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When he had been dying, she had come to his aid, uncaring of the rules she would break. That they had been strangers then didn’t matter to her either. “That day,” Erou heard himself say. “Why did you do it? Why did you let me feed on you when Alexandru’s your Master?”

“You were dying—-”

He shook his head. “No. I don’t think that’s just it.” He captured her wrist when she was about to turn away, using his strength to pull her back. She gasped as their bodies came into contact, his muscular body making her feel even softer against him.

Zari said nervously, “Lord Erou, please let me go.” She couldn’t understand what had gotten into her friend. He had never been this...insistent. Although he had let her know from the very start that he wanted her to be his pet instead of Alexandru’s, he had always respected her decision.

Until now that was.

Erou said quietly, “I’ve been called by my father. I need to go back to Chalys and stay there indefinitely.”

Oh.

“I want you to come with me.”

Her heart broke at the words. “Lord Erou...”

His lips curved in a bleak smile. “That’s what I figured.”

Her heart hurt a little more. “I can’t,” she whispered.

“That’s why I asked. That’s why I hope you can answer.”

She wanted to look away from his gaze because she knew what she was about to say would hurt. But she didn’t. Lord Erou deserved her to face his feelings head on, just as he had shown her his feelings openly, even if he had known from the start that she belonged to someone else.

“I was thinking of my Master.” Even though her voice wavered, her gaze remained steady on him. “I thought that if I gave my blood to you, the day would come that when he needed the same help, there would be another person who would do the same thing for him.”

And so it was always the hunter, he thought. Always had been the hunter.

“YOU HAVE BEEN CRYING.” Rhapsody’s words were matter-of-fact like they always were when she made the observation. Zari was in the other girl’s room. When Erou had insisted on walking her back, she had found herself blurting out about wanting to visit Rhapsody first. Anything was better than having Erou take her straight to her Master’s rooms. Above all, Erou and Alexandru should not come face to face, especially not today.

At the girl’s words, Zari leaned back to check her reflection on the full-length mirror mounted on the wall, and the red eyes that stared back at her made Zari wince.

“Did Lord Erou make you cry?”

Zari was startled. “You know him?”

“Part of my lessons during home schooling was to know every important member of Chalysian society.”

“You’re amazing,” she told Rhapsody honestly.

“No. I’m just being practical.” The tone was as practical, without any sense of bragging or false modesty.

Zari sighed. “I wish I could be more like you.” If she was, maybe none of this would hurt as much. Something occurred to her, and she asked haltingly, “Have you...have you studied about heartkeeping?” She held her breath.

“Of course.”

“You have?”

“What do you want to know about it?” No curiosity, just a practical offer of help.

Zari beamed. “I think I love you, Rhapsody.”

Slowly, the other girl blinked. “I apologize. I am not a lesbian.”

Zari burst into laughter. “It was just an expression, silly.” She turned to face Rhapsody directly, who was seated in front of the computer, her fingers flying over the keyboard as she typed her daily letter to her Master – information that Rhapsody had alsovoluntarily given up.With the other girl, Zari thought with a smile,what you saw was what you really got.

“What is a heartkeeper?”