He grimaced. “You’re angry.”
“Really?” she snapped. “Where’d you get that?”
Reykon let out a frustrated breath and started taking stock of his weapons. He’d replaced everything Robin had stolen or destroyed, and now had a full pack, a refilled jacket (with knockout and flash powder) and another nightstick. With military precision and routine, he went over everything, and then went over it again, harkening back to his training years and helping clear his mind.
It was a few minutes before she spoke again.
“That man,” she began quietly. “Cain…”
“Master Cain,” he corrected.
“He’s not my master.”
“Yes, he is,” Reykon emphasized, turning to her. “To any human or strongblood here, he is.”
“No,” she said, setting her jaw.
“They don’t take disrespect lightly, Robin. You don’t understand these things.”
“What I understand is that I am a person and not property. You cannot own a person, you can’t-”
“They can!” he said sharply. “They can and they do, and if you have a problem with it, it’s going to be a short fall from a very tall cliff for you.”
She simply shook her head, a bitter smile on her lips.
“We’re not in your world anymore. You have to understand that,” he said softly, trying to reason with her.
“I understand that you’re not nearly as powerful as you first seem.”
Especially not when it comes to you, he thought reflexively. Lucidia’s words about Robin echoed back in his head.
“You’re probably right,” Reykon muttered.
Silence sunk between them. The mood in the room was tense and full of anger. After a few minutes, he turned to tell her something else, but saw that she’d fallen asleep. He grabbed a blanket and covered her with it, then went back to his inventories.
Lucidia
Lucidia glared at the vile vampire, Master Cain, who had pulled a chair in front of her cell and sat backwards on it with a satisfied smile.
Like a snake watching a mouse, she thought.
His question surprised her. “What is your connection to the girl in Reykon Thraxos’s custody?”
She gave a slight shrug.
He smiled deviously. Lucidia immediately noticed the glint in his eyes. All vampires had it; the unspoken indication that they wanted to make something scream.
But she also knew quite a bit about Master Cain. Years back, she’d been dispatched to mount a clandestine effort inside of his walls. Nobody, save for Darian and one other vampire, knew about it. She had to study him for weeks in advance, learning his idiosyncrasies, his patterns of movement. Every House had spies in every other house; it wasn’t exactly a secret, ironically enough.
All that research was how she knew what an arrogant, power-hungry, toolbag he was.
And she was very good at manipulation, so weaknesses as flagrant as these were advantages.
“Did Master Magnus not trust you enough to let you in on the secret?” she asked, studying his face with a coy smile.
“Regardless of what our Head chose to disclose, I am the Master of this house, and I don’t take kindly to deception under my own roof. I want to know why this Robin girl is so important.”
“I can’t really help you with that,” Lucidia said.
He leaned forward. “You’re going to, one way or another.”
“Am I?” she asked, feigning surprise.
Cain nodded, walking over to the wall of torture implements that hung in rows. “There is something about the girl…” he said, fingertips trailing across the lines of weapons. “I must admit, I see it too. But powerful enough to persuade the ever-faithful daughter of Kenzo Draxos… now, that is a secret worth telling, wouldn’t you agree?”
He’s seen it too? Lucidia wondered. A pit of fear spread out in her gut, but she wasn’t sure where it came from, or why it was happening. The only feeling she had in her mind was that Robin wasn’t safe here. She could see the intention of Cain’s face; he desired her. He wasn’t trying to hide it, either.
That was a bold move, and one he could lose his head over.
If he was willing to parade around his interest in a girl already belonging to Magnus, then what wouldn’t he be willing to do?
In other words, the situation was preparing to escalate, and Cain didn’t seem to care for the rules anymore.
Just like she hadn’t. Just like Reykon didn’t, though he tried as hard as he could to ignore it.
Being around a vampire that didn’t care about the rules anymore was a disconcerting thought. Rules kept strongbloods and humans and all the other servants in line, but even more than that, rules kept the other vampires in line. In Lucidia’s opinion, they were the ones that needed it the most.
Vampires remained isolated, preferring to withdraw and let others do the dirty work for them. It could be decades, centuries, before they emerged from their caves to act. But when they did act, it was a one-strike blow.
Vampires were capable of immense power that those living near them often forgot about. She’d seen true, staggering power from Darian twice before, and she’d never forget that sight for all her days. Mountain breaking strength and speed like a tempest.
And to her, Cain appeared to grow antsy. Reckless, even. She began to fear for Robin’s safety inside his walls.
But Robin’s safety would be also be zip if Reykon managed to get her to Magnus. And with her behind bars, that would undoubtedly happen. Nobody knew about who Robin truly was. Nobody knew why she was after Reykon. If they did, Lucidia would be executed, or tortured for life.
But now that she was imprisoned here and Darian had no doubt been notified of her attack, she’d be imprisoned there anyway.
She had exactly one course of action, and it terrified the living crap out of her.
Cain approached her, unlocking the cell door and brandishing a wicked whip, with a sliver tipped arrowhead at the end.
Just as he raised his hand, she spoke.
“I demand correspondence with my Master.”
Cain paused, midair, and
