I stood, frozen and wide-eyed with my hands resting against his chest. The jacket of his crisp suit felt soft and cool under my palms. His eyes burrowed into mine, not giving a hint of his emotions.

The blues of his eyes were dark, reminding me of stormy waters, but the calm indifference they portrayed contradicted the analogy. He gazed down at me from his towering high. He must have been at least 6'5. His skin was lightly tanned and his face was made of hard, sharp angles. They made his lips look even more pillowy soft. His black hair was styled back, the sides shorter than the top.

Cassius was a tall and imposing man. He had an aura that screamed don't fuck with me, I'll kill you before enjoying a nice cup of tea like it never happened. I bet he had killed people before sipping tea from a dainty little cup. Although, nothing about him looked dainty when I witnessed him wrap those rosy lips around the rim of a porcelain teacup.

He cocked his brow at me. The movement in his otherwise still features caused me to jolt back, removing my hands.

"Care to answer the question, Ms. Riar?"

My mouth opened and closed. "Well I- I was with Kai and Timothy- we-"

He stopped me with a raised hand.

"I'm going to ask you once more, Ms. Riar, what are you doing here?"

I swallowed and darted my tongue out to moisten my lips before speaking. "I was helping Timothy and Kai with the supply run." I internally high-fived myself for not messing up this time.

"In an alley?" He asked.

I tried explaining how I was lured in by a little shit who was throwing pebbles, but, once again, he cut me off.

"Do correct me if I am mistaken, but I don't recall assigning that as one of your tasks." His tone made it clear he knew he wasn't mistaken. He seemed like one of those people that were so thorough that they never left an opportunity for a mistake to occur. The only mistake would be to ever correct this man.

I went with Timothy's story. "They needed help and asked. I thought it would be fine since I already had to help others with their tasks at the manor."

"Others?"

"The other servants."

"I see."

He nodded once. Turning away slightly, he looked around the busy street before looking back at me, eyeing my cap.

"I think it's time we have that talk, Ms. Riar." He put one hand in his pocket while looking down at the phone in his other. "Follow me."

He didn't wait for a reply before walking away.

I rushed to catch up to him. Following a few steps behind him, I found it easier to navigate through the crowd than earlier. It seemed to split for him. I didn't blame them, I would steer clear of a man like him, too. The only problem was that I had to follow him.

He led the way to an idling black car. Opening the door, he gestured for me to get in, following right after.

I moved as far as I could to the other side. Pressed up against the door, I swallowed. Looking to the front, my eyes caught the glare of the old butler, Lester, in the rearview mirror. I bet he and Lyria would be best buds.

I waited for Cassius to say something, but he had pulled out a tablet from the back of the seat in front of him and was reading some documents and answering emails. It was like I wasn't even there.

There was no way I would start this conversation that he wanted, so I just sat there, looking out the window as Lester drove.

My eyes widened as I remembered about Kai and Timothy as my heart stopped racing from Cassius's abrupt appearance.

I turned to Cassius. He was emerged in whatever he was viewing on his tablet. A slight creasing of his brows had me hesitating to ask, but I didn't want Kai and Timothy thinking I had gone missing or something so I pushed past my nerves.

"Um, Ca- Lord Cassius," I corrected myself while hiding my knee-jerk reaction to cringe. I never called them lords when they weren't around. Ezra didn't seem to mind me not using the title. He actually asked me not to when I first did. I wasn't going to assume the same applied to the others, especially the tall, dark, and scary man I was trapped in an enclosed space with. I didn't want to risk angering him. "Kai and Timothy will probably wonder where-"

"I already sent them a message notifying them of your whereabouts," he said without looking up.

"Oh, thanks," I muttered before looking out at the passing buildings and crowd.

I thought we were heading straight back to the manor so I was surprised when we stopped outside a three-story building. It was made out of white stone. Pillars outside that supported balconies on the second and third floor gave it a regal feeling. I could see a few men standing on the third-floor balcony. They were shirtless, wearing loose linen pants, leaning over the railing, and watching people walk by on the street. Two of them were smoking joints judging by the scent that invaded the car when Cassius opened the door.

"Come on," he said.

It took me a moment to realize that he was talking to me. "Huh?"

"Come on. I'm not leaving you alone in the car with one of my men."

It was clear that it wasn't for my safety. I looked back at Lester who had a smug expression on his face.

I tried to open my door but found it locked. Sliding across the seat, I followed after Cassius as he approached the large, black, wood-framed glass doors of the stone building. I could feel the eyes of the people around following us.

