"Everything will be fine," Becca murmured beside me, pushing her cart. "We serve the pets, we leave. Simple."
She was wrong.
Something was wrong with the potion.
I could feel it.
I had taken a sip three days ago. It should have lasted a week.
Five years of disguising myself as a vampire, and the effects had never waned early. Not once.
Until tonight. The night Becca and I had been ordered to serve the Lords directly.
And we were serving him first.
Lord Fashire. The most ruthless predator in the castle. His pets never survived beyond a few weeks.
We crossed into his wing and the temperature plunged.
The cold felt unnatural.
At the end of the passage loomed a large double door that led to his bed chambers.
Before we could even announce ourselves, his voice slid through the air, smooth as silk, yet foreboding.
"Come in."
"Y-Yes, my Lord," we answered.
Becca reached for the door. It swung open on its own.
A gust of icy wind struck me, and I forced my legs forward into his lair.
The chamber was dim, filled with dark recesses, and the curtains were drawn shut.
Becca was pushing her cart ahead.
Wait.
Becca was ahead of me.
Too far ahead.
With an unsettling chill, I realised I had been standing still and not actually walking.
And the monster himself was standing right in front of me.
I had seen him once, across the courtyard when I first arrived five years ago. His cruel eyes had locked onto mine and I had frozen then too.
But that had been from a distance.
This was nothing like back then.
He was far more imposing up close. Silver-grey eyes pinned me in place, and the madness that danced in their depths was sharp and consuming.
"Now, how long did you intend to dawdle here?" His growl cut into me, cold enough to numb my bones.
'Run. Run! RUN!'
My lips trembled. No sound came out.
'Move! Please...'
His gaze dropped to the tray in my hands. A predatory smile curved his lips.
"You," his voice crept out with a menacing undercurrent.
'He knows.'
My heart thrashed against my ribs.
"My Lord?" Becca's voice trembled from somewhere behind him.
Why was Becca answering?
"Take that cart somewhere else." His eyes never left mine. "This one here will perform her duties."
Oh...
"Yes, my Lord."
Becca rushed past us. The door slammed shut.
I was alone with him.