A tired sigh escapes my lips as I walk through the front door of Fireside house. The meeting on the Nightshade pandemic was nothing but a show put on by puffed-up nobles wanting to seem like they were doing something, when really they have no interest in what happens to the lower classes. The reports I'd been receiving about missing people have been on the rise as well, though they were just as uninterested in that as well.
Walking towards my study to put my notes from the meeting away, I'm surprised and furious to see one of my household Collectors half dragging, half escorting a servant woman down the hall towards me. Her hood is pulled up, hiding her face, while her hands are bound in front of her.
The laughter echoing off the walls is cruel and harsh to my ears, stopping suddenly when he sees me standing in his path. Fear and resentment roll off of him in waves as he straightens his spine and salutes me while holding the woman's upper arm in a punishingly tight grip.
"What is the meaning of this?" I ask, making sure to hide how tired I am. With the question leaving my lips, the smoke that has been both a blessing and an annoyance since I was a teenager, pours forth to wrap unnoticed around the man's feet.
I watch as the Collector's eyes start shifting around, looking for an escape, while the woman mutters, "Pretty," under her breath.
I keep my surprise inside as I wait for the man to give me an answer.
Even without my ability, I would take it to be a lie. The tension in his shoulders and face, as well as his shifting eyes, giving him away.
"I'm removing her from the premises for being a thief, Sir," he finally answers, my smoke showing that it's only a half lie.
"You are a thief?" I ask the woman as the fog switches to her feet. Rather than the thin layer of gray that I'm used to seeing, when it touches her feet it turns a burnished silver interlaced with gold.
A gasp of astonishment leaves my lips, and before I can form a thought, I wrap my arms around her shoulders and under her legs. The Collector is so surprised by my actions that he lets her go immediately, stepping back as I swing her into my arms.
"I will be taking charge of her," I say dismissively as I continue my walk to my study, smiling inside when she almost kicks the Collector in the face as we pass.
Looking down at her face as we walk, I notice that her pupils are larger than normal and her breathing is irregular. Leaning down to smell her breath, I can't help the anger that rolls through me at the sour-sweet smell.
There are so many questions I wish to ask her, but first I need to get the Nightshade out of her system.
Striding into my office, I turn to the cushions under my window to lay her down, only to stop short at the sight of someone already sleeping there. Fighting between amusement and irritation, amusement wins when the person shifts to expose her face to the moonlight. The slight Asian tilt to her eyes and her small red mouth sends a twinge of longing straight to my neglected c*ck.
Pushing my till now nonexistent s*x drive down, I gently lay the girl down and put my hand on the woman's shoulder to shake her awake. As soon as my hand lands on her shoulder, she bolts straight up, blinking her wide blue eyes in bewilderment.
Letting out a gasp of recognition, she tries to get up while muttering apologies. A blush covers her cheeks while I watch her continually fall on her backside.
Holding up a hand, I forestall any further movement.
"I have a more pressing matter than you falling asleep in my study. This woman has ingested an unknown amount of Nightshade, and I need someone to get a Healer. Since you are here, I will forgive your trespass if you do this for me." My words have an odd effect on the woman, her expression becoming more distressed as she sees the girl on the floor.
"Oh, Goddess! Yes, I will go." Her words are rushed as she crawls off of the pillows and stands to leave. Turning suddenly, I'm aghast as I watch her pull a rolled-up file from between her well-rounded br*asts and a book from her cloak. Racing back to me, she shoves them into my hands before running out the door. Looking from the girl, to the door, to the objects in my hands, I have a feeling that this is going to be a much longer night than it already has been.