The baron gasped but didn’t dare to argue. He relied on his weapons and armor—and he miscalculated. Jack’s armaments turned out to be no worse than his. It all took twenty minutes. Jack and the baron stood in a circle. The baron carefully defended himself, while Jack leaped ahead, forcing the former to step back, trying to get away.A barrage of blows forced the baron to let his guard down and lose his ground, taking a hit that separated his head from his body. The decapitated body stood tall for a few moments before collapsing, covering the ground in blood from his arteries.“The Bright Saint has passed his judgment!”I declared.“So be it. Jack of the Norret family, from this day forth, you are the first Baron Norret! To reimburse you for the harm done to you and those under your protection, I bestow upon you the lands of Baron Pantine. Be a wise and just ruler.”Everyone was staring at me as if I were a manifestation of the Bright Saint. On the other hand, the late baron had no leg

I summoned my father the second time after all that drama with Carlie. Not just for kicks, mind you. Her husband, the idiot, decided to assassinate me, seeing as she hadn’t been a maiden anymore, which clearly rubbed him the wrong way. So, if he killed me, his honor would be clear—apart from stealing some else’s bride, but that, apparently, didn’t matter. He sent an assassin after me, ruining my leisure, and tearing my curtains—the latter an unforgivable offense, really. I mean, wouldn’t you be annoyed? Just imagine lying in your bed, resting, contemplating your private troubles, gazing at the stars...and then someone’s body obscures them and several bolts from a multi-shot crossbow fly toward you.A pretty scary thing; I could have become a hedgehog rather than a half-demon...if they had actually hit me. My reflexes were too quick, however, and I was much faster than humans.As soon as that shadow stood by the window, I fell to the floor, transformed, and charged at him. My tail was

Andre took along such a swarm of toadies, that I couldn’t understand why he would need me as well.During the first three days of our journey, we had seen each other only twice, and it never really changed. Nobody was going to try and kill me.A few times, strangers attempted to join me and Tom, but I quickly brushed them off. The baroness, by the way, accompanied us in the prince’s retinue, and loitered around me so much that even my horse started to bite—which was quite understandable, really.I’d bite her myself if I wasn’t squeamish. The lady was constantly dousing herself with some saccharine perfume and staring at me, confused. She probably thought that I should have long since dragged her into bed, but I had not an ounce of desire to do that; I would rather have raised a zombie, really. We were riding across the greatest country in the world. With each day, it became more and more clear to me that Radenor was worth everything—and more. It was worth blood, dirt, and pain, mine

Tommy didn’t believe me, of course. Who would? I had to beg him. My friend shrugged and promised to wait in our chambers until I dealt with the problem. The issue was resolved the same night.I simply summoned the hunter. As hellhounds weren’t simple dogs, hunters weren’t simple demons. He appeared almost immediately, looking at me with his blood-red eyes. He was tall, gangly, and reminded me of a cellar spider.In the cloud smoke which hid his features he seemed clumsy and awkward—if you didn’t know how fast and deadly he could be.Hellhounds chased prey.The hunter dealt the final blow.“Did you call for me?”He didn’t add “Master” naturally. I had to channel some more power into the pentagram. It’s not like I cared about titles, but status was something that demons placed great value on. If I let his arrogance go unpunished, I would get a rebellion later.The demon w

I was reading those thoughts on his face as clearly as if the duke was shouting them at the top of his lungs. When he turned toward me, I helped him.“Your Grace, I must keep vigil at my cousin’s side, but you will conduct an investigation, won’t you?”In a minute he would have rushed to embrace me, I swear.“Of course, Your Highness. I swear on my honor!”If you swore on something that you actually had, I might believe you. But a man whose wife had borne a vampire’s child, a man who, most likely, had forced her to do that himself?Sir, the honor of your family has long since gone running, like a deer in the woods.Why deer?Well, maybe a moose. Wearing the horns of a cuckold.I spent around four hours at Andre’s side, Tommy was nearby, also pretending to be appropriately distressed. But...“Alex, but that was her doing.”“So what?”“Won’t we get revenge?”My ass.Avenge Lavinia’s help? I was in her debt. Maybe I won’t even kill her right away.“Tommy, could we survive the war with Te