Page 30 of His Ruthless Match (Below #3)

JARETH

A s Grelth placed a steaming plate of food in front of me, I rolled my shoulders to ease the tension in my shoulders.

The aroma of perfectly roasted meat and seasoned vegetables wafted through the air, but my mind wasn’t on dinner.

It was on Eva. Specifically, on what she’d been doing in the bath I’d drawn for her.

I’d felt the spike in her heart rate. The unmistakable rhythm of her heart had quickened before settling into softer beats. I didn’t need to see her to know what was happening. I’d drawn the bath to help her relax, but damn, I hadn’t expected her to take full advantage of it.

Dirty girl.

My cougar stirred.

Heat sparked low in my stomach as I heard her footsteps behind me. I pushed the image aside and turned as Eva entered the room, dressed in a sweatshirt and jeans, her damp hair spilling down her back. She was effortlessly beautiful, but there was a slight hesitation in her step when our eyes met.

Recognition. Shame.

She glanced away quickly, her cheeks tinged with the faintest pink, and I couldn’t stop a smirk from tugging at my lips. I knew exactly why she wouldn’t hold my gaze, and I knew exactly where her mind had gone when she saw me sitting there.

Grelth remained oblivious as he set another plate on the table. “Dinner is served,” he announced flatly.

Eva sat down stiffly, her eyes fixed on her plate. “Thank you, Grelth.” She fidgeted with her fork and refused to look up at me. It was almost endearing how flustered she was.

The meal passed in silence. Eva kept shooting glances at me, but quickly averted her eyes whenever I looked at her. I wondered if she was still thinking about the orgasm she’d had.

Halfway through the meal, my phone buzzed. I glanced at the screen and saw a message from Orvash, an old vampire I’d been under contract with for the past year. Orvash rarely called on me unless it was urgent, which meant I couldn’t ignore this.

The message was straightforward. Someone in his employ had been caught stealing enchanted artifacts from House Orvash’s collection and selling them on the black market.

The thief had fled to a vampire den, using insider knowledge to gain protection.

Orvash needed me to retrieve or eliminate the smuggler quietly to send a clear message to anyone else considering crossing his family.

“What’s going on?” Eva’s voice broke through my thoughts. Her tone was light, almost teasing. “Do you need to leave? What a shame. Grelth and I will hold down the fort while you’re away.”

I looked up, catching her lips curving into a mocking pout. My gaze lingered on her mouth a moment too long, and my thoughts took a decidedly inappropriate turn. Shaking it off, I stood and shoved my phone into my pocket.

“I have an assignment. And you’re coming with me.”

Eva froze, her fork hovering midair. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You heard me.”

“No.” She dropped her fork, and it clattered against her plate. “Absolutely not. I’m not going anywhere with you, especially not for some nonsense in The Below.”

“You don’t have a choice, sweetheart. I’m not leaving you behind. I can handle my job and keep an eye on you at the same time.”

“Jareth, this is ridiculous. I have the bracelet. That’s what it’s for, right? And Grelth can stay with me. I’ll be fine.”

I shook my head, although my insistence at this point was less based on fear that Eva would come to harm while I was gone and more because of Eva’s stubborn insistence that she stay home.

“Nope. Can’t risk it. I won’t be able to focus on the job if I’m waiting for a distress signal.

And trust me, no one in The Below will touch you while you’re with me. ”

The look she gave me could have cut glass. “Where are you even going?”

“To a vampire den,” I said simply, and she stiffened.

“A vampire den ? Are you insane?”

“Don’t worry. They operate under strict codes of conduct. No violence unless sanctioned by the house. It’ll be fine.”

“Fine?” She was practically yelling now. “I’m a human. You’re taking me into a den of vampires, and I’m supposed to feel safe?”

“You will be,” I said, keeping my voice calm. “I’ll make sure of it. Now, do you want to change, or are you going in that ?”

She glanced down at her sweatshirt and jeans. “What’s wrong with this?”

I shrugged. “The den’s a bit swanky. You might stand out.”

She threw her hands up. “This is unbelievable. You—fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

As she stomped off to change, I turned to Grelth. “We’ll be back in a few hours.”

Grelth frowned, gesturing to the plates. “Master Grelth slaved over this food, and now you’re not going to finish it? Unacceptable.”

“I’ll make it up to you tomorrow,” I promised. “You can cook for us again.”

Grelth huffed in displeasure, but he didn’t argue. Eva returned, wearing a black cocktail dress that nearly had me drooling and muttering a string of profanities under my breath.

