The first to stir was Tom. He jolted awake with a guttural scream that tore through the quiet night, his voice raw and desperate, echoing across the still camp. I watched with a mix of amusement and irritation until, finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. With a sharp snap of my fingers, I flicked him lightly on the forehead.
Instantly, his wild eyes blinked in shock, the realization of being alive dawning on him like a slow sunrise. His scream cut off abruptly, and he let out a shaky breath, sinking back onto the ground with a tired sigh. His body relaxed, sprawling flat as his gaze shifted upwards to the vast tapestry of stars twinkling overhead.
“Did I win?” he asked, voice hoarse but tinged with hope. “Is he dead?”
“Yup,” I said simply, picking the answer that pleased him most.
He exhaled deeply, eyes never leaving the night sky. After a moment of silence, I broke it with a question that had been simmering inside me.
“You said you want me.” I murmured, voice soft but curious. “Now’s your chance.”
I watched him carefully, trying to read the flicker of emotions crossing his face. Was love included? I couldn’t tell. Was he looking at me as some kind of valuable tool, like I often saw him? Or was it something deeper, an obsession as consuming as the one I felt for Aska?
“Chance for what?” Tom asked, blinking as he focused on me.
“To do whatever you want with me,” I said, nodding toward the motionless form of Arthur nearby, “until this guy wakes up.” My lips curved into a slow smile, baring my sharp canine.
“And what exactly would I want to do with you?” His voice was skeptical, laced with a hint of cautious amusement.
“Honestly? I have no clue,” I admitted, rubbing the back of my neck. “I’ve never quite understood humans, or you, really. I’ve read all these descriptions people write about love, but I don’t think your idea of love matches mine. I admit I already crave someone in a very… inhuman way. I want to control him, keep him close, make him mine. But maybe that’s because it feels impossible.”
I let the silence hang as memories of the past stirred within me.
“Love is when your heart wants to burst out of its cage… when you feel happy just seeing that person,” Tom said quietly, as if reciting a secret.
“Well,” I scoffed softly, “considering my heart’s pretty dead, and that same person tortured me in the past, my kind of love must be seriously messed up.”
I thought of Aska — no happiness, no warmth, just a cold, unshakable pull that twisted inside me. Love, for me, was a tool, a weapon I wielded to coax him, and he did the same in return.
“Maybe it’s human love that’s the weird one,” I added with a bitter smile.
Tom hesitated, probably unsure how to respond. But before he could, I shifted back to where our conversation began, the darker subject still waiting in the shadows between us.
“Tell me,” I began, voice low and curious, “what would you do if I allowed you to do anything you wanted? No limits, no consequences.” My eyes locked onto his, searching for the truth buried beneath. “Would you be driven by lust? Or maybe something darker, more sinister? Would you want to ram a dagger straight into my heart?”
Tom smiled, a slow, confident curve of his lips that held promises and danger both. “Do you want to find out?” he asked, his tone almost teasing.
“Badly,” I grinned back, leaning into the game.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Without hesitation, Tom stood and moved toward me. His fists clenched tightly at his sides, every step deliberate and heavy. When he was close enough for me to feel his warm breath grazing my cheek, I remained perfectly still, a silent challenge. Part of me prayed he’d hurry—the sharp warning glint of the moonlight on the carriage’s edge reminded me time was running out.
“I want to know every facet of the devil,” he whispered, lips curling into a half-smile as he leaned in even closer. His eyes burned with an intensity that sent shivers down my spine, and before I could react, his hand slid to the back of my head, pulling me slightly forward as his mouth moved toward the sensitive skin at my nape.
I rolled my eyes, irritated and amused both.
“The time’s up.”
Arthur was waking. The sharpness of his ragged breaths and the stirring weight of his movements left no doubt. There was no point in continuing this dance any longer.
“It was nice to see your lustful eyes,” I teased softly, a sweet smile spreading across my lips. “Makes me feel wanted.”
Tom’s hand slipped away, frustration flickering in his gaze—he hadn’t gotten the taste he craved, nor the freedom to explore further. I stood, brushing his shoulder with a light chuckle, then turned my attention to the restless form of Arthur.
The bond I felt earlier between us pulsed stronger now, vibrant and undeniable—but I sensed it was a one-way street.
Arthur awoke faster than I expected, scrambling up first on all fours, then standing shakily on two feet. I watched, fascinated and wary, as he circled the fire, eyes wild and hungry, before lunging to grab Tom’s throat once more.
“Stop.” My voice cut through the night like a blade. Arthur froze mid-lunge, trembling under my fierce gaze.
“Tell me, Tom,” I said quietly but firmly, “do you want to become this animal?”
Arthur’s eyes gleamed red and feral, devoid of reason. He behaved more like a starving wolf than the man he once was.
“They regain their intelligence after some time, right?” Tom asked, voice uncertain but holding a thread of hope. “After you feed him your blood again and again, he’ll be as sharp as he was before.”
“That’s not my problem,” I replied coldly.
“Kneel.” My command was steady, uncompromising. Arthur hesitated, but something within him must have remained—he dropped to his knees before Tom, still baring those hungry, bloodshot eyes.
“Are you willing to give up your freedom?” I asked, turning to Tom, my voice heavy with meaning.
“Freedom is an illusion,” Tom answered quietly, his voice steady, “We are always bound by something—by choices, by desires, by fate.”
His words made sense, logical and grounded, but they didn’t satisfy me. No, I didn’t need a yes-man at my side—someone who merely echoed what I wanted to hear. I needed a subordinate who could think independently, who would challenge me, who could point out the cracks in my plans before they shattered everything.
And yet, the very thought of turning him into a vampire—the one who would be bound to me forever—terrified me. Would that sacrifice his freedom entirely? Would he lose the ability to be that kind of person?
“Tom…” I began, my voice soft but resolute. “A few days ago, I told you I’d fuck you if it served my goals. Consider this your chance—your only chance.” I gave him a long look, searching for the fire that might push him to prove himself. “Do something that makes me owe you.”
I had never been fond of restricting freedom. I still remembered the dark, suffocating days trapped in purgatory, unable to leave that cursed house. It made me want to have freedom all the more, to rebel against the one restricting it. And in a sense, I believed Tom would be the same. While he didn’t care now, eventually he would seek to get rid of me to achieve his own freedom.
But that was far into the future, way beyond any timeframe I could plan for. As such, I wouldn’t mind turning him into a vampire … but he had to prove himself first. The question was whether he could force or trick me into it. Well, there might be also other reasons why I would turn him, maybe just for the sake of it, maybe because I enjoyed the process itself … but he didn’t have to know that.
“Oh, and to both of you,” I said with a sly smile, glancing at Arthur and then back to Tom, “although I doubt either of you truly understands me yet—Arthur, welcome to the dark side. We have cookies.”
Satisfied for the moment, I turned away, my gaze drifting to the distant lights flickering beyond the horizon. A vast wall of humanity stood between us and that city—the ducal seat of Eastminster, home to the White family for generations.
This was where I was going to make my home.
