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Blind Love
(coming in October 2024)
Teaser
“Silver and her companions follow a trail left by Quinn and come across a group of runaway werewolves in desperate need of help. In the past, the early days of Shiloh’s deepening attraction to a human Drake are cut short when Master Benjamin discovers one of her transgressions.”
Sneak Peek
CHAPTER ONE
Eight Years Ago
day 37 since capture
Master Benjamin didn’t generally care for the appliances at his estate, just as he didn’t care about his staff members. But when he found out that someone had broken a tray in the stables, he was livid.
The tray had apparently been part of a set gifted to him by his predecessor, a man he once greatly admired. He only brought it out for special occasions—like the currently ongoing visit from Lord Henry. Finding out such a prized possession had gotten damaged apparently sent him into a frenzy.
His office was in shambles when Shiloh and Drake were called in. Adam and Walter were already in there, but both stood still as statues, their expressions neutral. The vamphyr himself was positioned behind his desk, every part of his body language rigid while he speared Shiloh with a look. Her already racing heart went into double time the second he laid eyes on her.
Master didn’t need to interrogate her and Drake. As soon as they were in the room with him, Shiloh felt a brush of something cold against the back of her brain. Flashes of memories passed through her mind; Shauna thrusting the tray in her hand and running out to carry an urgent message to Adam, followed by Shiloh running off to the stables where she ran into Drake and thought he was attacking her.
“So,” Master Benjamin said in a cold voice, “instead of taking over the other servant’s duties, like you were supposed to, you chose to run off with my tray.”
Shiloh flushed a deep red, but she was too afraid to speak in her own defense. She simply kept her head down and prayed for the worst to be over.
That was when Drake spoke up. “Master, if anyone deserves to be punished, it should be me.”
His words shocked the vamphyr even more than his brazenness. “You would take this... this child’s well-deserved sentence?”
“The tray broke because of me. I deserve to be punished too, Master.”
Lord Benjamin glared at Drake, but for some reason, he didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he turned to Walter. “You discovered her. What do you think?”
Shiloh was confused at first, but then she understood. She’d been alarmed when the head vampire had called specifically for her about an hour ago, since she wasn’t scheduled to feed anyone for another few days. But he hadn’t taken much blood from her and had simply rifled through her memories. This must have been why.
“It did seem like she was only stepping away for some air, sir,” Walter said, his tone too impassive for Shiloh to feel any relief at his words. “She was intending to come back after a few minutes. It was the boy’s fault that she got held up and damaged your possession. I advise that they both face the consequences.”
The vamphyr didn’t seem happy with this answer, taking a seat at his chair and pensively stroking his chin. After a moment, his golden eyes shifted onto the only person in the room who had yet to speak.
“Adam, what about you? What do you think?”
Shiloh’s eyes went wide, her head whipping around to stare at Adam. Taking Walter’s opinion was one thing, but this... this was unimaginable.
“Me, Master?” Adam uttered, looking just as stunned.
“Is there another Adam in the room?”
“No, of course not. I only thought... well, I am also your servant. In these situations, I usually only make sure the sentence is carried out.”
“And now I’m asking you to weigh in on the verdict. Any wise leader knows to take council from others when faced with a conflicting decision. So since you and Walter are the only ones present, are you going to answer my question or should I punish you as well for disobedience?”
“Forgive me, Master, I would never dream of disobeying you,” Adam said contritely. “Since this is their first infraction, I think the reasonable course of action would be to put them both on probation.”
Lord Benjamin sat back in his chair and cocked his head. “Go on.”
“Your guests aren’t due to leave for another week. And I noticed Lord Henry’s children seem to enjoy horseback riding. Someone has to shovel the stalls and tend to the horses during the day.” His gaze fell on Shiloh and Drake. “One of them could do that, while the other waits on the vampires’ every demand during the night.”
“And how does that fix the problem with my tray?”
“Your tray snapped in half, Master. I can see about having it repaired, but there’s no returning it to its original state.”
Shiloh’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets. In that moment, she feared for Adam’s life more than her own.
Yet, he kept going. “But like Walter said, there was no intent to offend you or damage your property. And as the fair leader that you are, I’m sure you recognize the opportunity to teach your servants a valuable lesson. But of course, should something like this happen again, the next punishment would be more severe.”
Nobody spoke for the longest time, and Shiloh held her breath, watching the vamphyr’s expression closely. Walter passively observed the scene while Drake stood tensely beside her. Yet, Adam remained calm in the face of his Master.
It felt like an eternity later, though it was probably only seconds, that Lord Benjamin spoke again. “I want the girl to muck the stalls.” He then set his dark gaze on Drake. “And you will shadow the vampires. You must wake before they do and only get off work when they’re all asleep. Whatever they ask of you, you give it to them. Understood?”
“Yes, Master,” Shiloh and Drake said in unison.
“Get it done,” the vamphyr told Adam just before he dismissed the three of them.
Shiloh was only able to breathe when they were far away from Master’s quarters.
“That was wild,” Drake whispered.
“How did you do that?” Shiloh asked Adam.
He gave them both a serious look. “Never lie to Master. Especially not when he asks you a direct question.” His eyes briefly shifted to Shiloh’s for a moment. “He’ll always know.”
Shiloh hadn’t realized how valuable Adam was to Master until now. There was a good reason why he was the only human given a position of power at the estate, and she had a feeling no one could talk to Master the way he did. He must have gathered that Lord Benjamin would be in his mind as well, and trying to placate him with insincere answers wouldn’t work.
The cold feeling. Shiloh remembered with a start the sensation she had felt when Master went into her mind to search through her memories.
It was still there.
‘Tread lightly, child,’ Master’s voice whispered in her mind, just before the coldness finally retreated.