Rhapsody was starting to worry about her Master’s condition. He would look in severe pain at one moment and furious enough to throttle someone the next. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
Fuck. There she fucking went again, asking so many fucking questions that only had images lurid as fuck flooding his mind. And in all those fucking images, his pet was fucking naked, moaning – nay, she was fucking pleading, begging him to do all sorts of fucking dirty, lewd things—-
Mihail breathed hard, but it was no use.
Mother of Hell, how he wanted her covered with his cum. How he wanted her to be his, and if any other man—-
The marquis stiffened, his mind finally recalling what it had forgotten.
Rhapsody nearly stumbled back when the marquis’ gaze snapped back to her without warning, and this time his green eyes were harsh with anger.
“You were here with another man earlier,” the marquis asked coldly. “Were you not?”
Rhapsody blinked in surprise. “I was, and…” She picked her skirts up. “I must show you something, Master.”
Mihail was incredulously when his pet suddenly spun around and ran away. He cursed under his breath even when he went after her. She was running in the directions towards the woods, and he had no fucking idea why.
His pet suddenly came into a stop. “Here, Master.”
And indeed, the scent he had detected earlier was once again tainting the air around her, and when he reached his pet, she immediately gestured towards the ground—-
His gaze followed where she was pointing.
Shit.
The marquis’ head began to pound.
What the fuck was it with his pet that she kept stumbling over dead bodies?
Chapter Two
An Original in the eyes of Society was one that pushed the boundaries without being disgracefully crass and unenchantingly self-righteous. And for the past three years, Lady Eleanor Tilney had worked exceptionally hard to ensure that her beloved school remain an Original type of establishment.
In the past, Legacy pets were the only type of pet considered acceptable by the oldest and most prominent vampire families. First Made pets were either ignored outright or viewed with genteel distaste. All that had changed, however, when Eleanor – a former First Made pet herself and now wife to the Viscount of Luncia – had bought a ten-acred property in Amstel Square and converted the Baroque-styled estate into what was now known as The Progressive Academy of Chalys.
Through means both fair and foul, she had succeeded in reversing Society’s opinion of her students, and the graduates of her school were now sought after by the kingdom’s wealthiest vampires. All of this was set to change, however, if word was to spread about one of their employees being murdered…in their very own backyard!
A knock sounded on the door, and Eleanor quickly pasted a smile on her face and clasped her hands over her skirts. A moment later, the footman allowed in the visitor she had been both expecting and dreading.
The Marquis of Sangre strode inside her office, and though the viscountess had already known what to expect, he still appeared much, much larger than life, and his handsome looks even more mesmerizing than one could even imagine. But what truly took her breath away was how the marquis – despite looking at least a decade younger than her forty years – was actually almost a thousand years old.
Eleanor tried her hardest not to shiver as the marquis’ hooded gaze settled on her. While it was not her first time to be in the presence of one with demon blood, Lord Mihail was, simply put, in a vastly different league. Not only was he the ruler of the entire vampire race, but he was also one of the legendary Galeré and thus a trusted vassal to the Duke of Brimstone himself.
His arrival at her school would be the most undeniably glorious coup, and it was one she would have wasted no time spreading the word about…if not for the dead body that the marquis himself had come across.
The thought had Eleanor wishing her smelling salts were within reach, and she nearly had an apoplexy when the marquis’ hooded gaze finally settled on her. Even if her own husband was a vampire himself, this man was simply a thousand times more terrifying.
“Thank you for agreeing to see me, milady.”
“Tis our greatest pleasure to receive you, milord,” Eleanor said with a gulp. It was true then, she thought anxiously. The softness of the marquis’ voice was indeed akin to the calm before the storm.
Flames swirled and chipped wood crackled in the fireplace under the stone mantel as the marquis took his seat. “You have the report I requested, milady?”
Although the words were couched in a polite request, there was no denying the command underlying it, and Eleanor’s fingers trembled as she handed the document she held in her possession. She wondered hysterically if the marquis would soon have her school closed. It was possible, wasn’t it? If the marquis were to think her school dangerous to her students, it would be all over…