Regan
There was no point in wailing, gnashing teeth, or whining.
Though one or all of those things might have been the recourse of other girls.
I was not like them. I never had been. I was special.
Perfect. Hadn’t my father always said so?
Besides, if I shone here, now, he’d let Persis come home.
He’d promised my father that. So I sat stiff and rigid, my back straight, waiting.
The trick was to remember to breathe. To breathe slowly.
In and out, in and out. Chin up. Shoulders square.
My bloodline was pure. I was practically a goddess. Not far off from the Bloodmaiden herself, bless her blood. I was a legend in the halls of Bloodwing. Everyone looked up to me. I could do anything, get away with anything. So I could do this.
Still, legend or not, I’d trade every whispered compliment for one letter from my father telling me that my little brother was safe and home again.
The room was quiet, save for the ticking of a rectangular metal clock on the mantle.
It was ugly and repulsive, the front glass over the face cracked as if someone had dropped it yet decided throwing it away would be too merciful.
It wasn’t to my taste, but no one cared about my taste. Not today. Certainly not in this room.
I forced myself to look towards the door when it opened, a small smile I hoped would look coy already forming on my face. I already knew who it was. A chill seemed to always enter with him, like death chasing at his heels. Was it waiting for him? Or for me?
He began speaking as if resuming a conversation we’d been having all along.
“The reopening schedule has been finalized. Students have been arriving all day. Staff have been informed of what to say.” He looked at me as if I didn’t know all of this already, and I nodded dutifully.
He resumed. “The Dragon Court is a mess. As of today, it’s officially off-limits to students.
Notices are being posted. No one needs to know the details of why. ”
“But it’s an access point,” I noted. “And many windows overlook it …”
He waved his hand. “They’ll take the long way around or walk outside. What do we care? You may cross it if you wish. Though, you’re liable to break your neck if you try. Stones are strewn everywhere. It will take weeks to clean up.”
I nodded again. It didn’t really matter. I knew why he wanted to keep people away.
He moved closer. The scarlet velvet robe he wore dragged along the floor. He wore it long. I think he believed it made him look taller. Bigger. More imposing. Men were such fools.
Besides, Viktor didn’t need a robe to look imposing. He was fucking terrifying with or without it.
“They’ll fall in line,” he said.
I lifted my chin. “Of course they will. We’ll see to that.”
We. We were a pair now. No more triads. No more sharing. So why wasn’t I filled with joy?
“So efficient,” he murmured appreciatively, eyeing the scanty gown I wore. “We’ll use the outer courtyard tomorrow for the assembly. You’ll make a wonderful first impression.”
I looked down at my lap, smiling slightly, trying to appear modest. “I’ll try. There must be unity. Especially now.”
“I value our unity greatly,” he said. I didn’t have to raise my head to know he was making an effort to smile. I held back a shudder. “You must be eager to step into your new role,” he added.
“You’ve honored me. Elevated me. I won’t fail you,” I responded.
“Of course you won’t. You wouldn’t dare.” The words were light. But my stomach churned.
“House Mortis has been beheaded. What could Catherine have been thinking to disappear like that? Pure political suicide.” He chuckled. Many things about the events of the last few days had made him furious, but not this—this was a delight. A rare opportunity.
“Catherine’s absence leaves Mortis vulnerable,” I agreed. I knew he would not wish to discuss where Catherine had gone. Or who had gone with her.
“She trained her house well. You’ll find them an advantage waiting to be taken.”
I’d already determined that for myself. Catherine had always cultivated sly cruelty amongst her most favored. With her gone, they’d be a lost flock of mean little sheep—looking for someone to follow, someone to lead.
Someone like me.
He moved again. Closer to the bed. I could see him now in my periphery, just the edge of his silhouette. “I permitted Blake to complete the Rite of Dissolution,” he said. “I might have opposed it.”
My breath hitched. I tried not to let it show. In and out. In and out.
Blake. He’d chosen that blightborn girl over the betrothal our parents had spent years arranging.
“I was ecstatic,” Viktor murmured. “Could you tell?”
I licked my lips slowly. “No, Lord Drakharrow.”
“Please. Dispense with the formalities.”
I forced my head up, made myself look at him—really look. “I had no idea, Viktor. Or I would have been much happier in that moment,” I lied.
He stretched what was left of his lips into a smile. I held my gaze very still. “I gave Blake an opportunity. He was a fool to discard you. Yet now I can claim what I admit I’ve always seen as mine.” He moved closer. Much closer. A hand reached out. He gripped my chin.
I lifted it eagerly with a sigh, as if the touch was everything I’d always wanted—and more.
