| |
Alessandra
AS I WALKED DOWN THE stairs that led to the Chambers, I tried to maintain my composure. I’d wanted nothing more than to rip Zoe Blackwood’s neck off, but I knew there was no way I could do that, not without Sebastian turning on me.
Actually, the whole Stark coven would turn on me. Even Kade probably would have sided with his brother, for once in his life. For some reason, they all believed they needed that witch, as though she were some sort of means for survival.
It wasn’t her magical abilities I was questioning. I was sure she was a fine witch. It was just that I didn’t trust her around Sebastian. For all I knew, she would feed him some sort of love potion.
No, once I became Queen of the Stark kingdom, my first order of business would be to see that Zoe Blackwood was exiled—even if that meant framing her for a crime she didn’t commit.
As I reached the ground floor of the Chambers, I glanced around into each of the cells. I wasn’t sure what Sebastian had been talking about in regards to the guards. There weren’t even any present. They must have taken a breakfast break.
My eyes scanned the prison cells, even though I knew it was pointless to even look for Sebastian’s slave. She obviously wasn’t in the dungeon, or he never would have told me that I should just go inside.
I still checked each cell just to make sure. I even eyed the confinement cell just to make sure that she wasn’t inside. She wasn’t.
Though it made me feel better to know that Sebastian didn’t take me for a complete fool, I also felt incredibly frustrated. If Julia wasn’t in Sebastian’s Slave Chambers and she wasn’t in the dungeon, then where was she?
I was just about to go upstairs when my eyes fell on one of the prisoners: a teenage guy with light brown hair and sun-kissed skin. While his facial features were soft, his body looked solid, hard even. He had broad shoulders that descended into muscular arms.
Best of all, I could smell his blood from a mile away. There was no doubt in my mind that I needed to have him.
I needed to add him to my collection.
I took a few steps closer to his cell. As I approached him, I held onto one of the bars that separate us and smiled. “Hello. What’s your name?”
He eyed me suspiciously, but he said, “Sean.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Sean.”
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I’m Alessandra. Princess Alessandra, to you,” I informed him. “Though if you exceed my expectations, I might allow you to call me Allie. It’s never happened before, but I’m always open to the idea.”
His eyes widened a little. “Your expectations for what?”
“We’ll get to that a little later. Tell me something, Sean. Are you a new arrival?”
He nodded. “Yeah, I just got here earlier tonight.”
“Splendid.” My lips curved into a small smile. “Then I call first dibs on you.”
“First dibs?” His eyebrows rose questioningly.
I smiled again. His naivety, his innocence, was charming. “You do know the reason you were brought here, don’t you?”
Sean hesitated for a few moments and then shook his head. “No. Why don’t you enlighten me?”
“Better yet, why don’t I show you?” I grabbed a key that hung from the wall above the jail cell. Twisting it into the lock, I opened the door and stepped inside with him.
I debated for a few moments before deciding I wasn’t ready to feed from him. Not just yet, at least.
It probably sounded crazy, but I preferred to actually get to know my slaves before I fed from them—especially the ones who I wanted to keep around for a while. And just one look at this guy told me I would want to keep him around. His looks were a fair match for Vernelle’s. Whether or not he had the potential to become my new favorite slave would depend on how his body responded to mine, or if he knew how to treat me as good as Vernelle did.
As I stood next to him, I allowed myself to inhale his scent. It was so alluring. I could just tell his blood was going to be decadent.
“Come on, Sean. Why don’t we go back to my quarters? I’d really like to get to know you a little better.”
He nodded. “Okay.”
As I led him out of the dungeon and to the stairwell, I glanced over at him. The look on his face made me feel uneasy.
A part of him looked relieved to be freed from the prison cell, but there was something else behind his gaze, too. It was a look that went way beyond anger, a look that I recognized all too well.
It was a desire to kill.