Chapter 40 Kai
Kai
“What’s that, fish boy? The best way to kill a vamp, you ask?” Zane twirled a vicious-looking blade he’d plucked from nowhere. “Beheading them works. Or plucking out their heart and burning it.”
If I weren’t so upset about Raven abandoning me after we mated, I’d have laughed. The incubus really was an asshole.
“Zane!” Raven glared at the incubus while the vampire pinned her to the bed and licked her neck. It was kind of gross. And also a bit hot. “Nobody’s killing my vampire!”
“Your vampire, little witch,” the stupid vampire agreed.
“Okay, I get why you want him, pet. He is sort of pretty now that he looks less emaciated and not quite so corpse-like,” Zane agreed. “Oh wait, he’s rocking the corpse aesthetic because he’s dead. Or is it undead?”
The vampire growled. “You’ll be the dead one if you don’t let me feed from my mate.”
“Me? Dead?” The incubus scoffed loudly. “I’d like to see you try. Me and Brenda here will take your head before you get within five feet of me.”
“Brenda? Who’s Brenda?” Raven scrunched her brow in confusion, clearly having issues following the incubus’ meandering nonsense. As was I. Even the bear scratched his head, and he had spent way more time with the incubus than I had.
“Have you not seen that human series about the zombies?” Zane tutted.
“It was awesome. I binged it in a weekend after the headmaster banished me from campus for unsavory acts I may or may not have committed. One of the dudes in it named his baseball bat Lucille. I thought it was cool, so I named my blade Brenda! See? Alliteration is sexy, pet. Just like you.” He smirked while swinging the blade around in a menacing arc.
When the damn thing shaved a few hairs off the bear’s head, he snarled.
“Enough!” The furniture shuddered as if an earthquake had hit the mountain. Even the incubus went silent. “Raven isn’t a bottomless blood bag. Can’t you wait until we get off this island?”
The vampire licked his lips, his entire focus on the witch’s creamy neck. I noted the bulging muscles in his shoulders and wondered how strong he was when fully powered up.
My tutors had told me vampires possessed inhuman strength, even when they looked puny. Which this guy definitely did not, despite being starved for months.
“I need to feed at least one more time or I won’t be strong enough to travel without attacking one of you.
” He smirked. “Unless you’re volunteering, big guy.
” The vampire propped himself up on one elbow and scanned the bear from head to toe while licking his lips and offering a glimpse of a fang.
I could barely contain my shudder. Vamps gave me the creeps.
“I bet you could handle me,” the vamp purred in a way that suggested he was talking about more than feeding.
“In your fucking dreams!” Maverick’s shoulders bunched as his fists sprouted fur and claws. I stepped back to avoid being squashed by an angry bear while the incubus laughed.
“Ooh, interesting,” Zane chortled. “I like the way you think, blood boy.”
The vampire turned his creepy red gaze to the incubus. “It’s Prince Rasmus to you, incubus.”
But Zane just rolled his eyes, undeterred. “Sure, whatever, but unless you want the grumpy bear to eat you up, Goldilocks, I’d play nice if I were you.”
“Can we all…get along, please?” Raven’s voice wavered with exhaustion, and some of my irritation faded.
This quest had been tough on all of us, but not only had she dealt with the bitterly cold weather, she’d also been attacked by a cetus twice.
My poor mate. “It’s bad enough having Alar-dick on my case all the time. ”
“Alar-dick?” Rasmus seemed amused by Raven’s nickname for the asshole mage. “Who is this Alar-dick?”
“Nobody important,” Raven replied with a scowl. I tuned into her thoughts and found a confusing mess. It was pretty obvious the witch had very conflicted feelings for the mage, even though he’d abandoned her.
“Don’t worry, pet. I’ll make sure the mage gets what’s coming to him when we return to campus.” Zane whistled a jaunty little tune while spinning his blade around in the air.
Maverick grunted. “As much as I’d enjoy gutting the mage, we can’t hurt him because it would hurt our mate, so Alaric is off-limits for now.”
“Alaric Vane?” Rasmus’s gaze sharpened, and he stilled.
“Yes, he’s her other mate.”
“No, he’s not,” argued Raven. “I refuse to accept such a bad-tempered, mean asshole as my mate.”
“The Mage Council leader’s son.” The vampire prince hummed thoughtfully.
“Yeah. Now can we please make plans to leave?” Maverick tapped his foot. “Time’s ticking on, and we have a boat to catch.”
I swallowed hard, knowing I wouldn’t be heading back with them. My mother would expect me to return to our kingdom now that I’d claimed my soul-bonded mate. If she refused to accept my claim because Raven was not a mermaid, she was within her rights to lock me up.
But I wasn’t about to admit that. Raven would worry, and she had enough on her plate with a starved vampire.
“Like I said, I need to feed.” The vampire resumed licking Raven’s neck.
“Then get on with it,” Maverick grumbled. “We don’t have all day.”
“As you wish, big guy.” He sank his fangs into Raven’s neck, easily punching through her delicate skin. She whimpered and arched her back against his much bigger body.
The heady scent of arousal perfumed the small room, and the rest of us uttered a collective groan.
I’d read that a vampire’s bite could be highly pleasurable. Some old texts said one bite from a vampire could trigger an immediate orgasm, and from the way Raven gasped while her eyes turned glassy with pleasure, the books were correct.
My cock throbbed in my pants. Zane moved to lie next to Raven, facing her.
“Does that feel good, pet?” he purred seductively. No doubt the pervert was sucking up all her lust and boosting his magic reserves.
The vampire slowly extracted his fangs and licked the wounds, sealing them.
“Delicious,” he murmured.
“Delicious,” Zane agreed while adjusting his cock.
I looked away, embarrassed. The incubus might be comfortable with group activities, but I was not.
“I’ll meet you back at the cavern,” I muttered before hurrying away. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if my mother rejected my soul-bond claim because I didn’t know if I could be a part of the witch’s harem.
Raven didn’t need me. Not after I’d served my purpose by destroying the cetus. No more visions had come to me, and with three powerful mates at her side, she would be safe now.
I soon arrived back at the cavern. The kitsune lay curled up on a coat, snoring loudly. He didn’t wake as I collected my bag. I pulled a sheet of seaweed parchment and a squid-ink pen from a small inner pocket and quickly scrawled a note for Raven.
My love,
I must go home to register my mate claim with my mother, the queen. You will be safe with your other mates. All being well, I’ll return to campus in a week.
Yours always,
Kai
After folding the note, I placed it inside Raven’s bag. She would find it when she packed her things. And by then, I’d be long gone.
There was a tunnel at the bottom of the pool that led out to sea. None of the others could swim as deep as I, so there was zero chance of them following me.
The sound of distant voices echoed from the far tunnel. Aware that my window for escaping without an argument was about to close, I hooked my spelled bag over my shoulders and dove into the pool, disappearing down into its inky depths.