Читать книгу Nightmaster - Susan Krinard - Страница 10

Chapter 4

They descended a staircase to what Elizabeth referred to as the serf’s quarters and entered a brightly lit corridor. “This is where we live and where Household operations are located,” the older woman said. “Everything above belongs to the Opiri—Ares and his few Freeblood clients.”

Casing the layout of the Household was one of the first things Trinity needed to do. “Is there another way up the tower besides the elevator?” she asked.

Elizabeth threw her an amused glance. “There’s a staircase off the other side of the lobby, but we prefer to avoid climbing all those steps.”

“How big is this place?”

“Ares shares this tower with two other Bloodmasters,” Elizabeth said, tightening her grip on Trinity’s arm. “Are you able to walk?”

“I’m all right,” Trinity said, though she hadn’t been faking either her dizziness or sudden exhaustion. Where had it come from? She knew it wasn’t just because she’d had a rough couple of days—she had far more stamina than any normal human.

Could it have been because Ares had drawn a tiny bit of her blood when he’d kissed her? Could he have done something to her in spite of her injections?

“You’ll soon learn your way around,” Elizabeth said, oblivious to her thoughts. “Right now I’m taking you to Levi, our physician.”

“The serfs’ doctor?”

“Naturally. There are no Opiri physicians.”

Of course not, Trinity thought. Certain diseases were unique to Nightsiders, however rare, but their injuries from Challenge or accident either healed on their own or killed the Nightsider, and Opiri had no sympathy for the weak among their kind.

“I heard that Ares hasn’t claimed a serf in quite a long time,” she said.

“That’s right. I heard he actually Challenged for you.” Elizabeth hesitated. “In all the time I’ve been here, he’s never done that. He despises Challenges.”

“He seemed to like my ‘spirit,’” Trinity said with a brief laugh.

“You are quite beautiful,” Elizabeth said. “But physical beauty has never seemed to matter to him when it comes to serfs. In fact, he has a tendency to pick up the ones no one else wants, as you might have noticed with Diego and Jonathan.” She came to a stop in front of one of the many doors along the corridor, her expression relaxing. “Here we are.”

The door slid open, and they entered a large, pristine infirmary. A man in his forties with neatly cropped salt-and-pepper hair sat behind a desk situated on one side of the room, his gaze fixed on a monitor. He rose quickly, gazing at Trinity with distracted surprise.

Once Elizabeth explained the situation, Levi put her through the paces of a typical physical exam and declared her suffering from exhaustion.

“She needs to rest,” he said to Elizabeth. “What can Ares have been thinking?”

“He brought her back himself,” the older woman said. “What does that suggest to you?”

Levi gave Trinity a second, far less professionally detached look. “Is he tired of Cassandra?” he asked.

“I’m sitting right here,” Trinity said. “We may be slaves, but I refuse to become an object to be discussed like an expensive piece of jewelry.”

Levi and Elizabeth exchanged knowing glances. “I can’t believe that pure lust would be enough,” Levi said. “There must be something special for her to be treated like—”

“I was under the impression that he treats all his serfs well,” Trinity interrupted.

“He’s always been a good master,” Elizabeth said. “We need to get her into bed, Levi. Abbie will be coming to measure her when she’s rested.”

“And then Ares is going to send for me, isn’t he?” Trinity asked.

“When you were brought here, you must have known what to expect,” Levi said, not quite meeting her gaze.

“I didn’t deserve to be sent here at all,” Trinity said, injecting resentment into her voice. “Why were you deported?”

“We don’t speak of such things in this Household,” Elizabeth said with a pained smile. “Unless you want to offend your fellow humans, and no one wants to be alone among enemies.”

Interesting, Trinity thought, that Elizabeth would come right out and say the word “enemy.” It was something a member of the Underground might say, especially if she’d forgotten she couldn’t trust everyone around her.

“Come along now,” Levi said, taking one of Trinity’s arms as Elizabeth took the other. They half carried her to a bed and helped her climb onto it. “I think we’ll give you an IV drip. You look more than a little dehydrated.”

Trinity didn’t object, and soon she was resting comfortably while Levi worked away at his desk. She badly wanted to jump out of bed and take a good look at the serfs’ area of the Household, check out every possible exit and search for likely hiding places.

