Page 70 of Deceived By a Warrior

Far too many vampires surrounded him within the hall, eagerly anticipating his public meeting with the newly announcedmost loyal warrior.Did they not have anything better to do?

Give a dog some freedom, and he’ll never leave you alone…The vampires surrounding him were all prime examples of why it was better tonotreward anyone with any sort of free time.

He supposed it was a problem he’d have to rectify, but not untilaftersolving the prevailing problem at hand.

His missing soothsayer.

After what felt like the longest wait in his existence, the heavy doors at the far end of the hall finally opened, the metal scraping against the hard ground.

“Finally!”Artem exclaimed, perking up where he sat as he watched two of his servants walk through the doorway, Gedeon not far behind.

His scarred face, framed by dark curls, appeared exceptionally paranoid. As always. He may be trying to feign bravery, but he was doing a piss poor job at it. To everyone else in this room he might have appeared successful in that endeavor - a brave warrior marching toward a ruthless ruler. But he didn’t fool Artem, who too easily saw beneath the brave mask Gedeon put on. He was terrified of Artem.

They all were.

Except for that psychic. What did she call herself? Ah, yes - Eva Maas. May she burn in hell.

Better yet, he’d make sure she burned in a hell crafted by himself, made especially for her.

The simple thought of screwing with that bitch for the rest of eternity brought a smile to his face and joy to his heart.

He had no choice but to torment that sorceress. He tried playing nice with her. Obviously nice didn’t work. She believed she had no reason to fear him.

Oh, he would show her how wrong she was. He planned to make an example out of her for the rest of her long existence.

And Darius? Artem had no need for that pathetic vampire. He’d ruin that man’s soul the first chance he had. What a waste of time that vampire turned out to be. Artem will never understand why he thought so highly of the man. One thing was for sure, he’d never trust one of these pathetic, powerless beings again. Lesson learned.

So was life. A constant charade of learning lessons, growing from them, and teaching those lessons to others.

Gedeon came to a stop before Artem. “Artem,” Gedeon bowed.

There the vampire stood, his head down in front of Artem, waiting for Artem to allow him to rise again. If Artem wanted to, he could have the man bow until he starved.

It was a good thing Artem wasn’tthatcruel. “Rise, my warrior.”

Gedeon immediately did. “May I ask why I have been granted the honor of being in your presence?”

He spoke calmly, his words almost flowing seamlessly.Almost.He reeked of fear. It disgusted Artem. Was it possible for anyone in his presence tonotfear him? He’d love to one day meet an equal to him. Just once.

Eva certainly didn’t count. Her courage derived from the same rashness of a toddler. She was far too young to understand the workings of the world and the dangers of someone like Artem.

And just like any toddler who misbehaved, she would be punished.

Looking into Gedeon’s eyes, Artem asked, “You were close friends with Darius, were you not?”

“My alliance to him is no longer,” Gedeon claimed. Artem expected to hear this from Gedeon considering Artem had been beheading anyone he believed was involved in Darius, Karina, and Eva’s escape. A much cleaner death than anyone deserved.

He was a much too merciful ruler.

“Is he aware that you no longer align with him?”

Gedeon stumbled over his words when he spoke next. “I-I haven’t spoken to him since he escaped.”

“And why not? He is your friend, is he not?” Artem had to admit, this plan would work much better if Gedeon had already gone behind Artem’s back by speaking to Darius.

Of course that wouldn’t have happened. Artem had instilled far too much fear in Gedeon to expect this vampire to act out of line.

“My lord, I knew you would disapprove of it. He is a traitor to you, and therefore a traitor to me.”

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