Chapter 3 Chapter 3

Amira's POV

"You shouldn't be wandering around the manor on your own," Lord Zamir said.

"I wasn't alone, There were—" I started, turning around to point at the people I'd seen. But when I looked, the hallway was empty. Every single one of them had vanished as though they'd never been there at all.

I blinked, staring at the empty space where the first girl had stood just moments ago. Had I imagined them? Had the hunger and exhaustion finally gotten to my head? I'd barely spent one full day in a vampire's manor and I was already seeing things. That had to be some kind of record.

Lord Zamir didn't say anything else. He simply walked forward, passing me like I wasn't even worth addressing further. The moment his back was to me, fear gripped my throat like a fist. The thought of being left alone in these corridors again, with those whispering voices and disappearing figures, was enough to make my feet move on their own.

I rushed after him, falling into step behind him as we wound through the manor's corridors. We walked in silence until he stopped in front of a particular door and pushed it open, stepping inside without a word. I followed him.

The room was enormous. Heavy blood-red curtains hung from floor to ceiling, swallowing most of the light and giving the space a cave-like feel. A wide bed dominated the center of the room, its headboard carved from dark wood and draped in sheets that were the color of burgundy wine.

Candles were burning from iron holders on the walls. The rest of furniture was dark and heavy, all sharp edges and red upholstery, and the air smelled like blood.

I was still trying to take it all in when I heard the rustle of fabric. I turned and found Lord Zamir pulling his leather coat from his shoulders... then his shirt, and finally his trousers. He was bare as a newborn baby underneath.

I gasped and turned away so fast, squeezing my eyes shut and pressing my hands to my burning face.

When I finally dared to look back, he was watching me with amusement. He didn't stop. He stripped everything away without an ounce of shame until there was nothing left, and then in a blink, he was directly in front of me.

I lurched backward with a sharp cry, my back hitting the wall.

He reached out and ran a hand down my face and over my shoulder, his cold fingers trailing along my skin. I pressed myself harder against the wall and squeezed my eyes shut. Every muscle in my body had gone rigid with dread. Whatever was about to happen, I had no power to stop it.

"You are my slave now," he murmured. Then I felt his lips on my neck.

I stopped breathing entirely. The graze of his fangs against my skin made my knees buckle. So this was it, this was how it ended. He was going to drain me of my blood right here, on my first night in this manor, and there was absolutely nothing I could do.

But then he pulled away, to my surprise. He stepped back and walked into a side room without a single word of explanation. I stood there, shaking and trying to remember how to think.

When he returned, a rope was tied loosely around his waist, and he crossed to the bed and got in, pulling the sheets over himself.

I couldn't move from that spot. My feet were planted to the floor, and my brain refused to send the signal to unstick them.

Lord Zamir looked up from the bed, then pointed toward the corner of the room. I followed his direction to a sofa where a small pile of folded clothes rested. Beside it, tucked behind a curtain, was a small mattress on the floor.

"Take a bath," he ordered. "Get into those clothes, then sleep there."

I looked at the curtained mattress on the floor and then at the grand bed he was lying in. I nodded once, not trusting my voice, and moved quickly.

A wooden tub of warm water waited behind a screen in the corner. I bathed as fast as I could, scrubbing the dirt and dried blood from my skin. The water turned grey almost immediately. When I was done, I reached for the clothes and found a silken dress, soft and clean against my raw skin. I slipped it on and crept to the small mattress, pulling the curtain closed behind me.

The moment my head touched the pillow, I was asleep. When I opened my eyes again, I was somewhere else entirely. I sat up slowly, confused, and realized I was in Lord Zamir's bed.

I scrambled upright, my heart in my throat. How had I gotten here? Had he carried me? Had I walked in my sleep? The questions swarmed in my head as I looked around the room, but Lord Zamir was nowhere to be seen.

Before I could begin to make sense of anything, the door opened and the same maid from the previous night stepped in. She barely glanced at me.

"Lord Zamir is asking for you," she said, already turning to leave.

I stared at her retreating back. Was she serious? She wasn't even going to wait for me?

I jumped off the bed and hurried after her, not wanting a repeat of last night's disaster. This time I stayed close on her heels, practically stepping on the backs of her shoes, all the way to a large dining hall.

Lord Zamir was at the head of the long table, already eating. He was shirtless under a blood red silk bathrobe that hung open at the chest, and his dark curls were pulled up into a bun at the back of his head. On the plate in front of him was what appeared to be a steak, bleeding heavily onto the white china.

"Sit down and eat," he said, without looking up.

I sat down quickly, glancing at his plate and wondering with a growing sense of dread whether they planned to serve me the same thing. But when a servant appeared at my elbow, they set down a bowl of warm vegetable broth with a heel of warm bread beside it.

I didn't even reach for a spoon before I was tearing the bread apart with my fingers. Three days without food had long since killed any sense of dignity I might have had.

I was halfway through the broth when the doors to the dining hall opened again, and a woman walked in.

She was beautiful in an otherworldly way. White-blonde hair fell in waves past her shoulders, and her skin was just as pale and bloodless as Lord Zamir's. She wore a sheer silver dress that seemed to float around her as she moved, making her look more like a ghost than a living creature.

Lord Zamir glanced up. "Eva! I was wondering where you'd skitted off to."

Eva gave Lord Zamir a red-lipped smile, then glanced at me. She inclined her head, studying me like a cat.

"I didn't know you'd gotten a new human pet," she commented, then added, "I'd like to play with her too."

Before I could react, she moved toward me and dipped her head, pressing her nose into my hair and inhaling deeply. I went completely rigid, my spoon frozen halfway to my mouth.

Then her fangs dropped and she started to move them to my exposed neck.

"NO!" I shoved myself backward with a scream, nearly toppling the chair.

Lord Zamir snarled, and in the same instant he was beside Eva, his hand closing around her throat. He slammed her against the wall hard enough to rattle the candelabra.

"She is not your plaything!" he snarled.

"But why?" Eva whined, her voice turning petulant and childlike despite the hand around her neck. "There's a peculiar scent around her, Zamir. I want her."

"No! She is mine!" Lord Zamir growled, his face inches from hers.

Eva's eyes cut to me over his shoulder, and the look she fixed me with was pure fury. Then she shoved his hand away, straightened her silver dress, and stormed out of the dining hall without another word. The door slammed behind her.

I sat completely still, my heart lodged somewhere in my throat. I had just narrowly escaped being bitten by a cold blooded monster, again. All in less than twenty four hours.

Lord Zamir had already turned back to the table and settled into his seat, as if like nothing had happened. Then he looked at me.

"Are you ready to feed me now?"

At those words, the spoon slipped from my fingers and clattered to the floor.