Blood Rite | | b o o k 3

3. feuding loyalty

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IMMORTAL CHRONICLES : BOOK TWO : neox

. . .

Within the peculiar mind of Neox, she felt compelled to believe that she was nothing without the proper title of Aleron Avarice's underling. The man was a force to be reckoned with, and his purity, his wisdom, and his ultimate supremacy made her weak with unfathomable pride. He had the appearance of a god placed on this land, and she knew that with her help, he'd become one. He'd become a god among men—invincible, and with power beyond the realms of anything these people knew.

Preserving her master's life was her top priority, but she couldn't do it without the aid and compliancy of Vene Aminoff. The woman was out there, just beyond the Valen border, somewhere in that massive forest at the crossroads of a town Neox abandoned her at. Their brief meeting was by chance, and had it not been so, Neox would surely be either dead, or with her life in the hands of that lecherous foe.

Her mind reeled at the thought of him—gods, did she loath Evžen. The moment his face flickered to her mind, she found herself subconsciously glaring straight ahead of her—glaring in the face of her astonished master.

Aleron stared down at her from where he faltered on the steps, acknowledging the words she realized came out of her mouth. "I've met Vene before," she had said—but that was just a minute ago. Within that minute, she recalled what that woman had done.

She may have saved Neox, revived her, even. But that didn't change the fact that Vene was still willing to speak with her sworn enemy who attacked her in the midst of her travels. Vene, the woman who nursed her into relatively good health, and in the next moment, met with Evžen. She ground her teeth together at the thought of him.

"Y-You know of Vene Aminoff, you mean," Aleron said, his eyes straying behind her. She glanced several steps down from her, where his guard stood with wide, dark eyes shadowed by his heavy-set brow. She swallowed at the sight of Dasan's shock, and even cringed at the way her master stared at her.

"I have met Vene before," she repeated, recoiling from him, only to stumble and nearly trip against Dasan. He caught her by the elbow, and urged her forward. "S-She helped me."

"It could have been a farce," Dasan said, his voice gruff as he seemed to pass Neox over to Aleron. Their superior took the girl by her arm as he absorbed Dasan's words. "There are plenty of people who look similar to her."

"No," he said with resolve, turning back around and tugging Neox alongside him. "No woman in their right mind would take on Vene's reputation. There is nothing to gain from presenting oneself as the face of a felon."

"What do you mean? Vene is no—" Neox stopped, her eyes widening once more at the sight of her nemesis meeting Vene, conversing with her, sharing a drink together. No. Anyone who associates with him is an enemy to me, she thought instantly.

They mounted the top of the stairs as Aleron turned her to face him, her weak, strained body easy to drag about. "Vene is not what? Isn't what, Neox?"

Her eyes misted with tears, and she struggled to maintain a stern voice. "She isn't anything, sir. She means nothing to me," she said. Other than the fact that she saved me from the same person she shared a drink with. Why...?

He merely stared at her as she raised her free hand and brushed the heel of her palm over her eyes. His eyes were the same shade of silver that accented his cloak, and the belts that encircled his waist over the pure white coat he wore. Her skin was black against the sleeve of his jacket that passed over her arm.