Chapitre 14: In the Carriage

"What is your name?"

Daphne turned her attention to him, and she gulped before muttering, "Daphne."

"Daphne. . ." The man repeated, the words rolling off his tongue as he grinned, "What are you?"

For a second, Daphne raised one eyebrow in puzzlement, wondering what in the world he was asking about. Then, she remembered the current situation she was in and pressed her lips together tightly. If she said human. . . Yeah, that did not sound very right.

What would a human be doing in the Brothel? And, from what she knew, it seemed like most creatures here did not like humans or looked down on them, so if she said she was a human. . . What if he sent her back to the Brothel, or threw her away, or even worse - what if he killed her?!

Just thinking about it made Daphne's palms sweat as she grinned and replied, "Fairy."

Yes, that should be right. After all, she had gotten away with being a fairy for some time now. He shouldn't be able to tell. . .

"What are you from?" He asked, leaning forward as the questions came one after another. It was almost as if he was interrogating her.

"Where am I from?" Daphne repeated, not sure of what to say, ". . . The Brothel."

The man raised one eyebrow, and then grinned, pressing his lips together at the unexpected answer. He did not press her on the question and instead suddenly got up, very easily moving towards her, sitting in the space right next to her.

Daphne grew alert as she edged towards the corner of the carriage, struggling to maintain her balance as the road beneath them was quite bumpy. The creature seemed displeased about her response, and he shook his head slightly, "Are you scared of me?"

Daphne quickly nodded. She was scared of everyone here, okay?! This place was filled with monsters. Once again, Lucifer seemed slightly taken aback by her blunt response, and then he shrugged. It was normal that people were scared of him.

He was used to it now. . . In fact, he enjoyed the fearful looks he got from other creatures when he walked past them. The quivering eyes, shaking hands and legs. . . They all brought him pleasure. His eyes flickered at the thought as they landed on Daphne again.

However, she was afraid of him? That, he did not like. He liked it more when she was not scared of him. Well, a corner of his mouth lifted as he realized that he liked her either way, afraid or not. Maybe it was better if she was a little scared.

"How long have you been at the Brothel?" Lucifer asked, crossing his legs as he did not move any closer to her, so she relaxed slightly. She was just about to answer when Lucifer's brows snapped together, rephrasing his question:

"How many men have you served at the Brothel?" He tilted his head, his eyes landing on her.

Daphne was a little scared from his gaze, and she muttered, "Two. . . Including you."

Hearing this answer, Daphne saw him frown as he hissed, "Two. . ."

That wasn't a lot, right?" Daphne thought. Only two, well only one if she did not count the man asking the question right now.

"Besides me, who was the other one?" Lucifer asked, leaning back against the cramped carriage chair as he stretched his legs out so they reached the other end of the space.

It seemed like a casual question, but Daphne gulped as she heard the threatening tone in his voice, almost as if he was saying it through clenched teeth, "The other one. . . It was a vampire. A pure-blooded vampire."

Daphne turned to look at his reaction, to see if he was scared after hearing about the other man's grade. If this man could only afford one golden coin to purchase her, he was probably not that powerful, right?

However, Lucifer had shut his eyes already, and when he heard the words 'pure-blooded vampire', Daphne noticed a hint of distaste flash past his face as he pressed his lips together into a thin line.

"Name?"

Daphne thought back, "I think it was. . . Ramon? They called him Master Ramon."

A gush of cold wind chilled Daphne's bones, and she looked around, wondering where it had come from. She couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen to this Ramon person. Nothing good, she believed.

"What did he do? What did you do? What did you two do?" Lucifer asked, blinking his eyes open, which had turned a slightly darker shade of red.

"He. . . I accidentally offended him, so I had to kneel in front of him most of the time. We didn't do anything else." Daphne left out the part of Ramon touching her or anything else, because she could tell that something very bad would happen if this man heard about it.

"Kneel?" Lucifer sat up straight, the playful expression that had been on his face fading. Then, before Daphne could even react or notice anything had happened, Lucifer was right up at her, his hand resting on the side of the chair as he turned his body so his face was on top of hers.

"I think there are a few things you have to know now that you are my woman. From now on, you belong to me."

Daphne's eyes narrowed as she listened to him.

The man tilted his head slightly, "I am quite protective when it comes to my belongings. Things like. . . kneeling, I don't want you to do that in front of anyone but me."

His mouth curved into a grin as he added, "Of course, I won't make you kneel for me often. Perhaps. . ." He paused, "On the bed?"

Daphne's expression darkened as she refused to look at him.

"Understand?" Lucifer asked, waiting for a response.

No response.

He continued to smile, but his voice had turned slightly threatening again, "Hmm, it seems like my little girl isn't very obedient."

He shrugged, lifting his hand up as he sat back down a few inches away from her again, "But that's okay. . . I'm certain that in no time, you will definitely listen and obey me very attentively."

He spoke slowly and lazily, and that made Daphne nervous. She did not like what he said, and she was not going to respond to him either. However, his words did make her nervous. Where was he going to bring her? What was she going to do?

Sold. . . What did that mean? Was she going to be his maid? His mistress? His toy on the bed?

They sat in silence for a while before Daphne could not keep her curiosity to herself anymore.

"What are you?" She asked.

Lucifer rested his chin onto his clenched fist as he smiled playfully again, "Guess."

"Vampire?" Daphne looked into his red eyes. He seemed to look like one, but his temperament was completely different from the pure-blooded vampire she had seen at the Brothel. He seemed more cold, distant, more. . . dangerous.

Lucifer shook his head.

If he wasn't a vampire. . . Daphne did not want to know where this was going, but another guess was circulating in her brain now.

She slowly opened her mouth, furrowing her eyebrows together, "Devil?"

Grade 1. . . That's what Maryanne had told her. Devils and angels, but the angels were extinct. Daphne's heart thumped inside her chest, and she could hear it in her ears as she awaited a response.

Lucifer grinned as he leaned over, closer to her as he stared directly at her with his blood red eyes. His grin widened as he heard her heart beating, once. . . twice. . .

Why was her heart so loud?

Their faces were only a few inches apart as he answered, "My little girl is quite smart, now isn't she?"