Page 88 of A Study of Blood and Ichor

By the time Vain noticed what she was doing with her hands below her waist, it was already too late. Her fingertips came together, sending a force of magic shooting outwards. Vain stumbled backward before another blow quickly followed and slammed him against the opposite wall.

“Ava!” Vain shouted as he scrambled to reach her, but she was already tipping her head back and gulping down the remaining ichor left in the vial, choking on it as she swallowed every last drop.

The vial hit the floor and shattered, the glass shards spraying at her feet.

Ava threw Vain against the wall again, pinning him with his feet lifted inches off the ground. The force of her magic was crushing, so powerful that Vain struggled to use his power against hers. Even her glare was lethal.

“On second thought,” she mused before her lips curled upwards into a cloyingly sweet smile. “Get on your knees.”

She curled her outstretched hand into a fist and our knees cracked sharply against the floor when we went down.

She kept one arm extended as she repeated the words of the exorcism again, each syllable sharpened with the fervor of her newfound power. Vain fought against the bindings of her magic despite him becoming more and more aroused by the display of her power. I had no control over my own dick as it strained against our pants.

Maybe if you wanted to fight her as badly as you wanted to fuck her, then you’d be able to break free and actually stop her.

Don’t tell me you’re not having fun, he said.

She’s going to end up killing herself over us, Vain!

Ava wobbled slightly on her feet but steadied herself against the obsidian slab where the simulacrum’s tortured body still lay. She kept one arm outstretched, keeping Vain anchored to the ground, but her shoulders slumped the moment the incantation ended, and Vain remained unscathed. The arm she’d propped on the slab shook as she attempted to hold herself up.

“Why won’t you leave?” she yelled.

“Now do you see that there is nothing you can do to get rid of me, Ava? I am constant and eternal. And your adorable little attempt at matching my power is now over.”

If she could have felt the churning swell of Vain’s power, she would have been afraid—terrified, even—but she merely shrugged as she stared back into the eyes of the demon who sought to claim her. “You don’t look all that powerful to me when I have you on your knees.”

“You wicked little temptress.” Vain smiled. “You’re enjoying this aren’t you?”

He let his energy surge within me, and it was like throwing kerosene on a burning pyre. It was then that I understood, everything up until this point had been a game to Vain. He had allowed her to think she had the upper hand, knowing she could never recreate even a fraction of his power.

Vain eased himself up off the ground, sifting through Ava’s magic bindings as if they were sand. She stumbled back, then scrambled to throw her magic toward him again. But Vain advanced on her, step after slow step like a wolf on the prowl. Every spell and every hex she shot at us dusted away to nothing while Vain continued his patient and steady hunt. His malicious grin only grew wider as he closed the distance.

Vain stopped at the open trunk of weapons and plucked up the holy water, swirling the clear liquid around in the elegant crystal bottle.

“You’re going to drink this,” he said, “and then we can forget this ever happened. Drink, and I won’t punish you when you’re done.”

A bubble of nervous laughter rose from Ava’s chest as she continued backing away from him.

“You wouldn’t,” she said.

“Try me.”

Vain uncorked the bottle and rushed at Ava until he had her pressed against the wall.

He tipped her chin up and raised the holy water to her lips. “Drink,” he ordered.

She locked her eyes with his, her gaze piercing as she took the water past her lips but didn’t swallow. Instead, she sprayed it back into his face and then shot another force of her magic at him.

The blow threw us back a couple of feet and knocked the bottle from Vain's hands. Bits of glass and holy water exploded across the floor. Ava grinned.

Vain wiped a hand down across our face in a weak attempt at tempering the anger slowly rising inside him.

There goes your brilliant fucking backup plan, I muttered.

His icy rage blended with mild amusement, and heady arousal flooded my senses as Vain reared up, ready to pounce.

“That was a fun game—you pretending you were in control. Now, it’s my turn.”

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