Chapter Three Prick
"The man's arrogance knows no bounds.
No matter what anyone says or does to him,
he sees the world only as it relates to him and what he wants"
It was days before Adan could move, the prince had whipped her to the bone. Thankfully no one had called on her, and when she finally could bring herself to get out of bed without tears streaming down her face she used the time wisely.
She scrubbed her tender skin raw, cleaned the blood from her curly matted hair and readied herself for the tongue lashing she knew she would receive from Czandra.
She left her hair down to dry and added makeup to hide her tattoo and brighten her eyes.
Dressed in wide cream linen pants and a tight pale pink cropped top that left her arms bare.
She slipped on heels that elongated her already long legs, that allowed the pants to just dust the floor.
Two crossed blade handles sheathed in a leather harness around her middle, and another small blade stuck snuggly to the inside of her ankle.
She rushed quickly from her room, ignoring the snide comments of whispering courtiers as she whirled past. She had one thing on her mind right now, and would not be swayed.
Adan supposed she should seek out the Lord of Shadow House but had better things to do with her time.
She knew the king had commanded them to work together to bring in Jax, but she had no intention of obeying.
Not if she could help it. After all the king had commanded Lennox, not her.
There was always a loophole in the kings power.
He needed to be explicit and speak out loud and direct to make his power take hold. He had not spoke a word to Adan.
There would be no scaling walls in this outfit, and she wasn't about to use her wings so her feet carried her to the ominous walls of the Pearl. Not only built to keep prying male eyes out but to cage the beautiful birds inside as well.
Czandra Belflore was its madam, by the grace of the king.
Courtesan headquarters and Adan's childhood home.
Czandra had found Adan when she was eight and starving.
Took her in, clothed her and saved her from certain death.
Or worse, the streets of the City of Bones is no place for a child.
Especially one with mis-matched eyes and a mouth like a viper.
But when Adan was old enough, and had her first bleed it became clear to her that she needed to flee the life that her dear friend had gifted her.
Her choices that day had landed her right into the heart of the Gladiator pits.
She never begrudged her friend, knew that Czandra was as much a slave as the rest of them.
The massive stone wall shifted open at Adan's arrival, no guards stood watch, at least none that she could see. Men were not trusted inside the great walls of the Pearl and woman sell-swords were as rare as the courtesans themselves.
"Little Mouse!" Cried a warm voice the towering home.
The vampire ran towards her with a smile on her face and worry in her dark eyes.
Czandra crushed Adan into a welcoming hug and her long blue-black hair filled her vision.
Her hands formed around her small waist and brushed against the harsh latex of her dark skin-tight dress.
"Hello Caz." She pulled away wincing slightly at her still healing back. Czandra mirrored her wince in realization.
"I'm sorry." She draped cold pale fingers down her bare arms in comfort. "I heard." Her smile turned somber. "Come inside, let us talk in my office."
Adan followed her into the house that had once been her home.
It still was in many ways. The dark mahogany wood accents and lush fabrics brought timelessness to the place, and a warmth that only Czandra could exude.
Young feminine voices of her charges constantly echoed off the halls.
The Vampire waved her hand at her to follow, those young faces would soon appear and then Adan would be pummelled with questions.
They both sighed in relief once they were safe behind the sliding wooden doors to Czandra's office. Adan promptly took her favourite chair, and the vampire took the wing-backed monstrosity behind her desk.
"You're causing quiet a stir." The vampire scorned.
"Unavoidable, I'm afraid."
"You should be afraid, the king has linked you with my head of house."
Adan groaned. "I am aware."
"This is serious, Little Mouse. Lord Hollow is not to be trifled with. I myself make it my personal mission to stay away from him and he is my house head. It is—he is unavoidable." Czandra's fangs dipped over her lower lip in worry.
"I've managed this long." It was true, she barely saw the Lord.
"Well it seems your luck has run dry." Her long fingers laced together while she perched her elbows on her desk.
"Lord Hollow payed me a visit not too long ago."
Adan tensed, as the head of the house of shadow he could ask anything of his house members and they would have no choice but to give into him.
