The Long Night #3
Vaspar. Commander to the Northern Hive smiled, sharpened fangs glinting in the candlelight, before his long sword met the flesh of Rhazien’s neck, sending the regent’s stunned expression tumbling to the marble floor. A scream caught in my throat and my heart stuttered as I stared at his blank eyes.
“It’s nice, being above ground,” Eryx said with a malicious grin as he ascended the steps. The towering blonde regent stepped over the bodies of Vaspar’s victims like they were pieces of garbage. “I think we’ll stay a while. But it does seem…a bit crowded, does it not?”
I couldn’t focus on his words. The peaks and valleys of their cadence all blended together. My body, mind, heart, and soul were reeling from the abandoned bond.
Eryx rubbed his chin as he unabashedly took in my outfit. “Lady Reyva.” Lust-filled eyes darted across my features. My chest, lips, and neck. “You look absolutely delectable this evening.”
I ground my teeth in silent response. My body felt heavy, filled with iron, and empty from the broken bond all at once.
“I can’t believe Rhazien allowed so many to live in such proximity to you. I think we’re overdue for a population cleanse. Don’t you?” He tipped his head to his pale, serpentine servant.
With his haunting hiss, Vaspar snarled, “Oh yes, Majesty.”
“Unbitten…still?” the regent mused into the space just behind my ear. Fresh tears began to fall. “Fascinating.”
Cova was putting up a fight against a Northern Hive guard. She clawed and kicked, trying to get to Lydia, who didn’t resist her restraints.
Eryx turned to the stunned audience below. “Tonight marks the eve of a resurrected age! An age where we—the masters of the night—ruled over this land. Without fear, without hesitation, without shame of what we are, without bowing and begging to those lower than us on the food chain.”
He looked at me. No, not at me. Down at me. Because that’s where I belonged according to Eryx. Beneath him.
Murmurs and cheers leapt from the onlookers.
“His late Majesty stifled your true nature, limited your pleasures, and harbored a great deal of disdain for himself and his people. But no more! As of this night you’ve been liberated from his radical progressive tyranny!”
More voices rose in agreement. Guards began to move around the room, distributing red fabric.
“On this Long Night, we celebrate our liberation by bearing the color of our only master—the blood. Take this token and wear it with pride as we celebrate your liberation not just this night, but for the millennia to follow.”
Few spectators took the cloth willingly, hastily fastening it to an article of their clothing. Others were more timid, but obliged. A majority of Rhazien’s court was too stunned to comply. They put up a hand or shook their heads, rejecting the token.
Once the guards had completed their pass through the ballroom, Eryx leveled me with a menacing glare and as cool as he would order a glass of wine, he said, “Now the fun begins. Commence the culling.”
Death unleashed throughout the ballroom.
Anyone who had declined the red cloth became a target. Severed limbs, screams, chandeliers tipping, going out completely, setting fabric ablaze.
It was pure chaos. Distracted by the horror, I didn’t notice Eryx position himself behind me.
“Unbitten…” he whispered as a pointed nail traced my bare shoulder.
My mind screamed to fight or run but my body froze beneath his tightening grip.
I heard a hiss before his fangs sank into my flesh.
Blinding pain radiated from my neck as my blood was forced from my body.
Trails of warmth trickled down my collar while he sucked.
My body went limp in his arms and then I felt it.
The pleasure. He moaned as he dined on me and an echo of shame reverberated somewhere in the depths of my mind as I moaned too.
Now, I understood the ecstasy I felt when I summoned the vision from Talia—the Northern hive slave. Now, I understood why Rhazien said it was common to feed during sex.
Any lingering fear was snuffed out by the bliss descending on my senses.
My frame of vision began to pale. Blurry gray edges precluded my view of the ceiling and the half-lit chandelier above.
“Stop…” I whispered the pathetic plea so softly, I wasn’t sure I’d said the word at all.
My heart pounded and my blood rushed from my veins to his supping lips.
He gasped at the ceiling as he released me. Fingertips dug into my arm and waist. Trails of my life force were rivers down his throat. The warmth of the blood I was still losing spread across my surface.
“Now I see,” he said, looking down at me with sharp, half-lidded eyes. “I thought you were a nuisance. A play thing. But now.” He stroked my hairline. Not with tenderness or care, but possessiveness. Like he’d just claimed a new pet. “Now. I see.”
Energy spent, my head fell away and the familiar glint of Rhazien’s crown came into view. What little focus I had left was snuffed out by the tears filling my vision.
“I think I’ll keep you for a while,” he snarled.
I blinked away heavy tears.
And then, I slipped willingly into the creeping darkness.