Ignoring the other vampire’s words, Alexandru strove for calm. But his mind resisted, invaded as it was by a treacherous image – of his pet naked, and this boy feeding on her neck—-
Alexandru hissed, “SHE’S MINE!” His power was unleashed through the words, his voice making the thick walls tremble and the air around them crack with tension. At that moment, Alexandru’s true self was revealed, the one he fought to hide with a mask of playful charm.
Killer. Murderer. Beast.
Erou inhaled sharply when he saw the sudden change in the other vampire, one that gave him a tiniest taste of fear. This was no longer someone to be reasoned with.
The door opened, Zari coming out, confusion clouding her eyes when she saw Alexandru and Erou in the hallway.
Alarm struck Erou when he saw the door open and the human girl step out. “Zari—-” But the moment he said the girl’s name, Erou knew right away it had been the wrong thing to do.
Hearing the name of his pet on another man’s voice acted like a trigger, and with a furious growl, Alexandru launched himself at the younger vampire. He would have had Erou in a stranglehold when suddenly a slip of a girl stood in his way.
She looked frightened and determined, and her voice shook when she said, “Master, no.”
Chapter Five
“Ahem.” Zari cleared her throat, trying to catch her Master’s attention as she came to stand behind him.
But it was as if he had lost all his powers and was now a mere mortal, with the way he was unable to sense her presence or even hear her. He continued to survey his men in practice, calling out occasional pointers to rookie soldiers.
“Master, I know you’re just pretending.” No answer. “Master, you’re being so childish. You’re five hundred years old, not five.”
A cold voice in her mind snapped, And you should keep in mind you are contracted as MY pet, not his.
Zari’s eyes lit up. “Exactly what I want to talk about. Because it’s what I want to change—-”
He spun around, his face hard. “You no longer want to be mine?”
This time, she had to bite back a smile. “No, Master. It’s about the contracts.” Looking down, she mumbled, “I still want to be yours. I’ll always want that.”
He didn’t answer, but a moment later, her cheeks burned under his pinching fingers. “You are just too damn cute.”
One moment, Alexandru appeared a hair’s breadth away from committing murder. Another second passed, and he was suddenly back to normal, the dangerous light in his eyes fading and the cruel slant of his lips disappearing. Everything was back to normal, too. There was no longer that creepy, electrifying feel in the air, like a nuclear dynamite was about to explode any minute.
Her Master stepped forward, placing Zari behind him like a target to be shielded. Slowly, she looked up at him, but his face was as bland as always. Her gaze moved to the other vampire. He was slightly easier to read, with the way he held himself so stiffly, his stance vigilant for any possible recurrence of danger.
She asked finally, “Master? Is something wrong?”
Zari jumped when she felt Alexandru reach for her hair, curling a lock around his fingers. The gesture felt odd and possessive at the same time, as if her Master wanted to see if she knew whom she belonged to.
Alexandru waited for his pet to move away. Despite all his efforts to teach her, he knew that Zari was far from being used to any display of ownership. He expected her to dodge his touch, but he was stunned instead to find herself striving to keep still, as if she instinctively understood his need to show possession of her.
His gaze locked with hers. “Nothing is wrong, pet. Or at least not on my part.”
The sly smile that followed Alexandru’s words made her feel nervous. When he smiled like that, bad things always tended to happen—-
Still playing with her hair, he said slowly, “But as for the other vampire staring intently at us…” He turned his head to face Erou, and Zari found herself doing the same. “He definitely has a problem.” Not waiting for an answer, he continued, “He told me he wants to claim you as pet. Because I think he has a crush on you.”
Alexandru expected the younger man to deny the words. “Isn’t that right, Lord Erou?”
But he didn’t.
Erou knew what the other vampire was planning. Alexandru wanted to shame him into rejecting the words and thus kill off all chances with the girl. Well, two could play this game. And so he said coolly, “It just may be so.”
At the words, Alexandru’s head immediately snapped towards his pet, just so she could see how fucking serious he was as he growled, Don’t you dare blush. Don’t you dare.