Chapter 3

Ares"s jaw already hurt from clenching it so hard. He showed Zia the stocked kitchen none of them cooked in and the entertainment area none of them used. Not one of his siblings bothered with any pretense of wanting to be a big, happy family. Especially not in the way their new cousin imagined.

Where the hell had Corven been hiding her? Ares was sure he had tracked every one of the family members down. No family living in Crete had ever been brought up. Especially not this girl. Her bubbly smile and personality grated against him like salt in a wound.

"This place is so big. You guys must have lots of fun together," she said, gasping at the small cinema he was showing her.

"Not exactly. We are usually too busy to socialize," Ares replied. Well, he was. The rest of them? Not as much. They did fuck all except go to parties and smile pretty at cameras.

"You guys should make time. Family is important," Zia said stubbornly.

Gods, was she for real?

"I"m not sure what Corven has told you, but none of us are close. Erik and Camille socialize with the same people, so they are the friendliest, but that"s about it, so manage your expectations," he told her.

Zia twisted her fingers in her golden ponytail and pouted. Actually, fucking pouted. Everything about her was annoying the shit out of him, but he couldn"t snap or be rude because it would be like kicking a cute, clueless puppy.

"Let me show you the gym," he said and swiped a card over the elevator panel.

"Do I get a card?" she asked.

"I can have one arranged. Did anyone tell you what apartment you will be staying in?"

She shook her head. Of course not. This whole thing had been dumped on him last minute, like everything else. He took out his phone and shot a text to security.

They got into the elevator, and he pressed the button for the gym. He waited for a text back, refusing to look up from his screen. He didn"t do small talk.

Zia started humming a merry tune, and he bit his tongue to stop himself from telling her to stop it. She also didn"t believe in personal space because she was standing close enough that he could smell her perfume. It was a darkly cloying smell of spicy florals that seemed too rich of a scent for her and her bubbly personality.

Ares thought about how easily she had handled herself with Emilia and couldn"t help but wonder if there was something darker lingering under her smile. No one learned how to move and fight like that unless they had to.

Ares looked up from his phone and subtly glanced at her. Whoever Corven"s child had fucked to get her would have had to have been pretty. Zia had big brown eyes and a full soft looking mouth. There were three small freckles on the side of her neck that were like a perfect target for vampires. His fangs pricked the inside of his cheeks, and he tasted blood. Fuck.

"Do I have something on my face?" she asked, making him looking straight ahead again.

"No. I just see little Volso in you, that"s all," he replied, and twisted the silver band on his index finger. Fucking fuck.

"I have it where it counts," Zia said and shuffled her feet. Was she nervous? He knew he made people uncomfortable and had always seen it as a plus.

"If Corven brought you into this, you must have," he said. He didn"t know how to be comforting or reassuring. He scowled; he didn"t want to be either.Technically, she was competition to be heir. This village girl with no experience of the world.

Had Corven lost his mind? A lot of the old vampires did. He must not have been thinking clearly to throw this helpless creature to the wolves of Inferno.

Mercifully, the elevator doors opened, and he showed her the gym and the training areas. Despite Emilia calling her fat to be petty, Zia was strongly built and clearly worked out. She wouldn"t have been able to throw Emilia around so easily if she wasn"t.

"You guys even have a steam room? Amazing. I love a steam, "she said brightly and looked through the glass window at the marbled and blue-tiled interior. "So pretty like everything else."

"Yes, well. I think I"m the only one who uses it. It"s mine from ten pm onwards, so I doubt we will ever have to fight for it," Ares replied, making it very clear that it would be unwise to test him on it. He needed the steam to close off his day. It was his routine so he could sleep.

Unlike other dhampir, he tried to balance his days and nights, so he didn"t just work nights. Ares only functioned when he stuck to his routine, and that meant seeing the sun. The girl beside him was already an inconvenience by being so unplanned for.

"Hello, sir. I was told to send this up to you?" a security guard said, appearing out of nowhere and pulling him out of his spiraling thoughts. He gestured to Zia. "The card is for her. Do you know where she"s been housed?"

"The master requested she have the other apartment on floor seven, sir," the guard said, handing the card to Zia. He blushed when she thanked him and fluttered her pretty long lashes at him.

Ares cleared his throat, his thirst clawing at him. He didn"t need blood often and took pride in not needlessly indulging in it, but everything about the day was going wrong. Floor seven was his floor, and now he was stuck sharing it with an unknown person. Gods curse Corven. He wouldn"t be able relax ever again.

"You must be really busy. I can find the apartment. Thanks, cousin," Zia said, reading his annoyance far too easily. She stepped inside the elevator with a wave.

"No, I can take you. I"m headed that way anyway."

"Only if it"s not a bother."

He caught the elevator door from closing. "It"s not. My apartment is on the other side of floor seven."

It was the wrong thing to say. She turned her massive smile on him, and he almost hissed at it in self-defense.

"We are like roommates! How fun," she said.

Ares suppressed his shudder. "Not exactly," he muttered.

When they got to seven, he all but ran from the elevator to get distance between them. He crossed the foyer that was in the middle of the floor. There was a black door on one side and one on the other. There was a round polished table where a big display of flowers had been placed on it. His eyes narrowed. There were never flowers there. Fucking Corven.

"That one is yours," he said, pointing at the other door.

"Thanks for the tour, Ares. I suppose I"ll see you around?"

"Probably not. I am?—"

"Very busy. Yeah, I get it. Enjoy work," she said and turned on her heel so quickly, her cursed ponytail whipped his arm. She shut the door without a backwards glance. Ares stared at the door, his fists clenching and unclenching.

"Fuck you, Corven," he muttered before going into his own apartment. He slammed the door and then felt like a twat.

Ares wasn"t one to lose his temper. All that separated him from a total beast was control and routine. He breathed in and out and tried to let the neat surroundings of his apartment soothe him. He strode to the kitchen and mixed himself some blood and bourbon and downed it before making another. He never drank either during work hours, but his day was already fucked to hell.

He ground his back teeth together. He wanted to strangle that girl with her stupid ponytail. It would be a mercy to her because gods knew his fucking siblings would probably try to kill her the first chance they got.

They had spent the past year waiting for Corven to make a decision, and they played his games and endured his random tests, all to prove which one would come out on top. A test... Was Zia even a proper candidate? Or was this another mind game Corven was playing with them?

That had to be it because there was no way he would be stupid enough to put an untried girl at the head of the family and give her his place on the council of Blood Lords. Ares's anger seeped out of him, and he ran his hands through his hair to neat it. No. Corven wouldn"t be that stupid.

If Zia was a test, then he would do his best to beat his ridiculous siblings at it. He would have to make sure the others behaved. Zia wasn"t a genuine threat to any of them.

Feeling better, Ares drained his drink and washed the glass. He straightened his cuff links and tie, feeling calmer than he had since Zia had stumbled into him earlier. He was in control again, and that was what mattered.

When Ares lost his control, he usually came back to himself surrounded by bodies. He couldn"t risk his chance of becoming the family head. It was the only thing he'd ever wanted, and no girl was going to stop him from getting it. He would figure out what Corven"s game was, and then Zia and her silly ponytail would go back to where she came from.