But all too soon a very tall young woman, who introduced herself as Abbie, arrived with Elizabeth and walked around the bed, cocking her head as she studied Trinity from all angles.

“Very promising,” she said. “When does Ares want her?”

“He only said to let him know when she was feeling better,” Elizabeth said, talking over Trinity the way she had before.

“I’ll put together something simple for now,” Abbie said. “I know just the thing...”

“Do you always talk about new serfs as if they were animals?” Trinity said, looking at each of the three in turn. “Or is this your way of making your lives more bearable?”

Abbie looked at her blankly, and then blinked as if she had snapped out of a dream. “I’m sorry,” she said, her long face crumpling in remorse.

“Sometimes we forget the things we most need to remember,” Elizabeth said. “You’re handling this better than anyone I’ve ever met.”

Trinity wondered if she could pry a little more information out of Elizabeth. “Earlier, you mentioned that Ares seemed to be acting out of character....”

“I made too much of it,” Elizabeth said, flushing a little. “I meant it when I said he was a good master. He very seldom interferes with the running of the Household.”

“He never gets angry, almost never even impatient,” Abbie said, jotting a note in the pad she kept in her wide front pocket. “He’s never sold any of us or given us away as gifts to other Opiri.”

“Everything runs like clockwork in this Household,” Levi said, checking Trinity’s pulse against the watch he wore on his wrist. “Ares likes peace and quiet. We’re rather used to it.”

A Household that ran like clockwork, where everyone knew their places and no one caused trouble. The perfect cover for members of the Underground.

“Who is Cassandra?” she asked.

“Oh, dear,” Elizabeth said, masking her obvious relief with a look of chagrin. “Didn’t I tell you? Cassandra is the master’s Favorite. Whatever blood he took from you at the Claiming wouldn’t have been enough to satisfy his needs.”

“But he didn’t bite me,” Trinity said.

“He didn’t?” Levi asked, his unflappable demeanor giving way to genuine surprise.

Trinity touched her lip again. She didn’t know if she was telling the full truth or not, but she wanted to gauge the others’ reactions.

“When he does,” Abbie said, “he won’t hurt you. He’s very careful about that.”

“Have you ever been with him?” Trinity asked.

Abbie almost jumped. She recovered quickly and wrote out another note. “He has Cassandra for that,” she said, “though technically he can take blood, or anything else, from any of us whenever he wants to.”

“But he doesn’t,” Elizabeth said. “He doesn’t even keep a harem for variety.”

That was unusual, Trinity knew. Almost unheard of. A Bloodmaster relying on only one human for his blood? He must drink very sparingly, yet he showed no signs of weakness.

“Don’t worry about anything for now,” Elizabeth said. “You have the potential to rise high in this Household. Make the most of it.”

She and Abbie left the room, and Trinity closed her eyes for a while. When she opened them again, Levi was standing at the foot of her bed.

“You can shower now,” the physician said, indicating a door inside the room. “And you must be hungry. I’ll have someone bring you a tray.”

“Thank you,” Trinity said.

“I’m stepping out for a few minutes,” Levi said. “If you need anything, use the buzzer just inside the front door and someone will come.”

In a moment he was gone. Trinity sat on the edge of the bed, repeating Elizabeth’s final words in her mind.

Make the most of it. Could that possibly be some kind of code, letting her know that Elizabeth suspected her true purpose here?

That, too, she would learn in time. She was just heading for the shower when a stunning young woman walked into the room.

She wore a deep red gown of a fabric that caught the corridor lights and accented every lush curve of her figure, the neckline plunging in folds that opened just above her nipples. Her face was striking, her blond hair falling in glorious waves around her shoulders.

“So you’re the new one,” the woman said, smiling as she draped herself against the doorframe. “Elizabeth tells me you’ve been a little sick. The Claiming can be difficult for novice serfs.”

“Thanks for your concern,” Trinity said, keeping her expression neutral. “I’m fine now.” She offered her hand. “You must be Cassandra.”

The other woman ignored Trinity’s friendly overture. “How did you know?” she asked.

“You’re too beautiful to be anyone else.”

Cassandra’s smile flickered as if she suspected Trinity of a backhanded compliment. “I’ve heard a great deal about you, too,” she said. “You’re as lovely as they said. Or you will be, once you’re cleaned up.”

“Thank you. I didn’t expect to be so...warmly welcomed.”

