Page 5 of Nocte

“You must keep up with your duties,” they say, that glimmer of hope forgotten. “On the eve of the ceremony, I may come for you again.”

With that, they leave, their robes swishing out behind them.

But I can’t forget it. The chance to leave the Citadel for the first time—and to see a ceremony up close. It’s a cruel temptation, one I know I could never have. Yet….

I want it more than anything I ever have.Almostanything.

Still, I want it so badly it hurts.

I want it badly enough to forget that I deserve nothing.

CHAPTER2

Caspian

For us vamryre, freedom comes at a price—our souls. After death, no great equalizer will right all wrongs, reward the good and punish the bad.

There is onlymore.More existence. More agony. More suffering.

More.

It’s an endless dance, and no one is left standing at its end. As a new pair takes their place in the twisted fucking waltz, only bloodied marks remain on the floor. The thread is what we vamryre call it, this horrible game of life. A woven tapestry composed of too many souls to name. A purpose that binds us in perpetuity.

Our master dresses it up with intrigue and claims that our being chosen by him is a gift.

A calling to Godhood.

He spends eternities trying to find new ways to glowingly describe what, in essence, is a curse. A festering charade of living that we carry on for his benefit. Oh, how we play pretend forhim.

The reality is that we are all dead without the benefit of coffins for comfort. Though we pretend to be creatures that care little for our immortality, we will stop at nothing to extend it. This is what we are by nature as undead, lingering beings shunned by nature.

We want, and we take, and that isourtruth.

We are no better than the mortals who supplicant us with their warm bodies and decadent blood. We hate them. We envy them. We cut their lives short to meet our own ends.

Over and over and over again.

Thiscreature, however, meets none of the criteria our masters crave and desire. She lurks on top of that goddamned bell tower, always scraping. Waiting. Watching. Like a rat or a mouse. Some scurrying creature born in filth and darkness, she lingers in the shadow, never showing her face to the light. Worthless. Disgusting. Vermin.

So why was she, this foul creature, presented to me?

Why does Cassius want me to kill her so brutally?

Don’t care.

I relish the chance.

It must be a test.

Or a reminder—I am always a dog on his leash.

His slave. How ironic that the promise of this realm is freedom, where all races live in supposed harmony. Bullshit. I hate these damn walls of stone. This sprawling city of glass and gold. A pretty, gilded cage of invisible bars. OurbelovedCitadel.

It’s a prison—but to think as much is to sin.

No matter, according to Cassius, I am all sin.

Caspian,he warns, his thoughts seeping into my own. I wince, feeling his pull from halfway across the city. As if space matters. Through centuries, he has had a hold over me. Over us all. Though the others crave his presence, squeaking like monotonous mice—Our beloved Cassius. Our Master. Ours…

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