Nightmaster

“Two of the senior serfs. Diego—the young gentleman—is the majordomo of the Household, and Jonathan is the Master of Serfs.”

“Wouldn’t those jobs usually go to vassals?”

“Ares hasn’t any vassals,” she said.

Surprised at Ares’s flouting of Opir custom, Trinity raised a brow. “And what are your duties in the Household?” she asked.

“I guess you could say I look after the women’s matters. You’ve been through a lot today, and there’ll be plenty of time to learn after—”

She didn’t finish, but Trinity knew what she meant. After Ares had done what he’d failed to do at the Claiming. After she’d shared his bed, and he had marked her as his.

No emotion, she reminded herself. No fear, no desire, no admiration. Nothing existed but the mission.

And that mission had well and truly begun.

Chapter 4

They descended a staircase to what Elizabeth referred to as the serf’s quarters and entered a brightly lit corridor. “This is where we live and where Household operations are located,” the older woman said. “Everything above belongs to the Opiri—Ares and his few Freeblood clients.”

Casing the layout of the Household was one of the first things Trinity needed to do. “Is there another way up the tower besides the elevator?” she asked.

Elizabeth threw her an amused glance. “There’s a staircase off the other side of the lobby, but we prefer to avoid climbing all those steps.”

“How big is this place?”

“Ares shares this tower with two other Bloodmasters,” Elizabeth said, tightening her grip on Trinity’s arm. “Are you able to walk?”

“I’m all right,” Trinity said, though she hadn’t been faking either her dizziness or sudden exhaustion. Where had it come from? She knew it wasn’t just because she’d had a rough couple of days—she had far more stamina than any normal human.

Could it have been because Ares had drawn a tiny bit of her blood when he’d kissed her? Could he have done something to her in spite of her injections?

“You’ll soon learn your way around,” Elizabeth said, oblivious to her thoughts. “Right now I’m taking you to Levi, our physician.”

“The serfs’ doctor?”

“Naturally. There are no Opiri physicians.”

Of course not, Trinity thought. Certain diseases were unique to Nightsiders, however rare, but their injuries from Challenge or accident either healed on their own or killed the Nightsider, and Opiri had no sympathy for the weak among their kind.

“I heard that Ares hasn’t claimed a serf in quite a long time,” she said.

“That’s right. I heard he actually Challenged for you.” Elizabeth hesitated. “In all the time I’ve been here, he’s never done that. He despises Challenges.”

“He seemed to like my ‘spirit,’” Trinity said with a brief laugh.

“You are quite beautiful,” Elizabeth said. “But physical beauty has never seemed to matter to him when it comes to serfs. In fact, he has a tendency to pick up the ones no one else wants, as you might have noticed with Diego and Jonathan.” She came to a stop in front of one of the many doors along the corridor, her expression relaxing. “Here we are.”

The door slid open, and they entered a large, pristine infirmary. A man in his forties with neatly cropped salt-and-pepper hair sat behind a desk situated on one side of the room, his gaze fixed on a monitor. He rose quickly, gazing at Trinity with distracted surprise.

Once Elizabeth explained the situation, Levi put her through the paces of a typical physical exam and declared her suffering from exhaustion.

“She needs to rest,” he said to Elizabeth. “What can Ares have been thinking?”

“He brought her back himself,” the older woman said. “What does that suggest to you?”

Levi gave Trinity a second, far less professionally detached look. “Is he tired of Cassandra?” he asked.

“I’m sitting right here,” Trinity said. “We may be slaves, but I refuse to become an object to be discussed like an expensive piece of jewelry.”

Levi and Elizabeth exchanged knowing glances. “I can’t believe that pure lust would be enough,” Levi said. “There must be something special for her to be treated like—”

“I was under the impression that he treats all his serfs well,” Trinity interrupted.

“He’s always been a good master,” Elizabeth said. “We need to get her into bed, Levi. Abbie will be coming to measure her when she’s rested.”

“And then Ares is going to send for me, isn’t he?” Trinity asked.

“When you were brought here, you must have known what to expect,” Levi said, not quite meeting her gaze.

“I didn’t deserve to be sent here at all,” Trinity said, injecting resentment into her voice. “Why were you deported?”

“We don’t speak of such things in this Household,” Elizabeth said with a pained smile. “Unless you want to offend your fellow humans, and no one wants to be alone among enemies.”

Interesting, Trinity thought, that Elizabeth would come right out and say the word “enemy.” It was something a member of the Underground might say, especially if she’d forgotten she couldn’t trust everyone around her.

“Come along now,” Levi said, taking one of Trinity’s arms as Elizabeth took the other. They half carried her to a bed and helped her climb onto it. “I think we’ll give you an IV drip. You look more than a little dehydrated.”

Trinity didn’t object, and soon she was resting comfortably while Levi worked away at his desk. She badly wanted to jump out of bed and take a good look at the serfs’ area of the Household, check out every possible exit and search for likely hiding places.

But all too soon a very tall young woman, who introduced herself as Abbie, arrived with Elizabeth and walked around the bed, cocking her head as she studied Trinity from all angles.

“Very promising,” she said. “When does Ares want her?”

“He only said to let him know when she was feeling better,” Elizabeth said, talking over Trinity the way she had before.

“I’ll put together something simple for now,” Abbie said. “I know just the thing...”

“Do you always talk about new serfs as if they were animals?” Trinity said, looking at each of the three in turn. “Or is this your way of making your lives more bearable?”

Abbie looked at her blankly, and then blinked as if she had snapped out of a dream. “I’m sorry,” she said, her long face crumpling in remorse.

“Sometimes we forget the things we most need to remember,” Elizabeth said. “You’re handling this better than anyone I’ve ever met.”

Trinity wondered if she could pry a little more information out of Elizabeth. “Earlier, you mentioned that Ares seemed to be acting out of character....”

“I made too much of it,” Elizabeth said, flushing a little. “I meant it when I said he was a good master. He very seldom interferes with the running of the Household.”

“He never gets angry, almost never even impatient,” Abbie said, jotting a note in the pad she kept in her wide front pocket. “He’s never sold any of us or given us away as gifts to other Opiri.”