Page 17 of Dark Souls

“What makes you think I don’t like you, Lia? I mean, you’d be right. But I am interested to know what gave me away,” I said with a chilling sweetness which caused her to gulp and her eyes to widen.

“Just… just that you must have heard about what happened between me and Neve, but you probably only heard one side of the story.”

“And it’s the only side of the story I’m interested in.”

“Right, of course. She’s your best friend. But I did apologise to your uncle for the whole thing and I heard Neve found her mate after all that mess, so I guess everything worked out well for her.”

’No thanks to this A-hole,’ Rue snapped, pumping rage through my veins and forcing me to fight the urge to rip Lia’s tongue out just so I would never have to hear another fake ass word out of her mouth. Instead, I nodded, feeling an opportunity to rub just how well Neve was doing in her face, even if it may be a little exaggerated.

“Apologising to my uncle isn’t apologising to Neve. But you are right. It more than worked out. She actually has two mates. Twin brothers. Warrior wolves who are the leaders of a King’s army. And not to mention drop-dead gorgeous. They worship the ground she walks on, and she’s just left to go start her life with them in their realm. They’re probably fucking like Duracell bunnies as we speak. I mean, imagine that. Two dicks.” I looked to the heavens. “Double orgasms! Have you found your soulmate yet, Lia?”

I wished at that moment I had a camera so I could snap a picture of her face to show Neve when I next saw her. Flushed cheeks, jealous glare and mouth agape. Everyone knew Lia was obsessed with powerful men. Christ, the amount of times she has thrown herself at my brothers, any Alpha in her sight or even my uncle was embarrassing. Obviously, they all had too much class to ever go there. Even Leif, who would fuck anything with a pulse, turned her down. You make an enemy of someone we love; you make an enemy of us all.

“Good for her,” she muttered, flicking her sandy blonde hair over her shoulder with sass. “No, I haven’t. Have you?” She jeered with a vindictive smirk.

My eyes narrowed as she turned to strut off towards the entrance of the club before waiting for me to reply. But she didn’t get far. I hissed through my fangs. My need for blood affected my rational thinking, making me want to kill her before she could even flutter her lashes at the bouncers. My hand wrapped around the back of her neck and I yanked her back, causing her to lose her balance in her heels. She screeched as the hand around her neck stopped her from hitting the ground but kept her at my mercy instead. She stared up at my face with fear in her eyes.

I chuckled darkly as I read her mind. “Yes. I am a psycho bitch, Lia. It would do you well to remember that next time you think about pissing me off. You want to keep your tongue tonight? Watch what you fucking say around me.”

I released her, pushing her upright as she stumbled forwards away from me. She avoided my eyes as she walked to the entrance, a blush forming on her face from the queue of clubbers who had witnessed my warning.

Lacey gave me an awkward smile. “Sorry! I had no idea you two had problems. But I kinda had to invite her. She was on the guest list and had a plus one. It would have been impossible at this last minute for me to get in without her. We aren’t all royalty.” Lacey winked, threading her arm through mine and yanking me after Lia. I had to fight the urge to shrug her off and instead just left my arm dangling. I was not a touchy-feely person, while everyone else in the world seemed to love invading people’s personal space.

“Just keep her the hell away from me tonight. Or I don’t think it will end well… for her.”

“Gotcha. She’ll latch on to the first guy who shows her attention, anyway. Don’t even sweat it.”

I gave my name to the bouncer, knowing I wasn’t on the guest list, and watched as his face transformed into disbelief. He lowered his head slightly to avoid my eyes and unclipped the red rope for me to pass as he muttered, “Princess.”

I bit my tongue at the formality, drawing blood. But as soon as I entered the chamber, the title was forgotten. Silver, adult-sized cages lined the narrow hallway leading to the main part of the club. Inside the cages were humans, male and female, dressed in leathers, raunchy underwear, and some even with gimp masks and collars. They danced seductively to the pulsing beat, arms reaching out through the bars as if they were pleading with me. It had been a while since I had been to an underground vampire club, but the last I checked, this wasn’t the norm.

“What the fuck is this?” I growled into Lacey’s ear as she shook her head. Lia turned around with a knowing smirk.

“A new system,” she answered. “If you want to feed from a human tonight, you have to pay for it. You choose one for the night. It’s way better! We’ve thoroughly screened them, ensured they’re healthy, and they’ve agreed to participate. They want to be fed on and fucked by us. And they get paid pretty well for it, too.”

My eyes bulged in shock, but my heart skipped a beat with excitement. That was genius and exactly what I needed tonight. I took in their outstretched arms, realising that it wasn’t in fear to escape, it was in desperation to be chosen. It was fucking degrading, but I wasn’t here to judge someone else’s kinks. “Are you sure they are willing?”

“They have all signed contracts,” the vampire behind the desk shouted over the music as the three of us stepped forwards. “They either have blood oaths in place or they have agreed to have the memory of the night erased after. Some of them just want the experience. You must sign your own contract to promise you will not kill your human, feed from anyone else’s human or keep them for longer than your stay at the club.”

“People do that?” Lacey chuckled. “Try to keep them?”

“You’d be surprised.” The woman raised her eyebrow and shoved the contracts across the desk towards us. “You are more than welcome to enjoy your evening without a human, but you are strictly prohibited to the vampire-only section. So, what is it to be, ladies?”

I licked my lips as I glanced between Lacey and Lia. They were waiting for my reaction. Locking eyes with a good-looking male in one cage with blond, floppy hair and dark brown eyes similar to Harry Gould, the disguise my stalker had taken on. A flutter of excitement and adrenaline powered through me. Rue was practically foaming at the mouth in anticipation of his blood.

I picked up the pen and signed my name.

“I’ll take that one.”

I had never been one for clubbing. The music was never to my taste and I would rather dance alone in my underwear to punk rock than frolic against sweaty bodies on a dancefloor. And then there was the whole touching thing. For some reason, you put a bunch of strangers in a dark room with blaring music, throw a little alcohol in the mix, and suddenly it is socially acceptable to grope a person’s body as if you have the right. Yeah. No thanks. I’m good. Maybe just buying a human sub for the night was the new way to go. I was trying to be open-minded. Experience new things. And I had never experienced anything like this before.

Giving the human male sitting obediently at my feet the side-eye, I shuffled uncomfortably in my seat. I felt ridiculous holding the leather leash attached to the collar around his neck, like an owner with their dog. It was the only thing he was wearing other than the PVC pants that left little to the imagination.

Lacey found the whole ordeal thoroughly entertaining. She hadn’t stopped giggling since we sat down. She’d settled on a black-haired male, athletically built, with eager eyes. He was wearing a leather harness over his chest and not much else. Lia’s guy was wearing a full gimp mask, covering his face with a zip across his mouth.

“Why does mine have a leash?” I shouted over the music.

“So he can’t run away.” Lacey’s laughter grew louder at the look on my face. I turned to stare at the man.

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