A Player Cannot Be Played

Barrett flung himself back and forth, whipping his head aggressively as he made it to a vacant seat a few tables away from where she had just occupied.

Her heart pounded so fast. He hadn't recognized her.

No. He had locked gazes with her several times before shoving her out of his way to occupy himself a seat.

She had barely seen Barrett in a drunken state, and once she had, he recognized her. He made fun of her princess ball gown at the ball that night.

Something was amiss. Barrett would never be too drunk to forget what his sister looked like. He would remember her even with his eyes closed.

Ember made it toward drunk Barrett perched on a seat, throwing his hand in the air to signal the attendant over.

She had completely forgotten they had thought her dead, and she was supposed to stay dead till she came to her final decision. Truly, it was the more reason she needed to figure out what the heavens were going on.

Her brothers had presumed her to be dead. There was no way he could be too drunk to bypass her total existence.

"B-barrett?"

Ember tried. Barrett threw her another gaze, glaring at her this time.

"No, miss. I go to a brothel when I require services."

This was hell. Had he just presumed her a slut?

She was about to jerk him, scream at him to come to his senses when that French accent came speaking into her ears again.

"I'd suggest you leave him be. He cannot adhere to your desire. Your face is off his memories."

Ember shuddered, stepping away from Barrett as the attendance approached him, and he placed an order blissfully in his drunken state.

Now, everything made sense to her.

He doesn't remember her again.

"W-what have you done?"

Ember, in her quivering tone, asked the vampire.

"Something necessary. I've freed you of the torture of losing your brother. Surely, you are aware you would lose him sooner or later if he doesn't seize involving himself in our business."

Ember sagged onto the floor, her headlight and her heart heavy.

It was at her funeral. He had disrupted it as Lauren had reported and rid her brothers of her memories. That was the part Lauren couldn't remember as the vampire would have wiped off her memories as well.

Her life was meaningless. What more was left?

The vampire had ridden her of everything. He took her father. Stole her existence. Made her into nothing.

This was his plan all along. He wanted her to come running to him. He wanted her all to himself, and as he had mentioned earlier, "he would end ten thousand lives if he had to."

Now, the decision is all in her hands.

Ember pushed off the floor, dusted her dress, and marched out of the Fletchers Bar.

She managed to sneak back through the back door of Lauren's mother's cottage, but, as she tried padding gently towards her bedroom, Lauren body-crossed her, forcing her to a halt.

"Is there anything I should know? Where are you coming from?"

"Lauren, I'm leaving."

Ember immediately announced to her, brushing past her and storming into her bedroom to prepare for her leave.

Lauren frowned, following her into the room.

"I thought you said you needed more time to think about it?"

"Yes. I've had enough time. I need to leave."

Lauren nodded, watching Ember gather the nightwear she had come with into her hands.

"So, how do you plan to tell them that you weren't dead."

Ember swirled around to face Lauren.

"Them? Who?"

"Your brothers."

"I'm not going to them, Lauren. I'm going back to the Duke."

"To the Duke? Are you sure about your decision?"

Ember smiled.

"I'm certain, Lauren."

Lauren soon ordered a carriage around and sent Ember off before the orange sun retired into the depths of the earth. Before Ember climbed into the carriage, Lauren spun her around and wrapped her in a soul-shattering hug.

Once Ember had arrived at the Duke's mansion, she let a woman in a househelp attire, lead her into the mansion.

The woman had awaited Ember at the landing of the Duke's mansion entrance before the carriage had pulled up, and she suspected the Duke had already been aware of her arrival.

Once again, the Duke's enormous manor received her gracefully.

The Duke awaited her, in a coat and breeches, in the breakfast room as he bit into a biscuit and sipped from a cup of tea.

A grin painted his face as he jerked onto his feet and walked up to her to wrap her in a hug.

"Thank you for coming back to me."

Ember stepped out of his grip, smiling sheepishly at him. However, the Duke had suspected her smile was of sarcasm.

"I'm not here for you, Your Grace. I'm here for the vampire."

Ember said, her gaze on the Duke, dead and emotionless. It was unlike Ember.

"He said he wanted me. Well, here I am."

Ember moved closer to the Duke.

"Surely, you do not think me a fool not to know of your tactic? Or, you think because I appear as though a timid person, I could easily be fooled?"

The Duke frowned, starting to garner what Ember was about.

"Or, was it the scar? Did it deceive you to think me a foolish girl?"

Then, the Duke realized. His frown settled and a smirk played on his lips.

"I was hoping to fool you a little bit longer, Mon Cheri."

Ember took a step away from him, trying not to show that she was trembling.

Finally, she had seen what the vampire looked like.

"Tell me, since when have you known of my real identity?"

The Duke, or rather, the vampire asked, grinning amusingly.

"Since the ball. That night you called me apart, into the garden. I smelt you and I instantly decoded you were the vampire that terrorized this city and its people."

Ember closed the space between them, brushingbosomossom against his chest.

"And no, I'm not just Ember Hall. I'm also a witch and I was sent to kill you."

Before the Duke could take in anobreatheathe, Ember reached out for a pen knife she had tucked in her pocket and pierced it into the Duke's chest, watching him cough out blood till he collapsed onto the floor and became unconscious.

She watched him take his breath, a smirk touching her lips.

"A player cannot play another player."

She had whispered.