Dante doesn't want to leave me and a part of me wants him to stay.

It is almost sunrise and I can't sleep after my brush with death. On the side table next to the bed are little appetizers and candies, my favorite sweets.

Cow livers.

I stick a fork in them and suck the blood out, slowly turning them grey, but their blood is nothing close to Ray's.

Nothing compares to Ray.

I think about him, after eating my treats and sitting on the canopy bed. I pull a thin, golden cord, closing the drapes, enveloping me in the dark. I can hear Dante, in the next room over, shuffling about and I wish for once he would break his vow and leave. I can't sneak out until he sleeps.

I want some Ray.

I've been planning to get more of him ever since I returned to my chambers, staring at their lovely red walls, the same color as sweet crimson honey. I bathed, acting as if I were to sleep, putting my change of clothes underneath my pillow. My lifesaver sits at the entrance of the door and I am ready to go.

Yet Dante won't sleep.

I've had enough.

I need some Ray.

In the dark, I quickly find my clothes, and change out of my nightgown, into a long black sleeved shirt and thick black jeans, and another fur coat, but closer to a hood, giving me more room to run in case another person tries to come after me. I slide out from between the canopy drapes, tie my boots fiercely, and then bring my gift along with me.

I'm a lady of my word, after all.

And he probably won't give me what I want without it.

I requested the liver with foil, and I am not sure what monsters eat, so I did not add anything to it. Maybe he would like it less if I added something to it? He could add something to it if that is what he could do.

"What do monsters eat other than meat? It is only good for the blood," I mumble to myself.

I quietly take a few steps to the door, hoping that nothing will happen, because something always happens. I pick up my lifesaver, tell myself that I'm over-reacting, pull the door open, and it makes the same, ungodly groan as earlier before, announcing the person before the door opened fully.

"Dawn! Where are you going!?"

Dante rushes into my chambers, and I'm caught, fully dressed.

"Are you chasing death? Was before not enough," Dante asks.

"I am not," I mumble.

"Then what are you doing!?"

I find the only reason he would never ask more questions.

"I am going to Seth's chambers and he asked me to wear this specific outfit for him."

Dante made the same face as before, had a small whimper, and was upset. I had never seen him so upset. He knew I was lying, but he didn't want to ask and find out. I smiled, my little teeth pointing out, eyes curving, devil's grin on full display.

"You are not Lady Dyteria," Dante said.

"No, I am not."

"So stay here and sleep."

"No."

"I said stay here."

I blink, and he is on top of me, glaring into my eyes. I blink again, and I am sitting on the bed, wondering when it happened, and he is already back at the door, closing it shut, the loud click sealing me inside.

"Why are you doing this," I shout.

"Why are you so prepared to go off with this man? They have tried to kill you, and you trust the words of his mother because they didn't get it right the first time?"

"I, I mean, that can't be right. He wouldn't hurt me and then save me."

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"Dear, all of his wives before him have died. And you, you are so young. So very young, I worry for you."

Dante sits on the bed next to me, and he pulls me in close, and I let him hold me because I'm lonely. Again I want him here but I don't at the same time, and I hate this feeling. I know what I want, but that feeling is always jumbled when I'm around him.

"His wives died because of the wars. It wasn't him," I reply.

"You're young, and he's going to use you."

I look at him, his worried face, and I wonder.

"Are you jealous?"

He quickly let's go and flails his hands as if I am hot, on fire, a forbidden touch. There is a new face on him I've never seen before and it's so wonderful.

I love teasing boys.

I grin again, loving how easy it is to bother Dante and he's dumbfounded as I quickly run out the door, off to freedom. Freedom is a perilous journey down the halls. The old stone floors and walls are starting to get warmer, the world outside heating up from the evil that is the morning star. I can see its glowing hue when I'm running out, peeking through the covers of the frosted windows, past the old pictures of people long dead, of ugly statues and strange sculptures of beasts.

I get to the foyer, where the three staircases meet and lead down into the main entrance, and there's no escape.

Past the grandiose chandelier, down at the bottom of the staircase are no guards but wrought iron seals. There are three seals, spinning on the front door, softly pulsing blue.

I rub my lips, upset, still in anticipation of tasting more Ray, upset that there is something I can't get past. I can at least try.

