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But his little soul seer did not answer, her senses in a disarray as another vampire drank from her neck, and his rage, kindled by a mix of jealousy and possessiveness, burst into life.

A second later, he was at the courtyard, his gaze unerringly locating Zari. When he saw her wan face, he roared. The sound had the other vampires in a panic, but Alexandru didn’t give a damn. He would kill them all.

Flying to her side, he tore his pet away from the vampire on the ground. Shaking her awake, he said her name roughly out loud and in her mind.Wake up!

Her eyes blinked open. “Master...”Her voice was faint, but he still managed to hear it.

“Did he hurt you?” he demanded, not bothering to speak through their minds, knowing that she was too weak to answer in the same vein.

“No...don’t...angry. Don’t...hurt...him.”

“You’re not making sense,”Alexandru gritted out. “Tell me you are all right, at least. Talk to me, Zari!”

But she didn’t answer, her head falling back as her body went limp.

“WELCOME BACK, SLEEPINGbeauty.” The murmured words came from her Master, whose handsome but strangely grim face was the first thing Zari was able to focus on when she woke up.

Disoriented, she had to blink groggily several times before the world around her settled. She was alone with her Master in a room filled with several neatly made beds. Its walls were painted in cream and the floors made of shiny white marble. Memories came back to her in a striking flash of pain, and she whimpered, eyes squeezing shut. Zari automatically reached for the side of her neck. The vampire had fed on her so hungrily that there was none of the usual tingling pleasure she felt every time Alexandru drank from her.

Alexandru’s lips compressed tightly at the sight of pain on his pet’s face. He waited for her to open her eyes before reaching forward to flick her forehead. Hard. “Serves. You. Right.” He flicked her forehead with each word.

He had been on bedside duty for over an hour, and each minute that passed without her waking up had been nerve-wracking. The school’s human nurse, Mrs. Humphrey, had told him it was normal for someone who had lost a good amount of blood, but for Alexandru, the experience was an eye-opener. He had never spent a lot of time with humans until this pet of his. They were turning out to be more troublesome than he expected. More fragile, too, and he didn’t think he’d be able to forget the sight of his pet losing consciousness anytime soon.

“Ooooowwww.” Zari rubbed her no doubt red forehead when her Master was done torturing her.

He asked abruptly, “Why did you let another vampire feed on you?” He expected his pet to be flustered at the question but instead she gave him an odd look, as ifsheexpected him to have known the answer already.

When she answered, “Why do you think?” Alexandru flicked her forehead again, harder than usual.

She gasped in pain. “Thatseriouslyhurts, Master! I’m not kidding.”

“Because you’re beingtoo cutethis time, not giving me a straight answer.” When their gazes met, he said flatly, “You know you’ve violated a rule, don’t you? So unless you have a good reason...”

She turned to face him, lying on her side. “He could have died if I hadn’t let him drink from me.”

“Even so.”

She shook her head. “You don’t understand.” Avoiding his gaze, she mumbled, “What if it wereyou, Master? What if you were the one in need of blood? If that day comes, I hope that what I did today would be returned. That another human pet would help you, Claimed or not.”

When silence was her only answer, Zari forced herself to meet her Master’s gaze and found Alexandru’s eyes resting on her broodingly. “What?” she asked, feeling defensive without understanding why.

Alexandru slowly leaned against his seat. A now-familiar pang had struck his chest when the intentions behind his pet’s words became clear, uncomfortably so.She had done it for him.He mentally shook his head at the realization. Did she know howcutethat was? He was an ancient vampire, whose powers were unmatched by almost every creature in the world, and yet this human girl dared to be terrified...forhim.

“Ouch!” Her Master had flicked her forehead again. “What was that for?”

“Because you’re too cute. Is that all you’ve learned in this school? Being cute and turning me on?” She gaped at his words, andthatwas cute, too, which was why before she could even reply, he did what he had wanted to do the first time she woke up.

Zari’s eyes widened when she saw a familiar look in Alexandru’s gaze. She automatically protested, “No, Master—-”

But of course, he didn’t heed her. He never did, and if she was being honest, she didn’t want him to. His blasted powers of attraction made sure it was so.

Zari’s toes curled under the sheets as Alexandru bent forward and captured her lips with his own.

Her Master was kissing her.

Oh, dear Lord, her Master was kissing her again, and each kiss just felt more addictive than the last. This kiss, however – it was rougher than usual, his tongue exploring every inch of her mouth, Alexandru sucking her lower lip hard. She was breathless in a few seconds, and she found herself clutching his shirt hard as the kiss went on and on.

Don’t do that again.His voice sounded savage in her mind, the words accompanied by Alexandru’s lips trailing down just before he licked the side of her neck. The flesh under his tongue tingled hotly, and the soothing tenderness of his kiss made her toes curl harder. It was as if her Master was asking for her forgiveness and blamed himself for what had happened.