Page 18 of House of Darkness (The Fallen Star #1)

ROMAN

Imay have exaggerated our arrangement a bit.

An acolyte would certainly help me navigate those like Alexander, but it always came down to negotiations and stroking egos.

Estrella wouldn’t have accepted my assistance otherwise—she was too accustomed to kindness at a price.

Still, I felt no guilt when I saw the brightness in her eyes as she opened the door to her workroom.

She had holed up there ever since, and I couldn’t be more pleased.

She didn’t need to know I’d stretched the truth.

Besides, it gave me an excuse to be near her, something I found myself wanting more and more lately, especially after her explosive outburst in my workshop.

Her violence was intoxicating, particularly when directed at me.

I had almost let the chisel hit me just to feel the pain of her hand.

She probably wouldn’t have liked that, though.

I glanced across the carriage at her, nestled by Isabella’s side. She wore a peacock blue gown with ruffled shoulders and a lace overlay. I wondered if her color choice had anything to do with my earlier comments, but either way, I loved it. She looked stunning in blue.

Isabella looked good too. I hardly ever saw her dressed up anymore. Usually, she favored function over fashion, but today she wore a peach gown made entirely of ruffles. Their skirts together took up most of the space around our feet.

We’d been stuck like this for a few hours now, nearing the city painfully slowly. Razvan sat next to me, scribbling away in his sketchbook. I rested my chin on his shoulder.

“Are you sketching me?”

He didn’t even glance my way as he replied, “Why on earth would I be sketching you?”

“Because I am the perfect muse.”

The corners of his lips curled up, but he said nothing. He was, in fact, not sketching me but rather the girls across from us. The flow of their skirts gave the illusion of movement, and he perfectly captured the light in Estrella’s eyes and Isabella’s bemused grin.

“Did you do any sketches while at the Koli House?” I reached across him and yanked the sketchbook from his hands.

He spun his head toward me, his sapphire earrings swinging with the movement. “You’re exhausting, you know that?”

I grinned. Though he was the youngest, Razvan was the most levelheaded of my entire cabinet.

It was partly why I’d brought him on. It also made it easy to bother him incessantly.

I flipped back the pages in his sketchbook, careful to grab only the edges to avoid smudging the art.

Many of the recent artworks depicted his recent travels to the Koli Islands.

I stopped a few pages back. “Is this Laki?”

The sketch depicted a stocky man with shoulder length hair knotted away from his face.

His exposed torso was covered in traditional Koli tattoos.

He was astride a surfboard carved with moons and wolves, cutting through the waves with intent focus.

The way Razvan crafted the curling water made it look as though the count—or as the Koli called him, the alpha—was in motion.

Razvan’s cheeks flushed. “Yes.”

I hadn’t met Laki yet, he’d taken the position of count only a few years before I ascended the throne. Still, he had been amicable in discussions of alliance. I wondered if his willingness to work with me had anything to do with the blush on Razvan’s cheeks. Good for Razvan, he deserved it.

“Let me see!” Estrella leaned across and snatched the book from my hands. Her fingers brushed mine, sending a shock through my senses. Her heartbeat echoed through my flesh and her warmth scorched my skin.

I watched her with quiet fascination. Her movements were enchanting—the slow, methodical way her fingers traced the pages, vibrating with life and energy.

The bounce of her leg when she was excited.

Even how she held herself stiffly upright, though when she wasn’t paying attention, her body would relax, as if she wanted to forget the habits of her training.

I didn’t spend much time around humans, and when I did, they weren’t like her.

I was entranced; I had been since her blade cut into my chest.

As we drew closer to Greford, my mind began to buzz with activity.

I hated the city and its overwhelming throng of people.

Their streams of consciousness felt like an omnipresent hum in my mind—impossible to distinguish any particular voice and impossible to push out.

The smell lingered, a mix of sewage and sweat, settling into my taste buds like spoiled wyne.

When I was younger, I enjoyed escaping to the city.

I’d fly in on fledgling wings and crawl through Greford’s underbelly until I found Sorin.

Then we’d get into all manners of trouble.

Now that Leonidas was gone, I realized the desire to escape had never been about the city; it had been about getting away from him, seeking a sense of freedom.

