Nico's POV
I stared down at the slave boy.
The one who not only told me that I had to go see Lord Bronwyn again, but that I had to take Khloe with me as well.
I hadn't noticed that my grip had substantially tightened on the door until the slave's eyes flickered to my hand for a short moment.
"Will do."
I shut the door before he could say anything else.
Why the hell would he need to see me again? And with my pet? I literally met with him last night.
It's not like he hasn't piled me with enough work already.
I turned to see Khloe wide-eyed on the couch. Her breaths had already spead up enough for me to know that she was panicking if her nails digging into the couch didn't tell me anything.
This is exactly why I didn't want to take her in the first place.
I sighed as I made my way over to the desk to retrieve her leash.
"Khloe," I said in an act to grab her attention.
It was successful, except that her terrified expression had now shifted to me.
She shrunk back deeper into the couch as I lifted her leash into my hands.
"W-what does he want w-with me?" She stuttered.
Her voice was quiet enough that I don't think a human could have heard it.
I shrugged, taking a couple steps towards her.
"I have no idea, but I want to get this over with as soon as possible so come here."
She did, eventually.
It probably would have been faster if I went to her but oh well.
Her trembling became more apparent as she stepped closer to me. I'm surprised she could even walk.
She kept her eyes on the ground as I attached her leash and headed towards the door.
~~~
I pretty much had to drag Khloe up to the Lord's room.
She didn't even dare look up as I approached the large double doors guarded by two of the Lords favorite ego-filled guards.
I stopped right in front of the guards, waiting for them to let me in.
They both glanced at Khloe for a moment before focusing on me.
"State your business, Nicolas." The one on the left barked.
I rolled my eyes.
This guy always pissed me off.
I really didn't want to deal with this right now.
"Your guess is as good as mine, buddy."
The one on the left glared at me while the other one smirked a bit in amusement.
"The Lord sent for him like five minutes ago, idiot." He said.
The one on the left huffed as he leaned back against the wall.
"What the hell could Lord Bronwyn want with you two days in a row?"
Did I not already tell him that I didn't know?
I gave the leash a slight tug, signaling Khloe that we were about to start walking.
"I don't know," I made my way towards the door, setting my hand upon it to let myself in, "Maybe he realized how incompetent you are and needed someone to actually get something done."
I barely heard a low growl from my left before I let myself into the Lord's chambers.
Khloe let out a sharp gasp as the door slammed shut.
I sighed quietly to myself as I was met with Lord Bronwyn's shit eating grin and his golden eyes.
They were pretty much the only bright thing in this room since he preferred to live in the darkness.
Due to that, Khloe's human eyes probably couldn't see more than a few feet in front of her. That would probably freak her out even more, and even more so because she could only see the Lord's eyes.
That is if she even decided to look up.
Lord Bronwyn's chuckle echoed through the room from his throne that sat upon a couple stairs.
"It's so nice to see you again, Sir Vanderwood." He spoke.
His smooth, deep voice was already laced with confidence.
Fantastic.
"What do you want?" I questioned.
God, I really don't want to be here again.
He just chuckled again, leaning forward a bit on his throne.
"Now, is that any way to talk to your Lord?" He cocked his head.
On a normal occasion, no, but I really didn't plan on faking formality two days in a row.
I cleared my throat a bit.
"My apologies my Lord," I gave a small bow, hoping that Khloe would get the idea and give one as well, "What can I do for you?"
He was pleased with my new response, amused even.
He hummed a bit as he reached for a file sitting on the small desk beside him.
"Well, I see that you finally decided to get yourself another pet since your last one passed."
Really? This is what he wanted to talk to me about?
I nodded.
His lips peaked into a smirk as his eyes strayed from mine.
"Well, let her take a couple steps forward. I want to see her." His voice was menacing.
I blinked at him as I felt Khloe begin to tremble again through her leash.
God that's a terrible idea.
Still, I turned my head back, meeting her gaze as I tugged forward on her leash.
Her face alone showed how scared she was. Even her eyes were begging me to get her out of this.
Well, I didn't want to be here either so she had to deal with this with me.
It took another tug on the leash to get her to move.
She looked back to the floor as she began, her hands intertwined at her hips in a futile act to stop them from shaking.
Even her small steps echoed through the large room.
I tugged lightly back on the leash once she was a couple feet in front of me, signaling her to stop.
Lord Bronwyn looked her over, his eyes narrowed.
She didn't even dare look up.
His eyes then shifted to the file as he opened it up.
"Well, her records came in today." He started.
I rose a brow.
Usually, the pet's records were supposed to be delivered directly to their Masters.
"Were you aware that you purchased a rogue, Nicolas?" His voice was suddenly low.
I froze for a second.
I'd be lying if I said that it didn't slip my mind. She doesn't act like one at all, she acted like the complete opposite actually.
"I was," I responded.
Khloe visibly tensed even more.
Lord Bronwyn's confident smile had been replaced with a glare, now focusing on Khloe.
Great.
"Interesting," He uncrossed his legs as he leaned back, "Has she," He paused for a moment trying to find the right words to say, "paid for that yet?"
My eyes narrowed knowing exactly what he meant.
It was less of a question and more of a challenge for me to say no.
My grip tightened on the leash.
I forgot how much he despised rogues.
He believed that's he's created the most perfect city, and any human that decided against that and tried to run from his rule would be executed.
For rogues, it was kill on sight.
Yet somehow Khloe won the favor of the Pet Master.
"No."
He wasn't pleased with my answer to say the least.
"I see," His finger drummed against the armrest, "have you fed from her yet?"
My jaw tensed.
Did he seriously call me up here just to tell me how to discipline my pet?
This is a waste of my time.
"No."
"Why?"
I noted the icy blue eyes that glanced back at me after the question was asked.
"Because I've been waiting for her to heal."
Lord Bronwyn rose a brow at this.
I continued, "Blood tastes the best when the host is in good health."
It also took longer for a human to heal if they're fed from, but I didn't need to say that out loud.
He'd think that I was trying to make excuses instead of stating facts.
"So you haven't given her any form of punishment?" He was clearly annoyed.
"Nope."
What I wasn't expecting was his smile to briskly return to his face.
He had a plan. And judging by his face, it wasn't going to be fun.
"Well," He clasped his hands together, "that changes today." He stated cynically.
A small whimper came from Khloe as she had to stop herself from taking a step back.
It was my turn to glare this time.
This whole thing was ridiculous.
She's my pet and yet he felt the need to tell me what I needed to do with her.
I would punish her if she did anything wrong. From my understanding, she wasn't even old enough to decide whether or not she wanted to leave the city or not when she left.
I let out a long sigh.
"What would you suggest, my Lord?"
I figured that I wasn't going to get out of this until I gave the sadistic bastard what he wanted.
His smirk grew, showing one of his fangs.
"Class three hemorrhage."