I quickly look behind me, and dash down the stairs, lifesaver underneath my arm, my present in my left hand, and look down, careful not to trip. I'm sweaty and flushed, nervous because I am so close.

Ray is behind that door, the danger of daylight be damned.

I am not one of the ancient ones, still young, as much as I hate to accept it, so I cannot practice such fine mastery as whoever locked the main estate. Tenderly, I reach out to touch one of the dancing, rotating discs, and I see it again.

The long and winding red whisp, but it's circling the discs, dancing to the beat, jerking in tune with them. I don't want to touch the door anymore, instead, I need to grab onto this line, pull hard onto the red strings of fate, but someone pulls me back.

It is Seth.

"What are you doing to my defenses? This is to keep us safe while we sleep," Seth says.

"I was only—"

"Why were you staring at it for minutes on end?"

"I wanted to go outside," I quietly reply.

Seth's lower lip curls, he hisses, and sighs, upset that he was given me as a wife.

"Do you hate me that much," he asks.

I can't look into his eyes, the smoldering embers they are, and I stare at the ground.

"No."

"Then why do you have a death wish?"

"I wanted to meet someone."

I cover my mouth, angry at myself, my own bluntness now hurting me, and Seth is now sure that I am absolutely made. He wiggles his nose, smelling my sweet treats, and he chuckles softly because he knows that I really think someone is outside.

"Silly girl, no one alive is outside other than the beasts we drink."

"That's not true! There's a monster that can walk in the sun!"

Seth takes two steps closer to me, and he is looking at me, again, and I don't like it. The way that everyone here is so shameless here. He is the most brazen of all, taking my hand, and all I can do is give a strange smile. My toes curl inside my boots and I like how rough they are.

What I don't like is that he takes me back to my chambers.

I am sour, the air is dour, and Seth takes delight that I am upset to go to bed. He opens the door, creaking, announcing the visitors, and Dante sees the two of us entering.

His eyes widen and I remember my joke but he now believes it.

"Ah," he rasps.

Dante gets up, dresses down Seth his eyes, and leaves, angry, and I am trying to understand if this will be good or bad later on if I want to sneak out again.

"What have I done," Seth asks.

"Nothing," I reply, gripping his hand tighter.

He grimaces, lets go of my hand, and wipes it on his shirt.

"Hey!"

"Yes?"

"You are so rude!"

"I've brought you here, keeping you safe, my duty as your fiance, nothing more. I don't want to hold your hand."

I throw my lifesaver onto the bed, take my coat off in a flourish.

I'm so tired of this!

"You bring me back to my room..."

"Ah."

He draws out the one syllable, looking at the walls, and for the first time, he cannot meet me in the eyes.

"I did not think you were that kind of girl."

"I am not," I insist. "If you hold someone's hand, you shouldn't wipe it afterward!"

He sighs and lectures me, and I sit on the bed, cheeks burning, tired from my failed jailbreak.

"You almost died, became lost on the way to your residency, and then almost died once you found it! Now you seek out death on your own!"

"Don't make it sound so bad," I mumble.

"I just worry, I couldn't let you go off on your own, so I took your hand. You seem to be...maladjusted."

He leaves, the door clicking, and I scoff at somehow myself, no one, and everything at once.

The indignation.

The audacity.

"I am not maladjusted," I shout.

I try to take off my right boot but I tied it on too tight and now it's a struggle. Dante left and I cannot ask him for help, and I am too proud.

"He's pretending to not like me," I say to myself. "Liar."

I have never been rejected.

Never!

This was not a rejection.

I am the prettiest maiden to grace my aunt's estate, and will the most beautiful of the imperator's wives. He's playing hard to get.

I don't want him, but I want him to want me because then I can tell him no.

I puff up my chest, coming up with all kinds of scenarios, different ways to finally reclaim the land of my clan, crush Seth's heart, and best of all, find more Ray. Once I find more Ray I can... I can...

My mind wanders, touching my lips, wondering what else tastes good that comes out of Ray.

Maybe I could bring him back here, keep him for myself.

I could make Seth jealous of the monster in the woods.

I fall asleep, still in my jeans and shirt, and tomorrow I will execute my plan of ensuring that I have never been rejected.