Blood Rising

by A M Proctor

  Jah said tensely. “I wondered if they would be mean.”

  I met her gaze briefly. “They were awful. I learned that not everyone who smiles at you is your friend, ladies.”

  Rah said with a smile in her voice. “Well, we’re glad you’re back safe.”

  I gave her a confident grin. “And I’m glad you both are my friends.”

  It felt good to know beyond any doubt that I had three true friends in my life. Jah and Rah, obviously, but who was the third? Mason, of course. I might love Ryzier and all his shattered pieces, but could a demon truly be a friend?

  ~~~

  ~~Ryzier~~

  I closed the portal and watched Luna fly over my palace. The sun of the Dark Realm was about to make its brief appearance. Sunsets in the other realms were the most brilliant and awe-inspiring.

  Here, those moments were at sunrise. No matter where you were in the realm, daytime was a sight to behold. Slowly the gold of my palace glowed in the morning light.

  The night-blooming flowers and luminescence closed for the day. I watch the leaves of our realm turn their faces towards the fleeting sunshine. The vegetation here must adapt to the darkness and soak up the light where it can. The evening frost will melt and nourish the plants and wild things living here.

  We get little rain here, only twice a year. If you don’t have access to lakes or wells, you make do with the nightly frost. The seasons run opposite of the God Realm. Our spring comes with the arrival of Persephone as she returns to Hades. We don’t take as much notice of the season changes as humans and fae, though. Our weather changes only slightly.

  The Dark Realm is rich in the creatures that live here now, but as beautiful as it is, everything else is the same. It hasn’t always been this diverse. My mother was the source of this change. While I’m happy with the diversity that lives here, the cost was great. Me. I paid the price for her rise to power.

  For most of my life, I hated her for using me. Now I merely tolerate her. She has no hold over me anymore. I’m free to do as I please whenever and where ever I please. The laws of her realm can’t hold me anymore than the laws of any other realm. I’m a contradiction in life. Not angel, not demon, not vampire, not fae and most definitely not human. Not black, not white, but simply a few shades of gray.

  Why did I bring Nevaeh here? I can see my mistake clearly now that I made it. Seeing her on the ground, soul shattered by the mean girls of the God Realm, feeling so much shame and mortification tugged a familiar note in me from my childhood. It angered me at first. How could she let them tear her down to this?

  When I saw the blood tears covering her muddy face and even her torn dress, I’d already decided to bring her here. It’s where I would have fled to, had I been in the same situation. It makes sense now. Her pain opened a wound in me.

  Her pain… hurt me. That’s the real issue here. I didn’t have to taste it to experience it. I’ve put countless creatures in the dirt exactly like that just to feed off that delicious humiliation. That’s how I feel things now. It’s why I manipulate so many creatures daily. It’s not just for nourishment, it’s to feel alive again.

  I don’t have to manipulate Nevaeh to feel things when I’m with her. I don’t have to taste her emotions and feelings. Just her presence does things to me that frightens me. It frightens me and yet I crave more. This one just might ruin the core of who I am. Untouchable. I am granite against the breeze of life.

  Like a gentle breeze, Nevaeh is always there. Always caressing the back of my mind. I’m tempted to go back to my palace. Lay on the lounge that still holds her scent, drink too much and play love songs. Yeah, bringing her to my sanctuary, my home had been a huge mistake. One I’ll make anytime she wants to come back.

  I open a portal to the Human Realm with a thought. It’s time to go fuck with the world a bit.

  “Leaving so soon?”

  The sweet purr in the voice causes me to pause. “Heading out to start my day of havoc on the humans, Lilith.”

  Lilith grins devilishly. “How delightful. May I catch a ride through realms?” Like most creatures, Lilith can’t open portals at will.

  I’m not most creatures though. “Of course.”

  She takes my arm as we step through and land on the front lawn of the headquarters of the American Measure in Colorado.

  Lilith chuckles lightly. “The Measure, Ryzier? Really?”

  She has a point. Fae simply don’t fuck with The Measure in this realm. They rule the fae here. But few know that the gal who runs this agency, Dagney Dagnir, houses my sister Queen of the Dark Fae.

  I smirk. “Everyone’s fair game for me, Lilith darling.”

  Her predatory gaze fixes on a driver in uniform standing beside a black SUV. “Good luck with that, I’ve got better things to do with my time here.”

  I watch the first woman created by the Christian God saunter away. A sway to her hips and a bounce to her long dark curls that enticed both males and females of all species.

  I don’t have to see her face to know the seductive mask she wore for her unsuspecting prey. The Lord God did a fine job creating that creature. 'Tis a shame neither he nor his angels knew how to deal with a strong woman. If they had, life for women in this realm would have been insanely different. Instead, Lilith is what she is. A succubus demon on a mission.

  I don’t even know if my sister’s created fae host is even here. It’s not like I can call her and ask. “Where ya at sis?” Even if I had a mobile device stitched to my hand, I’d probably text her instead of calling.

