Page 39 of The Sorcerer of Shadowholde

He moved to the bed, laying on top of the sheets, eyes glued to the ceiling. There was work he could be doing, but the pulse of lust hadn’t quite abated, the one that ignited at dinner.

“I do not wish to be your pet or plaything.”

Words said with defiance, but the glimmer in her eyes said otherwise.

Regardless of the matter, it would be best to keep his distance as much as that was possible while living within the same walls. What he’d said to Aurora was true, no matter how she scoffed. He was a monster who would tear Vita apart, utterly ruin her. This was something he would not allow himself to do, no matter how much he wanted it, wanted her.

And though he was loath to admit it, perhaps a small part of him still experienced fear. His thralls would never leave him,couldneverleave him if they wanted to. Aurora was loyal, as was Petran, his only other friend. But Vita…

Even as he tried to rest, tried to think ofanythingelse, his mind drifted to the girl. Those pretty pink lips and the pitch black hair. The scar. The glimmering eyes.

Vita.

Life.

CHAPTER 17

Vita

“DO YOU WANT TO BE?”

The High Consul’s words rang in Vita’s ears as she awoke, remembering the heated dinner last night. The soft blue light of dawn filtered in through the window as she lay in bed, pondering the question.

Though she was attracted to him—no way to deny that—he was no better than Amulius with his suggestiveness and advances. He enjoyed playing with her as a cat toys with a mouse, and in the end the predator always kills its prey, does it not? Even if he didn’t want to actually kill her, she was his toy, something to amuse him, a bored little child with his plaything.

Still, something about him gripped her, like nothing she’d ever experienced before. Those piercing eyes and the sly grin, the strangemix of emotions she could see flashing over his face. No, Renatus was much more complicated than her former employer, and Vita vowed to get to the bottom of it.

But first, she had a higher priority.

“Can you get a message to my friend? I want him to know I’m… alright,” Vita asked as she ate her breakfast of bread and honey in the dining hall.

She had her old servant uniform on, a sand-colored tunic with a scarlet palla covering her shoulders.

Aurora quirked a brow. “Why don’t you just tell him yourself? You heard what Renatus said. You’re not a prisoner here.”

Yes, Vita had heard what he’d said, but she hadn’t realized he was serious. The freedom to come and go? Did she have the liberty to leave for good if she wished?

“And the High Consul won’t be upset? He reacted… quite poorly when he found us together before.”

She let out a sarcastic laugh. “Oh, dear, Renatus just wants you to be good. He expects his pets to act with decorum while out in public.”

Be good. Act with decorum. Like she was a child.

“I’m going to Shadowholde,” Vita said with authority. “Today.”

She tried to eat a few more bites of bread, but the pull to see Verian was too strong. Without another word, she stood, nodding at Aurora and heading for the front of the palace. No one stopped her as she exited, a servant pushing open the heavy door as she headed towards Shadowholde.

Twenty minutes later, she was walking up to the city gate, the one that Verian normally patrolled, and yes, there he was in his glimmering armor and sage tunic. His eyes widened when he noticed her, and Vita ran to him, decorum be damned.

He held his arms out, and she practically jumped into them, circling her own around his neck.

“Vita…” he whispered in her ear, pulling her close.

For some reason, tears burned her eyes, and she tried to keep them at bay.

When he pulled away, he kept his hands on her shoulders, studying her like he’d done outside the tavern, as if assessing for damage.

“Are you alright, sweet girl? Everyone is saying you’re working for the High Consul now? I’ve been so worried—”

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