Page 80 of An Inheritance of Monsters

Never mind that my entire anatomy was urging me to do that. The taste of her sweetness haunted me every second that I wasn’t around her.

“Now, you will explain why you rushed back into the Void, knowing that the Dagonites were there.” I said it as gently as possible. “It is not safe for you to enter without us yet.”

She’d had enough emotional upheaval for the day, but the dangers they posed to her if she had found a doorway and run alone into the Void…

Juno, wrapped in Zirin’s tentacles, her skin flushed red from the heat of the water, looked up at me with something like surprise in her gaze.

Zirin’s head turned, enough to give me an extremely annoyed look.

“I… completely forgot about them,” she said, biting her lip. My cock stirred, remembering her warm mouth wrapped around the head, her tongue teasing me. “My whole life is being upended around me, and honestly… being chased by fish-people was about the least exciting thing I’ve discovered in the last few days.”

Rask let out a chuckle, and I resisted the urge to heave a sigh.

“They are much more thanfish-people. They are devotees to an Elder God… and if we were not there for you, they would drag you into the depths and sacrifice you in a heartbeat to their lord Dagon.”

I felt a little guilty when her face went white beneath the flush, but it was for her own good.

With the comet so near, the dead god’s remains straining for a way back to Earth, the Elder Gods had begun to stir. Their devotees were awake and aware, searching for sacrifices to strengthen their masters.

“Were they people once?” Juno asked in a small voice. “These Dagonites?”

I nodded. “Some humans hear the call of the Void, and they find… other paths besides our doorways to heed that call. Those who are far gone are no longer recognizable as human.”

“Why would they want to sacrifice anyone?”

I reminded myself of her ignorance. None of it was her fault. “The blood of innocents will strengthen their gods, and with the comet drawing closer, the Elder Gods are clamoring to awaken and tear open the gates for themselves.”

I, too, felt that call. But my need for blood was for another purpose.

“Will bonding myself to you and the Void… prevent that?” Juno was almost whispering now. I could nearly see the gears turning in her brain.

“Yes.” I could not elaborate more than that.

It was all part of the ritual, part of the oaths sworn before my time.

Zirin caught her chin, stroking her cheek.

I will protect you from Lord Dagon, he told her.He will remain asleep until the end of time,and if his devotees lay a finger on you, I will rise against them myself.

His photophores flared a vicious violet, backing up his promise. He’d always despised his father, the Lord of the Deeps.

“So, just don’t get caught by fish-people and sacrificed,” Juno whispered. “Got it. No problem.”

I nodded, pleased that she was willing to listen, but she wasn’t done.

“On the other hand, if binding myself to you will stop these Elder Gods from tearing open the doors and destroying the Earth… then it seems pretty clear to me that we should… um… get on with that.”

Zirin flared pink with pleasure, his tentacles stroking the insides of her thighs, and Rask let out a growl of extreme masculine interest.

“Because the thing I saw in the sea… that was an Elder God, wasn’t it?” She met Zirin’s gleaming eyes, curling in on herself. He nodded, and Juno shuddered. “It was almost beyond comprehension.”

That was Lord Dagon. He sleeps, but he has become restless. The gates must be bound anew before the passing of the comet. Zirin stroked her, getting her to relax again, although she was still pale.And still,he is far from the worst thing sleeping beneath the sea.

“But… before I bind myself to you all, I want to know something.” Juno swallowed, her eyes glittering with the light cast by Zirin. “You’re all monsters. Voraal, you’re an Elder God yourself. Why are you trying to keep the gates closed instead of opening them for more of your kind?”

I wanted to tell her everything, truly.

But promises made with blood were the most binding ones of all.

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