A Mad Vampire Fell for Me

The Reveal

"But the banquet isn't for eating, brother. Hold out a little longer. You can eat however you want once we're home."

Dorian looked genuinely puzzled. "If it's not for eating… then what's all this food doing here?"

"Socializing." Julian felt the warm spread of superiority. This was a realm where Dorian could never match him.

"Look around. When people talk, they're always holding something. A small plate. A glass of wine. But nobody actually eats the food. The wine is just for touching to your lips. A gesture."

"It's how we socialize."

"Hahahahaha… he didn't know."

"How embarrassing. Hahahahahaha…"

Julian's group had put it together. This striking young man was the guest of honor.

So unsophisticated. Raised outside, just as the rumors said. Didn't even know how to conduct himself at a formal event.

A few of them had looked more carefully at Dorian's face and seen something that gave them pause. They kept their mouths shut.

This wasn't what Julian had implied. The Vane family had a real heir and a fake one on their hands.

Dorian, unconcerned with any of it, picked up another unidentified hors d'oeuvre and put it in his mouth. Action as statement. He was hungry.

Julian stood there ignored. Dorian's continued eating was a dismissal in itself. "Brother. Stop eating. Please."

Julian leaned in, his voice dropping to a breath against Dorian's ear. "You're making a scene. You don't want to upset Mom and Dad, do you?"

Dorian looked at Julian. He set the plate down. "I'm done. Go be with your friends."

Translation: you've made your point. Now leave me alone.

Julian privately despised him. His face stayed sweet. "Let me introduce you to everyone. We should all get to know each other."

Dorian looked at the faces behind Julian. "Sure." Flat.

"So you're Dorian. The bastard the Vanes brought home?"

Kirk Radley gave him a slow once-over, his mouth arriving well ahead of his brain.

Dorian's eyebrow arched. A smile crossed his face, startlingly beautiful. He turned to Julian. "Is that how you introduced me?"

Julian's stomach dropped. He hadn't expected Kirk to be this direct. He scrambled. "Brother, don't be angry. They misunderstood!"

He whirled on Kirk. "Kirk! How could you say that about my brother?!"

"Julian, with that personality of yours, you're going to get walked all over at home. You have to show strength when outsiders move in. Otherwise they'll climb right over you."

Kirk's sidelong glance at Dorian made the target of his words unambiguous.

Cedric also felt Kirk had crossed a line. "Kirk. Enough. Dorian isn't the kind of person you're describing."

The words were a clear defense. Heads turned. Kirk especially. "Wait… but just now you were…"

The smart observers had their theories confirmed. Only an i***t like Kirk would charge to the front lines and get used as Julian's weapon. And Julian was taking splash damage from the recoil.

"Kirk, you've been completely disrespectful to my brother!" Julian was unsettled by Cedric defending Dorian. But in this situation, protecting Dorian was the only move.

"Julian…"

Kirk was lost.

Dorian watched the chaos unfold with evident enjoyment. He nodded, agreeing. "You know, he does have a point."

"Since Julian's already introduced me, I have things to do. Excuse me."

"Another chance to get acquainted tonight, I'm sure."

Dorian picked up a glass of champagne and walked away before anyone could process it.

For a moment, Julian worried Dorian would go straight to Edmund and Eleanor. Then he relaxed. They didn't particularly like Dorian. They probably wouldn't fully believe him anyway.

Dorian had no intention of reporting anyone. Julian had come to flaunt his worldliness, to make Dorian feel the gap between their stations. To seed an inferiority complex.

Unfortunately for Julian, Dorian didn't care about any of these things. The circumstances of his life weren't going to be weaponized against him.

A person's circumstances and experience were never something to mock.

The part-time job Edmund and Eleanor despised was the work that had kept him alive.

They looked down on the things that had sustained him. Looked down on the world he came from. How highly could they possibly think of him?

From the very first moment they'd met, Dorian had needed to tilt his head back just to see them.

Edmund and Eleanor took the stage. "Thank you all for joining us tonight at the Vane family's welcome banquet. We are deeply grateful. I would now like to introduce everyone to my eldest son. Dorian Vane!"

"Dorian. Come."

Dorian walked onto the stage. Edmund threw a warm arm around his shoulders. Eleanor took his other arm with maternal grace. Dorian's body went rigid.

The faces below were a gallery. Highly readable.

"Dorian has been in fragile health since childhood and has been convalescing in the southern capital. Only recently have we been able to reunite as a family!"

"This welcome banquet is for my eldest son, Dorian! This child grew up without his parents at his side, so far away in the south. We are profoundly grateful that he has grown into a healthy, fine young man and found his way back to us!"

Edmund spoke with emotion. His grip on Dorian's shoulder was tight enough to bruise.

Eleanor added, "We hope everyone enjoys the evening!"

The applause thundered.

Dorian stood between Edmund and Eleanor. The resemblance among the three faces was undeniable. Anyone with eyes could see they were a family. And Julian, with his cute, lively features, looked nothing like any of the three on that stage.

Julian felt the stares landing on him like needles. He clenched his jaw. The smile on his face nearly shattered.

Eleanor, from the stage, beckoned to Julian. His eyes lit up. He ran up and took his place at her side.

A family of four.

The contrast was brutal.

Everyone in the room belonged to the same world. Certain patterns were familiar. What was there not to understand? It wasn't as if a random stranger had gotten surgery to look like a composite of Edmund and Eleanor's features just to run a scam.

The Vane family wouldn't have brought him home without verifying everything first. So.

Kirk, in the crowd below, was dying of mortification. His two closest friends didn't bother hiding their laughter. It was deeply unsympathetic.

"Maybe this will teach you to think before you speak. Look at the stage. Between Dorian and Julian, who looks more like the illegitimate one?" Ian Woodward was enjoying himself.

"Hahahahahaha…"

"Stop laughing! How was I supposed to know!" Kirk's face was black.

"You. When are you going to learn? You always judge people before you know a single thing about them."

"Don't lecture him. Is this his first time getting used as someone's weapon? You'd think he'd have learned by now. But no."

The words sounded like defense. They were mockery.

"Hey!" Kirk was mortified and furious.

"Alright, alright. We're done. Hahahaha…"

Hugo Birch said, "You'd better give him a proper apology. One careless word and you might have offended the entire Vane family."

"He wouldn't take it that far. Dorian doesn't seem like the type to hold a grudge."

"Who knows? We don't know Dorian. Everything we know about him came from Julian. One version. And given the state of warfare in that house, do you really think Julian's account is reliable?" Hugo shrugged.

"Fair. Kirk, don't stress. We'll all go with you. We basically took Julian's side against Dorian just now. Wouldn't hurt to make a better impression."

Kirk nodded. "Fine."