Chapter 122: The Blood That Obeys IV
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Sekhmet stood, walked to the bed, and adjusted the blanket over Bat Bat’s small body. She muttered something half asleep.
"Master sexy..."
Sekhmet stared at her for a moment. He still did not know where she learned the meaning of sexy.
He suspected Lily. He feared the truth. He returned to the chair, sat, and listened to the house for a while.
The subtle creaks.
The distant footsteps of night servants.
The faint rustle of curtains.
The small city noises beyond the window.
The hunger eased into a manageable quiet. Not gone. Never gone. But quiet enough to think.
His body felt heavier in a tired way.
His mind finally stopped sprinting.
Sekhmet removed his coat and placed it neatly on the chair. He lay down carefully, leaving space so he would not crush Bat Bat’s small sleeping form.
He stared at the ceiling.
One step at a time, he reminded himself.
Then his eyes closed.
Sleep took him, not gently, but like a hand pressing his head down.
Hours passed.
When Sekhmet woke, the air had changed. The deep night silence had faded into the quiet pre-dawn rhythm of a city preparing to breathe again. He sat up slowly.
Bat Bat was still asleep, hugging the blanket like it was her favorite victim.
Sekhmet’s lips twitched faintly.
He washed his face with cold water, a simple habit that anchored him. He changed into practical merchant clothing. Not noble fancy. Not beggar rags. Clothes that made him look like what he was supposed to be: the heir of a merchant house, not a blood creature from the wild.
He stepped into the hallway. Dawn House at this hour belonged to servants and ghosts.
He found Elena already awake, as if she had never slept in her entire life and simply rotated between forms of tiredness. She stood near a table, organizing cloth and schedules like a commander arranging troops.
Her eyes lifted instantly when she saw him.
"You are awake early," Elena said.
Sekhmet nodded.
"I am going out," he replied.
Elena’s gaze sharpened.
"Where," she asked, not as curiosity, but as responsibility.
Sekhmet kept his voice controlled.
"Contract market," he said.
Elena paused. Her expression tightened just slightly, disapproval flickering under discipline.
"That place is not clean," Elena said.
Sekhmet did not argue.
"I know," he replied. "But I need something there."
Elena studied him, reading his tone. She did not ask what. Because Elena was wise enough to know when questions were knives.
Instead, she nodded.
"Will you bring Auri," she asked.
Sekhmet nodded again.
"Yes," he said. "I already summoned her. She is waiting outside the house."
Elena inhaled slowly, then spoke again.
"And Bat Bat," she asked.
Sekhmet’s eyes flicked toward the corridor.
"No," he replied immediately. "She stays."
Elena’s lips twitched faintly.
"Good," she said. "She has to study."
As if summoned by the word study, a tiny voice shouted from the hallway like a curse made into language.
"Nooooo!"
Bat Bat appeared, already awake now, in her small human form, hair messy, wings half open, eyes wide with betrayal. She pointed at Sekhmet like he had committed a crime against nature.
"Master go," Bat Bat said dramatically. "Bat Bat go!"
Sekhmet stared at her.
"No," he said.
Bat Bat’s face twisted into pure offended tragedy.
"Why," she demanded. "Bat Bat is strong now! Bat Bat is genius! Bat Bat protect!"
Elena folded her arms.
"Bat Bat has letters," Elena said calmly.
Bat Bat froze. Her eyes widened as if Elena had said the word execution.
"No," she whispered in horror.
Elena’s voice remained perfectly steady.
"Yes," she replied.
Bat Bat turned to Sekhmet, desperate now, wings trembling.
"Master," she pleaded. "Letters is evil."
Sekhmet’s voice stayed flat.
"You are not coming," he said.
Bat Bat puffed her cheeks and tried a different tactic. She spread her wings and placed one hand on her chest like a tragic actress who had never seen a stage but believed she deserved applause.
"If master go," Bat Bat said, "the master disappears."
Sekhmet stared.
Elena stared.
Bat Bat nodded solemnly as if she had just given the most logical prophecy in the world.
Sekhmet rubbed his forehead slowly.
"That is not how things work," he said.
Bat Bat pointed at Elena.
"Elena will eat master," Bat Bat accused.
Elena’s eyes narrowed.
Bat Bat immediately shut up again.
Sekhmet exhaled slowly.
"Bat Bat," he said, voice calm but firm, "you will study today. You will grow stronger here. If you follow me everywhere, you learn nothing."
Bat Bat pouted.
"But Bat Bat want fun," she muttered.
Sekhmet looked at her.
"You had fun yesterday," he said.
Bat Bat perked up slightly.
"Yes," she said. "Underground war."
Sekhmet’s eyelid twitched.
Elena cleared her throat.
"I will handle her," Elena said. She knew Sekhmet was going outside at night. But she won’t ask unless Sekhmet told her.
Bat Bat’s face fell.
Handle in Elena language meant war.
Sekhmet nodded once.
"Do it," he replied.
Bat Bat gasped, betrayed again.
"Master is cruel," she whispered.
Sekhmet turned away before his face softened. If he looked at her too long, he would feel guilt, and guilt made decisions weakly.
He walked toward the main hall.
Auri was already waiting there, cloak simple, wings concealed, posture calm and ready. She bowed when she saw him.
"Master," she said.
Sekhmet nodded.
"We go," he replied.
Auri fell into step beside him instantly, silent as a shadow.
Behind them, Bat Bat shouted one last dramatic threat.
"Master! If you disappear, Bat Bat will eat Elena!"
Elena’s voice answered calmly from the corridor.
"Try it," Elena said.
Bat Bat went silent.
Sekhmet’s lips twitched faintly.
He stepped out of Dawn House into the early morning air.
The city felt different at dawn. Less arrogant. Less loud. As if even Slik City needed a moment to wake up and remember how to pretend.
Sekhmet and Auri moved through streets where humans walked beside beastkin, where a tall lizard man argued with a merchant about fish price, where a horned woman carried a basket of vegetables, where two short goblin children chased each other and screamed like the world was ending.
The city was alive. And it was dangerous.