Master's Vampire (Book 1 of The OutCaste Series)

Chapter 15

I nod.

"As for your punishment, you wil-"

"It's not Evie's fault. I ordered her to go with me," Alvena interrupts.

Bad move, child. Bad move.

"That only tells me I should punish her more for obeying your orders and not mine."

We live in a hierarchical society. No one interrupts the high lord mid speech.

"You ordered her to attend to my needs. I needed to go to Rosehold. She obeyed. So ultimately, you're punishing her for obeying your own orders. That's not very noble."

Alvena must have lost her logic back in the neighbor town.

"And you entering a vampire den in Rosehold's Red-Light District is?" Master bit out contemptuously.

"I didn't know," Alvena replied humbly after giving it some consideration.

"If you have no other words to say, I advise you to not speak out of turn the next time we share a conversation. And, do not ever raise your voice against mine. Alvena, I am only this forgiving."

"I was only trying to make you happy!" Alvena yelled back with much energy, completely disregarding Master's earlier words.

"If that was your intention, I won't hesitate to tell you that you entirely failed." An unfamiliar coldness accompanied Master's words and removed the usual sweetness of his voice. "Remove your presence for the night."

I believe that last comment was meant to ease the situation for I sensed a bit of sorrow in his tone. However, it was too subtle for me to expect the little human to detect.

It was then that Alvena began to shake a little. The shake turned into a slight tremble before trickles of water ran down her cheeks. She walked to me and placed the covered painting into my hands before running up the stairs without another word.

Without her presence, Master focused his attention on me. He opened his mouth, but Lucien popped his head out right before I was given my punishment.

"Alek, let's not be upset over something as petty as this~" Lucien advised as he took a sip from a wine glass. "Don't tell me you're still mad that you were bitten."

That was obviously not the case and all three of us knew it, but whatever Lucien was doing, it was working. Master's stoic expression slowly broke down, gradually restoring his much more youthful look.

"I'm sorry, Master. I will rec-"

"Rest," Master finished my sentence before walking off to the living room.

I watched as he slowly turned and disappeared. Master is unbelievably kind for a high lord.

"If you're worried, there's no need to be," Lucien says and winks.

I look at him indifferently. "I am not worried."

"You're pretty scary. Earlier when you were ripping those vampires up, your heartbeat didn't change. When Alek was angry, your heartbeat still didn't change. Even now, it's beating so evenly," he says as he circles me.

"Are you scared of my even heartbeats?" I question.

"On the contrary," he finally stops walking and stands in front of me. "I'm intrigued."

I look up to see Lucien's face, hoping that his expression would clear up his strange choice of words. His face was the same as usual, except when his lips curved up into a smile, two extra fangs appeared as well.

"Okay," I reply. "I will rest now."

Despite excusing myself from Lucien, I did not head straight to my room. Instead, I paid a visit to Master's study. Since Alvena risked her life to get this back by tonight, I thought it best that it at least made it to Master. After placing the protected canvas on his desk, I went to clean myself off.