Chapter 27

Damien’s POV

“O-of course not, Duke Damien,” the guard said, lowering his head in reverence. “I simply had not been made aware of those commands. Please, forgive my ignorance, Sir! I swear it will never happen again.”

The guard was practically trembling in fear, terrified of me and what I might do.

Good.

He should be afraid.

The fact that I had to step into this situation at all was annoying me, but what annoyed me worse was wondering what might have happened had I not thought to get some fresh air right at this moment.

This guard had been touching my pet. Perhaps I should cut his hands off? Would that be punishment enough? Or I could simply destroy him and be done with it.

Yet, before I could be bothered to tap into that power within me, a few of Rose’s discarded drawings fluttered over the grass and collected at my feet. Leaning down, I plucked one of them from the ground and, standing straight once more, looked at it.

My pet seemed to have a natural talent for the arts, which might be used for some purpose someday but was presently simply a good way to keep her busy when I had no use for her. So long as she wasn’t drawing that male from her past, I didn’t much care what subjects she took to paper.

Yet this…

She was drawing a man here, but he wasn’t like the others I’d seen. This one was mostly unfinished, but the base head shape, the way the eyes were sketched in, as well as the nose and the mouth…

This portrait looked a lot like me.

My rising curiosity replaced some of my annoyance and my malice. Suddenly, I didn’t really care about this situation anymore. The guard was barely a blip on my radar. I didn’t need to kill him so much as I wanted him to go away.

Still, some punishment needed to be in order or my power might start to be questioned.

Looking up from the drawing, I considered the guard with a cold expression. The guard nearly jumped right out of his skin as I met his eyes.

“I-I’m sorry, Duke. Please –”

“Silence,” I commanded.

The guard’s mouth snapped closed at once.

“Pick up these drawings and return them to my pet,” I said.

At once, he lowered himself down to collect the drawings he had discarded. As he did, the trajectory of the wind led him to kneeling at my feet, collecting the ones that had flown this way. Even after collecting them all, he backed up a few feet on his knees before daring to stand again.

When he did, he returned the papers to Olivia, who took them from his shaking grip. Then he turned toward me again, awaiting his next direction – or his punishment.

Guards weren’t difficult to train, but it did take time. For now, it was easier for me to just let him live.

“Return to your duties,” I said. “Get out of my sight.”

The guard nodded as if his head was on a spring. “Yes, Sir. Thank you, Sir.” Then he turned, and hurried away.

I was pleased when he was gone, and now placed my full attention on Olivia. She was tense, probably expecting me to scold her, and her heart was racing fast.

Amusement sprung up inside of me like water from a well. I lifted the drawing I was still holding and turned the image to face her.

At once, she blushed as red as the roses I had named her for.

“Tell me, pet. Do you enjoy drawing me?”

“It’s a coincidence,” she said, but I didn’t believe that for even a moment.

I’d stopped looking in mirrors long ago, but I knew my features were pleasing, particularly to the opposite sex. Besides that, our blood bond would make her drawn to me, whether she wanted to admit to that or not. Whether she was fighting it or not.

She was now aware of me in ways she might not have noticed before.

“How could it be coincidence for you to draw me?” I asked, enjoying this game for the moment. I knew it would bore me soon, but for now, the deep blush on her cheeks satisfied me. I wanted to see just how red I could make her turn.

“I wouldn’t start with you,” she said. “But then… they all seemed to…”

Yes, there it was. The color of her cheeks moved from red roses to a cherry tomato. I could practically see the blood pumping through her veins.

As predicted, my amusement didn’t last. Already, I tired of this game.

Fortunately I didn’t become annoyed again, as sometimes happened. Instead, curiosity took over in my mind.

“Since the blood bond, you might have noticed some changes inside of you,” I said directly, changing the subject at my whim. “Do you notice any changes?”

She blinked a few times, seemingly startled by my abrupt turn in conversation. But she shook her head then, and, with some relief, answered, “No. I’m fine.”

I wasn’t sure I believed her. Despite my discipline, my pet had been known to be untruthful.

Instead, I watched her closely, measuring the distance between her heard beats and evaluating the move of blood through her body.

Concentrating, I could determine much more than she knew, more than any other being on this planet could do, either werewolf or vampire.

I was so ancient, so very powerful, that even I sometimes did not know my own strengths.

For now, though, she seemed fine. Albeit her metabolism was somewhat slow.

Olivia’s POV

Damien seemed distracted, and without his embarrassing me with the drawing, my mind also wandered, returning to my plans for escape.

The guard who had accosted me returned to his spot guarding one of the doors in the wall. Like all the others, any weakness I had determined in the outer walls of the castle was closely guarded. This meant, my only real means of escape was going over the walls itself.

That meant that I needed to train. As I was, I wasn’t in any kind of physical condition to scale anything so high.

At home, I had trained the best I could, but as food was scarce for our family and I often went without to ensure my mom and sister ate, my physique could only improve so much.

Since coming to the castle, I had been injured or disciplined or blood-drained so much that I hadn’t had much time or energy to try to better myself.

I wondered now…

Looking at Damien, he was still staring blandly back at me.

He had given me permission to draw and the freedom to walk the grounds. Maybe, if I just asked him, he would allow me to train.

“Master…” I said. Though the word made my stomach turn, I forced myself to say it, knowing that Damien liked it. At least, that was what he expected from me. For this request, I knew I needed to stay on his good side. “I have a question.”

He blinked, returning to himself. “Ask it then. While I still have the patience to answer.”

“I have been feeling sluggish lately,” I said. “To better serve you, would it be alright if I trained a little?”

Damien stared back like a stone statue, entirely expressionless. “No,” he said. “Werewolves are forbidden from training, and that includes you.”