A Muse of Night

ELEVEN

The Hound's POV

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     I haven't heard the sound of my name like the way she says it since I was first turned. It's always the Hound or when they say Kazimir it's formed with hatred. She calls me out in it's truest sense, which is why when I have to hear anyone else say it I want to rip out their tongues.

Pressing a cigarette between my teeth, I walked into the bar. This being the only exclusive Vampire bar in town, everyone here wouldn't have to worry about a hunger they couldn't feed. There was a familiar face that sat in the corner, her short blue hair bounced as she sprung alive from her chair. Sliding besides me as he followed me to the barkeep, "Fancy seeing you here stranger, it's been nearly a year now since you came visit me." Stella said as she grabbed my arm and hugged it, lifting my body away from her I wiped the area she held. The Vampire pouted her lip but I rolled my eyes. I couldn't believe I used to entertain her, especially when someone like Delia was out there waiting for me. "I miss you, don't act like that Hound." Hound, she called me.

Turning my head to face her, I put the cigarette between my two fingers and blew the smoke in her face. "I'm not someone you want to fuck with right now Stella, so just leave me alone before you regret it." I told her, sitting down at the stool as anger contorted her face. The girl ran away from me as I turned my back to her.

Marcus looked at me with a smile carved on his face, dragging a glass of whiskey towards my direction as he spoke. "You refused Stella? You used to never refuse Stella- you met a girl." Marcus snapped his finger and pointed at me, excitement filling his body as he leaned down into me. Delia's face came to mind, her eyes always wide when he watched me as if she was studying me.

"I'm not talking about this Marcus." I tried to move the conversation but he didn't budge.

Then he whispered low enough for only the two of us to hear, his red eyes rolled over me. His smile twisted into a curious smirk, "You met more than a girl, you met the one." My lungs tightened, thinking about Delia being the one. I had no doubt in my mind that Delia Petri was my soulmate, but I was afraid to say it out loud. "Is she pretty? Or he, you know I won't discriminate. I'm guessing from that look it's a she." He rambled on as my face shifted, until I grew annoyed with him and rolled my eyes.

I shook my head at him, not agreeing with his words. Marcus should be excited for me, not with who she is. A Queen needed a King and I was far from that. "It doesn't matter, she's getting married." I told him.

That didn't seem to stop the bartender, he moved around and assisted people with their drinks before returning before me. I've known Marcus since I decided to come out of the shadows for the last couple of centuries, but none of them knew my real name. To then I was the Hound, Kazimir Markovich Belova didn't exist. That side of me didn't exist at all anymore, "Does she love him? Does she want to be married to him?" He asked me and I knew the question right away.

My mind drifted, my imagination roared with images of Delia in a white dress. Walking down the idle to her room as that mad King waited for her. It filled my gut with rage but I didn't fight against it. "No, she hates him actually- at least that's the feeling I get." I shouldn't be so possessive of her, she was engaged to another man. I was nothing more than someone to make sure she stayed alive, to her I was the Hound. I had to be. If she let me, I would gladly have her. She was kind, beautiful, and everything in the world that I could never be. Delia thought she was a monster but she hadn't truly known me. I shook my head in disbelief of my own thoughts."She doesn't have a choice though, she has to marry him. Quit looking at me like that Marcus." I snapped as Marcus looked at me with acceptance in his eyes, he wanted me to like her.