Page 52 of Demon Food

It wasn’t that all humans looked the same. I could grasp their differences once I made myself notice them, but it was difficult to distinguish the human woman from the human man from the humans that preferred neither of those labels.

It was like they were who they were, and we had the potential to be attracted to all of it, no matter the form it came.

That being said, no one had any clue why some blended into the background like these humans, like every servant I’d ever met. It wasn’t that they were unattractive, but they were like brown birds in a brown tree. My eyes could barely track their movements or their bodies unless I focused really hard. Their presence didn’t demand attention. It didn’t scream, Look at me. You’ll never taste anything better than ME.

Like the one chained to my fucking room.

“Oh, yes,” Lucc said, shooting the three soldiers at the end of the hall a look. “They didn’t want to let us past, said they’re under orders to limit your number of guests.”

I arched a brow at the soldiers who stood on guard at the end of the hallway, expressions blank like they’d been trained. I would hope that when I was king, I’d remember the ones who did me no favors. But I had a long, long road to becoming king.

“But I have a right to be here,” Lucc continued, “as I’ve been charged with arranging meals for the human as well as reporting back to the king’s commander about any change in your appearance.”

I narrowed my eyes. “King’s commander? Which one? Not Neopal.”

Lucc nodded, then glanced over his shoulder. He beckoned me closer, cupping his hand around my ear to whisper, “But I will report whatever you tell me to report, Prince. I serve you.”

Well, wasn’t this just a poetic slap in the face?

I’d known Neopal my whole life. He was my best friend. Well. Former best friend.

We did everything together—went through the brutal royal sword training, hunted wild boar, swam in the Novithian falls where we caught frogs and fell asleep under the sun. He was the brother I wished I had.

I was the one who begged my father to let him join his brigade of soldiers at such a young age. It was because of me that he’d even had a shot to climb the ranks so ruthlessly, landing himself the position of commander at the age of twenty-one.

He was most skilled at sword and strategy, but somewhere along the way, he’d abandoned himself to become my father’s lackey. This just proved it further.

“I’m forever grateful, Lucc,” I said, forcing a reassuring smile, stepping back to pin the door against the wall. “Come in.”

Feloré was clutching his chain in his hands, eyeing the servants as they bustled into the room, the last one pushing a cart upon which three metal domes sat. Without speaking, they began preparing my desk, covering it in a white tablecloth and arranging it with food. One even brought a bit of flowers in a vase as if this was teatime and not an enslaved human awaiting slaughter.

“I don’t know how you’re doing it,” Lucc said, huddled close by my side as we watched the servants work.

“How I’m doing what?”

“How you’re not losing your mind.”

I followed his line of sight. It was glued to Feloré. Even with him no longer dressed in the slinky silver outfit, he still shone impossibly bright.

I swabbed a hand over my face. I’d told Lucc just enough to keep him innocent if ever questioned by my father, but it felt insane to say with a straight face, “Piece of cake. This is not the one.”

“Not ‘the one’,” he repeated vacantly, like he was turning the phrase over in his mind. “Well, I guess that’s good, since your father kidnapped him.”

Feloré glanced over at us from the corner of his eye, rightfully suspicious.

“Oh, I wish I could say I had your control, Prince,” Lucc continued, his fingers starting to tremble as he gazed straight ahead at Feloré. “But I fear I would just get so unbelievably hungry.”

If he only knew how much my mouth was watering right now.

“So, what happens when the two weeks are up?” he asked. “You think your father will really leave you to make your own decisions? For how long?”

My eyes flared wide for a tick. I struggled to think that far. Two weeks was a fucking eternity to be in this room with this human.

But I could do it. Then it wouldn’t matter what nonsense my father tried to pull because the moment I was freed, I would be gone from this place.

“I don’t know, but I need you to do me a favor,” I said. “I need you to deliver a message for me.”

“Of course.” He perked up. “Anything at all.”