Claimed by the Prince of Darkness

Chapter 196: Whispers Of Corruption

Ruelle felt her heart stumble over Lucian’s words.

For a moment she could only stare at him with her lips parted. Slowly her gaze slid past his shoulder to the bed, and heat crept up her throat and into her face.

"You mean... in the bed?" Her voice came out smaller than she intended.

Lucian let the silence stretch just long enough to hear the tremor of her heart. Then one corner of his mouth curved, as if finding her expression endearing. His hand rose to her face, his knuckles grazing her cheek as if memorizing the shape of her blush rather than merely causing it.

"The couch might be uncomfortable," Lucian murmured, low enough to make her heart skip a beat. "I only want to hold you and sleep tonight."

She dropped her eyes before he could see how far her mind had already wandered and gave a nod, "Okay." To save herself from the embarrassment, she said, "My clothes are in the other room. I will get back..."

"That won’t be required," Lucian stated as his fingers found her scarf.

Ruelle blinked. But she had been wearing the dress since this morning and she could only guess that the stench of her father’s blood was stuck to her clothes. Unless... he meant without clothes, and she turned flustered by her own thought.

She felt Lucian unwind the scarf slowly from her neck, loop by loop, before he laid it over the back of a chair with more care than the garment likely warranted. Next came her coat. He patiently eased it from her shoulders one side at a time and it joined the scarf.

"After leaving you with your family that day, I took the liberty of moving your things," Lucian left her side and made his way to one side of the room.

He reached for the cupboard on one side of the wall and when he opened it, Ruelle was left surprised. There were clothes and things that belonged to her. Her mother’s wooden box was placed carefully at the back. She felt her eyes sting. And when her vision blurred, she apologized.

"I am sorry. I am not upset with it. I am happy... that you made space for me."

Lucian’s eyes softened in that quiet way of his, as if he understood without needing her to explain. He extended his hand towards her, and she came to him. His thumb brushed beneath her eye before the tear could fall.

"I only put your things where they belong," he said, bringing the thumb to his lips and licking the tear off.

Ruelle’s eyes widened at his gesture, her face burning. "That is dirty," she whispered.

"Your tears are sweet," Lucian replied, and his words were cemented when his eyes darkened. "Did you know that you had a faint smell wafting from you when you were in Sexton. And the scent only got more after I had marked you."

"Scent?" Ruelle asked.

Lucian hummed in response. "Like the fruit at the top of the mountains," he said, his voice dropping. "The sweetness spills from you. Sweet enough to draw me."

Before he even knew who she was, Lucian had picked up the faint scent when they had first crashed into each other in the market. After returning from the market, he had wondered why he hadn’t killed her. Because the vials she had broken were the last existing ones of Belladonna, something he had been hunting since he had heard about it.

In Sexton, he had initially chalked it up to be a perfume or oil she was using, like most of the women. But not once had he seen her use anything in the room.

And her scent stirred the darkness within him.

Since the time he had been corrupted, it had whispered through years for blood. A hunger to kill and tear people apart. He had learned to control and ignore it. But lately, since he had marked Ruelle, it whispered to devour her. To take everything until there was nothing left untouched. From her blood to her breath. The corruption side of him wanted to swallow her whole and keep her where no one could reach.

Lucian’s fingers tightened slightly at the door of the cupboard.

Ruelle resisted the urge to raise her sleeve once again to sniff herself. The last time she had sniffed her hand was when Lucian had told her to move away after he had helped her with a subject. It had made her worry that she stank.

A knock interrupted them, and Ruelle felt her stomach sink. Peyton had arrived, she thought. After all, Minister Carnifex had left the Belmont residence an hour before they did. But it was Maude at the door, carrying a tray of fruits and a glass of blood for Lucian. The housekeeper bowed and left as quietly as she came.

"The water is warm if you want to have a late-night bath," he stated, in the same even voice, though something in it made the question feel like it cost him a little more restraint than the words let on.

one tomorrow," Ruelle replied. The last thing she needed was worrying about Peyton catching her naked in Lucian’s bathtub.

of her dress. Her toes pressed against her other foot and

person, Ruelle asked herself.

her dress, Lucian did it without hesitation, as if it were no different from untying a ribbon or fastening a glove. His expression remained

better suited for turning pages or holding a glass of wine than for the things she had seen them do like break bones or spill blood. But

waist, at her throat, and against her cheek. It was absurd, she thought to herself, that a person’s hands could

she felt his hand reach to her sides where the corset

manage the

heart could bear him stripping her down to her

only gave a small nod, as if he had been testing how far she

watched him saunter across the room, shrugging off his shirt to reveal his broad shoulders. But the moment his fingers

she could stop herself, she

if you want

made her jerk so quickly that her forehead struck the cupboard. She winced, though it was

murmured, "I

she could have drowned

had already changed into the nightgown and wandered to the shelves lined against the wall where the books were.

books, her mind drifted to what happened to

her father was right

and she had heard from her parents that he was at the courthouse. Keeping up appearances so that he wouldn’t be held as the accused. As days had come to pass by, Ruelle couldn’t help but feel, in some ways, her father and Ezekiel were similar. Not the same, because she

and with his hair still damp and slightly dishevelled, he

one of the books, its spine

caught the sight of the damp strands falling over his forehead. Fresh from the bath, his skin still carried warmth, and she quickly looked back at

and pulled the book free. "An old language

a language of their own," Ruelle murmured, staring at the unfamiliar symbols. She flipped through it, understanding none of it. Her

"Anything."

she said before going to her coat and pulling out the grey book. Coming back to him, she opened the first page and asked, "This is the book

from one corner to the other. He said, "Different ways to

and she asked, "You

the placement of your concern," Lucian murmured and after a moment he questioned, "Was this the book that made

should ask Maude or Brother Dane to read when I meet

she asked, "What?" His eyes stayed

her and he remarked, "I’m deciding whether to be impressed or concerned that you walked into a witch’s house without knowing what you would find," and he

with me." But Lucian looked at her as though that changed nothing. Trying to steer away from the subject, she said, "It’s just that... when she read my fortune, they came true."

and finally stopped at one page. She tapped the page and said, "It says

bury their names, their ties, and their children well enough that even time struggles to find them. I looked into your mother’s side. The furthest I got was

for

a nod.

in...

his mother," Lucian replied. "She’s still alive and we can

her mother had worked for the Sylvans, it made sense now

at Lucian, she asked, "Do you think she would

mother served her, then she would know something. Even if it is useless right now." His voice was calm, but

had left more than a wooden box. A letter or a name or anything. Instead, it felt as though her mother had left behind pieces

to the bed before sitting

for the treaty which was first prepared for King Septimus’ family. My guess is your father used your mother’s connection

then pursed and she looked away, to which Lucian gave space for