Chapter 33 Susenyos
SUSENYOS
Susenyos and Iniko browsed the Abyss Order floor, looking for a specific type of acti. Withdrawn, half hidden in the shadows, wishing they were anywhere but here. They would make the best offering.
The thought of Kidan looking for a potential husband a mere few feet away grated on Susenyos, even more so than the Qaros traitor. But the Arcane Tower did offer a rare chance to speak to actis outside of Uxlay.
To sway them.
So even though he wished he had not brought his companion here, a part of him was already thinking of its advantages.
Arin’s patience had run out and she’d given him until tonight to provide four actis before she abandoned him, and winning the Nefrasi without her support would be impossible. Placing the artifact even farther from his reach.
Having Samson arrested had won him some favor. Arin always appreciated a show of strength and cunning but time was running out.
In his drink, Susenyos mixed the last of Kidan’s blood with the alcohol, stretching the need to feed for as long as he could.
It’d been nearly impossible to drive with her here, her scent intoxicating his every sense.
Then there was her dress, shifting in the dark, like a red coin spinning.
He’d nearly driven off the road watching the length of her body, the braids spilling at her back.
Even now, every time he closed his eyes, she came in and out of his vision like a red flame, teasing, almost his but not quite.
Susenyos took a sip, wincing at the inevitable ordeal that’d soon face him. He focused on his target. A House Luroz graduate, misery etched on her face as she supported her chin on a bent hand.
“You know,” Susenyos began, sliding close.
She stiffened, as all actis did once they realized who he was.
In her large eyes, he could see all the horror stories flicker.
Savage Susenyos who killed his house vampires.
Savage Susenyos who tricked humans into signing over their will.
It had irritated him for many years but by now he’d hardened himself to it. He hadn’t wanted any new companions.
Well, until her.
From the corner of his vision, Kidan was talking to a human boy. But she’d be bored soon enough.
“You’re meant to engage in the courting,” he said casually. “There are many handsome men here.”
Lara Luroz’s eyes slid to the crowd, still keeping her distance. “I can see that.”
A dejected tone.
Then the briefest of glances to the left side of the room. To a young acti boy from House Delarus. Susenyos shifted to study him, not missing the jealousy wafting off the boy.
Perfect.
Forbidden love.
Some actis were lovers, prohibited by Uxlay law to marry one another and procreate, risking the end of a lineage and bearing Foul Children.
Others wanted to leave for the simple thrill of rebelling.
Then there were those who were expelled.
As long as each acti was compensated well, they would be happy to leave Uxlay and join the Nefrasi.
Susenyos liked to call these potential traitors Green Grapes. Fruit that hadn’t offered wine yet.
The problem was withdrawing such a high number of acti from Uxlay would be seen as acti collusion. Against the Seventh Law of Uxlay, punishable by forced life exchange. Dean Faris would unleash her Sicions on the Nefrasi, and those savage hunters would destroy them all.
No, the timing had to be perfect.
Remove the Green Grapes one by one so Uxlay wouldn’t suspect anything.
“Doesn’t the whole thing put a sour taste in your mouth?” he continued, letting his voice dance. “Forced to come here and pick a husband. Love shouldn’t be forced.”
Lara Luroz’s face turned harsh. “What do you know about love?”
“Me? Plenty. I loved once. She was a thing of dark beauty. Always angry at me. All thorns save for the red of her lips. They were softer than petals against my finger. But she wasn’t meant for me. The stars fated us apart. And to this day, I regret not running away with her.”
He could see the ice melt from her face, leaving only large eyes and compassion. Like a tide to the ocean, he reeled her in.
“I see your love looking at us… at you. You remind me of missed chances,” he whispered softly.
She stiffened, shuffling awkwardly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
The Delarus boy glared in their direction. It was hard not to grin. “This must be torture. Pretending not to care for the only person you want.”
She straightened and walked away, done with the conversation but Susenyos’s gaze was pulled to the right. Kidan was… smiling.
Why was she smiling?
The human boy who had approached her was rubbing his neck, a nervous pathetic mess. And did she like that? Such weakness?
When she felt him staring, she smiled wider, making his fangs ache.
He dared another sour sip. It was a distraction, like snacking on fruit to distract from meat.
Soon he’d need to feed.
“What happened to the girl you loved?” Lara Luroz had returned, pulling his attention back.
She shifted on her feet, biting her lip.
“I hesitated. Waited too long. Don’t repeat my mistakes.”
Her voice hardened. “And give up everything? My house, my inheritance?”
The dean called it the Acti Love Law. Actis were welcome to have a lover from another house, so long as they relinquished everything and left Uxlay.
No house was allowed to help them in the outside world unless they wanted to be penalized.
Uxlay’s fortune had to go into rewarding Uxlay’s future—actis that married into orders and birthed children that didn’t end a bloodline.
Some found it cruel but he appreciated the system.
There were worse ways of ensuring actis reproduced. A shudder climbed down his spine, and he shelved Lusidio’s camp into a corner of his mind that swallowed all dark things.