"Thankfully he did not anything of you, or I would have been duty bound to tell him everything—anything I know."
Adan stayed quiet and listened to her long time friend.
"You're really in the game now, Little Mouse. Attracting the kings attention in the gladiator fighting ring for your fighting skill is one thing, but Lord Lennox Hollow is quite another."
"I am not afraid of some toff Lord." Adan rolled her eyes.
"You should be, he was not born into that life like the rest of them. He worked his way up."
Adan couldn't hide the shock from her face. "What else do you know about him?" Her mouth salivated for answers but Czandra only shook her head.
"He has forbade me from telling you anything else about him. He said if you want to know anything else you can ask him yourself."
Her friend looked supremely worried, a rare sight.
"Stay on his good side, Adan." She warned, "I fear you do not understand the predicament that you have placed yourself in this time."
"You're worried that he will find out what we are doing and that I will drag you down with me." Adan was never one to mince words. It was possibly why she hated the courtiers as much as she did. They were all silver tongued liars, something that she had no choice but to learn, if only to survive.
"Of course I'm worried!" Czandra was standing now, her wings unfurled in her fury revealing the telltale signs that she was, in fact a vampire.
The wings swathed in leather like dark skin, so different from the black feather still tucked into her leather jacket that Darius had removed from her days ago.
"It is not yours or my back that I worry for, its those souls we are helping get out of the kings grasp you foolish girl."
Adan might have snapped at anyone for thinking she was a girl.
But the difference in their age and long history gave her pause, and in Czandra dark eyes, the Little Mouse was still nothing more than a girl and would probably always remain.
"This is bigger than us." She spoke softer this time, leashing her anger.
"What would you have me do?" She narrowed her mis-matched eyes.
"Be careful, be cunning, and above all else, be safe." Czandra could do nothing to hide the worry from her eyes. Adan softened her own at the sight of them.
She was stuck between a rock and a hard place. Two immovable mountains vying for her will but she would bow to no one and nothing.
"How are they faring?" She asked, changing the subject nodding towards the hallway and the young girls that lived here.
"As well as to be expected. They are to be moved on the full moon. Its all in place. We will have to be extra careful moving forward if we are not to be discovered."
Adan was quiet as she nodded her head. Her mind drifted to the family of Chimera in the basement being sheltered by Czandra.
Adan had found them trying to escape the city and the kings wrath.
They are part of the decimated house of fire, and are hunted for their power to grant wishes.
Adan and Czandra had been hunting the members of Fire House and helping them escape ever since Adan became the kings assassin.
Her small rebellion against the acts he made her commit.
She may have the blood of his enemies on one hand but she tried to help any and all with the other.
It was nothing compared to the rebels making a name for themselves in the city, fondly nicknaming themself the Grims.
The reapers of the kings malice, the true hope that shone on the city and all those who dwell within its walls.
The king would have a price on each of their heads if only he knew who they were.
Adan still could not find anything more than a whisper.
They were organized and worked as a pack, making it almost impossible to detect a leader.
On the small instances where people were detained for questioning they found them selves dead soon after.
Taking their own lives, than rather give up their fellow rebels. Adan admired them.
"What should I do if I find any one in need, where should I take them."
The madam of the house sighed, her pointed red nails tapped her full lips. "You can still bring them here. There is no where else for them to go that is safe enough from prying eyes. But I beg you to be cautious. There are more eyes on you now than ever before."
Adan was always cautious, but she nodded with seriousness all the same. She would not—could not stop helping people. Even if it meant she would have Lord Lennox breathing down her neck in the process. She could deal with the complicated lord, and she would.
"What is your plan for dealing with Hollow?" Czandra brought the topic back around.
She sighed, "I know you are worried, but I've dealt with my fare share of lords before."
Czandra slid her eye lids closed, and shook her head.
"He is no mere lord, do not underestimate him, Little Mouse. You might be quick and stealthy but he thrives off the hunt. You will make a glorious prize if you allow him to sink his teeth into you."
She flashed a fang for all intents and purposes.
"I will ignore him for as long as I can, and adjust as I go. Like I always have."
"He will always be ten plays ahead of you if that is your plan."