29
The demons are crazier than ever. They tear their black skin with their wings, biting into each other’s flesh to the beat of the techno music.
I have enough willpower not to climb onto Darya; the roar of the crowd filling me with a long-lost calm. The music pauses momentarily as the Demon King descends with me in his arms, and the crowd bows. I know they do it for him, yet they look towards me. They’re looking at us. They bowed to us.
The feeling of how good it would be to command someone takes hold of me. To control. Never to fall into a trap again. Darya waves the monsters back into position with a flick of his wrist, and they continue the evening.
Nárs appears beside us, and lifting me from the ground, dances me around by the throne, laughing.
“Little Flower! I’m so glad you’ve come!”
I smile. The lights blur, everything slows down.
“Yeah,” I respond cheerfully.
Nárs finally sets me down and looks into my eyes. Darya has disappeared from our side, chatting with Kripot.
“You’ll finally enjoy this cruel night!”
I laugh and sit down, moving my head to the beat of the music.
Darya steps beside me, offering up his slashed wrist to me.
There’s no need for explanation; desire for his blood widens my eyes.
Its taste is now sweet and spicy. I can only swallow twice before the demon withdraws his hand, sinking to one knee beside me.
He gently kisses the remaining blood off my lips.
I slowly return the kiss, and a short sigh escapes my mouth.
He pulls away, smiling at me, and my heart thumps loudly as I smile back.
“Aren’t you taking me dancing?” I ask. His silver hair fills my vision like white light, his gray eyes slowly becoming black.
“Later,” he says, turning back to Kripot.
I furrow my brow, and Nárs whistles. It’s as if a bird flies out of his mouth, entering one ear and exiting the other, but when I blink, there is nothing.
“I shuddered at that kiss. What do you think would happen if I kissed Kripot?” he asks.
I laugh. “You’d end up dead at the foot of the stairs.”
He closes his eyes.
“At least he’d notice me!” He licks his lips. “At least it would hurt!”
I ruffle his hair. He might say more, but I’m focused on something else. A dark-skinned woman walks up the marble steps. Her coral-colored hair is dull, her face sunken and bony. Bruises cover her wrists and ankles. Some of the wounds seem too deep, only partially healed.
Nárs follows my gaze.
“She’s been chained ever since she kidnapped you. Defied her king.”
I watch the broken Léthé, who still won’t look at me. She sits much more cautiously in the fur-lined armchair than last time. Her pains must be severe.
I smile. Darya did this for me.
“Why didn’t he kill her?” I ask Nárs, causing the demon to raise his eyebrows. Laughter bursts from him, and he leans back and forth in his seat. I can’t help but join in; every fiber of my being desires the mermaid’s severed head. I hope she screamed with each blow.
“I adore you!” the demon beside declares, embracing my shoulder.
I lean into the hug. “Although I’d be glad for that to have happened, Darya gave the siren too much power.”
Jealousy pierces me when I think of what more Léthé could have got her hands on, thanks to Darya.
“Won’t she turn against the Demon King?”
“The Kraldem can do anything with her. She won’t stop loving him.”
Then I’d like to know what would be more painful for her.
I leap up beside Darya. Sweet dizziness envelops me, but I don’t care. I grip his leather coat as he looks at me.
“Yes, Kindra?” he asks, and I rise on tiptoe, kissing him.
A smirk plays on Darya’s lips, his eyes narrowing.
“Give me more of your blood!” I plead.
Darya snarls, scoops me up, and with a flap of his wings, we’re back in the crowd. I laugh.
“So, are you taking me dancing, after all?”
He presses his thumb to my lips, his claw scratching my skin. Again, I take a sip from his wrist.
He leans down, kisses me, biting into me. I want to share my blood with him. It hurts as he pulls my hair back and tilts my head, but I don’t move. My desire is stronger than the pain.
“Don’t give me a chance to lose control,” he hisses. “You wouldn’t survive.”
Then what did he mean about not having finished with me yet today?
“Let’s make another deal,” I say, tilting my head back even further. “You can do anything to me, if I can torture your mermaid.”
Darya’s eyes widen, his mouth curling into a wide predatory grin. Madness sparks in his gray eyes, and he holds me tighter, releasing his fangs. He hisses and bites near my collarbone. I cry out in pain, but still pull myself closer.
He yanks his teeth from my shoulder and attacks my lips with his own. The earthy taste mixes with my blood. His tongue penetrates my mouth, and his hand grips my arm so tightly it almost breaks my bones. He pulls away, slashes his wrist, and presses it to my lips.
