Satyr-Vampire Miyori, At your Service! (18+)

Chapter 6: Crystal Heart

"This is it," she sighed. "You might as well lock me away now. Tell the brides I said goodbye."

Miyori sat atop her potato crate with her head in her hands. She had barely slept last night. She couldn't stop thinking about what happened yesterday.

She had kissed Strahd, and as soon as he remembered, she was sure that she was done for. She'd be all by herself again, after making all these new friends. She would miss all of them, even the gargoyles in the grand entry.

"Ms. Miyori, please. You're overthinking things." Rahadin said as he handed her a cup of coffee. "It was nothing more than an innocent kiss. He's kissed and done way more than that with plenty of people."

"I'm sure, but his face!" She held the mug with both hands. "It turned bright red! I'm sure he was upset or something! Ah, I wish he had just killed me!" She whined.

Rahadin gave her a slightly surprised look. "His face turned red? When was this?"

"Right after I kissed him..." she sighed and took a sip of coffee.

"I've never seen Master Strahd get angry to the point where he was flushed like that. Nor have I seen himself react that way around anyone he took an interest in." He thought for a moment. "Describe exactly what he did. Did he yell? Did he frown? I need more context."

"He just sort of... sat there," she thought out loud. "He didn't even move. He didn't even look like he was going to say anything. He just... stared at me with that... damned piercing gaze of his..." She blushed and frowned a little bit.

He stroked his chin for a moment, then snapped. "You've seen his crystal heart before, right?"

She looked up at him. "I have! It's really pretty."

"Finish up that coffee. I would like to check on it."

"Oh? Why do you want to check on the heart?" She put her mug aside and hopped off her crate.

"Because... the glow and pulse of the heart changes based on how he feels." Rahadin began descending the steps.

"...no way! Does that mean it was really dim yesterday morning?" She asked as she chased after him.

"Precisely." He nodded.

————

The light of the crystal heart shone down on the spiral staircase. It was glowing a warm, inviting, reddish pink.

She wasn't sure if it was the fact that this could have been another dusty room, or if it was some effect of the heart, but Miyori was sure that the air in the tower itself... sparkled. Small twinkles of light lazily drifted through the air. She reached her hand out as if to catch one, but nothing landed on her skin at all.

Rahadin crossed his arms. "I... have never seen it do this before."

"What?" Miyori turned to look at him. "What do you mean? It didn't do this for, like, Tatyana or Ireena or something?"

He shook his head. "I've seen it glow brightly before, but the sparkles... the color! This is new..."

"Huh.... Well, it's pretty!" She smiled. "I'd spend all day staring at this if I had the-"

"What... did you two do... in the guest room?"

"W-what?"

"You did more than kiss him, didn't you?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Wha-?! No! I would never!" She blushed brightly. "I-I mean, if he invited me to, I would, maybe..." She thought about that for a moment. "But hey! I didn't!"