We held our breath, waiting to see how this woman would respond.
She stood and placed her hand on Haye’s chest, sliding it slowly around his body as she walked to the door, never losing contact until just her fingertips touched him, dropping her arm only when he was completely out of her reach. I’d witnessed many deviant behaviors since coming here, but something about her made the innocent touch raise the hair on my neck. I felt as though I was in the presence of true evil.
“We just wanted to make sure you’re not telling tales, big man,” Beatrice winked at Hayes. He winced slightly, and then his face turned into the expressionless mask I was accustomedto. If I hadn’t been watching him closely, I would never have noticed it.
She paused in the doorway. “Come, Hayes, and bring the boy with you.” She winked at me, “Selene’s going to like you.”
We walked down several hallways until we came to a large staircase. I’d never been in this part of the building, but it had progressively become fancier the further we walked. The staircase seemed to go on forever, but we finally reached the top and took a left. The end of the long corridor abruptly ended in front of a massive set of black doors.
Hayes paused and turned to me. “I’m going to see you through this.” He looked down at the floor for a moment, then took a deep breath, “Only speak when you’re spoken to and keep the smart-ass remarks to yourself.” He stared at me until I nodded my head in agreement. “Anything you see or hear, do not fucking repeat it.”
At this point, I’m not ashamed to say that I was somewhat concerned. We both knew the chances of my speaking only when spoken to were unlikely.
Hayes took another deep breath and knocked on the door. A woman in a maid’s uniform answered. She bowed slightly and then opened the door wide for us to enter. It looked like a whorehouse from the old west and a French chateau had a baby. Several people were lounging around on the furniture in various stages of undress. They completely ignored us while we followed the maid. She led us through another set of double doors where a massive table awaited us, seemingly capable of seating twenty. The maid gestured for us to take a seat.
A man came through a swinging door carrying a large tray of food, and he was soon followed by several staff members who also had trays of food. We sat on the right side of the table, with Hayes next to the end and me beside him. The food kept coming until I thought the table would collapse under the weight of it all. I didn’t think Hayes had taken a breath since we entered the apartment. I’d never seen him so tense and it was starting to freak me out.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps behind us and turned to see several people entering the room. There were three women and five men, not counting Hayes and me.
After they were seated, not a word was spoken. It was strange as hell, especially since several of the individuals who had sat down hadn’t bothered getting dressed.
A few minutes later, I heard laughter and two women talking as they entered the room. I felt fingers weaving through my hair, releasing it from the tie that was holding it back from my face. breatheI started to jerk away, but I felt Hayes grab my thigh and squeeze it hard. The woman from earlier, Beatrice, I think she was called, walked around the end of the table and sat across from Hayes. She gave the person behind me an adoring smile. How could someone that looked like a Barbie doll feel so evil?
The hand in my hair tightened and pulled my head back. I felt warm breath on my neck, followed by a sharp bite on my earlobe that made me wince. Blood trickled down my neck as a warm tongue licked the trail clean.
What the fuck? Hayes’s hand never let up the pressure on my thigh in warning, so I fought against my every instinct and remained still. There was a tinkling laugh, and then my hair was released, and a blonde woman who could have been Beatrice’s sister took the seat at the head of the table.
I assumed this was the infamous Selene. Every instinct urged me to get as far away from her as possible. If Beatrice felt evil,this woman possessed a malevolent aura that surpassed hers by leaps and bounds.
She wore a red dress that was pure steampunk fashion down to a tiny top hat pinned on the top of her golden curls.
Smiling, she looked directly at me. “Go on, handsome, fill your plate. A growing boy needs his protein.” Licking her lips, she looked me up and down. “You need to keep up your strength.”
Deciding for once in my life to follow someone else's advice, I kept quiet and restrained my urge to lash out. I picked up my plate and filled it with whatever was nearby, not having much of an appetite. This broke the spell around the table and everyone seated began talking and piling food onto their plates.
Hayes put very little on his plate. We had just finished breakfast an hour earlier, but I’d seen him eat many times in the dining hall and he could put it away. It seemed I wasn’t the only one with no appetite.
“So, my young Nathan, where do you hail from?” Selene asked as she delicately took a sip of wine from her crystal goblet.
“I’ve lived all over Aurathia, so I consider myself a nomad.” This was going to get dicey quick if she questioned me too deeply.
Selene hummed but didn’t speak and took the small sliver of meat Beatrice held up, sucking the finger that held it. Beatrice moaned and closed her eyes in pleasure.
“He’s from near the Pulchra village. A small town called Daisetta and a member of the Mills Faction. He was assigned to them at the age of sixteen.” Hayes said all of this without any inflection in his voice.
Selene raised a single eyebrow, “Why was he assigned so soon?”
“I believe it was because he was orphaned at a young age. As is the usual practice now.” He took a sip of his wine and continued to eat.
What the hell? This was all news to me. If this were a story he’d concocted with Damien, it would’ve been nice to have shared that with me. I felt like we were teetering on the edge of disaster and I was just along for the ride.
“That would explain why you consider yourself a nomad. I’ve heard of that Faction and they travel considerably, selling the lovely glass products made with their fire abilities.” Selene finally took her attention off me and started eating.
“You better perfect that fire ability before tomorrow. You’re fighting some vicious predators. I would hate to see you eliminated before we get a taste.” Beatrice winked at me, continuing to feed Selene choice pieces from her plate.
“She’s right. If you perform well, we might steal you from the Mills Faction and keep you for our own. You’ll be more than satisfied with the change.” Selene took a drink of wine and then licked the moisture from her lips, staring at Hayes with heat in her eyes. “Just ask our very own Hayes how much pleasure he’s found here with us.”
Several people around the table, including her and Beatrice, started laughing. Hayes didn’t comment and continued to eat. The conversation around the table picked up, and it looked like my questioning was over.