I raised an eyebrow. “What was that you said?”

“Nothing,” she said sweetly. “Just thinking about how I should invest in a laser pointer. Keep you entertained so you can’t come up with stupid ideas.”

I rolled my eyes and opened the door, stepping aside to let her pass. “Keep it up, Eva. Maybe I’ll let the vampires have a taste.”

She huffed and marched out the door.

The Below never slept. It festered. Shifted. Slouched against its own bones like it had something to hide.

I ducked into the corridor between what used to be an alchemy shop and whatever the fuck that glowing fungus den had turned into. The stench of ozone and old spellfire hung in the air. In the distance, someone shouted in a language I didn’t know.

I kept walking, one hand in my coat pocket, thumb grazing the hilt of a dagger I hadn’t consciously grabbed.

A billboard overhead—sleek, silver-edged, too polished for this stretch of The Below—flickered to life above a graffitied tunnel. On screen, a young warlock of maybe sixteen grinned as he held up a certificate like he’d won the fucking lottery.

Text unfurled beneath him in soft blue script.

The Cerulean Scholars Initiative: Investing in the Next Generation of Magical Excellence.

A second image blinked into place. A fae girl with sigils inked across her cheekbones. Behind her, a crystal ring formed that looked like a cage, with the word Cerulean entwined around it.

I paused. I’d never heard of Cerulean.

And I fucking knew everything.

At least, I used to before the magistrate started getting more creative.

Scholarships? It didn’t make sense here among the wreckage and back-alley debt collectors. Pushing recruitment posters for magical children was fucking creepy. Felt like grooming.

I could feel it in the phrasing. Magical Excellence.

Not survival. Not potential. Not inclusion.

Excellence.

I made a mental note to look deeper into it. It would probably be a dead end, but anything new and shiny deserved to be looked into. And if I’d learned anything about The Below, nothing was fucking free.

The vampire den loomed ahead, a blackened jewel in the midst of The Below.

The crumbling facade of what had once been a grand opera house felt like a dying memory— an eerie reminder of the decadence that had long since rotted away.

I led Eva up the grand staircase, the stone groaning beneath our weight, the sound unnerving but not enough to slow my pace.

This place had its own pulse—a sick, suffocating energy that thrummed through the walls—and I could feel it creeping up my spine.

Eva’s footsteps slowed behind me, but I didn’t turn to check on her. I didn’t need to. She was with me, and in this world, that was enough to protect her.

When we reached the top of the stairs, the main hall opened into an opulent space made monstrous by its decaying nature.

Gilded chairs and velvet settees were scattered around, creating pockets of secrecy and whispered deals.

The flicker of chandeliers above us cast fragmented shadows on the polished floor, and the sharp stares of vampires and couriers alike bore down on us.

Eva’s voice broke through the tension. “This place feels wrong. In every sense of the word.”

I’d felt the same way when I first set foot in this den of vipers.

“Relax, Delgado. They can smell fear, but they know better than to act on it here. Just stay close to me and keep your mouth shut.”

I felt her move closer to me. Her discomfort was palpable, and for reasons I couldn’t explain, it thrilled me.

But I couldn’t focus on that now. I had a mission.

Eva’s safety was paramount, but there was something else at play here, something I was getting paid handsomely to resolve. I was a professional, after all.

Eva’s eyes flicked to the couriers darting between the vampires, arms laden with boxes.

They moved with purpose, but there was something in their gaze—an eerie hunger that only the undead could carry.

Some lingered a moment too long on Eva, their crimson eyes scanning her with a predatory gleam.

She sidestepped even closer to me. The subtle admission that she trusted me to protect her was not lost on me.

I slowed my pace and lowered my voice so only she could hear. “The smuggler’s in the back. Grayson Marks. Human, arrogant, dangerous when cornered. The usual.”

“Sounds delightful,” she muttered, her eyes narrowing at the vampires circling the room, all pretending not to watch us.

“Pay attention to the movement. This isn’t just a vampire hangout. Look at the couriers,” I said. “What do you think’s in those boxes?”

Eva’s gaze followed one of the couriers who had a tight grip on an ornate box. Her brow furrowed. “Artifacts?”

“Yep,” I said grimly. “Stolen artifacts. Some of it’s legitimate—some of it’s from House Orvash’s private collection. But this much business, this much smuggling, goes beyond House Orvash’s directive. Someone’s pushing boundaries. And Orvash knows. That’s why we’re here.”