Page 62 of The Time Of Queens

No, for she had a secret far greater than that of being Dominic’s Fated. And I did so like having secrets to break apart and expose at their core. For she may not be an intended bloody victim of mine to play with, but she would be my victim all the same.

And strangely… it was like she knew this.

No, not just that.

It was like she knew…me.

A short time later and we arrived at the public house, giving me cause to dismount and tether my horse to the hitching rail located near the entrance. Vincent joined me and swiftly did the same. His expression was pinched, for he was ill at ease with the advice he had given his brother, no doubt already trying to plan on how to rectify such.

As for me, I just wanted to crack her open and watch as all her secrets came spilling out, revelling in the satisfaction that I was right. Yes, I was that type of smug bastard, and it was a title I wore proudly.

Now as for cracking things open, it was time to play with the little mortal minds of village simpletons. Although there was still one that I couldn’t say such about, for the maid’s mind had been completely closed off to me. Something that had been astounding to discover, as it was utterly frustrating. For I was undoubtably the strongest when it came to forcing the minds of others. My control on them was usually absolute.

But not hers.

Why?

Perhaps that was the root of my fascination with her. Why I wanted so badly to break her. Why I had masked my frustration with charm and arrogance at the dining table. When in reality all I had wanted to do was tear at the walls of her mind like some wild beast until there was nothing left of her stronghold. She was my greatest adversary, for not even the King of Kings could deny me if I so wished to take possession of his mind.

It was maddening, and not something I was readily willing to admit to. Needless to say, I was thankful that Dominic had not yet asked it of me. But then, he didn’t yet have much cause to do so, seeing as he believed the story of her origins.

But I knew better.

So, in my irritation, I did what I did best and stepped through the threshold, taking control of all under its roof as one.

“Gods, Lucius,”I heard Vincent mutter in surprise when he saw what I had done to everyone.

A wave of unconsciousness overtook everyone in the room. Heads fell to tables and knees gave way to the floor. It took barely any concentration at all, for they were all so weak. Even more so in their drunken state. So, I skimmed their minds until I found exactly what I was looking for.

A memory of the pretty blonde maid.

“There you are,” I commented aloud as I saw her through the messenger’s mind.

His memory of her left him charmed enough that his thoughts of her had turned sexually explicit. Now why did that anger me? Why did I care? And what’s more, why was I now storming my way towards the unconscious man ready to break his bones for even thinking of her like that?

It made little sense.

Unless… no, could it be? Could she be somehow fated to my own future and therefore it was engrained within me to protect her? I had no answers, only that I found the man’s neck in my hold before I slammed him roughly against the nearest wall. He screamed in his unconscious state as I infected him with enough horrific thoughts that he would see me in his nightmares for the rest of his life.

I reached into his jacket pocket and ripped out the letter I knew he had stashed there. Then before I was tempted to tear into his throat and feed, I dropped him, and without a backward glance I left.

“Lucius, wait for all the Gods in Heaven!” Vincent said, rushing out after me, no doubt wondering, just like I was, what had taken hold of me. For I didn’t understand it myself. But I ripped the seal from the letter all the same and pulled out thesecret I knew would expose her. However, what I did read I could barely believe. For after scanning its entirety, I handed it to Vincent and told him,

“There is your proof.”

He took it from me and read it at length, his expression changing with every word he took in.

“Gods then it is true… she really is…”

“His Fated Electus.”

23

ANGRY LITTLE MAID

DRAVEN

And breathe.

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