He lowered his head, almost brushing her ear. “It doesn’t have to be that way. There’s a place. Outside of here. Where people like you and him can be happy. Wealthy, even.”
Her lashes lifted to him in suspicion. “And the price?”
He extended a hand. “If I may.”
A war took over her features, but curiosity finally won. He supported her back and escorted her out. Like he knew he would, Lara’s lover quickly parted the crowd, close on their footsteps.
Susenyos escorted Lara Luroz and her lover, Raf Delarus, to the theater building behind the Arcane Tower. Iniko would be there soon with Arin.
The couple were nervous, holding hands and murmuring to each other in their auditorium seats. Raf appeared torn, near fleeing.
“I won’t let harm come to either of you,” Susenyos said, sitting on the edge of the empty stage. “It’s nothing you haven’t done before in blood courting. My friends just want a taste of your blood.”
Lara swallowed, Susenyos could hear the beat of her heart racing. “We want an estate far from Uxlay. Monthly allowances, and we only give blood once a week.”
He liked her negotiation. She reminded him of the stubborn acti Laya Chamo.
She’d fled Lusidio’s camp and showed up on their doorstep, bruised from head to toe, demanding payment for her blood.
He’d admired her courage and they’d sheltered her for a year before they went near her.
It still made his teeth grind, recalling the forced actis in Lusidio’s camp.
There were two kinds, those who served Lusidio with a sick sense of worship, and those who were chained and starved.
Many were in the latter group. As much as the Houses of Uxlay bickered and plotted it was a safe haven compared to the outside world.
The side door opened, and Raf Delarus nearly jumped out of his skin.
“Easy,” Susenyos said.
Arin’s boots clicked on the floor, Biruk and Henok flanked her. Their eyes were red-ringed and their nails tipped with black claws.
Henok’s voice was off-kilter, erratic. Dangerous. “Why are we here?”
“I have actis for you.”
Their heads whipped toward the rows of seats, fangs elongating. Susenyos stood, and motioned for Lara, who moved stiffly, as if walking to her death.
He took her hand, admiring how little it trembled.
“Neck or wrist?” he asked her.
Her painted nails touched her throat. He swept her curls away from her brown skin, exposing the length of her neck. The sight stirred his own thirst, a wrenching need pulling deep in his gut.
But it would do little good if he couldn’t keep it down.
“Henok, come.”
Henok hesitated. Susenyos reacted swiftly, pricked at the soft flesh, making a bubble of blood appear. The scent of blood slid under them all like heaven.
Henok lunged forward. Susenyos grabbed his shoulder firmly. “Gently.”
He nodded. When Susenyos stepped away, Henok tilted her head up and bit down. Lara cried out softly.
Raf Delarus shot to his feet. “Careful with her.”
Susenyos turned to him, motioning for Biruk to follow. “The neck or the wrist?”
Raf stared at him with the hatred reserved for bargaining with devils. Stiffly, he extended his wrist. Biruk wasted no time, latching on to it like a wolf around its prey.
Susenyos felt a sense of pride in providing for his people. He’d missed this. Iniko nodded at him from across the room, keeping a focused gaze on Arin.
“That’s enough,” he said, once they were cruising on the delicious high of the consumption. “Heal them.”
Lara swayed on her feet, but Henok righted her, feeding her his own blood.
Once the actis left, Susenyos called to Arin on the edge of the stage, who sat with her legs crossed, quietly observing.
“See?” he said. “We can safely consume blood without resorting to barbaric methods.”
“Impressive. But you’re still two actis short.”
“I will have more. Carefully.”
“Carefully.” Arin tilted her neck, voice curved like a scythe. “Safely. How human you sound.”
Susenyos tried not to growl. Arin knew well how much he loathed being reminded of the powerless boy he once was.
“Shall we visit the Nefrasi now?” he asked instead. “Introduce them to our new actis?”
It was an effort not to ask after the blade artifact again… but he had to be patient.
Arin’s eyes roved over him slowly, gleaning every molecule of weakness, and snagged on his sleeve.
The Adane House pin. Her lip curled, the light in her charcoal eyes vanishing. Susenyos widened his stance, sensing the sudden shift in the air.
“You have one more way to prove yourself.” Her words were poised like the tip of a blade. “Sacrifice.”
Susenyos prepared himself.
“Prove to us the Nefrasi mean more to you than this farce of a university.”
“They’re my people. Of course they do.”
Arin smiled, bone-white fangs peeking through like a hunting lioness. The image was so similar to the first time he first met her, Susenyos knew her next words would be his undoing.
“Kill her. The older Adane sister. Your companion.”
Susenyos didn’t dare show the surprise on his face. Decades of it had trained him, and Arin cocked her head, listening for his heartbeat instead. If anything gave him away, it was that pitiful organ. As a human, she’d used it against him more than once. In training and other matters.
Not now.
Yet beneath it all, panic rose like a sudden tide and flattened. He had dreaded this moment, deep down. Knew it would eventually come to haunt him the more Kidan became entangled in his life.
It was Kidan or the artifact.