Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

CORVIN

E ver stilled beneath me, and his throat bobbed with a hard swallow. The beat his heart skipped at the truth tore at every part of me, followed by a crash of relief when it started thumping again.

If he was going to die, it would be by my fangs, not sheer terror.

I grinned, pulling back enough to meet his gaze, my blond hair falling around us like a curtain. He might not have screamed like I expected him to, but his eyes were full of terror, the sweet stink of fear pouring off him like old cologne. He was silent for a moment.

"Vampire," he repeated, voice cracking, before he swallowed hard again. I could tell the information rocked him to the core, but I didn't understand why he wasn't putting up more of a fight.

Did he know it was pointless? That he had no chance of escaping? Or was he plotting? Biding his time? Waiting for the ultimate distraction?

"Are your servants vampires too?" he asked, his voice strained.

The wheels turned behind his eyes, and I could almost hear the unasked questions filling his mind. If he'd managed to kill my servants, could he shoot and kill me, too? If he was to be a servant, would I turn him into a vampire?

"No."

Fangs aching, my gaze fell to the side of his neck. A single vein throbbed steadily beneath the skin, pulsing with the rapid beat of his heart, and I wanted to sink my teeth into it. I wanted to bite him, taste him, and the urge grew stronger as the seconds ticked by. "But they are more like me than you. Offering themselves to me has certain…advantages."

It was true; My servants weren't vampires. I hadn't tried to make another immortal since my failure, since he took his own life and I tried to save him. My venom wasn't enough to bring him back, wasn't enough to keep him the way I so desperately wanted, and I'd been sick for weeks from ingesting expired blood.

It was a painful, valuable lesson.

My servants offered themselves to me, allowed me to feast on their blood in exchange for the life of opulence they enjoyed at the mansion. There were other upsides as well, like speed and strength that far surpassed that of a normal human. They didn't age, or at least aged so slowly it was impossible to tell after all their years with me, but they were still incredibly easy to kill.

"Do you want me to show you what it's like?" I asked, grabbing his chin and wrenching his head to the side again. I squeezed hard enough to feel the flutter of his heartbeat through his skin, the sensation tugging the corners of my mouth upward. I ran my tongue over my fangs to dull the pain throbbing in them.

"The only thing I want is for you to let me go," he growled out, his muscles tensing. Maybe he still had fight left in him after all. "Find another servant because I have no interest in staying here. Please, Lord Dupont, let me go."

Stubborn. Ever Briggs was stubborn as hell, and I was enjoying every second of it.

"Mmm, I like it when you beg," I purred, a grin teasing my lips. I hadn't had this much fun in a while, years— decades. "Do it again, and I'll consider letting you go."

A dry chuckle escaped his lips, and his brows lowered over his bright eyes. "Get fucked."

Distracted by my musings, I wasn't expecting him to hook his foot behind my ankle and buck me off. He rolled on top of me, his knuckles slamming into my jaw before I got my bearings. It stung but didn't faze me. If anything, it impressed me.

He might have been afraid of me, but he wasn't a coward.

Before he could swing again, I grabbed him by the front of his plaid shirt and slammed him back to the hardwood. I crawled on top of him, forcing him onto his stomach, and pinning him to the floor.

"Fuck, I love your fight," I admired, leaning down to whisper in his ear. My cock twitched as my adrenaline cranked up, and I rolled my hips to press it against his ass, wishing there was much less clothing separating us. "A little too much, if I'm honest."

His breath faltered but he didn't say anything.

"I'll make you a deal," I said, the words leaving my mouth before I could stop them. I didn't have to; He was mine already, whether he wanted to accept it or not, but I wasn't ready for the fun to end. I wasn't ready to crush the rest of his hope, not yet.

I wanted him to fight for the freedom he wanted so desperately. I wanted him to run, to flee into the woods as I hunted him down. The thought of running after him, catching him in the dark and claiming him in the woods, had blood rushing to my cock.

"A deal?" he asked, his voice an octave higher. Of course, he would accept my offer. How could he not?

"Yes. I'll let you go, and you can try to find your way out of the woods alone in the dark," I teased. I could already imagine catching up to him and finally sinking my teeth into his tender flesh I wanted so badly. "If you get away, you'll be free, but if I catch you…" I dipped my head and nipped the shell of his ear with my fang, waiting for a drop of blood to well on the skin before I licked it off. His shudder that followed had me reeling. "If I catch you, you belong to me."

He sucked in a sharp breath and held it. Every muscle in his body was taut with anticipation, like he'd spring up and take off running the moment I moved.

"If I get away, I'm free," he said slowly, weighing every word. "How can I trust you?"

I laughed. "You insult me. I'm nothing if not a man of my word."

" Vampire ."

"Yes, yes. Vampire of my word," I corrected, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. "What do you say? I'll even give you a twenty minute head start to level the playing field."

"Why?" He craned his neck to try and look at me before giving up.

"Because it makes no difference to me," I assured him. "Twenty minutes. An hour. There's no amount of time that will keep me from finding you."

"Then, why not give me a couple of days to get ahead? You know, since you're so fucking cocky."

I laughed again.

He was stubborn and funny. I'd enjoy having him around the mansion every day.

"Twenty minutes," I said, finally standing. "Take it or leave it."

He clamored to his feet without hesitation, wheeling around to face me. His blue eyes locked with mine, causing heat to melt through my icy corpse. I wasn't sure if he wanted to have the last word or punch me again, but after a beat he turned and ran for the front door, wrenching it open and disappearing into the night.

I watched him go with a smirk, standing in the middle of the entryway. The countdown had begun, the seconds slowly ticking away until I would chase after my prey.

Fuck . Waiting was agony, but I wouldn't go back on my word. I would give him the full twenty minute head start as promised, because it truly didn't matter. Twenty minutes wasn't enough time to make it out of the woods, and he had no idea which direction he was headed.

He would be hopelessly lost, entirely at my mercy.

I fought a moan fighting its way up my throat and gnawed on my bottom lip to relieve the ache in my fangs. Soon, very soon, I'd sink them into Ever Briggs and relieve this inferno of desire within me.

"My Lord?" Edith's voice nearby startled me. I'd been so lost in my thoughts that I hadn't heard her approach. Had she been standing there this whole time? Had she seen us wrestling like teenagers in the foyer? "Should I go after him?"

"No." I shook my head and straightened my coat jacket. "No one is to lay a finger on the mortal. He is mine and mine alone."