The blood drives me wild. My brain is hot, too hot, as I bite into his mouth, causing another wound.
I stumble into a pillar but don’t give up.
I scratch his bare collarbone with my nails, drinking his blood from there too.
He yelps but tilts his head back as my lips meet his chest. A demon crashes into us, but he’s just one of a thousand others screaming beside us while killing his companion. We almost end each other as well.
I jump onto Darya’s hips, squeezing all the blood-scented air between us. I immediately feel him hard between my legs, desire exploding within me.
He reaches for the knot of my dress, which ends up on the ground. I slide his sleeveless coat off his shoulders, his bloody lips trailing down my neck. His hand has snuck under my skirt, reaching my belly. He touches my bare breast.
I moan, throwing my head back. Darya presses me against the wall, his bare torso against mine. His fingers circle around my nipple, gently caressing the sensitive area. I push my tongue deeper into his throat and sigh words into his mouth.
“Don’t stop,” I plead, and he tightens his grip on my breast, causing me to hiss.
With his other hand, he grabs my ass. His hardness brushes against me sweetly, our bodies moving in familiar waves.
I want more – I can’t wait any longer, and apparently neither can he.
Though in human form, he looks back at me with the hunger of a demon, and I realize for the first time that I might not survive him.
But I also don’t care. I can’t think of anything else but his lips on mine, his hands on my breasts.
When he looked up at me between my legs…
I push my clothes up revealing my thongs, and push my lap into his.
Freeing his clothes from his grip, I reach for his pants button, but he squeezes my breast so tightly that I stop.
I moan, almost scream in this sweet pain, but then he takes my legs off his back, and putting his hand around my neck, throws me against the wall.
The air is squeezed out of my lungs. I try to grasp at his hand, but the iron claws don’t move.
Continuing to hold my throat, he lifts me off the ground, my back touching the mud wall, and presses his body against mine.
“You’re perfect,” he whispers, his lips playing with my ear while I choke. The music still captivates me, its rhythm beating in time to my pulse. On the touch of Darya, small circuits shock my face.
“I’d like to kill you,” he hisses. “While you’re mine, I’d break your fragile bones. You’d scream, but it would be too late. Don’t be fooled by my human form, Lotte.” His voice is already a growl. “If I feel like it, I can suck the life out of anyone.”
I choke bewilderedly under his hand. What the…?
“But I won’t lose you. You’ll realize how much you need me. How much you need only me. Because I need only you.”
He tightens my throat more, and I start to struggle. What happened? What did I do to provoke him?
“You’ll be mine someday,” he says, roughly pressing his mouth against mine. “But it has to happen on its own. Not because of my blood.”
Before I can faint from the lack of air, he lets go. I fall to the ground and reach for my neck, but I can only cough. Panic clears the picture. Fear crawls up my spine. I tremble. I have to get out of here. I push the Kraldem away and start to run.
But I can only take one step before he grabs me from behind.
“No!” I scream, kicking. But it doesn’t hurt him.
“Ssssh,” he coaxes, tears streaming from my eyes. He presses his bloody wrist to my lips.
“Drink, Lotte.”
I clamp my mouth shut and shake my head, but he presses the blood into me. After all, this is what I wanted, right? For some reason, one I can’t remember anymore, I wanted a distraction.
Every decision has a price.
I can’t help it. As I taste the first drop, I want more. As I drink, Darya strokes my hair and whispers in my ear. I shiver in his arms, and with every tremble he presses a kiss on my neck.
“You’re mine,” he whispers. “You always will be.”
When he takes his wrist off my lips, I know he’s right. I no longer remember why I was afraid.
The Kraldem escorts me back to the throne and kisses the blood from my lips. I’m not angry with him; his outburst filled me with challenge, not fear.
Nárs sits beside me, legs crossed, clapping his hands and giving me a stern look.
“Had fun?”
I raise an eyebrow
“What’s your problem?”
He takes my hands and presses my fingers to his forehead.
“You. Have. Darya. Kripot won’t even look at me!”
He throws away my hands, pouting and glaring towards the blue giant.
I chuckle and lean on his shoulder. “Why didn’t you jump on him when I threw myself at Darya?”
“He declined,” Nárs sniffles.
“Can I assist?”
Stars shine in Nárs’s hazel eyes. He nods eagerly, resembling a puppy wagging its tail.
“Yes, yes!” he replies enthusiastically.
I wink and push myself off the chair, standing beside Darya a moment later. I place my hand on the Demon King’s arm. His muscles tense beneath my palm.