ignored the fact the piece of wall she'd chosen gave her a perfect view of the door. She may have been weak enough to be hoping that Quincy would make an appearance tonight, but that could be easily justified. He was about the only young man likely to attend that Integra actually liked.
Integra looked down at her dress. It was tighter than the ones Walter usually set out for her. She hoped he hadn't taken Alucards' ridiculous notion to heart. The last thing Integra needed right now was a romance.
Alucard kept to the shadows. If Integra spotted him now, she would send him away. For some reason that he assigned to his vampiric intuition, Alucard did not approve of her spending time with that boy. His contract required him to protect Integra Hellsing, even if she refused to accept it. Alucard frowned momentarily – did that protection extend emotionally as well as physically?
James entered the ballroom, only half listening to whatever Henry was saying. He told himself it was a forlorn hope, but he couldn't stop himself from scanning the crowd for Integra. He blinked in surprise. There she was, leaning against the wall directly in front of him, cigar in hand. Teggie.
Integra saw Quincy come in. She watched as he looked for someone and smiled when he caught her eye. Maybe the evening wouldn't be so interminable after all.
Her good mood vanished again as she saw that pampered idiot Anna Pendleton sashay her way over to Quincy and Henry. So much for having the chance to talk to Quincy. Her mood plummeted further when a tall, dark, long haired man wandered towards him. That stride . . . and the bright red handkerchief in his breast pocket – was that Alucard?
Integra firmly shut away the beginnings of panic. Alucard couldn't attack a human without her express permission. He certainly wasn't stupid enough to attack in public, or so she hoped. But he could, and would try to scare Quincy away. Much as she hated to admit being wrong, maybe having a friend or at least an acquaintance close to her in age wasn't a completely horrific idea. He would also enjoy flirting with Anna bleeding Pendleton just to annoy her. And the silly girl was clearly interested in him. She had to stop this before it became a complete disaster. Maybe if she was lucky, she could use Alucards' behaviour as an excuse to go home early.
Henry smiled as he watched James searching for Integra. He had to restrain a laugh at the look on his face when he spotted her. The idiot was lovesick. Henry pitied him – Integra Hellsing was a hard woman to get close to.
"Watch out, Lady Anna's on her way over." He murmured.
"Henry! And James." Anna declared with a smile. "How marvellous to see you both."
"Anna. You're looking well." Henry replied smoothly.
"Lady Anna." James greeted her with a grin.
"You're looking happier tonight, James. The last few weeks you've been terribly gloomy." Anna fished.
"Gentlemen. Lady."
The trio turned to look up at Alucard. At six foot four, he towered over Anna and could look down his nose at Henry and James quite comfortably.
"Why if it isn't the original Mr Tall, Dark and Handsome" Anna said flirtatiously. "I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid I don't know your name."
Alucard grinned at her smugly. This was sure to irritate Sir Integra.
"I'm not in the habit of giving it out, my Lady." He evaded as smoothly as fresh cream.
"You know Sir Integra, don't you?" Henry asked casually.
"I met Sir Integra several years ago." Alucard confirmed. "I believe your friend is an acquaintance of hers?" He turned his piercing gaze on the Quincy boy.
"I am, yes." James wanted to punch that smug grin off his face. "If you remember, you interrupted our dance the last time she was here."
"It's a pity you didn't interrupt a few minutes earlier, sir." Henry said with a comfortable laugh. "You would have saved me ten pounds if you'd stolen her away before they started dancing."
"Is that so?"
James felt a shiver go down his spine. There was something about the way the man's teeth gleamed that did strange things to that corner of his mind reserved for childhood fears.
The sensation was immediately forgotten when he saw Integra making her way towards them, cigar still in hand.
Integra was entirely unaware of the picture she made, striding across the ballroom to fetch her vampire. The glacial blue of her dress matched her eyes almost perfectly, and it hugged her slim curves in the most flattering of ways. The skirts swirled around her slim ankles as she walked towards the group who were quite obliviously ruining her evening.
"Sir Integra." Alucard inclined his head slightly.
Integra blew out a stream of smoke, completely unimpressed.
"We need to talk."
Without waiting for a response, she turned and glided toward an empty alcove.
