So many years ago, many more than I'd
Even care to bear in my mind
From the darkest of all places I found you

All the limbs in their right places
and a heart made of real gold
Sell me your little doll, oh sir, I ask you kind.

Sonata Arctica – The Boy Who Wanted To Be a Real Puppet

Chapter 24

My hero

"Welcome!" a young male vampire said with his very strong accent. "I am glad you were able to come."

He was probably our host Lorenzo; he had black hair, dark eyes, tanned skin and very handsome features. Kol had told me that they had met in Rome few decades ago and caused quite destruction, Lorenzo had been a newborn vampire back then and he had seen Kol as his mentor. His house was huge; it was located at the wealthy part of Florence. Kol and I had just arrived; we were still standing at the hall. I was wearing a beautiful apricot gown, which Kol had given to me; it was made of real silk. I was a little nervous; this was the first time when I met friends of Kol's, I certainly didn't want to embarrass him.

"Well, if memory serves, you know how to celebrate," Kol replied.

Lorenzo seemed pleased by his words.

"I will try my best for not to disappoint you. Oh, I trust you remember Alessa," he continued, cocking his head towards the female vampire who was standing few steps behind him. She was beautiful, she had long black hair and hazel eyes, she smiled seductively while approaching us.

"Yes, how could I forget?" Kol said and smiled as well. It wasn't difficult to see that they had been more than friends; Alessa licked her lips and twirled her hair around her finger. I already hated her.

"Good evening, handsome," she purred. "It has been a while…"

I cleared my throat, making Kol and the other two vampires to look at me.

"Oh!" Alessa said; she seemed delighted. "What a little cutie! You did not have to bring us a gift…"

"Her name is Eva," Kol interrupted her sharply. "She is with me."

The other vampires looked confused for a brief moment, apparently they tried to figure out what I was to Kol, but they got over it quickly, Lorenzo gave me a charming smile.

"Welcome to our home, little lady."

I curtsied and smiled at them, letting them to see my fangs. That made them both to gasp.

"Magnificent," Lorenzo muttered and looked at Kol. "Did you…"

"Yes," Kol replied simply. "She is my progeny and I expect her to be treated the same way than myself."

"Yes, of course," Lorenzo said immediately, he was glancing at me curiously. Alessa on the other hand seemed to be more interested in Kol and she certainly wasn't subtle, she was staring at him like he would be some juicy steak. I really wanted to bite her.

"Allow me to introduce you to our other guests," Lorenzo said and wrapped his arm around Alessa's waist. She licked his cheek and he grinned before cupping her bottom. I was a little confused, were they a couple? She looked at Kol over Lorenzo's shoulder and winked at him.

"Now, now," Lorenzo scolded, but he didn't sound very serious. "Be nice, my little harpy, he just arrived."

"I am always nice," Alessa purred and leaned her head on Lorenzo's shoulder when they led us across a long hallway. I looked at Kol, he seemed amused.

"Someone has not changed…" he muttered.

There were 15 people in the big parlor; some of them were sitting on sofas and armchairs; others were standing in small groups chatting. I could tell that most of them were vampires, but at least two of them were humans, a curvaceous brunette who was sitting on the lap of a middle-aged male vampire and a young man who was standing silently next to a redheaded female vampire.

"My friends!" Lorenzo announced from the door. "Here he is!"

Everyone turned to look at us; clearly Lorenzo had told them who Kol was. The first person who approached us was a bearded dark-haired vampire who had pale green eyes, he had probably been in his mid twenties when he had been turned, but the beard made him look older.

"This is an honor," he said in fluent English, it wasn't his native language, but judging by his accent he wasn't from here. "My name is Roderick."

Kol greeted him with a brief nod, all the others wanted to introduce themselves as well, few of them seemed to be foreigners. Clearly they all were excited about meeting Kol. I noticed that the two vampires who were here with humans didn't introduce their companions; the humans simply stayed back and kept their eyes on the floor like they would have been some kind of pets. No one paid any attention to me until Lorenzo introduced me as Kol's progeny. That seemed to surprise them all.

"How wonderful!" a vampire called Bruno said. He was a tall man who had a neatly trimmed goatee and a loud baritone voice. "She is a real cutie."

"Thank you," I said firmly, I wanted to make it clear that they could address me directly; I had no trouble to understand them. Some vampires thought that because I was small, I was also stupid. Bruno seemed excited, like he would have just discovered a talking monkey.

"You are welcome, little darling."

I stayed next to Kol when he picked up two goblets from a servant and handed the other one to me.

"Thank you," I said smiling.

"Would the young lady prefer some other refreshment than wine?" Lorenzo asked.

"No, thank you," I replied. "This is fine."

It wasn't difficult to see that all the other vampires, except maybe Alessa, were curious about me.

"I have never seen anyone who would have been turned at such a young age," a short and skinny female vampire called Celia stated. "How… extraordinary."

"Yes, she is a special young lady," Kol said and touched my hair.

"Indeed," Bruno said cheerfully, I really didn't like the way he was looking at me. "She is absolutely lovely. I was wondering… would it be possible to see her fangs?"

Kol's eyebrows furrowed, but before he managed to say anything, I zoomed behind Bruno and jumped on his back, sinking my fangs into his neck. The whole thing only lasted a fraction of a second; he was too stunned to even react. I took a long leap and landed gracefully in front of him, showing him my bloody fangs. For a moment the whole room was dead quiet, everyone was staring at me. Bruno was the one who started to laugh first; he seemed to have the best time of his life.