The lobby was grand and extravagant. A crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, the fixture gleamed as the light hit the clear crystals just right. The walls were cream white, the floors marble. The marble continued up the imperial staircase that led to the floors above. They came together at the second floor before joining into one staircase to reach the third.

A few men were lingering around the lobby, some heading up the stairs with women. I followed Cassius as he approached the doorway located between the twin staircases. Two men lacking shirts flanked the solid, red, double doors. As we neared they both reached for a handle, pushing it open for us.

Music, laughter, conversation, and moans erupted the moment it was opened. The sight was more than I could take in all at once.

The walls were covered with maroon wallpaper that had intricate gold designs. I could see private booths along the walls and areas that held large, plush mats loaded with pillows. Each section was separated with gauzy fabric that hung from the ceiling, providing the illusion of privacy.

Some sections had one or more women surrounded by double the number of men in various stages of dress seeming fawning over them. They hung off the arms of the women like women did on rich men in strip clubs. A few groups were lounging around consisting solely of men. Their eyes turned towards us as we entered while those that were entertaining a woman kept their focus on them.

A man on one of the mats with dark hair and sharp eyes watched me as he lounged against a pile of pillows. He sucked on a hose attached to a hookah while trailing his eyes down my body. Blowing out a cloud of smoke, he smiled seductively at me with a wink before turning to the woman he had his arm around. Most of the sections around the room had a hookah and trays and bowls loaded with snacks and fruits. The air was cloudy and smokey, the scent of marijuana and sex heavy, mingling with other unfamiliar ones.

My face flamed red. As I watched the man on the other side of the woman kiss his way down her neck, chest, and stomach until he was lying on his stomach between her legs, his head under her dress. The dark-haired one took over kissing her neck as he groped her breasts.

Holy shit.

I think this was a brothel.

"Stay here," Cassius said.

Without elaborating further, he walked down the aisle that separated the room in two. I followed him with my eyes as he approached the back wall that looked like it consisted entirely of a bar. Leaning back against it was Zev, sipping a blue drink that the shirtless bartender with a collar handed him. His eyes were on me, narrowed and displeased.

When Cassius reached him his suffocating gaze shifted, finally letting me breathe. He slid over some papers before exchanging words with him.

"Aren't you a little young to be working here, pipsqueak?"

I jumped at the words spoken into my ear. I turned around to find the same man from earlier who was watching me. I hadn't noticed him leave the other two on their own to sneak his way over to me as I watched Cassius and Zev.

I took a step away. "I don't work here."

He frowned and furrowed his brows, inspecting me closer. "You look like a boy, but your voice..."

I cleared my throat. "What about it?" I asked in a deeper tone. I had forgotten I was in disguise.

He continued to scrutinize me.

"Let's go."

I nearly jumped out of my skin once more at Cassius's barked command. That was fast.

He nodded at the man before brushing past me, the command to follow wordlessly hung in the air.

Taking one last glance at the shirtless man as he chewed on his lip in thought, I followed.

The ride back felt longer than it was. The silence seemed to stretch the time. Cassius had answered a few phone calls during it and the growled words he spoke made the fear of being in the locked car with him, and eventually, his office I assumed, grow stronger.

When Lester stopped the car in front of the manor, Cassius got out without a word or glance towards me. I fumbled to undo my seat belt, an odd and confusing mechanism that seemed to use magic to lock you into place, and followed after.

He strode through the front doors and headed up the imperial staircase to the second floor. I had to practically jog to keep up with his long stride. After a few turns, when we reached our destination he opened the door that led into his office and continued to his desk. I hesitantly entered as he took a seat.

"Take a seat," he said while tapping on his tablet.

I walked to one of the two leather chairs opposite him. His office was like him, dark and masculine. The entire wall behind him was a black, built-in bookcase that had drawers at the bottom. It held books and other items like the beautiful silver globe I could see. The map resembled nothing of the one I was used to seeing of earth, making it clear in another form that I was no longer there. The two walls adjacent to that one were painted grey, and the one with the large wooden door we entered through centred on it was a deep blue colour. It reminded me of his eyes, but darker.

Once I was seated, he put his tablet aside and leaned back in his chair, looking me in the eyes. "Let's cut to the chase, Ms. Riar," he said. "Why are you here?"

Having his undivided attention scared me. His eyes were steady, demanding an answer. If I didn't give him the one he wanted, I was scared of what he would do.

