Chapter Seven
Lucian
Kyrie’s lips are soft, and unmoving at first, but the moment she gasped, I knew I had her. This kind of dalliance is forbidden, and I have never indulged in such a thing with someone I should have killed as soon as I realized I wanted more than just her blood. She’s a weakness that could be easily exploited, and she is in even more danger now I’ve chosen to keep her alive. “Wait, what are you doing?” she finally manages to say.
I pull away, licking her flavor from my lips and swallowing the droplets. Looking at her, I admire the way her mouth glistens red, and I chuckle, imagining how she would look if our roles were reversed, if she was the vampiress instead of the mortal. Kyrie wouldn’t need to enthrall me—I’d willingly give her everything she desired from me.
I am so fucked , I mentally scoff, rolling my eyes as I fix my gaze on Kyrie’s pale face and somewhat perplexed expression. The claret trickling down from the corner of her mouth is tantalizing, and stark in contrast to the color of her lightly flushed cheeks. I lift my finger and brush it through the streak, smearing it across her lips.
Slowly lifting my finger to my mouth, I slowly lick away the blood coating the tip. Kyrie shivers and looks away from me.
“I have tortured, killed, and done things that would make lesser demons flinch.” I pause for a moment. “I’ve never been a good man, I’m not about to start.”
“What do you—?”
Cutting off whatever protests she was about to make, I say gruffly, “No more talking.” Then I kiss her again, sucking her swollen, bottom lip into my mouth, I run my tongue along the broken skin. Kyrie tastes fucking incredible .
After a moment of hesitation, she reluctantly submits to the kiss. A loud bang on the heavy wooden door to my home startles her, and she pulls away, her eyes wide with fear.
“Who’s—?” she begins, but I silence her with a look.
Keeping her quiet won’t stop my brothers from discovering her…they’ll smell her as soon as they cross over the threshold. The aroma of freshly flowing blood is potent… especially from a living mortal, and our senses are particularly sharp.
On second thoughts. Sleep . I exert my will over Kyrie, sending her instantly into a slumber. I catch her before she hits the floor and quickly sweep her into my arms and take her to my bedroom. Locking her in, I as swiftly move from one end of my home to the other and answer the door.
It seems unusually polite of my brothers to knock, but then again, they know I’d kill them on the spot if they forced their way inside. Brothers or not, no one intrudes in my home, and trespassers will be killed the moment they cross the threshold—if not by my hands, by my security detail.
Being of a superior rank and power has its benefits, but the flaws are just as cumbersome, especially when it comes to ruthless competitors like my older twin brothers, Larkin and Logan. Both of whom have tried multiple times to usurp me, unable to tolerate that I have surpassed them in all aspects of this life—or afterlife if you want to get technical.
“What do you want?” I ask, unable to keep the abruptness and irritation from my tone.
“Can't we just visit our baby brother?” Logan taunts.
“You never ‘just visit’,” I spit.
Larkin is staring at me, a small and knowing smile teasing the corner of his mouth.
“Who have you been eating, Lucian? Care to share?” he asks, inhaling deeply.
Logan pauses, and he mimics his twin’s actions. Both of them lock their gazes on me, fixating on my lips before glancing toward the corridor behind me.
“A snack I had when I was on the other side,” I say lightly, shrugging nonchalantly.
Larkin raises an eyebrow, and Logan speaks, “Then why is it fresh on your lips, and why can I smell them somewhere in here?”
“I only just got back, that’s why,” I snap, already annoyed by their presence here.
I could be doing so many other things right now, but I’m stuck talking to them.
“You forget, brother, we can sense when you cross between realms, and you’ve been back longer than mere minutes. I can smell the lies,” he says slowly, narrowing his eyes at me.
I shrug, but I don’t miss the loaded glance between my older brothers as they attempt to stare me down. It’s been eons since they intimidated me, they forget that I can read them as well as they can me, despite the mental shield I’ve long-since learned to cast over my thoughts.
They communicate silently. Try as I might to read their shared thoughts, I’m unable to. A sense of foreboding settles over me. I tense, bracing myself for whatever may come. Logan darts toward me, too fast for mortal eyes, and before I can stop him, he has me pinned in a chokehold. He’s the more physically strong of the two of them, while Larkin is the psychically stronger.
As I engage in combat with Logan, Larkin slips away. The warmth that was flowing in my veins from Kyrie’s blood runs cold, and I fight him with everything I have. We’re two predators, battling for dominance, and as instinct takes over, my focus is entirely on besting Logan before Larkin can get to Kyrie.
“Well, well, well, look what I found.” Larkin’s voice penetrates both our minds, and we pause, turning to look at him.
Kyrie’s unconscious form is cradled in his arms, and his expression is one of victory… and hunger.
“You brought your little snack home with you,” Logan says, glancing down at me, and then turning to look at his brother, who is raking his eyes all over the sweetest of prey he’s holding onto.
“Let her go,” I choke out as Logan’s grip on my throat tightens.
“Not before we’ve had a taste, Lucian.”
“Wake up, little dove,” Larkin croons.
Kyrie’s eyes fly open, and she screams as he sinks his teeth into her.
“No!” I snarl.
Clawing at Logan’s hands with my nails, I dig them into his skin and tear through his flesh. He growls, and I knee him in the stomach. Logan grunts, and I use the break in his defense to overpower him before I sink my teeth into his throat and tear it out. It’s not enough to kill him—vampires are made of sturdier stuff than that, but it’ll take him a few moments to heal the wound—giving me just enough time to get to Larkin.
Ripping Kyrie away from him would surely result in her demise. It would only take him a mere second to crush her in his grip or tear out her throat like I just did to Logan. My senses are on high alert as I prowl toward him. The feeding frenzy has taken over, and he’s entirely focused on draining Kyrie of her sweet claret.