"Bravo, wonderful! The young lady is quite a little beast."

Hopefully that had made them all to understand that I wasn't a doll, Kol gave me an approving look and tapped my shoulder.

"Yes, she is," he said smiling.

The guests started slowly to return to their unfinished conversations, I noticed that Alessa seemed impatient. She was smiling when she approached Kol; determinedly I took his hand and gave her a warning look. That didn't stop her; she stepped in front of us and started to flirt with Kol. Strangely Lorenzo didn't seem to care; he was talking with a pretty female vampire called Gisella.

"I must give you a tour before the dinner," Alessa purred. "I can guarantee it will…arouse your appetite."

Ew. I glared at her and turned to look at Kol, for some incomprehensible reason he actually seemed interested in this woman.

"Really?" he replied smoothly. "Well…"

I gritted my teeth and fought my urge to attack this woman; I couldn't understand why I was feeling like this. I knew Kol had been with probably thousands of women, but… He had just said that he loved me, that I was his special lady.

"Can you wait here for a moment, darling?" Kol asked, he wasn't even looking at me. "I will be right back."

It really hurt me to see him walking away with that tramp, but what had I expected; how could I compete with her. Suddenly I felt depressed; I couldn't understand this unpleasant feeling, all I knew was that I hated the idea of Kol being with other women. What other women, I wasn't a woman, I was a child and that was how he saw me. Now I was really depressed.

"Would you like some more wine?" Lorenzo asked like a polite host.

I shook my head.

"No, thank you."

"Well, the dinner will be served soon," he said.

I hesitated; I really wanted to ask him about Alessa.

"May I ask you something?"

"Of course," he replied politely.

"You and Alessa…"

I wasn't sure how to continue, but he seemed to understand what I meant.

"She is my companion, but we are not…how do you say… monogamous."

"Oh…"

He stressed his words by slapping Gisella's bottom; she giggled and leaned towards him, nipping his ear.

"We need some music!" Lorenzo announced, it didn't take long when a group of human musicians entered the room as quickly as they could. Everyone seemed cheerful when they started to play; I moved out of the way when the dancing started. After a while Lorenzo asked me to dance, probably out of politeness, but it was still nice, the other vampires clearly didn't know what to think of me, but I had got used to it.

Surprisingly Bruno asked me to dance after Lorenzo, I wanted to decline, but that would have been rude, so I curtsied and gave him my hand. It wasn't actually that bad, he was a good dancer and he seemed interested in hearing more about me. We chatted for a while; he was impressed when I told him how many languages I spoke and what I thought about the recent political events in Europe. Maybe I had misjudged him. Eventually the others started to chat with me as well, it felt good. When Kol finally returned, I was enjoying myself; other people actually listened to what I had to say.

"Ah, there he is," Bruno said when Kol entered the room, Alessa wasn't with him. His eyes looked for me; I was standing next to Bruno.

"She is absolutely delightful," Bruno announced and touched my shoulder. I was very pleased, I felt accepted and being treated as an adult. Then he continued. "Are you very attached to your little friend?"

Kol looked up and frowned.

"Excuse me?"

"Would you be interested in selling her?" Bruno asked. "I would pay generously."

I froze; I had never felt so humiliated in my life. When I looked up I saw that they all thought I was just Kol's pet, they certainly didn't see me as their equal. How could I have been so stupid? As pathetic as it was, I was on the brink of tears. Kol's lips curved into a smile.

"For what purpose would you use her for?" he asked smoothly.

Bruno smiled as well.

"Well, you have certainly trained her well, but I am sure I could teach her few new tricks…"

He could never finish his sentence when Kol zoomed in front of him and ripped his heart out. Everyone else backed away, he smiled while crushing the heart.

"So, does anyone else feel like disrespecting the lady?" he asked cheerfully.

Apparently they didn't, no one said anything.

"I believe we won't be staying for dinner," Kol stated coolly and offered me his hand. I kept my head high and accepted it; I wanted to hold on the shreds of my dignity.

"Wait, wait," Lorenzo said, he followed us to the hall. "I apologize, I should have…"

"It does not matter now," Kol interrupted him. "We are not staying."

"Alright, I understand. If there is anything I can do to make this up…"

"You are leaving already?" Alessa's voice asked, she had appeared next to Lorenzo wearing a different gown than earlier.

"Yes," Kol replied simply. "Good night."

I was grateful that he didn't stay and chat with the woman; I really didn't want to see her again.

"I am sorry," I muttered after we were outside. "I did not mean to ruin your evening…"

"Hey," he said and kneeled next to me. "I am sorry; I should not have brought you here."

That was another slap on my face, he was ashamed of me. My eyes were filling with tears, I couldn't help it.

"No, no, please don't," he said quickly. "I did not mean… Damn it, I cannot do anything right." He paused and sighed. "Listen, just say the word and I will go back in there and bring you all their hearts."

I started to laugh, in some very strange way that was the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me. And he had defended my honor like I would really be a lady.

"You would do that?"

"Damn straight, no one messes with my midget."

I giggled and kissed his cheek.

"Thank you for the offer, but I would rather like to go hunting, I am starving."

"As my lady wishes," he said and winked at me.

It made me feel strange, like I would have had butterflies in my stomach, I hadn't felt like that for a very long time, not after I had lost Owen…