Page 9 of The Arbiter

I find myself smiling as Raphael pulls the car into the parking lot.

I laugh heartily when I realize that the place is an old church. What a sense of humor our new Arbiter has! As the moments go by, I slowly begin to laugh harder than I have in a very long time.

Raphael simply stares at me as if I’ve gone mad.

“I don’t know how I feel about you laughing,” he admits. “It’s quite terrifying actually.”

This, of course, just makes me laugh even harder. I pat his shoulder before stepping out of the car.

“Oh, pauve to bête! You must get out more, my friend. Allons!” I tell him excitedly.

I don’t think he takes too well to me calling him a poor thing since he grumbles something under his breath when we start to walk.

The inside of this place is calling me, so I don’t bother with his mumbling. There are at least sixty people, both human and Damned, waiting to get inside as music pounds from the speakers. The bass vibrates the ground beneath our feet.

I’ve felt the pull to her power ever since we stepped from the plane. Now, standing only a few hundred yards from the building that she’s in, it’s like my soul is singing to be closer. I know without a doubt that she’s close. It’s like this with the most powerful of our races. We’ll be drawn like moths to her flame until we are at least in her presence once. Only then will the incessant need to be close disappear. It is quite the trick on the Creator’s behalf. This way we never forget who the Arbiter is.

As we get closer to the door, the Strige bouncer notices me and waves us over. He may not be living under my rule, but all Strige know who their liege is, though I never let them call me that. Power recognizes that dominance over its own.

“Mr. Monroe. It’s an honor to have you here, but Mistress Nocturna wasn’t expecting any of you for another day or so,” he says, whispering the last part, wary of human ears. He has a worried look on his face, so I give him a genuine smile to ease some of his tension.

“I wanted to see who our new Arbiter is before the other Infernal start skulking around. Tell me, where might I find her? I can feel her in there.”

His shoulders relax, and he smirks. “She’s about to dance. Normally, she only does one dance on Friday nights, but last night was a trainwreck.”

The words have just barely left his mouth when the first beat hits. The Strige opens the door with a smile and waves us in. “Welcome to The Apothecary.”

I step in with Raphael following close behind me and make my way toward the slightly raised dance floor. There in the middle of the dancing girls is the most exotically seductive creature that I’ve ever laid eyes upon.

I know without a doubt that she is the one that I’m here for.

Her white-tipped raven black hair is put into a fifties-style finger wave. Tight leather pants cover those sexy legs in a way that makes them look painted on her body. The spiked corset covering her torso barely conceals a thing; there’s a good six inches between the bottom of it and the top of those sinful pants. Every time she leans over, I find my breath catching in my throat at the sight of that white skin showing from her breasts to her neck. Those black stilettos with silver skulls give her a little added height and show off her well-toned ass as she dances.

The most striking feature of all are her eyes and skin in her second form. Those silver eyes glow like liquid mercury, and her translucent skin displays some of her skeleton underneath. Many Succubi have the same second form, but none have ever worn it quite so perfectly. I swear in all my six hundred years, I’ve never known a beauty like hers. She is unlike any of the Arbiters I’ve seen before. Cassia had more of a formal flair. She showed skin, but her overall attitude made her physical beauty sickening to me.

Glancing over at Raphael, I see that he too is in shock, his jaw unhinged and eyes wide. I chuckle at his reaction and turn back to temptation in its purest form.

She moves like a fucking goddess, and I am struck with a sudden insatiable envy for her blood. Fuck, I want her body too.

Unconsciously, I move closer and closer, hypnotized just as much as the other men around her. Her eyes lock on me then. I know without a doubt mine are illuminated red with need. My fangs elongate a bit, and my mouth waters as she sings about being half god and half devil.

If the Creator struck me down here and now, I would die the most satisfied Damned to ever walk this realm or any other. Not even the idea of being an eternal prisoner to Cain upon my death could ruin this moment.

Since locking on, her eyes have not left mine. When the song comes to an end, I grin at her, silently acknowledging that I know she has seen my desire for her. In one swift move, she snaps her attention away from me. That one small rejection leaves me smirking.

She has no idea that this has just become the best chase of my existence.

Nocturna

The show started like any other; only now as I dance, I’m acutely more aware of the extra fascinated stares of the Damned around me. Even more Rites than normal are in tonight, all wearing matching expressions that I can’t seem to decipher. I can feel every single creature in here as I sway my hips and lip sync to the song.

A little over two minutes into the song, I feel something shift inside of me. There’s some crazy intense presence trying to make itself known. Halfway through, I have a face to go with it. Two unknown Striges step close to the stage. Both have their eyes trained on me, but it’s the one in the front that holds my attention, and it takes all the concentration that I have in me to keep going.

He is devastatingly handsome, and his signature Strige red eyes glow with hungry fire. Veins spread out from those eyes and along the sharp edges of his cheekbones. The young face holds wisdom, showing that he’s much older than he seems at first glance. His lips are full underneath a slightly pointed nose and thick eyebrows. Long, straight, jet-black hair is stylishly pushed back away from his face. I almost drool right there on stage at the pale skin that peeks out just above this sexy, dark gray V-neck shirt that he wears underneath a leather jacket. Sweet baby Jesus, have mercy on the Damned half of my soul. Those sexy leather pants do nothing to hide his muscular yet slender body that sits right at six feet.

When the song ends, I instantly stop dancing and just stand there like an idiot with eyes wide as saucers for a second. It isn’t until he gives me a wide, bad-boy grin that shows off his pearly white fangs that I snap out of my stupor then exit the stage. Jamie and Dahlia are quick to take up post on either side of me as we walk to the back stairs, booming applause at our backs. They say nothing until we step onto the second floor. My brain is still a confused mess, so I just stare at them, unable to find my voice.

“Holy shit, that was intense!” Jamie says. “You and my liege were practically eye fucking each other!”

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