Page 10 of Her Dark Promise

Luckily for him, I did not.

Luckily for him, he was incredibly handsome. His brown hair was wild, shrouding half of his face from me. I gently swiped a stray piece of hair away from his eyes so I could look at him, as I had never watched him sleep. I always sent him away after we fucked, never having a desire to share his bed. Never needed that amount of intimacy.

I ran a single finger down his jaw, over his chest until I reached the top of the sheet right over his flaccid appendage. I didn’t want to wake him, so I retracted my hand and stood there staring down at him.

I was reminded of the time we met. He was a lost little thing. He was with three other men who had stumbled upon my castle, thinking they could loot it. I stood in the shadows and heard Callum plead with the men to leave. The largest man, presumably the one in charge, hit Callum in the face so hard that he flew back into the wall. I then watched as all three men beat him for just trying to do the right thing.

He was a victim.

I smiled to myself, thinking about what I did to his abusers. How I used my shadows to form a blade and slit the throat of the one closest to me. His blood splattered all over me, and the sounds of his gurgling sent tingles down my body. I threw my shadows at the next one before he could realize that I was there, hitting him square in the chest. The shadows dispersed and he dropped to the ground.

The last man heard the sounds of his friends and whipped around toward me, but before he could avenge the fallen Isimply thought about him dying and his neck snapped. I always liked a challenge, and taking my time, but fury spread through me at witnessing them beat poor Callum who was cowering by the wall.

I walked up to him slowly and knelt in front of him. His arms were wrapped around his knees that were pressed tightly into his chest. His clothes were too large for his sickly frame and I could clearly see varying hues of purple and yellow, indicating that he had been beaten more than once. Callum was crying so hard, assuming that he would be next, that he winced from the pain. This helpless creature was no match for the men that he was with and was malnourished.

He finally looked up at me when the killing blow didn’t come and asked, “Are you going to kill me too?” His voice was so quiet that I had to strain to hear it.

He was like me. A lost soul trying to survive. “What is your name?”

“Callum.”

I informed him that he could stay until his injuries healed and he got a belly full of food and then he was free to go. I stood, and he moved to follow me but hissed and held on fiercely to his side. He must have broken bones if merely moving was causing him pain.

“Please. Don’t make me go back there. I will do anything you ask. Please…” There was a sadness in his eyes, but it had been so long since I allowed anyone to stay since Emilia came, let alone a man. I couldn’t trust him, not just because he was a man, but because my castle wasn’t a place that I would allow just anyone to stay—it wasn’t a home. Though, I took a moment to really look at him. I could see that even though he was skinny he had a good build, shaggy brown hair, and a handsome face. But he looked dull as if he was ready to give up. Ready to die.

I could understand that feeling.

“Fine. You can stay.”

I do not know exactly what made me agree, but I just had a feeling that I should. I scratched his chest from his collarbone down the length of his breast. Blood dripped from the wound and I leaned forward, licking the trickle that fell down his chest. Shivers ran through his body. I leaned back so that our faces were next to each other and whispered, “You are mine now.”

I am being rather nostalgic tonight…

Coming back to my senses, I looked at him one more time, deciding if I wanted to wake him, but decided against it. I got up and walked out of the room.

Chapter three

“Miss Emilia, how are you feeling?”

She cleared her throat. “I am well, thank you for asking. And how many times do I have to tell you to please call me Emilia,” she scolded gently.

I could barely listen to the two of them talk as I thought back on yesterday. Something didn’t sit well with me. I could feel something in the air, something foul. But I couldn’t place my finger on it.

I drummed my nails against the goblet of wine as Callum laughed. “I don’t think I could do that, Miss Emilia. It is customary to show respect to one’s elders.”

They were talking to each other from across the table, Callum to my right and Emilia to my left. I focused on the food that Emilia had prepared for us this morning. There was a platter of flaky chocolate croissants and blueberry brioche. Next to it was the fresh bread and butter plate. An assortment of smoked salmon, capers, onion, and hard-boiled eggs beside it. Emilia drank lemon and ginger tea while Callum preferred coffee. I always drank wine.

A meal fit for a queen as she would always tell me. A queen indeed.

Even though she knew that I would barely touch it. My body preferred to live on the hatred that coursed through my body every second of every day. My temper had yet to ease after everything from the day prior. Though I knew I hadn’t allowed their pain to last as long as it should have, the memory of the sounds of their screams put a smile on my face.

Emilia rolled her eyes. “I am only older than you by four years.” His only response was to shrug playfully while grabbing a piece of bread and biting into it.

Sometimes I envied their ability to be casual with each other; I could never relax enough to fully let go. Before them, life was easy but incredibly lonely. I carried on with little to fret about, and then they arrived, securing a place in my home—my life—and now I felt anxious daily. What if my powers got out of hand and I harmed them? What if I had to protect them from outsiders and ended up killing them?

“And what about you, your grace?” I heard Callum ask. “How was your hunt?”

He knew just how much I loved a good chase, but he had never seen me in action. I glanced at him over the top of my goblet from my peripheral and smiled triumphantly. “They suffered, but not nearly enough to satiate my appetite.” I took another sip of wine.

---