And I got to fuck that sweet beauty.
The night hasn’t been so bad after all.
THREE
Astra
My head is dizzy, though I swear I didn’t have anything to drink at the party last night.
Something feels… off, and that’s simply the best way I can describe it.
I sit up, swinging my legs off the edge of the huge bed. I’ve never slept in a bed this big and comfortable before I came here. I might be a little spoiled by it now. I want to melt right back into it and let sleep take me again. Even as I think this, my lids start to droop.
Why am I so tired?
I blink rapidly, as if that will do anything to help with how sleepy I am.
It was quite a night for me, I suppose. As I shift, I can feel a twinge between my thighs, reminding me of what I did with a mysterious stranger.
I bring up his face in my mind, what I could see of it. His cut jaw was dotted with defiant stubble, unlike most of the men who had been at the party with their clean-cut looks. His full lips were turned down more than up. Those dark eyes and how they bore into me with a deadly intent behind them.
But it wasn’t quite as deadly as it seemed.
He didn’t want to hurt me, despite wanting to use me. There was a moment in there, I would say he was almost tender,caring even, as far as a quick encounter like that could be, anyway.
I pull open the small nightstand drawer. There it sits, the little vial of bright green liquid. Just enough for a taste on the tongue if you were to drink it alone. In this case, it’s just enough to get lost in the taste of a good glass of wine. Where it would kill the drinker without even leaving a trace of what it is behind. Merrily sipping your drink one minute and dead the next.
Or… so I think. I’m not sure how the poison works. I don’t even know what kind of poison it is. I was just handed the little vial and told it would lead to death, and all I hoped was for it to be a quick one. So, whether or not it would be fast or painless is something I have no clue about. I’m not an expert on poisons. I’d rather stay far away from such things.
But I was given no choice.
Well, maybe that’s not entirely true.
I suppose it doesn’t matter now since the person the poison was intended for is still breathing. Looking on the bright side, that means I can’t label myself as a murderer.
Had I really thought I could kill someone?! Had I really been desperate enough to take on such a horrible task?
The thought makes me sick. Even if I hadn’t been so distracted, I think my head never would have let me do it.
I slide the drawer shut, hoping to forget the green liquid’s existence and the whole situation that comes with it.
I might have messed up last night, but I’m sure I will be given a chance to rectify the situation. Which means I get to worry myself sick until that moment and then have to make the hardest decision of my life…again. Only this time, I’ll have to get it right. I’ll have to do the thing I don’t want to do in order to get the thing I was promised.
My heart is breaking even as I think about it.
There’s a knock on my suite door.
This place is so massive that it makes me feel uncomfortable. It’s like I have my very own apartment in this house. For someone who has spent the last seventeen years sharing a tiny cottage with three “aunts” and a couple of cats, this seems absurd. I’m pretty sure we could fit the main living space of the cottage in this room.
“Yes?” I call before I can think better of it. I’m wearing a pair of pajamas, which leaves a lot to the imagination, so it’s not like asking someone to enter while I’m in this state of dress would be scandalous. Still, I have to remind myself I’m in an entirely different world now. New life, new rules.
The door swings open slowly, and standing right at the threshold, looking as if she has no interest in stepping over it, is a woman in a pair of black slacks and a white polo shirt, indicating she is one of the house staff.
“Mr. Aubert has requested your presence for lunch,” she states with a blank face.
Wonderful.
It’s not like I can refuse, and I’m sure this isn’t going to be a lovely midday meal.