“You’re exquisite. Perfect,” he murmured. “I’ve watched you since birth. Always on the sidelines. Always admiring. Waiting, watching. It was a mistake to give away something as perfect as you are. I should have claimed you myself, right from the start.”
It took everything I had not to shudder.
“It was. How grateful I am to be free of him now.” Inside of me, another girl was weeping with rage and fear.
Still trying hard to convince herself that this all could be undone, that Blake’s rejection might not be forever, that Father wouldn’t sign a contract selling his daughter in the hopes of regaining his son.
She was a stupid, silly girl. I told her to shut the fuck up.
Viktor’s fingers were trailing lower. Down my throat, skirting the tip of my collarbone. Then his hands were gone.
I breathed. In and out. In and out.
His hands were on his belt. Loosening his robe. My smile froze.
“I’m going to take my time with you, Regan.
When one gets to be as old as I am, pleasures tend to fade.
” He laughed softly, and for a moment I let myself wonder just how old he truly was.
“But having to wait for you all these years? I expect the pleasure will be … Well, perhaps nearly as exquisite as you are.”
As he slid the robe off his shoulders I made myself look—but not directly. I let my gaze land just to the right, past him to the door behind.
He was inches away now. I could smell him: blood and the medicine he’d been prescribed. And something else. I stole a glance. A thick, shiny ointment was smeared across his skin, coating every part that I could see.
My stomach turned. Soon it would be all over me, too.
“Take off your gown.”
My fingers obeyed before my mind could react.
He watched me, saying nothing. I sensed the time for compliments was over. When the fastenings were undone, I stood up, even though it meant coming closer to him, and let the dress fall to the floor. Blessedly, he didn’t touch me then.
“Good girl. Now lie back on the bed.”
I did as I was told. The mattress was too soft beneath me.
I closed my eyes and tried not to breathe through my nose as he joined me.
I could do this. I had to. If I bolted now, Viktor would have Persis shipped home in pieces.
As it was, my little brother was far from here.
Sent as a ward—such a noble word for prisoner—to live with the family of one of Viktor’s most loyal followers until our family’s honor was restored.
I didn’t even know where Persis was. Which family held him.
No one had told me anything. But if I ran, if I failed, if I said the wrong thing?
He’d pay the price. My father would pay the price. My entire house would pay.
Pay. I thought about the word. I was being paid—for all of this. Wasn’t I? In power. In prestige. All would fear me. And fear was close to envy, was it not?
So I let him touch me. Because every caress bought Persis another sunrise.
And while he did what he wanted, I went somewhere else.
I was standing on the balcony—the one just above the entrance to Bloodwing—looking down upon the students as they gathered for the first day of school. Watching them gape, watching them stare, as the realization dawned that I had ascended far above them all.
I would look down at all their faces, my own expression cool and remote. A queen in her tower.
And then I would finally see Blake.
I’d smile. And I’d watch as the disdain I’d grown so used to seeing there finally melted away, changing into something else. Fear.
If he couldn’t bring himself to love me, then he would fear me. Oh yes, I’d make him fear for himself and everyone he held dear.
The time passed. When it was over, I reclothed myself—fingers numb but steady.
Viktor rose, grunting like a pig as he reached for his robe and pulled it around him.
I glanced over despite myself. The luxurious velvet fell unevenly across his ruined frame, like a curtain trying to mask a nightmare. I looked away. I’d already looked enough for a lifetime. But then, this was my life now. I had to get used to it. There was no room for the weak in the Black Keep.
He moved to the door and wrenched it open. “Davies,” he barked to the guard standing in the hall. The one who’d probably been listening to us this entire time. “It’s time. Fetch my nephew. Drag him here if you must. Tell him Headmaster Kim wishes to see him and sends his regards.”
There was a murmuring answer, then the sound of retreating footsteps. Viktor turned back to me. His eyes lingered over my hands as they worked to fasten the dress. For a horrible moment, I wondered if he was going to tell me to lie back down.
Then he smiled almost wistfully—or as wistfully as a vampire who’d lived longer than any highblood had any right to could.
“All good things must come to an end,” he said, his voice like graveyard dust. “Even my time with you, my precious gem.” He turned to the door.
“It’s time to give my dear nephew a delightful surprise. ”
Then he was gone, not even bothering to close the door behind him. Another guard had taken up position outside. The man peeked in for a moment before my glare warned him away.
I stalked over and slammed the door, then smoothed down the front of my dress. My hands were trembling. I forced them to stillness. I’d bathe and wash the scent of my new husband away down the drain, along with every memory of his touch.
Then I’d do it again and again.
I could do this. I could play their tyrant queen. Let them all watch and see.