There are things monsters learn early.
Hunger can be controlled. Desire can be trained. But shame… shame always comes from the heart.
As Leon tilted her lip upward, Myra kept her gaze lowered.
The world did not fear half-sanguines because the world did not know they existed. But if it ever saw them, it would call them unnatural.
Something that did not belong among humans.
Lady Veronica had told her once, with a tired expression, that some truths were better left unseen.
Myra had believed that. She was not ashamed of what she was, but she understood the consequences of revealing it.
If Leon looked at her differently after this, then that would simply be reality.
Her position beside him was a privilege, not a right. If it ended here, she would accept it.
Leon's thumb pushed lightly, revealing the sharp white fangs at her lip.
She did not pull back.
Leon looked directly at them, and the first word he spoke landed so gently that it felt unreal to her ears.
"Exquisite."
