Dancing with the Devil

Assassination

Mabel agreed without question. "What about you?"

"I have to meet the Count of Vladimir."

"No --" Mabel hugged her anxiously. "Let's go together! Indeed, Count is so terrible..."

Mabel's voice broke abruptly. She covered her mouth in horror and her face went white.

The wind died down. In the still, cold night, a footstep was approaching their room, and it became more and more distinct with the sharp and harsh movement of the scabbard against the armor. The girls felt a chill, as if death's scythe were dangling high above their heads and teetering.

The pace stopped at the door of their house. Then came three short knocks at the door.

"Tuk, tuk, tuk --"

Kalista was unsure whether the visitor was a friend or foe and instructed Mabel to remain where she was. She retrieved the medicine provided by Miss Thief from the undergarment of her maid's dress, concealed it within her cuff, and, with a knife in one hand and the lid of the half-sphere in the other, approached the door with caution. She opened the door with the knife and swiftly placed the lid in front of her.

The door opened a c***k, revealing the faint glow of silver armor through the gap. The knight standing in the doorway was a tall man with a face unknown to Kalista.

"I'm sorry, I was frightened by a burglar this morning and overreacted a bit," Kalista said, guiltily sheathing her knife and slipping the medicine bottle from her sleeve under the cover of the lid. "And who might you be?"

"I'm a friend of Evelyn's," the knight replied, cherishing his words like gold.

"Evelyn?"

"She is the one you have just summoned."

Kalista felt a sense of relief as she clutched the unspilled powder. "Did the Count send you to arrest me, or did Evelyn ask you to take my friend away?"

"Both. I'll have the coachman outside the castle take Miss Mabel out of town, and then I'll take you to the Count's chambers. I'll wait outside the room, and when you get the key, I'll see you off too."

As the knight stood by the door, Kalista stepped inside and embraced Mabel, her voice filled with reassurance. "You heard what he said, you'll be safe tonight. I'll come to you after I've completed what I must do. "

Mabel looked back over her shoulder three times before following the knight's lead. In the brief moments she had alone, Kalista concealed pieces of porcelain and powder in her sleeves and socks.

Before long, the knight returned.

Kalista relaxed the tension in her posture.

With long, curly blond hair shimmering in the moonlight like fine satin, she freshened up her appearance and stood outside the knight's door, offering a demure smile. Her innocence seemed to make her face appear more delicate and endearing. Kalista received the anticipated surprise and blush from the knight's eyes. She believed that her performance would indeed impress the Earl.

"Let us proceed, Sir Knight. I hope tonight's endeavor is a success."

She followed the knight up to the third floor, where they arrived at the largest room on the east side. The door swung open, and she bowed her head, listening in silence as the knight explained to the Count the mistake of taking another girl instead of Mabel.

The Count's voice was not as angry as Mabel had described; in fact, he sounded quite cheerful.

"Keep your head up," the count said, letting out a burp. He reached over the knight and addressed Kalista directly.

Kalista did as instructed, looking up to meet the count's gaze. His lips, curved into a smile, were a striking shade of red. The scent that emanated from him was all too familiar—it was the same metallic tang of blood she had smelled in the dungeon where the devil was held.

It seemed the rumors of a "hundreds-year-old Count eating raw girl's liver" were not entirely unfounded. What he consumed was, in fact, the liver of a demon.

"Kalista," the Count of Vladimir's eyes gleamed with a mixture of surprise and delight as he ran his cold fingers through her long hair and down her cheek, finally pinching her chin. "Come with me," he commanded.

Kalista acquiesced, and the Count gestured for the knight to remain by the door. With a forceful slam, he shut the door behind them, then scooped Kalista up, spinning her around as if she were a cherished prize he had been seeking. "Naughty little thing, I've been looking for you all day," he said with a predatory gleam in his eyes.

"In the afternoon, the lady's maid came to me for help," Kalista replied, her voice steady as she placed her arm around his neck, her eyes filled with a mix of compliance and resentment. "And I worked until evening."

The count dismissed the topic with a vague and perfunctory nod, then leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. She quickly put her finger to his lips, laughter in her eyes, as she teased him about whether he had just finished kissing another girl.

"Jealous little Kasta," he chuckled, "I assure you, I have not kissed anyone tonight."

Kalista giggled as she rested her head on his shoulder, her eyes darting around the room, taking in every detail. The space was vast, with only a small round table and the necessary cabinets. On the table sat a silver dinner plate with a missing lid, revealing the remnants of a bright red paste on the white China platter.

Moonlight bathed a corner of the table, illuminating the knife and fork that lay casually on the edge of the dish. The Count carried Kalista to the bed, casting the white moonbeams aside. He laid her on the edge of the bed, ran his fingers through her hair, twisted it into a bun, and leaned down to sniff. The ends of his hair brushed against her waist, and his hand grasped her waist, pulling open the apron of the maid's dress.

Kalista moved gracefully around the bed, skimming over the Count's skirt. They separated, one at the end of the bed, the other at the head. The Count held Kalista's apron in his hand, while Kalista clutched his scarf.

"I dare not trouble the Count himself to undress me," Kalista said as she kicked off her shoes, twisted the scarf over half her face, and evaded the Count's embrace like a slippery loach. She darted to the windowsill.

The Count chased her, but the corners of her skirt, like a fish's tail, swam cleverly through the air, evading his grasp. He pursued her eagerly, trying to sneak up on her, "Don't run away, let me touch you, wicked little thing."

Another miss was met with a light laugh and a thrown headband. The headband was wrapped around his neck and shoulders, and he shook it a few times before breaking free.

Kalista was so amused that she bent over and coughed, covering her mouth. He waits to catch up and RIPS off her back straps. Just when he thought he was going to get it, she slipped away at a strange angle. This time, she gave him a lady-in-waiting dress. The girlish cloth covered the Count's face, and, stumbling away from his dress, he saw the wispy girl sitting smiling at the end of the bed a few paces away, with the scarf which he had taken in her hand.

He lunged, grabbed the girl's wrist and pulled her into his arms. The girl covered his eyes with her scarf. Fresh, he matched her movements, just as he occasionally pampered his plaything, "Looks like you want to try some fun games."

The girl smiled and put her arms round his neck without saying a word. She clung so close to him that she wrapped herself around his body like a snake, her moist breath flowing around the skin on the side of his neck making him shudder with pleasure.

He tried in vain to lift the darkness above his eyes and see her beautiful body. "Listen, little fellow, and let me kiss you." He counseled patiently.

But she did not respond, only to cover his eyes obstinately, and bite him between the neck. She bit hard and deep, and something different from tongue and teeth held him. Then there was a slight pain in the throbbing side of the neck.

He wanted to ask her what kind of game she was playing this time, but there was another kind of sharpness that accompanied her soft lips across her throat. He opened his mouth and could not make a sound.

The heat around his neck burned him. It felt so strange that it took him a long time to figure out what was going on. But all the strength and heat of the body seemed to flow outward through the thin line at the neck.