The Gentleman's Thief - Isobel Starling Page 0,62

convinced by what these men, these devils had told him.

“When Lawrence explained the rituals to me, for the first time in my life, I knew, it all made sense!” The boy said in an intoxicated slur.

This was not, as Cavell and Herr Krause had imagined. Although I knew that manipulation, drugs, and coercion were involved in keeping Leo on the path the Brothers chose for him. Leopold was not a helpless victim, but a willing participant in whatever devilry Lawrence Blake and his Brothers of the Seed were planning. He was a grown man, and he had consented to join with the cabal.

Leopold pushed his chair to balance on its back legs and placed a foot on the table. The position displayed the shapely erection trapped beneath his green silk trousers. He leered at me, still confidently shuffling the cards, and licked his lips with clear interest.

“You are a very attractive man, Benedict. Do you know that? I’m sure you know that.” He flirted ineffectually. I did not know what to say, but then the boy added,

“I am so very glad you are soon to become part of me. Your knowledge of art and antiquities will be most useful.”

Was this boy an imbecile? Did he truly believe that my years of knowledge—of study and observation, would be passed on to him through my semen?

“You are a very confident young man. How did you become so?”

“How do you think? I suck and I swallow. Every. Single. Drop.” Both Leopold and Evie giggled and I sent my brows skyward. What was I even doing here with this child?

Leopold removed his leg from the table and sat straight as Evie placed three glasses on the tabletop. Leo, who was already well in his cups, tossed his measure of Brandy back immediately, and before she could take her seat Leopold thrust the glass at the French girl as if she were a maidservant.

“I’ll get the bottle,” Evie said resignedly.

“I wonder my dear Benedict; did you receive your red book?” Leopold said with a raised brow and a smirk in his voice.

“I did,” I admitted, “But I don’t understand it. The pages are all blank.”

At hearing my admission Leopold laughed so hard he nearly fell off his chair.

“It is brilliant is it not? Only the enlightened can see!” He guffawed. “I am sure a man as clever as you will work it out eventually, and when you do…oh, Mein Gott…You will be very satisfied indeed.”

I took affront at his laughter. I did not like to be the butt of a joke and so I coolly asked,

“What game do we play?” I reached for my Port, swirled the dark burgundy liquid in the glass, and eyed the blond boy over the rim as I took a sip.

“The game is set by Fratres Seminis. You are to be tested. I am the vessel; therefore each brother must permit me to consume his offering.”

I thought it would be something indecent like that! “Tell me. How many brothers do you have?”

Leopold cocked his head and bit his lip. He looked every bit the naive boy at that moment. I could see by the way his features began to relax that whatever drug Sebastian added to the Brandy was working quickly.

“When I take your sacred nectar into me, I will have nine brothers.” He said, his lips loosening and his words slurring even more.

“Nine? I saw seven men at the ritual?”

“Oh ja, one is a naughty, naughty boy, and was denied as punishment.”

“Goodness. What did he do?”

“Lawrence does not appreciate betrayal, you know. My wayward love made promises he could not keep… which is a shame … because he adored sucking me, and he was very good at it.” He said in an alarmingly childlike manner.

“And you expect such a performance of me? What if I’ve had too much to drink and cannot perform?”

“I will be disappointed and I will report to my Brothers that you could not satisfy me.” He pouted. There was a warning tone in those words.

“The sacred scrolls say that for the ritual to be successful all who partake must feel love. Tonight, you will tell me how to love you Benedict, and I will share myself with you.”

The boy made the act of sexual congress sound like a business transaction. But hearing Leopold’s words awoke something at the back of my mind. I did not know what, but seeds of anxiety bloomed within.

“But… but, I don’t know you. We are merely acquaintances,” I protested.

“At the