Zari didn’t know why it bothered her so much, but it did.
Alexandru said slowly, “I don’t know.” He wished he did, though. The circumstances bothered him as well. At Zari’s frown, he told her frankly, “Most Masters don’t really think they owe their pets any explanation.”
This had his pet glaring.
Soon, the claws would be out and she might even end up hissing at him. Zari in fighting form was always a cute sight. If it had been any other day, Alexandru would have deliberately provoked her.
But unfortunately, they had more important matters to discuss right now.
“Sit down, Zari.”
The tone had his pet frowning questioningly, but she did as asked, lowering herself on the couch.
“Won’t you ask me why I’ve come back earlier than planned?”
Zari froze.
He took out the notice from his pocket, something the school had sent. At the sight of it, his pet’s eyes widened. He asked grimly, “Why haven’t you been attending your classes, pet?”
Chapter Two
Walking back to the castle, she and Alexandru passed a vampire feeding on his pet. When they were out of earshot, she whispered to him, “It’s just not right. I really think this pet business is just a form of vampires taking advantage of humans.”
Alexandru only shook his head. “You always surprise me with how contradictory you are. It’s the way of the world.”
She didn’t say anything for a long time, but the silence wasn’t good. Just when he was about to ask what was wrong, she said something. So softly he wouldn’t have heard her if she didn’t own his heart.
“Like us?”
She looked at him with sadness in her eyes, and like she always did, her next words disarmed him, her honesty something he had never been able to match. “We can’t be together because it’s the way of the world?”
A sob tickled Zari’s throat as her Master knelt in front of her. It was not right, this position. It should have been the other way around, and that it wasn’t so threw her off, tempting Zari to think of things that she didn’t have a right to think. It wasn’t just because she was only his human pet. There were things she could never ever think because…because although she loved her Master, he loved someone else.
Alexandru asked quietly, “Is something wrong?”
She shook her head, unable to meet his gaze.
He sighed. “Even if you don’t tell me anything, even if you’re able to hide your thoughts, it doesn’t matter. You know that, don’t you?”
He touched her heart, surprising Zari into leaning back, her head jerking up. In that moment, he was able to capture her gaze. “I only have to feel your heart beating, and I know when you’re sad, happy, afraid—-”
“You’re being too melodramatic, Master,” she tried to joke, but it fell flat.
“You’re being too secretive.”
The words scraped her raw even though she was sure he didn’t know it would make her feel that way. She was not keeping the secrets here. He was. And that secret had been tearing her apart ever since she had found out about it.
She remembered the last time she had a vision of Alexandru, something she had never told him. He had been talking to his brother, Mihail, and his last words were of…her. But it was not the kind she had ever wanted him to say.
“Even if Zari is indeed my heartkeeper, I will not claim her as such. My heart belongs to Katarina, no one else.”
Without thinking, she asked, “What’s a heartkeeper?”
Alexandru froze. How had she known? Could she have had a vision of him? It was the only possible answer since those who knew about her were also people she couldn’t have ever had the chance to talk to.
He looked into her eyes, and what he saw made him reach for her hands. She tried to pull her hands back, but he was too fast, and he tightened his hold, letting her know he wouldn’t be letting go.
“Zari…”
She flinched. Somehow, hearing him say her name like that hurt. No, she didn’t like him calling her that. It was her given name, but somehow when he was the one saying it, he made her feel like a stranger.
Seeing her pet flinch made him curse silently. This conversation was going nowhere. “Whatever it is, it’s not something you should worry about,” he said gruffly. He stood up, and a second later, he had lifted her up in his arms. Words were pointless now. No matter what he’d say, Alexandru knew it wouldn’t be able to make her feel any better.
Her vulnerability was made more apparent when she didn’t even protest, only hiding her face in the crook of his neck.
He laid her on the bed, kissing her as he followed her to it. “Don’t think,” he whispered against her lips. “Just don’t think.”
Zari nodded. It was a command she was more than willing to obey since thinking would only bring more heartache. She closed her eyes as she surrendered herself to her Master’s expertise. They moved in synchrony even without either of them speaking, her body automatically lifting up so he could take off her jacket and blouse. Soon, they were both naked, and it became so much easier not to think the moment his hard body pressed against her, covering every inch of her heated skin.