As the weight of their devotion settled around him, a heavy, intoxicating mantle of loyalty and lust, Rex didn't offer them a gentle or comforting smile. Instead, a slow, dark grin spread across his face, one that didn't reach his eyes in a way that promised peace but rather in a way that promised a beautiful, terrifying kind of chaos.
It was the smile of a man who had just watched his most powerful assets swear eternal fealty, the grin of a villain who had just realized he had everything he needed to conquer the world.
It was a predatory, triumphant expression, the smile of a king who knew his crown was forged in blood and that his subjects were more than willing to die for him.
"A reward, then," he murmured, his voice dropping into a register so deep it felt like a physical caress. "Since you've decided to embrace the monster."
He turned his attention to Lily first. He didn't move with hesitation; he moved with the absolute certainty of a man claiming a prize.
