“So that’s why.” Erou crouched down, brushing his fingers on the ground. “When someone dies, the person would usually leave some kind of essence, a remnant of his last dying moments. But this one…I wasn’t able to sense anything.”
When Erou came to his feet, his gaze was troubled. “I hope you haven’t made your interest in this case obvious.” If it had been up to him, he wouldn’t have allowed her to come here. But since he wasn’t her Master, all Erou had been able to do was accompany Zari and make sure she was safe.
Zari couldn’t meet his gaze.
That wasn’t good. “Lady Zari?”
“I, umm, might have…befriended…one of the suspects in the case?”
Erou groaned.
“But it’s just because everyone thought she was the one who killed the man even though they have no proof at all,” she said defensively. “I felt bad for her and so I just wanted to talk to her and then…” Her voice trailed off.
“You know what I think?” He took a step closer to her. In the past, doing so would have made her back away. But she didn’t, which convinced him further that his hunch was right.
“All this is just your way of distracting yourself about what’s really bothering you.”
She looked away, muttering, “Nothing’s bothering me.”
“Yes, there is. Something has been bothering you since the time we caught the serial killer at the library.” She had almost died there, and thinking about it still made Erou’s heart race. Even though he had spent so many years in the company of humans, pretending to be like them as part of his job, their fragility had never really dawned on him until he realized how Zari had placed herself in mortal danger, using her visions to track down a killer who had been preying on the humans in town.
Since then, Erou had been unable to stop himself from keeping an eye on her, and it was for that reason he was able to tell her, “I know you’ve been skipping classes, too.”
Her eyes widened.
“The school’s administration is very understanding and forgiving, but it has its limits. If you continue with what you’re doing, you could be suspended – even expelled.” He paused. “I’m sure it was what’s on Lord Alexandru’s mind as well and why he came back mid-hunt.”
This was news to Zari. “I didn’t know he hadn’t finished the hunt.” Alexandru had made it seem like it was done, she thought uneasily. Was that so she wouldn’t feel guilty like she was feeling now?
The revelation didn’t please Erou. Anything that hinted of the powerful hunter thinking of Zari as something more than his human pet was definitely not good news, at least not where he was standing.
He looked at Zari. Eighteen. Soul seer. Human. They were not the ideal pair, but the urge to claim her vibrated strong and constant like his heartbeat. There was something about her that made him feel. All these years, honor and pride in his work had been the only things that kept him going. But they had not made him feel alive.
Only Zari did.
When he had been dying, she had come to his aid, uncaring of the rules she would break. That they had been strangers then didn’t matter to her either. “That day,” Erou heard himself say. “Why did you do it? Why did you let me feed on you when Alexandru’s your Master?”
“You were dying—-”
He shook his head. “No. I don’t think that’s just it.” He captured her wrist when she was about to turn away, using his strength to pull her back. She gasped as their bodies came into contact, his muscular body making her feel even softer against him.
Zari said nervously, “Lord Erou, please let me go.” She couldn’t understand what had gotten into her friend. He had never been this…insistent. Although he had let her know from the very start that he wanted her to be his pet instead of Alexandru’s, he had always respected her decision.
Until now that was.
Erou said quietly, “I’ve been called by my father. I need to go back to Chalys and stay there indefinitely.”
Oh.
“I want you to come with me.”
Her heart broke at the words. “Lord Erou…”
His lips curved in a bleak smile. “That’s what I figured.”
Her heart hurt a little more. “I can’t,” she whispered.
“That’s why I asked. That’s why I hope you can answer.”
She wanted to look away from his gaze because she knew what she was about to say would hurt. But she didn’t. Lord Erou deserved her to face his feelings head on, just as he had shown her his feelings openly, even if he had known from the start that she belonged to someone else.
“I was thinking of my Master.” Even though her voice wavered, her gaze remained steady on him. “I thought that if I gave my blood to you, the day would come that when he needed the same help, there would be another person who would do the same thing for him.”