It was funny how the roles had reversed.

Now, the buzz of the city felt like a heavy cloak of chaos settling on my shoulders instead of the loosening of shackles.

Yet seeing the brightness in Estrella’s eyes as we navigated the busy cobblestone streets made it worth it.

Her vibrating excitement washed over me in waves, cloaking that distracting hum with a comfortable warmth.

Despite all my failures thus far, at least I could give her this.

I wanted to show her all of it. Anything to keep that smile on her face.

My carriage driver, Avram, took a sharp turn down a narrow side street, weaving us through the traffic and shouting street vendors.

As quickly as we’d entered, we left the city behind, following a well-maintained road lined with hedges and rolling hills.

The Levis mansion loomed just outside the city, its domineering walls a testament to excess.

Our carriage paused momentarily at a gilded gate, each post adorned with an open-mouthed lion with eyes of ruby. The guard allowed us in, and we continued to a massive entry trimmed with rose bushes and golden statues of lions in various playful poses.

I exited the carriage after Razvan, pausing to help Isabella and Estrella out after me. I tugged Estrella to my side. The act would start now. She didn’t need to know I also enjoyed how her warmth seeped into my dead flesh.

The Levis mansion was a gaudy behemoth of a structure, easily able to fit five of my castles within its walls, each inch painted yellow and trimmed with gold.

Even the doorman was dressed in a stuffy ruffled suit adorned with thick gold jewelry.

All while vampires starved and humans living under Levis jurisdiction scraped to get by. The opulence was disgusting.

Leonidas had similar tastes while he ruled, probably why he and Alexander had gotten along so well.

One of the first things I did after his death was sell off all the ridiculous decor and let Bells distribute the funds.

I left only the original statues from when my grandfather built the castle.

At least his style hadn’t been so suffocating.

The doors opened, and angry shouts from within greeted us. I recognized Enso’s and Sorin’s voices, along with Alexander’s lazy drawl. It was impressive how he managed to sound half-asleep even while insulting the general of war, who was twice his size and could incinerate him if he wanted.

They stood in the entry hall, Alexander’s back to me and my generals facing him. Alexander was mid-transition to his beast form, bulkier than normal, with a mane of gold crowning his head. My shadows thrummed under my skin in response to the threat.

“I will not be insulted in my own house, boy! You couldn’t even stop an invasion in your own home, yet you expect to tell me how to run mine!”

“You forget your place, Alexander.” Enso’s voice boomed, making the very ground vibrate.

He was mid-shift too, his amber eyes already slitted, green scales sprouting from his flesh.

He held back, though—his horns hadn’t sprouted yet.

Even restrained, I couldn’t remember the last time I saw him so angry.

Alexander had touched on the one thing guaranteed to throw him over the edge. Just for that, he deserved to die.

I stepped forward. “What seems to be the issue here?”

Alexander spun to face me. His eyes had turned gold, revealing the lion within that unassuming figure. “You.”

“Indeed it is.” I placed myself firmly between the raging vampire and my three companions, tucking Estrella behind me.

He bared his teeth. “I will not follow a tsar who puts ignorant, useless generals in charge. Ones who can’t even protect—”

“I’m going to cut you off there, Alex.” Alexander bristled at the nickname.

“I have every confidence that Enso is the best man to lead the royal armies. I’d go so far as to say he’s the finest general of war to ever grace the position, and I will not have my decisions questioned.

Besides, you weren’t bothered by his position under Tsar Leonidas. ”

His face contorted with anger. My fingers twitched. I couldn’t get my wings out in this jacket—an oversight on my part—but I could remove it if necessary.

He thrust a finger toward Sorin. “And this one is more concerned with his cock than forging alliances.”

I smirked. “Well, I won’t argue with that.”

“A clear sign you’re too immature for your position. You aren’t worthy of the title tsar, vampling.”

That was it. This wasn’t my first challenge, and I’d win this one just as I had every other.

It was exhausting to constantly fight this uphill battle against relics who saw me as a child.

Every step toward my goals was met with a step back, but I would fight as I had every day of my life.

I knew no other way. I shrugged off my jacket and handed it to Estrella.

“Could you go stand with Razvan and Isabella, doll?”