Carrick was a few minutes early to the restaurant where he had arranged to meet Hermes. He had selected an outfit that he knew his slave liked - a dark charcoal suit, narrowly cut. He'd paired it with an icy grey silk tie that made his eyes even paler by comparison.
He sat at the corner table he'd reserved for the two of them, silent and watchful, an untouched glass of bloodwine standing on the table before him. Carrick had never been a heavy drinker of alcohol, but a glass or two tonight would surely settle his thoughts a little, he thought.
The vampire missed his eremenos. There was something missing without him - it was as if there had been a death in the house. The dogs pined and the house slaves crept about in respectful silence. Without Hermes there was no light or laughter in the cavernous, dark rooms.
Carrick had rented rooms for Hermes in a waterfront apartment building in Jannati city; it was clear to the vampire that Hermes needed some time alone to heal, and in Carrick's house of perpetual night he would not have that. The boy needed light and fresh air and the sea breeze. His ancient Spartan blood had been able to mend the broken bones and the marks of the lash that the Duchess had inflicted, but it could not heal the emotional injuries his boy had suffered. Perhaps nothing could do that. Only time would give him the answer to that.
He still didn't know what do do with his broken little bird. He wouldn't, couldn't let the boy go, no matter how much Hermes might felt that their relationship should come to an end. Freedom, Carrick thought sourly, why should Hermes want freedom? The boy had been a slave all his life. What would he do with freedom?
Carrick's pupil's dilated slightly as he saw his slave boy enter the room, a hint of the old grace in his step as he moved. He looked enticing; his golden hair shining under the lights, a faint flush in his cheeks. Carrick's mouth curved slightly in a private smile that was just for his eremenos.
"You look well, Hermes," he said softly as the slave approached. "I'm glad. Truly."