Daughter of Bathory by A.R. Wise

Author:A.R. Wise
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-10-08T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

“Guests are arriving,” said Hammond as he stood outside of Ophelia’s room.

She’d known he was approaching by his scent, a sign that her new Cadger was finally beginning to impart some of its gifts to her. Ophelia was sitting in her Victorian chair in front of her vanity, and looked at Hammond through the mirror. To her right was the bathroom, the door open, where the corpse of a Pale was still hanging halfway out of the bathtub.

Hammond’s position didn’t afford him a view into the bathroom, but Ophelia still felt a twinge of excitement at the prospect of him discovering her murder. Would he be frightened? Would he be mad?

She already knew that she would murder Hammond, but also worried that he’d gained power from consuming the Cadger’s blood when he stole it from Andrew. His desire to save the blood hinted that he’d become corrupted by its power, and she was worried that she would need to wait until his blood blessing faded before attempting to kill him. The last thing she needed now would be to initiate a confrontation mere minutes before entertaining guests.

Hammond had been dutiful since his attempted murder of Andrew, and Ophelia hoped to ease him into a sense of safety. She debated how best to go about appeasing the arrogant Pale.

“Should we open the gate and let them in?” asked Hammond after Ophelia failed to respond to his initial statement.

Ophelia was touching up her makeup, but kept her eyes on Hammond through the reflection in the mirror. She smiled as he waited, but still didn’t answer. The metal flask of Cadger blood was beside her, and she looked down at it in remembrance of what Hammond had done.

“My Lady?” asked Hammond, and Ophelia wished it was Andrew at her door.

She finally turned to face him. “You have a lot of work to do today, Hammond. Do you know your role?”

“I’ll do whatever you ask of me,” said Hammond.

“Today will be quite the test for you. I’m going to need you to peruse the crowd, and pick out men you think I’d enjoy. Then you’ll bring them to me, and I’ll pick the ones I find pleasing.”

“To add to the hive?” asked Hammond.

Ophelia nodded, and then taunted him by adding, “And for me to play with, if I so choose. Are you okay with that, or will it make you jealous?”

Hammond didn’t know how to answer. Ophelia enjoyed watching him struggle to say what he thought she wanted to hear. “I’ll do whatever you wish, my Lady.”

“I know you will.”

“My Lady,” Hammond started with an apologetic tone. “Did I offend you by what I did to Andrew?”

Ophelia feigned shock, like a stunned southern belle with the tips of her fingers set to her breast. “Offend me? By murdering a member of my hive and taking a Cadger’s blessing in the most vicious way imaginable – what could possibly be offensive about that?”

“I was only trying to protect you,” said Hammond as he took a daring step into the room.

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