“We’re all family here,” Cassandra said, her body relaxing. “But your arrival has created quite a stir, what with Ares Challenging for you and all.”

“So I gathered,” Trinity muttered.

“Well, I’m sure everyone will get used to the change. You are fortunate to have been claimed by Ares, but here’s a friendly word of advice—don’t expect too much.”

“Why should I expect anything?” Trinity asked.

Cassandra tossed back her hair. “You tell me.”

“You were just with him, weren’t you?” Trinity asked, feigning naive curiosity. “Was he different than usual?”

Ares’s Favorite almost permitted a scowl to twist her full red lips, but she covered her anger quickly. “He was...very energetic, shall we say,” she said. “Hot-blooded, to use a human expression.”

“I always heard Nightsiders were insatiable,” Trinity said, swallowing nervously for effect.

“Ares is a good lover. Very considerate for an Opir. Enjoy it while you can.”

Elizabeth had said nearly the same thing earlier, but somehow Trinity didn’t think that Cassandra meant it in quite the same way.

“You mean he’ll get tired of me?” she asked.

“It depends on what he wants you for. I’ve been his Favorite for three years.” She smiled unpleasantly. “I don’t expect that to change anytime soon.”

“Then why are you worried about me?”

“Worried?” Cassandra stroked her long, graceful neck, running her perfectly manicured nails over a set of small red marks that had almost healed. “Did I give you that impression?”

Trinity knew she’d made a mistake in resorting to sarcasm. “No,” she said. “Not at all.”

“I’m sure things will settle down again very soon,” Cassandra said, favoring Trinity with another false smile, “and once Ares is done with you, you’ll be given some task in the Household that will make you content, like everyone else here.”

“I hope so,” Trinity said. She gazed up at Cassandra like a lost puppy. “Maybe you could show me around when you’re not busy.”

Cassandra yawned behind her hand. “I’d love to help you, Trinity, but I’m on call twenty-four hours a day. I doubt I’ll have the energy.”

In spite of herself, Trinity felt a little sorry for the woman. She suspected that Cassandra’s sense of self came entirely from being the Favorite of Ares’s Household.

But pity couldn’t distract Trinity from her mission, and she quickly brushed it aside. “I understand,” she mumbled, looking down at the floor.

Cassandra placed a slender hand on Trinity’s shoulder. “Just give yourself a little time to adjust, and don’t be too hard on yourself.”

“Thank you,” Trinity said, laying her hand on top of Cassandra’s. “I think I won’t find it quite as difficult now.”

“I’m glad my little visit was of some help to you.” Cassandra glided to the door and turned around again. “Just remember, Trinity...it’s very important to remember your place. It won’t be so easy if you make enemies of your fellow servants.”

“Yes,” Trinity said. “Elizabeth said—”

“Cassandra.”

The voice was unmistakably Ares’s, and he was standing somewhere very close to the door. Cassandra started, and her confident attitude changed to one of uncertainty and fear.

Not of Ares, Trinity was sure. It was the fear that came from being caught doing something forbidden.

“Why are you here?” Ares asked, still out of Trinity’s sight.

“I only came to welcome the new serf, my lord,” Cassandra said, moving from the doorway.

“She was to rest,” Ares said, a trace of anger in his voice. “Go to your room.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Trinity heard Cassandra’s soft footsteps retreating, and then Ares was filling the doorframe, a dark silhouette with eyes that seemed to pin Trinity to the spot. He wore a long, deep blue tunic, and his hair was loose around his broad shoulders.

He entered the room and strode to her side. “Are you well now?” he asked.

“Yes,” she said, averting her gaze. “Much better. Thank you, my lord.”

He took her chin in his hand and drew her head up. “What is this new humility? It doesn’t suit you.”

Trinity shivered at the touch of his hand, the nearness of his body, the clear evidence that he was very much aroused. He’d just been “served” by Cassandra, but it was obvious that he was far from satisfied.

His desire still seemed at odds with his normally cool, controlled demeanor, but she’d seen just how much he could change from one moment to the next.

“Should I resist you, my lord?” she said, meeting his gaze. “Is that what you want me to do?”

He released her chin and stepped back. “When you have bathed and receive proper attire,” he said, “you will join me in my apartments. I shall see if you are worth the trouble it took to win you.”