Chapter 295: The Breath Between Nights
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Vera nodded. Vela nodded. Auri nodded too, already understanding that nothing about Lily’s watch changed.
Bat Bat, however, narrowed her eyes at him in suspicion.
The lesser vampire also followed him.
Good. Immediate response is still strong.
Sekhmet gestured for him.
"You come with me."
The red-eyed man obeyed without hesitation.
Auri’s eyes moved briefly to him, then back to Sekhmet. "You are taking him out."
"Yes."
"Will he return?"
"If he follows orders."
The lesser vampire bowed his head at once. "I will, Master."
Sekhmet turned, opened the Void Land, and stepped through with the lesser vampire at his back.
Bat Bat darted after them before the opening could close.
Of course she did.
The moment Sekhmet reentered his chamber, the ordinary world felt too warm and too small after the deep dark pressure of the hidden realm. The lamps still burned low. The room had changed subtly while he was gone. The maids had come through and cleaned everything with the terrifying efficiency of women trained to erase evidence of emotions from furniture.
The bed had been remade.
Perfectly.
That was almost offensive.
The sheets were smooth. Pillows restored. The slight disorder from earlier closeness with Lily entirely erased as though the room had never once held a newly hidden husband and wife kissing and doing it like they wanted to forget the city existed.
Sekhmet noticed all of that in one glance and said nothing.
Because yes.
Of course Elena’s house work would function like that.
The lesser vampire stood near the doorway, waiting.
Bat Bat hovered in the center of the room, looking from the cleaned bed to Sekhmet to the lesser vampire and then back again with the expression of a creature making entirely the wrong kind of conclusions.
Sekhmet ignored her and focused on business.
He stepped to the side table, opened a drawer, and drew out a small Dawn token. Nothing grand. Not a crest meant for public authority. A merchant house marker of real origin, one that Rakas men in the black market would recognize as belonging to Sekhmet’s if they had enough eyes and experience.
He turned to the lesser vampire.
"You know the underground black market?"
The man nodded immediately. "Yes, Master."
"There is someone there named Raka."
The lesser vampire frowned slightly. Not in refusal. But in thoughts, "I do not know him personally."
"That is not what I asked."
The red-eyed man lowered his head. "I know of him. Master."
He was good enough. He quickly understands what Sekhmet said.
Sekhmet stepped closer and handed him the token.
"Then go there. Find him. Tell him you serve me just like him."
The lesser vampire took the token with both hands.
Sekhmet continued, voice calm and precise. "Tell him I said to meet me in the morning. Tell him he is to take care of you for tonight. You return with him tomorrow. No detours. No blood unless necessary. No showing off your new face to idiots who will only ask unnecessary questions."
The lesser vampire absorbed every word like law.
"Yes, Master."
"Show him the token if needed." Sekhmet said.
"Yes." He replied.
"And if anyone else tries to interfere?"
The lesser vampire’s red eyes lifted. "I leave. I will not waste myself."
Better than expected.
Sekhmet’s mouth shifted faintly. "Good."
The man bowed once more. Then, after the smallest pause, asked, "If Raka or his men test me?"
Sekhmet understood at once.
"If Raka tests you," he said, "you manage it and after that obey him for the night. He serves me. That is enough."
The lesser vampire nodded.
Useful.
He would manage.
Sekhmet opened the door himself and sent the new creation into the corridor with one final look.
The man moved well already. Better than before. Quieter. Colder. More controlled. He vanished into the window carrying the token and his first true order as part of Sekhmet’s bloodline.
The window shut again. Silence returned.
Then Bat Bat spoke immediately.
"So."
Sekhmet looked at her.
She crossed her tiny wings. "I still have questions. Which you did not answer yet."
Sekhmet said. "No. I don’t want to hear it."
"I am going to ask them anyway." Bat Bat replied.
"That does not mean I have to answer."
Bat Bat floated closer, offended by the logic. "Why is there suddenly a red-eye servant? Isn’t Bat Bat enough for you master? What happened between you and Lily before we went to the Void Land. Why did the room smell like blood and romance when we left? Why is the bed suspiciously neat now. Why do maids erase all traces of happiness."
Sekhmet pinched the bridge of her nose once. "Go to Elena. She is waiting for you."
Bat Bat recoiled in pure betrayal. "Why."
"Because it is late and she will put you somewhere less noisy for study."
Bat Bat gasped as if he had proposed murder. "I do not wish to be put somewhere less noisy for study. Today, I don’t want to study. I wish to remain here. Bat Bat and master together."
"No." Sekhmet replied.
"Yes." Bat Bat counters.
"No." Sekhmet replied again.
Bat Bat flew upward to eye level with him and planted both tiny hands on what would have been her hips if her body had been designed by a sane imagination. "Tonight I want to stay with you."
Sekhmet stared at her.
She stared back.
For one long second, the room held that ridiculous little silent war between them while the rest of the world outside continued far more serious business.
Then Bat Bat delivered her real reason, and because she was Bat Bat, she tried to hide it under arrogance and failed only slightly.
"There are too many strange things happening," she muttered. "Lily is in a blood egg. There is a red-eye man. There was kissing and something. Everyone is lying badly. I wish to sleep where the important person is. With my master."
The line was almost cute enough.
Almost.