<—Part 3
Part 4
Belphagor paused at the meadow, suppressing the quick rush of elation as he watched the woman and her animal companion approach. Crouching down to observe, he smiled—a bare twisting of his mouth—as he studied the woman and her dog. She’d come back, drawn to the portal. He hadn’t even had to take action to bring her back. This was going to be a lot easier than he’d first guessed.
With a snort of amusement, he shook his head. The dog had more sense than she did. He’d need to figure out an incentive compelling enough to cause her to break from the dog’s lead. As he glanced at the dog, speculation sparking in his crystalline grey-hazel eyes, the dog pressed its full weight against the human, its gaze never leaving him.
She was pretty enough for a half-breed. Her black hair had a gentle wave, and rather than the artificial shine of plastics, seemed to absorb the light around her. There was something in the tilt of her head and the straightness of her shoulders that sparked an almost familial recognition, reminding him of the cousin that had betrayed them. But her midnight hair was unlike anything in his family line, and her bronzed skin was pigment rich in a way that no amount of sun could have blessed his idiot cousin with. She’d been a moon-pale thing with silver hair. Her temperament had been just as imperious and cold as the moon she resembled.
This human’s eyes were a washed out hazel—more grey than blue—with a tinge of warm topaz at the outer ring of color. The eyes were unusual, except in his family. If he hadn’t been convinced from the signature of her blood, studying her up close made it impossible to deny.
She was definitely linked to the blood contract lineage, but she was also of his own family line. Looked like someone in the family had forgotten who they were and diluted the line. His mouth curled with distaste. He could only hope this one was more human than fae. The more fae blood cropped up in a descendant, the less the blood contract would hold. Some houses that had routinely procreated with their contract lines had learned the hard way; they’d accidently managed to breed most of the human right out and effectively destroyed the blood contract.
Still, Belphagor couldn’t afford to be too judgmental. Thanks to one of his family’s indiscretions, he was looking at what might be the last of his family’s contract line, and his last hope to reestablish his ranking within the ruling houses.
He just needed to lure her inside the meadow, into the portal that spanned both realms, and force her to renew the contract. Maybe it would be just a simple matter of some glamor magic. She seemed to have a soft spot for canines. Would presenting the image of a puppy in distress be enough to lure her in? He smirked at that idea and tucked it away for later use.
The dog shifted, whining a little as it came to all fours. It gave a quick, sharp bark, and the human turned her gaze from the meadow to the dog, brows drawn together.
“Alright, Feebs” she whispered on a sigh. Reluctantly, she got to her feet and allowed the dog to guide her away from the meadow, following the jogging trail that eventually lead into the neatly ordered sidewalks of the neighborhood.
He straightened from his crouch and watched until the night’s darkness swallowed them from view.
Mind spinning through a dozen possible scenarios, he retreated back to his family’s estate. If he started camping out at the portal, it’d no doubt raise suspicion. He had no intention of sharing his soon to be triumph with his elders. Once he had the contract renewed, it would be them that would have to curry favor with him, and the coveted council seat would become his, instead of his uncle’s.
He just needed a little time. Time to work on the human’s mind. Time to separate her, if only for a moment, from that dog.