A chuckle ran out across the table and my cheeks instantly heated because I had no idea what they were talking about. I shifted in my seat before shaking my head. “I’ve never heard of her before.”
King Elion chuckled. “The Dead King has always been known for secrecy. He’s a recluse and apparently most of Moriann hasn’t laid eyes on his whore so I’m not surprised. He tends to covet things he loves.”
I turned to Elion, taking in his words. It was proof that there was more history there. But was it true? Did Dahes have a lover?
I’d never seen another female in his castle before, but then again I spent half the time isolated in my room…
The only person I saw frequently was the ghost with the soft eyes and swollen belly. They couldn’t be talking about her, right?
I knew Dahes had some kind of effect on the dead, I just had no idea to what extent. She could carry tangible objects with her hands—did that mean Dahes could do that to her entire body?
Cash laughed, breaking me from my thoughts. “Half of Moriann hasn’t even seenhisreal face. Not with the devil’s mask he wears all the time.”
“Have you ever seen him?” someone to my right asked.
I nodded, then forced myself to swallow the lump that suddenly stuck in my throat, before I got out, “Everyone has seen him at least once on the streets.” It wasn’t a lie. I saw the Dead King three times before I made my deal with him.
“No, I meant have you ever seen him without his mask on?”
I stilled, having no idea how to answer because I hadn’t until he owned me. Lira was sitting next to Arrik again, and she’d tell Elion the moment I lied, but if I admitted to it, Elion might know something was off. Dahes never went outside without his mask on. I honestly wasn’t sure if anyone other than me had ever seen him with it off.
Before I lived with him, I’d only seen the alabaster plaster. It looked like a second skin, but was too sheer, too luminescent to be real. White horns spiraled up his temples—I learned later they were part of the mask, but it looked so lifelike, especially when he drew his hood, obscuring his features even more.
The only part of him that showed were his glowing eyes. It was how I knew the second they changed. Through the mask, I had watched the blue band form around the outer rim of his white irises at the same time I felt a burning in my own.
King Elion waved his hand. “She wouldn’t know.”
I tried to not react as everyone kept talking about Dahes, but I could barely zone out the remarks—how they guessed what his whore looked like, how they took bets on if Dahes fucked her while wearing his mask. How they wondered if his horns were real or if he had sharp teeth that ripped open jugulars.
“I heard his whore brings bodies back to him. That she drags them through the streets for him to rip apart,” Cash smirked, murmuring into his drink.
“Talk about fucking dark foreplay,” someone else said.
I paled as I tried to force myself to keep eating, to look natural even as my insides were spinning.
My spoon slipped from my fingers, clattering onto my plate as I whispered, “What did you say?”
Cash turned to me. “His whore drags bodies into the castle at night. Heard she’s just as fucked up as he is.”
His whore…
Drags bodies…
I wanted to vomit. I wanted to scream. My ears kept ringing, and despite the fact that the conversation didn’t slow, I couldn’t hear anything anymore.
Because I knew then…thatwas the reputation Dahes didn’t want me to know about.
Iwas his whore.
I couldn’t eatthe rest of breakfast. I had to excuse myself before the meal was even done. I knew it was stupid, that I shouldn’t run off when I had to go to the Dome, but I needed to breathe.
I was his whore.
I sprinted toward the closest secluded place I could find, whichhappened to be a closet two halls down. I came across it during my first day exploring the castle and knew it wasn’t frequently used.
My back slid down the door as I collapsed onto the ground.
I let the darkness of the room consume me—I didn’t want to see. Didn’t want to think.
