“Didn’t you learn yours when you were demoted to the lower court after the last time you tried to annoy us, Freya?”
Eros let out a laugh.
“Feisty today, Oros?”
Is this not usual for her?
From my position, I could only make out half her face, but she didn’t give away her true feelings.
The woman in the middle flinched, her smile dropping just a smidge.
“I didn’t know you were so protective of your food,” Freya spat out. “Or maybe a new toy? If so, that’s even more embarrassing.”
Eros stepped forward with a smile. Her facial expression was so warm I didn’t even have time to prepare for the way her clawed hand flew through the air and smacked the demon right on the side of her face, her nails leaving red marks on her skin.
“Say that again,” Eros commanded.
What the fuck?I had been around criminals before. Murderers. The best money was with the most dangerous clientele.
But none of them had ever been able to surprise melike that.
“Excuse me, I wasn’t thinking,” she said quickly, her eyes falling to the floor.
“Evidently,” Oros said. “Leave.”
They scurried away without another word.
Eros and Oros both looked back at me, though only one of them had a dazzling smile that caused my breath to catch.
“Where were we?”
8
EROS
Is she… ignoring me?
Purchasing the human was probably the best decision I had made in years.
She was intelligent, sharp, and ready to tell it like it was. There was something else hiding beneath the surface, though. She didn’t feel like the standard human girls we had in the court, power or not.
She is not afraid of us.
The secrets I knew she was keeping were enticing. And nothing ended up staying secret from me for long. All it took was a littlepersuasion. And I was sure the payout would be worth it in the end with her.
From the time she woke up in my lap, whatever fear she had felt in the auction house had disappeared. She didn’t shy away from us, nor did she look like she was plotting her escape. She looked over the estate with curious eyes, like she wasactuallyinterested in learning the layout of her temporary home.
I wanted to play with her, and from her scent, it seemed like she wanted to play with me as well. She wasn’t outrightaccepting my advances—yet—but I knew she would. I was confident in my abilities.
She almost made me forget why we brought her to the estate in the first place. The plans to infiltrate the court and catch Father in his lie felt like a forgotten dream that was replaced with wondering what she’d be like when I finally got her in my bed.
It was hard to keep the bloodlust at bay when all I could think about was sinking my teeth into her flesh as she came around my fingers.
But I was hiding it well… or at least I thought I was until we reached the gardens.
I picked one of the bloodred flowers the groundskeepers had imported from another realm. It wasn’t shaped like the plants we had in this one. The red petals extended out like vines and curled outward.
It smelled fragrant. Sweet with a mix of fresh rainwater.