I only have one chance to overpower him, and it’s now, while his defenses are lowered by the woman he’s feasting upon. With all the power I possess, I batter his mind with my own, forcing him to slow down and stop. I have just enough time to pry Kyrie away from him before he can recover his senses and attack.
“Larkin,” Logan rasps, still using his energy to repair his torn vocal cords and throat.
Larkin’s eyes are black, the pupils blown wide from hunger and the fresh blood now coursing through him. I flee, taking Kyrie away from them. Her pulse is weak, her breaths are shallow, and I can hear how hard her heart is working to replenish the blood that both myself and Larkin have drunk from her.
“I hope you survive this,” I murmur, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead as I lick over the puncture marks to heal them and once again sample the delicious nectar she carries within her veins.
“Lucian,” she whispers weakly, and her eyes close.
Once I’m sure she’s as safe as I can currently make her while there are three hungry vampires in my home—myself included—I go to find my brothers.
Logan is lying on the floor of the foyer, and Larkin is leaning over him, assisting in the healing of his wounds. Thankfully both will be slightly weaker after using the energy they’ve expended in both fighting and healing. Using this to my advantage, I charge at them both, teeth bared and my hands curled to claw at them.
“Wait!” Larkin bellows, exerting his will in an attempt to halt my approach.
I push back against his mind, but he’s stronger than I anticipated he would be. It seems I underestimated the power of Kyrie’s blood, which is pulsing through my veins too. He doesn’t stop me, merely slows my movement.
“Stalemate?” he says, sounding more like he’s asking than suggesting it.
I shake my head vehemently. “Absolutely not!”
“You can’t win against both of us,” he growls, getting to his feet and adjusting his stance to prepare for the onslaught I’m about to unleash on them both.
“Fucking try me!” I snarl, lifting my arm to land a blow.
My fury is unbound, and I’m going to kill them both.
“You drank from her! I’ll kill you for that alone.”
“Mortals are fair game, brother. You have to share.”
“Not this one!”
“You brought a fucking mortal into our realm. You know the laws. Either you kill her, or you turn her. If you don’t, then we will . And I would very much like to be the one to drain her within an inch of her life and have you watch as we tear her apart,” Logan sneers in a raspy voice.
I can see that he’s healed on the outside, but it takes a little longer for the damage underneath to repair itself.
“If it isn’t one of us, one of them will do the deed,” Larkin interjects, gesturing toward the outside of the walls of my home.
“You came in here, and you took what isn’t yours. Her blood is mine, her soul is mine. You will not claim any part of her,” I snap, jabbing a finger at the two of them.
They’re both on their feet now, and taking slow steps toward me. Fanning out, I can see they’re preparing to take me down. Like two predators circling prey—except I’m just as dangerous as they are.
“Stand down, Lucian,” Larkin warns, pushing back against me.
I can still feel the tendrils of his will trying to penetrate my mental shields, and I hiss warningly at him as he steps almost within reach. I swipe at him, warning him to back off. Logan uses the opening to pounce. In my distraction, Larkin tackles me to the ground. Between their combined strength I’m pinned prone, unable to move.
“Little Lucian, getting too big for his boots,” Logan taunts, digging his nails into my neck and severing tendons and arteries.
I wouldn’t put it past them to kill me right now, but that’s not how they operate. Taking me down from the inside, pulling apart my defenses, taking everything I own while they watch me squirm is much more their style.
“Do it!” I snarl.
They share a glance, and then both look down at me.
“Not today. You need to learn some respect. We’ll give you one chance to make this right, or we’ll take action. As you seem less than amenable to sharing your prey, we’ll grant you the opportunity to either turn or kill her. When we return, if you haven’t done the deed, then Logan can have his fill before we kill you both. Sound fair?” he says in an even tone.
It doesn’t, but if I don’t at least agree to their terms, I won’t have even a choice in the matter. One on one, they know I’ll win, but with their combined strength and powers, I’m outnumbered in all aspects.
“Fine,” I begrudgingly agree.
“Good boy,” Larkin says, smiling as he ruffles my hair before turning to Logan. “Let him up.”
Logan releases me and grabs my hand, hauling me to my feet. I scowl at him as I mentally direct the blood in my veins and heal my wounds. We’re all covered in blood, some of it is mine, some Logan’s, and some Kyrie’s.
“Bye, bye,” Larkin says in a sugary voice as they both walk out the door, leaving me standing in the foyer of my home.
I sigh, shaking my head at their fucking audacity and straighten out my suit and hair before going to get Kyrie.
When I open the door, she’s lying on my bed, exactly where I left her, still breathing shallowly, and looking as pale as if death has already sunk his teeth into her.
“Wake up,” I murmur, gently shaking her by the shoulder.
Her head lolls to the side, and when I listen carefully, I notice how faint her heartbeat is.
“Damn it!” I curse.
Using my nails to pierce the skin of my wrist, I then press it against her lips, forcing some of my own blood into her. I bite her shoulder and use the breach to send my mind into her weak body, and force the blood to pump through her, filling the veins and arteries with our combined blood.
This won’t turn her fully, but it will at least save her life. I have no intention of obeying my brother’s edict, but I won’t leave her vulnerable either. She’ll be a half-vampire, still mortal, but with all the vampiric protection I can give her. She will also be bound to me, as I will be bound to her—a sort of marriage of blood.
Larkin probably didn’t expect me to go this route, and I doubt he knows I’m even knowledgeable enough of the deepest lores of our kind to be able to do this. He underestimates me, he always has, and in the end, I will kill them both and rule our shared realm with a half-vampire, half-mortal at my fucking side. They can both burn in hell, and we will dance on their ashes.