Chapter 8: Over Her Dead Body

Velvetiana's eyes drifted across the wreckage and her lips tugged wryly.

Splintered wood. Cracked marble. Deep claw marks gouged into the stone columns like something monstrous had tried to tear its way through the walls.

"So… is this normal?"

Hansel's gaze flicked upward, toward the dimly lit arches above them. "Depends on your definition of normal."

Velvetiana looked at him like he just committed a crime. She badly wanted to smack him, but she kept it down. If matters come to worse and her assumptions are real, this guy will be the one she can grab to send her away.

'Did I make a mistake in treating him casually along the way?' she felt somewhat rueful. In the name of building bonds? Ha! That guy is treating her too casually now!

The girl took a deep breath and rubbed the back of her neck.

"I thought the Central District was supposed to be… I don't know… sophisticated?"

"You've seen too many films."

Fuck.

"I've never even seen a film," she muttered. "You think we get that kind of luxury in Dreg?"

Hansel didn't answer. His dark gaze traced the distant edge of the hall where the faint outline of a heavy iron door loomed beneath the pale light of a dying candelabra.

Velvetiana swallowed back the unease coiling low in her gut. The sound of her own breath echoed a little too loudly beneath the high ceiling.

"Seriously, though, what happened here?"

Hansel's gaze lowered. "The Blood Worm Moon."

Velvetiana's brows lifted. "The moon did this?"

"No." His voice was cool, and measured. "It's what the moon awakened."

"What the moon awakened?" she repeatedly asked in confusion.

But thereafter, her eyes flung open with a flabbergasted look. Her stomach twisted and she instinctively grabbed his arm.

"My lady, please conduct yourself. You should hold a man so intimately—" Hansel's words were ultimately cut off by her deadly glare.

"Wha... What? I-I'm just letting you escort me okay? As if I want to touch you!" Her cheeks warm and turned faintly pink but she still didn't let go of him.

"S-Stop fussing like a teenage girl and just guide me inside the house carefully," she bellowed though she was already shaking inside.

As she did, her trembling eyes scanned the surroundings unnervingly with caution. Well, no one told her the red moon was a druggy to those creatures! Damn, if she knew, why would she let herself be taken in willingly?

She hasn't seen a vampire in person but Pauly would often tell her that those bastards are bold and voracious. Isn't this place riddled with those people who like to suck others dry?

Did she really believe her teacher who said vampires with titles are very civilized? Civilize her ass!

What kind of civilized bastard would destroy their own home?!

'Should I just run? Maybe I could still make it half alive?'

She pressed her lips reproachingly, knowing she would only end up in a much worse situation. She will definitely be a dead meat even before crossing the eerie-looking woods that surround the Corvinus estate like a natural barricade.

A long silence stretched between them. Velvetiana took another step forward, her gaze catching on a deep claw mark across one of the marble pillars. The ridges were too precise, too deliberate. Almost human.

Velvetiana exhaled through her nose, her gaze hardening. She already had more than enough on her plate — she didn't need to get tangled up in a family edition of horror.

Her fingers curled tightly around the already thread-loose hem of her cheap jacket.

"Great," she muttered. "Just great."

Hansel's eyes followed her as she strode across the hall, the frayed edges of her jacket brushing over the ruined floor.

"My lady, try not to get eaten," he suddenly remarked, causing the girl to flinch and grab on him tighter.

Velvetiana shot him a narrow look over her shoulder.

"If... If anyone's doing the eating, it'll be me!" she said while feigning courage.

Hansel's mouth quirked at the corner. "Noted."

The sound of their footsteps faded toward the end of the hall as the flickering lights cast long shadows across the fractured walls. Velvetiana didn't look back. Hansel lingered a moment longer before following.

«⁘⁘⁘⁘⁘⁘»

Inside a luxurious-looking room, Lucan Corvinus lounged in his loosely tied robe, pouring himself a glass of red wine with the grace of someone who had the whole world beneath his heel. His black hair, still damp from an early shower, hung lazily over his sharp jawline. His face darkened as he took a sip, only to hiss through his teeth when the wine grazed his bruised lips.

"Damn it!" He slammed the glass on the side table, wine sloshing over the edge like fresh blood. "Father didn't even hold back his punch! How the hell can he be so vicious with his own son? Shit! This is Pierre Winterblood's fault for running his shitty mouth at the worst possible time!"

Who would've thought his father would appear right behind him with Caelan, of all people while he was on the phone with that smug bastard? Not only did his father hit him so badly, but the old man had actually ordered Caelan, the third son and his younger twin, to beat the shit out of him.

"Goddamn humiliation!" Lucan growled, rubbing his jaw. "I'm the elder brother! I should be the one ordering the beatings!"

He was stewing in his indignation when a sudden knock rattled the air. Behind him, the maidservant dipped into a low bow, her back arched so severely that it practically launched her massive jugs front and center. Low and deliberate, the movement nearly exposed the two dark raisins pasted on her impressive pair of chocolate hills.

"Young Master, the young lady has arrived," she purred, voice sticky with honey like a wasp in heat. "Shall I prepare a formal introduction?"