one meal of blood.
I battle Mettingskew’s stare until another vampire steps out of the darkness. This one is a very light-skinned male with bright blonde hair. Unlike Mettingskew, who dons a typical Nightingale professor’s uniform, this man wears robes of black leather, silver cuff links, and long chains sporting countless fleur de lis and emblems of Cain. A type of garb that all high messengers from the Heart of Cain wear. This is the first time I’ve seen one in person.
Mettingskew sneers.
“This is the one we keep telling you about. The good-for-nothing,” she says.
Bite me, I think to myself, only because I can’t seem to find the strength to move my lips. I am sure she is able to read the response in my eyes though, because she proceeds to curve her wrinkly mouth down into a frown. It suits her better, anyway.
“The one that keeps testing Lord Zein’s authority?” The blond male asks, analyzing every part of me. “It’s a wonder she’s still alive, after a fall like that.”
She nods. “Lord Zein should finish the job. This is the third time she has done something like this. The second offense is always death, yet still he refuses any sort of punishment.”
“Not for you to judge,” the male replies. This blond holds power over her somehow.
“She’s a menace,” Mettingskew says in a hushed voice. ”She could have very well instilled apprehension and anger within the supply. Luckily for everyone involved, she tends to stick to herself, but how can Lord Zein keep turning a blind eye to such? I know he is soft on his lot, but what does this say about—”
“Watch yourself,” he warns. “Lord Zein informed me that he would determine her fate at the Distribution since he is already in route for the occasion, but nevertheless we mustn’t question our overlords’ decisions. We are far less knowledgeable than they.” He then smiles. “If you are searching for reasoning, I would say perhaps start doing your job and keep the supply under control. Then maybe one day you will earn enough respect to be trusted with answers.”
I nearly bust out laughing at Mettingskew’s crestfallen face, but stop short when I remember...
Zein is coming here. That’s right. Tomorrow is the ceremony. The very reason I timed my escape the way I did was so I could avoid it. And now, after all this time, I will be forced to reunite with him again. My savior, captor, and... owner. I let out an audible groan and the two vampires turn their heads toward me.
Mettingskew growls. “I didn’t bring you here to insult me, Narref. I’m following procedure. Needless to say, we’ve never had a situation like this before.”
“This is the last day you have to sully your hands with her.” His smile fades. “Then you can forget it ever happened.”
Mettingskew crosses her arms as Narref studies me with roving eyes.
“As you know, the Days of Slaughter bestowed heavy misfortune upon human diversity. Across the span of its two-hundred years, many lessers of our kind destroyed our natural food supply, forcing us to protect, feed, and breed the humans, as well as develop synthetic blood under Cain’s honorable law,” he says. “Disposing of humans, no matter their lack of domestication, seems like sort of a waste in these trying times, don’t you think?”
I raise an eyebrow as Mettingskew bites back. “No. We dispose of troublemakers all the time for anyone with a crest on their robes. How is this case any different?”
As much as I hate her, she’s right. It’s messed up how the elite can get rid of endangered, yet unlikable, humans at the snap of their fingers. But who can refute the claim that their army of fallen beasts need to eat, too? I roll my eyes at the thought and notice the fumes that might as well be coming out of Mettingskew’s pointed ears. Narref changes the pace.
“Have you not seen the rare traits that this girl possesses? In all my years spent running the Distribution—watching our most elite decide upon the fates of their investments—I have never seen a red-haired and green-eyed specimen. He will most likely donate her to Saya’s houses after he shows her traits off to the other four. You know, to make a political statement in the effort for posterity and the sort.”
Of course, that sounds like something a wealthy, elitist asshat who wants to look noble and generous would do. Invest in my enslavement for ten years so he can show off