"If you'll excuse me." Alucard murmured, following his master with a grace that bordered on the unnatural, for of course, unnatural he was.
"Why are you here? Is there another emergency that require s my attention?"
"Are you not pleased to see me?" Alucards' eyes sparkled with an almost childish amusement. "Why, Sir Integra, you wound me."
Integra increased the ferocity of her glare. This was not the time for jokes.
"I want you to leave, Alucard."
Alucards' face dropped. Before that damn boy turned up, she'd have been begging him to take her home, or at least spent a few minutes criticising her peers before rebuking him.
"I do hope you aren't sending me away so you can spend more time with the Quincy boy, Integra."
"My reasons are none of your business!" She cursed herself for flushing. "I gave you an order."
In a swirl of platinum hair and grey smoke, she turned to leave, only to find her exit obstructed by a hand around her forearm and a cold body in front of her.
"Are you aware that he danced with you for a bet?"
Integra glanced up. Her vampire's face was as serious and innocent as it could be, with no trace of guile or deceit. She had learned to tell when he was lying, and she was almost sure he wasn't.
Alucard looked down at his Master and wondered if perhaps he ought to pay the boy a little night time visit. Her big blue eyes were wide with shock and tinged with sadness.
Integra glanced over to Quincy, unwilling to believe he would use an old friendship for monetary gain. What irony, she thought, for deceit to be exposed by Alucard.
"I was not aware." She said softly.
Alucard released her arm and offered his hand.
"Would you care to dance, Sir Integra?" He left unspoken the suggestion that the Quincy boy wouldn't be happy about it.
"Very well, monster."
Quincy watched as the tall irritating stranger followed after Integra, wishing he knew how they connected. He had been pleased when she was snarling at the man. He had been tempted to intercede when the man grabbed her arm and blocked her inside the alcove. If he had tried that, Teggie would've had him on the floor begging for mercy within a minute. Quincy watched as the fight drained out of her, replaced with what looked like defeat. She glanced at him and he cursed. Had the bastard told her what Henry had blurted out? James felt a surge of jealousy as she let the tall dark man lead her onto the floor.
"It seems you've outmanoeuvred, old boy." Henry commented.
"Temporarily." If he was right and the bastard had told her about the bet, then he just needed to explain it to her. If he could just talk to her, he would make her understand. "I just need to talk to her."
"Good luck getting close enough to do that. I don't know who that man is, but he's got "protective" coming off him in waves."
Henry watched as Quincy dove into the crowd. He had little hope that his friend would salvage his friendship with Integra. Perhaps he should have kept his mouth shut earlier.
"Where did you learn to waltz, Alucard?" Integra asked, pleasantly surprised with his dancing. She hadn't taken the time to notice it last time.
"If you remember, I was a prince once."
Integra brutally controlled the shiver that ran down her spine. She was not going to go soft just because he was murmuring in her ear.
"I doubt you danced like this."
"I also had lessons from her Majesty."
He always liked surprising her. That sharp jerk of the head, the widened and then quickly narrowed eyes as she tried to refute whatever he'd just said. It was a glorious reaction.
"Your father and hers were in a meeting of some sort. I had been left outside, and the young princess demanded I dance with her. She taught me to waltz and to foxtrot."
Integra frowned up at him. Again, she could detect no trace of deceit.
"Sometimes I wonder why she likes you so much. Were you a good student?"
"For a time." He grinned. "Then I sent her down to the kitchens for ice cream."
Integra laughed. She could imagine the young princess and the darkly handsome vampire dancing together. Alucard always had had a way of ingratiating himself.
"Mind if I cut in?"
Somehow, Quincy had appeared at Alucards' shoulder. The vampire felt Integras' grip on his shoulder tighten almost unnoticeably.
"Actually, I do. Come on Integra, I should be taking you home."
Integra let him lead her off the floor without so much as looking at Quincy. If that idiot thought he could make her the subject of a bet and get away with it, he had another thing coming. She was Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing and she was better than that.
Alucard smirked toothily at the boy over his shoulder. It would take a better man than him to steal his master away. He almost pitied the man who tried to court Integra. He'd have to get past Walter, the Angel of Death, and the No-Life King before he even got close. And personally, Alucard thought his standards for the potential father of his next master were going to be very high indeed.