Page 50 of Of Blood and Smoke

A feast lay before me and the blood in my veins raged as saliva gathered on the back of my tongue. I allowed my canine teeth to elongate and let the chemistry in the air seep into my tastebuds.

All the flavors and emotions coursed through me, somewhat sating my desire but not quite quenching it. Rather, it was an appetizer.

My blood was now on fire.

My vision clouded, foggy with a light orange mist, my sight marred as the heat waves in the atmosphere careened and swirled about me in an explosion of ether. Gold, crimson, ruby, sapphire. Then the emerald tone of jealousy when my eyes singled out a female for a second too long, depriving another worthy soul of my attention.

A woman with cornsilk tresses past the small of her back approached me, sheer silk-clad hips swaying to the beat of the background music. She ran her long, lacquered nails down my chest and curled an arm at my waist, thrusting her hips toward my own. I know she felt my rock-hard erection. Her ever-heightening moisture was trapped in a cradle of satin between her thighs releasing a fragrance my nose was all too eager to scent.

She met my gaze, hesitating a fraction of a second when she noticed my unique irises. No one had ever had eyes like mine. No one had ever seen pearlescent black, not in recorded history. It was a novelty among novelties, and I hid my gaze from no one inthe realm, no matter the effect. But I’d never met these women before.

This particular woman was a witch, one of two others I sensed in the gathering. The rest were demons and vampires, and everyone was pureblood—no crossbreds, and absolutely no humans.

I was expected to indulge in their bodies, and I knew how this worked. I’d arranged similar collections for the same purpose while employed under Sem. The event would turn into an orgy and serve the purpose of a mated pair and open the possibility that perhaps the man’s seed, or the woman’s womb, would contribute to birth another superior creature.

There was no “hi how are you?” or “what is your name?” Not until after the act had been performed. Perhaps in other circumstances a lack of manners and consideration would be discouraged, but not here, not in this den of decadence.

I gripped the blonde’s head and spun her around as she gasped. Sliding my hand to the side of her neck, I pulled her skin and tugged her head down, licked my lips. Then I stretched my jaw and descended on her, sinking my teeth into her flesh. Her blood burst into my mouth, coating my tongue in a thick, succulent blanket of euphoria that nearly brought me to my knees.

But I wouldn’t touch her in any other way. My intimate caress belonged to one woman and one woman alone and as I drained the lifeforce from the witch, I kept the thought of Della close and guarded, but never far from my heart.

“You asshole!” A woman rushed me the moment I tossed the depleted body to the ground. “What have you done to Anna?”

Wiping the corner of my mouth with my thumb, I answered, “She wasn’t to my liking. Perhaps you will be?”

The woman shoved at my chest to no effect. Incensed, she pulled a blade from the skirt of her dress, but I had her flat onher back before she could wield it. I planted my shoe between her breasts, pressing her into the carpet, and leaned down. “Youare to pleaseme. Have you not been paying attention?”

The women were trained for months, once they’d been selected, in the arts of decorum and seduction, compliance. “Yes, I’m sorry. It's just, she was my friend,” she whined, grappling my ankle. “I will comply.”

“You’ll give yourself to me freely, as expected?”

“I will. I do. Please.” She whimpered. “Just please don’t do to me what you did to her. Have mercy.”

I removed my foot from her chest and straddled her, lowering myself to my knees. Anxiety and fear steamrolled from her, filling the air with a savory tang. “As you desire, so shall it be.”

Bending my neck, I found her own and nudged her hair out of the way. Trepidation flavored the fine sheen of sweat coating her skin and I trailed my lips through the dampness and inhaled. She stiffened below me for a moment before her arms began to rise. I locked them in place before they rose more than a half inch from the rug. Then, I waved a finger over her face, paralyzing her and ceasing her protestations.

Inhaling, I slowly drank her essence and ingested her soul, letting the thin tendrils of ether slip and slide down my throat. She was a witch from a high-standing family and briefly, I considered what I was doing. Was I singlehandedly and permanently ending a line of elite magic workers? No matter. A feast had been presented to me and nobody could blame me for doing what came naturally. Her pulse fluctuated in a moment of desperation before it blinked out, the corpse deflating and sinking slightly into the fibers below.

I’d given mercy when all I’d wanted to do was rip her to shreds. None of these women would ever be able to replace Della, it was an insult of the highest order to suggest they could.

Rolling off her, I shuddered, letting the ecstasy of all I’d consumed in the last several minutes run through me. Every cell of my being was alight with fullness of joy and a massive surge of elation. Power coursed through me, my blood delighting in the stolen sorcery of the witches. I couldn’t use it, but it filled a craving deep in my soul. It wasn’t every day a being such as me received the privilege of the taste of magical blood, though it was highly sought after by all.

Drunk on blood and ether, I laid on the floor staring at the dual moons visible through the skylight overhead. Relaxing, I enjoyed the incredible sensations and soundly ignored the thread of terror wafting through the room.

Was I a monster? Yes. But that couldn’t be helped.

What mattered was I would never be a monster to my Della. I’d be a monster for her, when needed, but never to her.

After the initial rush subsided, I sat up. The beauties around me did their best to act like their plans for the evening hadn’t taken a gory turn but even the woman on the swing had stilled. Starlight glistened through the overhead windows, reflecting off the iron bowers and glittering in the crimson drops surrounding me.

Before anyone set off to dominate a sector of the Third Realm, the Ancients would specifically state they were supposed to be “in the world, but not of the world,” and they expected them to behave with separation. As much as I loved the Second Realm, now that I’d had a taste of earthly delights and seen what I’d been missing, I knew there was no way I could remain here in any permanent fashion even though it was my home.

There was nothing for me to conquer here that I hadn’t already conquered or had handed to me on a golden platter. Everything was too predictable, too available, and too inevitable. If I claimed one of these demon or vampire princesses, I’d likely be looking over my shoulder for eternity and have to close ablind eye to the machinations of my bride as she displayed faithless behavior in a bid to rise in society. She would always look for the next, best thing.

I’d be drawn into futile games I lacked any desire for. I’d be expected to continuously rise in pointless power, gaining titles but existing with ever-tightening parameters, bound by ceremony, and shackled to a beautiful but conniving wife.

There were those who thrived on those types of games—mainly the demon clans. I was not one of them.

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