Page 6 of Nocte

I resist, biting deeper into my thoughts. Those fragile, pathetic recollections I can call mine.

Her.She is mine. Cassius may have commanded it, but a toy given by another is still, in essence, owned by the one who has it.

Therefore, she is mine, that ugly, little, deformed fae.

I have her in my grasp, and I don’t care if it’s part of someone else’s game. I’ll crush her. Break her. Scatter the pieces at Cassius’ feet. I’ll do his bidding with a smile, but in the end…

He can’t make me do it cleanly and quickly. He can’t stipulate that there be no lingering. No drawn-out moments until the end.

He can’t make me waste what little time I have, freed from under his thumb.

Caspian!

The force of the command brings me to my knees in the middle of a fucking street. A glistening avenue lined with buildings of glass and gray stone. Our perfect, perpetual city. Strange looks are cast my way, and I can see the pathetic fleeting thoughts that cross their isolated brains.Strange vamryre. Must stay away.

Good.

They can run and hide all they want. When Cassius has his way, they will all be pawns to dance and sway at his whim. No longer will I be the only one to?—

You dare to disobey me, boy?

Boy. Still crouched, I grit my teeth. Trying and failing to stand, I growl in frustration. How he loves to throw that hated word in my face. He relishes in the anger that heats my skin. He believes it puts me in my place. Swallowed by a mind as vast as his, I am a mere boy in comparison. A worm. Insignificant wiggling pest.

But he’s the one who plucked me from the mortal masses. Athisbehest, the others turned me. At his begging.

He chose me.

Caspian, come.

My reply is terse, spoken out loud and within. “I work.” Belatedly, I add, “As you wish, Master. I do this work for you.”

Come,he snarls, unswayed.

No.No!“I work,” I say, knees shaking, muscles straining. “For you. I do this for you!”

He relents—because he has no fucking choicebutto. I can sense him lingering like a cat waiting to pounce. A lion, perhaps. He wants so badly to roar and take charge.

But he can’t. His own words tie him.

He can’t be implicated in this great scheme, oh no. The rest of the high council wouldn’t like that. This sin is all mine. He would have me wait until the ceremony to strike. Maybe I would.

Until she looked at me, the little broken bird. So fragile. I see those black eyes even now, and I hoard the image away from Cassius and the others. It’s mine. They remind me of something. A color I used to love. I think. Ebony. Black, black, black.

Doesn’t matter,Cassius says, batting the thought away, out of reach. Bastard.

When I see her again…I’ll poke those eyes until I remember more. Oh, how I want to play with my little bird, locked in her stone cage. What point is a surprise attack, anyway? No. True betrayal is crueler than that. It’s stealing away inside the victim’s skull and making a home there.

It’s turning their own body into a despised enemy.

It’s becoming their puppet master before they even realize they’re being strangled by the strings.

I want that little fae to hurt. Can’t explain why, but I want those black eyes wet with tears. It will be fun.

Easy, Caspian,I sense Cassius warn. Always warning. Always twisting. He told me once that my darkness was what drew him to me.

A gem among stones. A black heart, a perfect match for his own. Oh, how he resents that weakness. He reached out and took a pretty trinket for his collection.

He took me.

---