Exhaling, she sat upright. Not a trace of the bite remained on her arm. She adjusted her gown and patted her hair, rising with elegance.
“The duke is all yours.” She brushed past me without a glance.
Not exactly.
“Irene.” The controlled duke had returned.
“Ahem…” Why had I come here in a hurry? Did I have a cut somewhere I could use as an excuse?
“Tell me.”
“You were rather cold with Fiona, considering she gave you her blood.” Of all the things I could have said, I chose the most inappropriate one. My face heated. “I’m sorry. That’s none of my business.”
“The bite makes people feel aroused. Something similar to what you experienced but stronger. Fiona didn’t mean what she said. She’ll change her mind in two minutes. I might be a thief and a vampire, but I would never take advantage of the power of the bite.”
“That’s noble of you.”
“There’s nothing noble about me, not even my title.” He washed his face and hands at the washstand.
He scrubbed his skin with punishing intent. And I was staring again.
“I just wanted to tell you that I saw Darius’s deep aura.”
A corner of his mouth quirked up. “How was it?”
“The outside is wonderful, luminous, and multicoloured. The deep layer is blue, calm and solid. What does it mean?”
“That he’s a mage and a good man, I suppose. I can vouch for him.” He dried his face and hands. “We’re going out tonight.”
“Where?”
“The city. We’ll search for your first victim.”
All the enthusiasm from my small accomplishment evaporated. “I’ve barely started seeing the deep layers.”
“The sooner you kill, the stronger you’ll grow and the fewer the chances you fade.” He turned around as soon as he finished talking and stared at his reflection in the mirror. “I know you aren’t an assassin. I wasn’t a duke, but fate had another plan.”
I stepped deeper into the room, curious about what attracted his attention to the mirror.
I stood behind him. “What are you looking at?”
“Mirrors are gateways to the soul. Your reflection comes from within, so when you lose your soul, your image in a mirror disappears. Logan’s reflection started to blur last year. Then it became a vague halo.” He sucked in a shaky breath. “It might happen to me.”
“How do you lose your soul?”
“You become a slave to blood and kill only for the pleasure of drinking.” He clenched his jaw, tension snapping back into his body. “Your first kill will be easy. We find a target, I drain him, and you give him the finishing blow with my dagger.”
Cold slid down my neck. “Right.” I thought about my destroyed home and the bloodstain on the floor of the dining room, and my resolve grew. “I’ll do my best.”
“You’ll only have to wrap a hand around the hilt. I’ll stab him.”
I shivered. “It sounds…horrible anyway.”
“Do you want to find Sean and make him pay?”
“Yes, I do. I’ve always been understanding towards people, thanks to my ability to sense their feelings. But I’ve rarely received the same treatment, and Sean killed my father. I want to stop him.”
“I’ll be with you always.” The way he’d said that sounded as if he were talking about something more than catching Sean. He donned his gloves. “Let’s go.”
