“Do you understand?” He asks me pleadingly, like a sad puppy. I lift my hand to his face, caressing his cheek. “Of course,” I say, my voice soft and sensual. His eyes glimmer and he smiles slightly at me, and I almost feel sorry for him. He’s one of the sweeter ones I’ve met, but he’s useless to me now. He’s so inthralled by me he doesn’t even notice the dagger softly kissing his chest, and then sinking in. Glimmering scarlet blood pools on the marble floor and covers my fingers, running down my hand to the sleeves of my gown. If he wasn’t going to love me, he wasn’t going to love anyone.