"D-didn't E- Lord Ezra inform you?" I asked cautiously.

"He did," he leaned forward and placed his elbows on the table, linking his fingers together. "But I would like to hear it from you."

"Oh, okay," I tried to swallow, but my mouth was suddenly dry. "I'm not here for anything. It was a mistake."

"Hm, I'm finding it hard to believe that you just mistakenly walked into and activated a summoning circle when they have been banned for centuries. Most don't even know that they are more than a myth." He took a sip of water from the crystal glass that sat on his desk. I licked my lips. "I do hope you can see why I'm...skeptical of your explanation."

"I swear, I had no idea there was a summoning circle there, I don't even know what that is except that it's apparently the reason why I'm here. I was just trying to hide. I didn't even know I was bleeding, let alone that it was going to activate some magic circle!" I defended.

He narrowed his eyes slightly. "Why were you hiding, Ms. Riar?"

I stopped breathing. I couldn't answer that. I wouldn't. Not with the memories that mentioning his name would bring.

I looked around his office, avoiding his gaze and hoping he would move on from his question. It was wishful thinking really.

He remained silent, waiting for an answer. Desperate to change the topic, I searched for something, anything, and blurted out the first questions that came to my mind.

"Who's that?" I asked, gesturing to the picture of a beautiful blonde woman that he had on his desk.

His eyes followed and landed on the same framed image. I swear saw his eyes flashed and widen slightly, but then nothing. It was like a cold, hard mask had slipped onto his face.

He grabbed the picture and shoved it into the top drawer of his desk, closing it harder than necessary. I guess my distraction had worked.

"Ezra has kept me up to date with the information about your world that you have informed him of," he said. "Keep answering his questions and we won't have to have another unpleasant meeting again. I will summon you if I require further answers. Go finish your work," he dismissed as he picked his tablet back up.

"Yes, sir," I said as I rushed out of my seat and headed for the door like my tail was on fire. I didn't need to be told twice.

"Oh, Ms. Riar?" he said causing me to pause with my hand on the doorknob. I looked back at him, meeting his hard stormy-blue eyes. "Stick to the tasks I've assigned you."

I nodded before rushing out the door, closing it behind me with a sigh.

* * *

I stretched my neck side to side, practically moaning as it cracked pleasantly. I had just finished cleaning Jaxon's room. Like usual, he had made it more of a mess than I thought was humanly possible...well, I guess he wasn't technically human so maybe the same standards didn't apply? No. No one could make that much of a mess unless it was intentional- human or not.

I switched the bucket full of cleaning supplies to my other hand as I shut the door behind me. I was just happy that he wasn't in his room to repeat what had happened earlier. I'd tackle any mess he threw my way to avoid that situation from happening again.

Sighing, I moved onto my next destination, Zev's room. Despite having it out for me, he didn't go to the same lengths as Jaxon to make cleaning his room that much more hard and tedious. Or maybe he actually cared about his personal space enough not to defile it. The most I had to worry about finding in his room was an unmade bed, clothing discarded on the floor, and the odd dish or two.

I opened the double doors without knocking. I usually did as a courtesy, never getting a response since I cleaned the bedrooms when most of the three, I learned from Kai that I wasn't allowed to enter Axel's room either, were out going about their business. This time though, I was too tired to want to go through the efforts of lifting my arm. The repeated trips to the kitchen to clear Jaxon's room of dishes plus the amount of scrubbing I needed to do to get the blue stains out from his carpet had left me drained.

Pushing the door open I entered. Looking up at the sound of moaning, I stopped dead in my tracks at the sight before me.

On the bed were two men. Naked. Fucking.

On his knees was one of Zev's minions, the one who lead the others and tormented me the most, Andreas. Behind him, thrusting into him, was Zev. He was holding Andreas' hair in his fist and pulling his head back, his chest against his back while gripping Andreas' cock in his other fist. He had his head buried in his neck, his fist-pumping him along with his thrusts.

I dropped the bucket in shocked surprise.

Zev pulled his head from Andreas's neck before grabbing him by the back of the neck and shoving his face down into the mattress. His eyes met mine as blood dripped down his chin. He smirked at me, licking a drop off his pointed canines.

The muscles on his abdomen and his ass tightened with each sharp, hard thrust. Each time he withdrew I could catch a glimpse of his large, glistening member.

His husky chuckle drew my eyes back to his.

"Enjoying the view, doll?" He said as he continued to thrust into him harder. "I'm going to have to charge you if you plan to keep watching."