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“Will there be anything else, Sire?” Titus, my trusted servant, asked from the doorway. He’d been with me nearly as long as Haidyn.
“No, Titus, that will be all.”
With a nod, he left to retire to his bed in the small room he occupied in my apartment.
Lost in thought, I poured the deep red wine into a chalice as Haidyn entered. As he approached, I prepared one for him as well.
“Sire,” he greeted with a slight bow of his golden head as he accepted the wine from me.
Though I made eye contact, I didn’t respond as I lifted the wine to my lips. I was too deep in my head.
“Her belongings are in the guest suite. The other concubinas believe she was killed in a jealous rage by the general, then I let it slip that he embezzled from the emperor and snuck off,” he explained.
I cocked a brow.
“I thought it was a nice touch.” He shrugged with a smirk. Then he sobered. “You do realize you basically stole a woman.”
“So?”
“I’ve never known you to have to take a woman by force. They’re usually falling all over you. It just seems… odd for you. Is there something I don’t know?” The fact that he was questioning me at all and still breathing spoke volumes about our relationship.
Haidyn had been by my side since shortly after I fell. We had countless nights of debauchery—hell, some that ran into days or weeks. He had killed for me. He had traded his soul for me.
I trusted no one like I trusted him.
“I wanted her.” It was as simple as that. My reply left no room for argument and he knew it.
He ran a hand through his sandy curls, but he remained silent. Did I mention Haidyn was wise? When he wanted to be, anyway.
“I figured you would’ve changed by now,” he observed with a wrinkled nose at my attire.
I glanced down, seeing the shredded tunic crusted in my near black blood.
“I have things to do. I want you to stay here in case she wakes up.” I finished the remaining wine and set the chalice down on the table.
“I’m not a babysitter,” he indignantly scoffed.
I rolled my eyes. “You’re not babysitting. You’re protecting what’s mine.”
Not waiting for a reply, I called in my shadows, gathered them around me and left.
Shrouded in the night itself, I followed my prey, my cloak billowed silently behind me as I moved.
The shadows in the iter—narrow foot traffic alleyway—curled and reached for me with each step I took. The man up ahead paused. Not because I’d made a sound, but because I’m sure he sensed my darkness closing in.
He spun, removing his sword with speed and precision as he turned in my direction.
“That’s the second time tonight someone has pulled a weapon on me. I’m getting a bit tired of it,” I drawled in a bored tone. Sometimes it did get old that these humans thought they could actually defend themselves against me.
Especially, when they owed me.
As I stepped into the light of the full moon, his eyes widened in recognition. The terror that flashed within them thrilled me to no end. It fed the deepest, most twisted part of my soulless self.
“Please. I’m not ready,” the man pleaded as I stalked toward him.
“Not my problem. You made a deal, it’s time to pay up,” I replied with a careless shrug.
“I didn’t think you were serious!” he cried as he held his hands out like that would hold me off. It was quite comical, actually.
