She snorted. “I don’t think you could find a less likely wingwoman than me. I don’t even like you, I’m hardly a good choice to convince her of your appealing personality.”
He shrugged. “But you’ll do it because you have a great job with me and you know the alternative would be terrible. It’s such a great job I’m sure you’ll have fun doing it.”
“The prisoner loathes the same chains their jailer adores,” she sniffed.
He laughed. “Wise though that sounds, I know enough about you to suspect that was someone’s Tumblr quote,” he smiled. “Besides that, though, I still have uses for you, so I wouldn’t get too comfortable with freedom.”
She looked up at him, shading her eyes to see through the dazzling late afternoon sun. “What on Earth could you mean,” she sneered. “I found a lead and confirmed her identity, and your little spy corps poisoned the girl and gave the ‘ideal’ solution to her problems, which just happened to involve her moving to your perfect little world.”
“It makes sense to buy up one or two institutions, I usually prefer to invest in businesses and governments but prestigious private schools can be useful tools to have, especially right now when my prey thinks she’s a human high-schooler. I didn’t actually buy it for this though, I just happened to have a school on hand ready to go so I decided to make better use of it.” He shrugged. “The poison was incidental, it causes no long term ill effects and it got her where I needed her to be. She’s not even hurt emotionally, it wouldn’t be detectible by mortal investigations so I’m sure she couldn’t tell her so called parents were damaged just enough to not be able to follow their secrecy protocals and continue hiding her from me and reporting all the goings on to her actual mother.” He grimaced. “Frankly it’s terrible that her mother gave her magical amnesia in the first place, let alone sent her to this terrible world with only the company of heartless golems to care for her. It’s best that I arranged her to be under my eye where I could care for her- she definitely needed someone to do the job.” He shrugged again. “There’s truly no real harm done.”
“I bet your girl won’t feel that way when she finds out just how twisted you are,” the girl snorted.
In a lightning fast movement he twisted around and had her gripped by the throat, his fist boiling with angry red fire. “But she won’t find out from this mouth,” he smiled. She shook her head frantically, and he flung her away. “Don’t forget, your people offered your sister to me as a concubine. It’s only out of the goodness of my heart that I decided to let you take her place, and I even ripped up the original contract and allowed you to serve as one of my vassels instead of as the lover they intended for me. I even took the extra step to care for and provide for your sister and pay you the same wages and leave schedule I give all of my normal employees. I even convinced the nymph lord to allow your sister to stay in your little village for the time being. I’ve been fairly generous to your family. In fact,” he grinned with his fangs on full display, “You could say I’m positively charitable,” he said.
She rolled her eyes at him. “I do appreciate that you’ve been a fair boss and thrown in protection for my sister,” she said, “But it’s not exactly counted as benevolence if your so called kindness is one of your marketing tactics. You’re just a good politician,” she rebutted.
He only laughed. “As long as you do your job well, I’ll be willing to let your job end several years early, so be glad I’m who I am. If it were my dear brother, he’d have a contract with you for the rest of your life, and he’d promise you friendship and love until you become unnecessary and he sent someone to kill you off.” She blushed. “Though he may have already done a pretty good job of trapping you with sweet promises,” he added thoughtfully, noticing her reaction.
She sniffed again, flapping her hand at him. He chuckled, and burned up in a black fire with white lights winking out in the empty spot where he once stood.
CHAPTER FOUR
Tybolt Hall
The next day dawned bright and clear. A light breeze rattled the tree outside of her window, making the limb tap gently on the panes. She gasped, sitting straight up in bed, then smiled when she saw the source of the noise. She raised her hands to the ceiling, stretching all out. Feeling alive and cheerful, she jumped out of bed. She grabbed her clothes, things thrown back and forth across the room in her hurry to get ready for her first day. She ran down the stairs, a piece of toast hanging out of her mouth and a flattening iron working at her curls as another hand was frantically shoving books and paper into her empty tote bag. Her brother, Darien, joined her at the door, his clothes messy and hair rakishly ruffled, and he looked ready to go after two minutes. “You want a ride in my car,” he asked her, eyeing her now weighted shoulder. A bead of sweat broke out on her brow. That bag was heavy.
“No need,” she smiled. She walked out the door, ignoring his concerned glances. “I want to establish my place in the social structure,” she continued, stepping to the end of the driveway.
“You are a little scary, sometimes,” he said. She just smiled and shooed him back to his car, walking happily off to the other end of the street.
She was standing at her new bus stop, the fumes from Darien`s
