Page 40 of Wicked Magik

His skin was pale, with a hint of ashen quality to it. The rest of him was enveloped in a gothic-style uniform that cloaked him entirely from head to toe. The ensemble featured a black tunic with elegantly ruffled sleeves and a high neck collar. His legs were clad in knee-high, deep red tights that seamlessly merged into his black knee length pants.

I originally thought he was the Lord of the house and I was ready to lay into him with a piece of my mind. Tell him what a terrible person he was for treating Oryx the way he has. But then he introduced himself as the manager of the house and pardoned himself for the intrusion, I bit my tongue.

After the awkward exchange, I got dressed and he led me downstairs. I wanted answers, I thought Oryx and the Lord were the only ones here but apparently that wasn’t the case anymore.

We had only been speaking for a few minutes before Oryx stumbled into the kitchen.

Because this monster couldn’t be without me.

I continued to stare at Benedict. He cleared his throat and went to the icebox, much different than any fridge I’ve ever seen and pulled out some eggs. When he did so, I thought I saw stitches around his ear.

It was slightly discolored, like it didn’t get enough blood to the area, or maybe it was still healing.

I narrowed my eyes and Benedict caught onto my stare.

“Eggs?” He asked as he moved his head away.

I nodded. “Sorry to be rude, but what are you exactly?”

Benedict snorted. “A fae, and you are human.” He raised a brow. “A human he brought back that he was supposed to dispose of.”

Oryx snorted. “She was not guilty of those sins. She is my pet now.”

We were never going to get over the pet thing, why fight it?

“Either way, the Lord will be displeased once he finds out you brought a human. I was surprised when I found her in your bed this morning. I never thought I’d see a human, but then again I never thought… ha. Never mind.”

Benedict busied himself with the pans, starting to prepare my breakfast as we allowed Oryx some privacy to drink. Oryx leaned in to drink the blood, as if embarrassed. I placed my hand gently on his back to comfort him, and he eased up as I listened to the sound of his slurping.

I twisted the end of my hair. Benedict looked shocked, but there wasn’t much left that could shock me anymore. I’ve got a monster that ate me out last night, a fae species that I didn’tknow existed cooking me breakfast and I’m in a giant mansion gothic house with a mysterious Lord.

I sighed heavily.

But then something else caught my eye about Benedict.

Benedict rolled up his sleeve to grab the butter and slap it on the pan. It sizzled and my eyes widened. His wrist had a line of stitches all the way around them. Poorly done stitches that sat on the outside of his skin. I swore I still saw the black wire threading around it. He was still moving his wrist, like he didn’t feel the pull of the skin.

My mouth dropped as I watched. Benedict spoke, said he would cook my eggs and then have to excuse himself.

Oryx huffed, mentioning because Benedict had pissed himself.

"What the hell happened to your wrist?" I exclaimed. The skin on his arm and wrist varied in color, as if they belonged to people with two distinct skin tones. It might have been a circulation issue, but I was skeptical. It looked like he had undergone a hand transplant, much like what had been done with his ear.

Benedict shook his sleeve down and plated the eggs. “Here you go.” He brought the plate toward me and added the fork. “If you need anything else, have Oryx fetch me.”

Benedict turned on his heel, ready to high tail it out of there, but before he could, I grabbed him by the collar and Oryx still slurping his cup-o-blood didn’t stop me. “I asked you a question!” I snarled and pushed him up against the icebox.

Oryx then dropped his mug and stalked over. He pulled me away from Benedict and snarled into his face. “Answer her.”

Benedict’s already pale face turned an even ghostlier white. “Well I can’t certainly answer that, now can I?” He glared at me.

He glared at me!

“All I can say is, I lost my hand. And some other parts. My Lord put me back together the best he could.”

Okay, so this dude is just like Oryx, but made to look more… like an average fae. At least, that was what I was gathering. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

Does he really think I am that stupid? I’ll play his game for now but this is going to get old fast.