Chapter 59
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Being home was a relief, but what came with it wasn’t. I missed when we had vague worries about the monster in the shadows and I was more concerned with dramatics. It was worse now that we knew what we were facing. We were also too aware that we were outmatched.
Seraphim claimed Sibon would take time to regroup. We had taken out a good chunk of her vampires and he thought she’d be more cautious since she knew Sam had taken down Vas. After losing Erla and Seraphim, she had to be smart in order to avoid the same happening with her last three vampire magicians.
We hadn’t encountered Nia yet and that added another unknown variable. Seraphim had only met her once, since he’d spent the majority of his time on the outside, on the hunt. He didn’t know the exact nature of her abilities, but she didn’t fight, and he assumed it was a defensive ability used to protect Sibon. That meant the bitch needed to die.
One thing we needed more than anything was information. As I stepped off the elevator, I hummed You Are My Sunshine while thinking about the way Sam had set our room on fire earlier during a particularly powerful orgasm. Her control was still a work in progress, but we were getting there.
At least between our two fire-wielders, they were able to keep a constant barrier around the tower that would help prevent anyone from getting in unless they were part of my bloodline. Since everyone in the coven had been changed by me- something I would not budge on again- it was a perfect system. At least, it had worked just fine for the single day we’d been back.
The door I stopped in front of was already wide open. Bad fucking sign number one. The second was that the room was empty. Gabe’s scent was dull enough to tell me he’d been gone for a while. It must’ve been before we’d enacted the tower’s barrier.
Well, that was just great. He could’ve been another one of Sibon’s little spies. Maybe Arty released him. I wished that fucker was still alive so I could remove his eyes repeatedly. I wanted to cut off his cock and stuff it down his throat.
Better yet, I wanted to take both those eyes and stuff them up his urethra. Tearing it apart would be excruciating. I’d probably make someone else do the dirty work, though. I had no desire to hold a man’s dick for that long.
Shaking off my murderous thoughts, I returned to the cupola. Seraphim was on the balcony, leaning his arms on the metal as he stared down at the city.
What if he just tumbled ungracefully over the side? I could impale him with an ashwood stake so he couldn’t shift. Down, down, down…
It would hurt Sam, though. Those words had become a mantra to keep me from unleashing my pent-up rage on the fire fairy.
“Gabe is gone,” I told him, leaning my elbows on the railing a few feet away from him.
His brow was tight as he looked at me. “How is that possible?”
“Someone must have released him. There’s no way to escape one of my cells on your own, plus he was weak.”
“That’s too bad. He could have been helpful.”
“Sibon’s children… Did you know?”
He nodded. “Vas has revealed some of it, but there’s a lot I’m not privy to. She trusts her children far more than anyone else.”
“Funny, since one of them betrayed her.”
“I don’t believe she knows that. If she does, Vas will have had an escape plan.”
“He chooses the winning side. Is that why he’s staying with her?”
“Most likely. Alternatively, he could still be weighing the pieces. We didn’t win against her, but we escaped, and that is a feat in and of itself. The ebony flame is something Sibon rightfully fears, but now that she knows I possess it, she will seek a way to combat it. Most likely, she’ll attempt to kill me.”
“That would be a blow to her, though.”
“Yes, but it’s the safest option and, in the end, she wants to survive above all else.”
“And procreate.” My nose wrinkled at the thought. She was like a rabbit, breeding for god knows how long. Vas was over seven hundred years old, so it served to reason that she was significantly older.
“She’s the mother,” Seraphim replied dryly, his gaze still traveling over the city. “It has been a long time since she has found a human with a significant amount of Iraivan blood. They tend to gravitate toward this life, like Sam did. If she does find them, they’re often already changed. She has not born a child in fifty years.”
“Nia?”
“Yes. Her father was a man we found in Mogadishu.”
“Couldn’t she have multiple children with these men?”
“Most of the time, they die.”
“What is she, a praying mantis? Does she bite off their heads?”
To my surprise, he laughed. Swiping a hand down his face, he turned toward me, leaning his side against the railing.
“Iraivan aren’t a variation of human, per say. They’re more. Since their power comes from blood, they believe that they will increase the chances of their offspring being strong by consuming the blood of the father during the New Moon ritual. According to Vas, if they used the blood of another, they would miscarry. It was incompatible with the life inside of them.
“The problem is that they need more of it as the baby grows. An Iraivan father would be strong enough to handle this, but these humans aren’t. They die, she gives birth, and the cycle continues. She wants a child born with blood strong enough to produce magic while they are human, but it hasn’t happened yet. Those with an affinity become like us and the others she turns into regular vampires to serve her. It’s pretty morbid.”
