In this book Sabrina has been sucked through a portal that has taken her to a different world where vampires rule--and out number the humans something like 10-1. Also since this is a steampunk, as you realize their dress styles would be from the Victorian era.
In this teaser that I've chosen Sabrina is at a ball in a castle. She is with a newly formed vampire, his name is Drachen--and is he just yummy.
Once we got past the gate house, we entered the inner ward. Having never seen a real castle before, I was interested to see life inside an actual working castle. It would have been better to have been on a tour of castles in England, or Scotland—not in another world where vampires were kings and queens.
Especially where loads of vampires were partying. Now my butterflies were beating on my stomach trying to escape. I'd be with dozens of vampires. I thought of it like being in Tremayne Towers, only they had different rules here. Knowing who was and who wasn't a vampire might not seem difficult at first, but knowing what I now knew about how the children of vampires—those who could be eating a nice salad one day and suddenly want to drink human blood the next was really disconcerting.
I removed my right-hand glove, now that it had warmed up, before we entered the main hall. A matching glove and bag in one hand and a fan in the other. I mimicked what the other women were doing and flicked the fan open and nearly put my eye out. It fell out of my hand and clattered to the floor. Drachen swooped in and picked it up for me. I smiled and thanked him. I realized it, along with everything, was too much to hold. I would have to ditch the fan. The whole ensemble was a tad silly, really. My uncovered hand became cold within moments of having pulled the glove off. I would have to avoid touching anything with the hand, like always, but I wasn't going to risk being thralled by some pretty boy-vampire if I wanted to survive this night, so it would have to be left exposed.
“Nervous?” Drachen asked.
Yes. Drachen you're only one of the reasons I'm nervous.
“Not every day I get to rub elbows with the rich and blood-thirsty,” I said.
Drachen threw back his head and laughed. We stepped forward behind a long stream of people. Drakulya and Gwendolyn were further up, at the entrance of another hall.
Candelabras, iron sconces, and huge hanging chandeliers lit up the old castle well enough to see with my human-Were eyes. Tapestries hung on every wall, yet a chill found my exposed areas easily and made me shiver, even though several huge fireplaces were roaring with log fires. Beyond the large opening, I could see dancing people, music from another era streamed to my ears. I recognized a waltz when I heard one.
As ball gowns go, they came in every color, beautiful and lavish with ruffles, and lace. The women wearing them dappled the stone floors like a Monét painting, while men in their velvet frockcoats in nearly as many various colors with elaborate stitching around the buttons complemented them. Other men had worn tails and vests, like the Drakulya men had. And, yes, women were wearing silly hats. I looked past the shoulders and over heads of shorter people and saw women wearing the wildest looking hats which sprouted plumes of some poor bird's tail feathers, or—in some cases—whole bodies. I spotted one with a mink curled up on top of a woman's head, and to be truthful, I wasn't quite sure if the thing was dead or alive. I knew it was a style, but really I found it deplorable to prance around in a hat with a dead bird or an animal perched on it. Masks were worn over a few faces. These were quite fancy, glittering from jewels and sequins, green, red, purple or yellow feathers sprouting from the tops looking like exaggerated brows.
