“I do not enjoy speaking about these matters with you.”
“Why?”
“You are revolting.”
“Mmh, you don’t mean that.” He watched her with an idle smile. “You are made uncomfortable by me and the things I say in the way all proper ladies of your age are. You will come around in time.”
“How does Vlad suffer you?”
“He likes me well enough.” He scratched at his shoulder absentmindedly. “Most of the time. Then again, he occasionally tears my arm off for sport. Now that I think about it, he never does that to Walter. I’ve always suspected the old bastard plays favorites.”
She tried not to laugh. She couldn’t hide her smile as she looked away.
“Tell me, Miss Parker. What do you wish might come to pass? How do you want all this to end?”
“Why are you asking me?”
“I wish to know if Master Dracula is in danger. If you are a threat to his life—and ergo, likely mine as well. That is why I am here. And to get away from Mordecai.” He grinned. “I did not wish to listen to him whine as he jerked himself off for the fourteen-thousandth time because Bella was not yet his.”
She tried not to feel sick. “I did not need to know that.”
“That is how an incubus whines, darling. How else did you expect?”
“I am not well-versed in the social behaviors of demons.”
“I expect you will be before long. Now, come. Tell me. What do you wish for?”
“I want the hunters to survive and to leave unharmed. I do not wish ill upon them.”
“Not even Alfonzo?”
“I understand him. Even if his methods are harsh and I do not agree with them, I understand him.”
“How can you understand someone but not agree with them?”
“I am an empath.” She looked over to Zadok and found him watching her, quite puzzled. “And that you do not understand the difference between seeing the reason behind someone’s actions and agreeing with them might be why Vlad keeps tearing your arm off.”
Zadok laughed. “Fair enough. What else? What about you, my dear? All you have spoken of is the fates of others. But what do you wish for yourself?”
“That which I would desire for myself factors little to none into my own fate, vampire. I am always a product of others—their memories, their emotions, and their desires. What I want does not matter.”
“I am asking you all the same. If you do not know, that is all you have to say.” He grinned, a coy and fiendish expression. “Do you love our Master?”
“I do. I did. Until this.” She gestured at the window. “Now, I am not so certain. I was naïve to think I truly fathomed what he was, and what he was capable of unleashing.”
“You still love him. You simply need to come to terms with what you see. And I am sure he is willing to give you as much time as you need to do so. He is a patient creature. Far more so than I.”
“I wouldn’t have guessed.”
He was clearly unfazed by her sarcasm. “Do you want to love him? Do you want to be at his side for all eternity? Or do you want to wrench his soul from his chest and destroy it like all the others you have touched?”
“I do not know. I…do not wish to hurt him. But I will not let this city burn if I can stop it.”
“I suppose that is fair. And I think when the time comes, you will need to decide which you care about more. And I do not pity you for it. I am a man of simple pleasures and simple needs.”
She watched him for a moment. “No. You merely like everyone around you to believe that. You hide behind your callousness, your shallowness, and use it to mask your pain, don’t you? Tell me, Zadok—who hurt you?” She smiled snidely. “Or is the list too long?”
He laughed. It was not what she was expecting. But he seemed honestly entertained by her comment—no, not entertained, pleased. “You are wonderful! Truly you are. I see why the Master adores you so. Who hurt me, my little dove? Everyone. Everyone in this God-forsaken world. I take my pleasure when and how I desire it in exchange. And I desire very much. But!” He slapped his hands on his legs and stood. “You should be sleeping. The Master would be very cross with me if he learned I was