“Creepy.” I shuddered at the thought of her little breeding ring.
“We need to find the Anem. If they’re not already changed, we have to do it quickly. We can’t end up with another Joseph situation.”
“You’re right.” The words felt like they clogged my throat. “I have a feeling that’s easier said than done.”
“I found Sam, as did you. Joseph and her gravitated toward each other. I think I might have faith that there are things in this universe that act in ways we can’t hope to understand.”
“And aside from hoping some invisible force throws a weatherman at us, what should we be doing?”
“Preparing.” He shrugged, but the corner of his mouth lifted. “Sam and I will be spending quite a lot of time together.”
Was that a drumbeat in my head? No, it was a little murder goblin chanting ‘Kill, kill, kill.’ Plastering on a giant, fake smile, I leapt from the balcony, letting myself fall as I imagined how my insides would look splayed across the sidewalk. From this height, there may not be much left, my body simply becoming pulp.
Before that could happen, I shifted, relishing the way the breeze flowed through my incorporeal body. In all the chaos since I took over this city, I had hardly taken the time to simply exist in my world. My world.
There may be creatures that possessed more raw power in their veins than I did, but it didn’t change the fact that I was the Domini of two major covens. I was feared and respected by my kind. Nightmares were substantiated by my very existence.
Something struck me from the side, quickly reminding me that I was not the only monster in this city. Racing across the water, I headed for Alcatraz Island. As soon as I entered the building, I could smell human blood, so I veered in that direction.
There was a small tour group in one of the cell blocks. I shifted on the third floor, sticking to the shadows. With one finger, I scraped a nail against the brick, eliciting a gasp from someone below. Locking my fingers around one of the bars, I shook the door. The sound of the metal echoed through the space and a man screamed.
“What is that?” one of the women demanded.
“Uh, let’s calm down,” the tour guide instructed, though I could hear his heartbeat and it was far from calm.
A scream came from the cell beside mine, making me grin. Faster than the human’s eyes could track, I shut the doors leading out of the block. They were spinning in circles, all in various stages of panic.
Returning to the third floor, I caught Sam by the throat and pressed her against the wall. “I like the way you scream, Belladonna.”
Leaning forward as much as she could, she nipped at my lower lip. I moved back, just out of reach. Her eyes narrowed and she brought heat into her hands as she locked them around my wrist.
“Burn me, fight me, try to break me, my love.” I bit down on her neck, making her moan. “I will bask in the pain so long as it’s inflicted by you.”
Flames flared behind her eyes. “I’ll ruin you, Hemlock, but first I want to show those people that ghosts are the last thing they should fear.”
“God, you become more perfect every day.”
Releasing her, I kicked the cell door, making one of the bars cave inward. Sam grabbed the top of it, creating a fire so hot it melted the metal. With my makeshift Javelin, I leapt over the side and landed behind one of the men.
Sam followed suit, the blood running down her neck making her look like the undead. Screams erupted as we inflicted the sort of carnage befitting what we were.
With nine bodies littering the space, I looked across the room at my mate. Tossing the bar to the side, I rushed over to her, unable to bear even the slight distance. I tasted the blood on her lips, in her mouth, across her neck. I consumed her power and gave her mine in return, unconstrained and without a single doubt about our future.
Together, we were more powerful than anything that could come for us. It may take time and practice. There would be struggles and she may want to give up at times, but I’d never let her. I’d never been so sure about something in my one hundred and twenty five years on this Earth.
Turning her onto her knees, I sunk my teeth into the skin of her ass just as I thrust two fingers inside of her. She grabbed onto the bars in front of her, releasing a moan that echoed beautifully around us.
When I replaced my fingers with my dick, I was overcome by our combined pleasure. The bond was powerful, and the connection between us created a current I was still convinced would sweep me away.
Leaning forward, I wrapped my fingers around the bars just above where she held on and drove myself into her. The metal rattled and groaned with the continuous impact.
“Do you think we could bring down this entire prison, Belladonna?”
Her breathy moan was followed by the whistle of wind outside. Waves crashed hard against the rocks as Sam’s pussy gripped my cock. The smell of burning flesh alerted me to the fire that was consuming the bodies behind us.
I didn’t fear her power, even as it raged and threatened me. From the moment she woke, I trusted her, just as she’d trusted me when she was human and had no reason to. It was that first kiss which made me feel warm after so many years feeling nothing. She was my sun, the fire in my soul, the breeze that carried with it the scent of our future.
The warmth of her magic seeped into my veins as we came undone together.
Vampires. Monsters. Gods. Who fucking cared what they called us?
We were power and together, we would claim this world.