  I eye the high fae receptionist as she straightens up to do her job. She’s there to keep the riffraff like me out. I smile as I saunter up to her desk in this huge, sterile entryway.

  Her gaze falls from my lips to my chest, shoulders and a bit lower. The kinky little fae is already deciding how she’d like to sample the bad boy standing in front of her. I already know that she’d enjoy a bit of rope play before I defile that pretty little pussy in demon form.

  “Can I help you?” Oh yeah slut, you surely can help me.

  I open my mouth to ask if Dagney Dagnir is in but as luck would have it, the elevator door opens and my sister’s host steps out with her created fae formidable mate, Tarquin Swift.

  “Not anymore.”

  She’s already moving to stop me as I move to intercept my prey.

  “You can’t… Please, sir.”

  I ignore her. If she’s not saying those words on her knees as I force my giant demon cock down her throat, then I’m not interested.

  “Sister!”

  Dagney cringes as she sees me. Tarquin stiffens and steps just a hair closer to his mate. The high fae receptionist’s voice rises a few octaves.

  “Stop!”

  Dagney regains her composure quickly. “It’s alright, Lunnah.”

  “You know, I have a dragon named Luna back home in the Dark Realm.”

  The receptionist huffs. “It’s Loon-nah not Luna.”

  Oh, I’d fuck with her about her name if I had the time or energy. She’s tempting me to forget my agenda and reduce her to tears before fucking her senseless. Mental note: Come back and play with the Barbie Doll fae later.

  “What do you want, Ryzier?”

  Neither Dagney nor my sister like me very much. That’s not unusual. I have fifteen siblings and somehow I’m still the black sheep of the family.

  “Is that anyway to greet your brother?” I say it loud enough so pert little Lunnah-tic can take note.

  “You’re not my brother, Ryzier.”

  Already annoyed with me, I see. Meat head mate snorts his agreement. I mean, he’s a big boy. Dark hair styled roguishly long on top. He’s like that pirate from that old T.V. show, Once Upon a Time, but only if his mommy was a bodybuilder and daddy had been a giant.

  “Maybe not your brother, but I am her brother. We share a mum. Even she can’t deny that.”

  Dagney’s kaleidoscope eyes soften with humor, even her lips turn up slightly. “She does and I�
��m in a hurry. Please get to the point.”

  “You’re about to have a vampire problem.”

  She stiffens. “What kind of problem?”

  That got her attention. You see, the Measure rules all fae creatures in the Human Realm. They don’t tolerate rogue fae fucking with the humans. Dagney and Tarquin run a tight ship, even the demons, dark fae and werewolves have fallen in line. There’s just one group that doesn’t recognize The Measure because they don’t consider themselves fae. That would be the vampires.

  I glance around the reception room of the Measure and she snorts, “Come on then, you can ride with us to the airport.”

  Turns out the driver Lilith approached was waiting on Dagney and Tarquin. Unfortunately, both are gone and Dagney is pissed. Tarquin goes back inside to order another car.

  I eye the spirited woman that hosts my sister inside her body. “You still getting along with my sister?”

  “She’s a part of me now. We balance each other.”

  I nod and she asks as we get in the new car Tarquin ordered. “What sort of problems are the vampires cooking up?”

  Dagney’s direct, honest and hates games. I like that about her. “As you know, Alexei returned to the Blood Court for his series of sacrifices.”

  Tarquin snorts, “It’s about time. He’s about two hundred years late.”

  I nod to acknowledge his input but continue watching Dagney. “What you may not know is that his mate has fled to the God Realm with his twin daughters.”

  She smiles slightly but says, “Actually I do know… and I don’t care.”

  “If you’re truly balanced with my sister, then you know that my feminist sister isn’t one to stand by and allow a female and her offspring to suffer.”

  Her gaze narrows. “It doesn’t sound like Nevaeh is suffering. It sounds like the girl realized her males are total assholes and rectified her situation.”

  “Assholes they are, but they are also males who are failing to protect their species. They’re desperate for breeding females and they’ll stop at nothing to get three of them back. If they invade the God Realm, then how long will it be before they invade the Fae Realm?”

  Tarquin snorted. “First, they wouldn’t dare to invade the God Realm and second, Alexei is a prisoner to his people for the next fifty years.”

  My gaze moves to the heavy-framed male. “Yes, he’s not going anywhere for fifty years but Nevaeh only has five to six years before her darlings start their transition. Remember, time moves faster in the God Realm. A week there is a month here.”

  Dagney breathed. “Shit. What is she going to do?”

  My face is impassive. “She’s planning on turning the vampire world on its head. She’s planning a takeover of the Blood Court.”

  “She’s not strong enough to overthrow Alexei.”

  I smirk. “Actually, she is. Remember, she’s goddess born fae. She is developing her goddess magic as she waits. The issue is, she’s out numbered at the Blood Court. She needs support if she’s to succeed.”

  Realizing where I was going with this, Dagney holds up a hand to stop me. “Nevaeh’s a sweet girl but you can’t expect us to meddle in vampire affairs for her.”

  My smirk grows. “Nevaeh is a sweet girl. Wouldn’t you much rather deal with the sweet and kind Queen of the Vampires than an ancient asshole king?”

  As they mull this over I add. “A king who’s bored with life here in this realm. Who’s just been shown the possibility of taking over the God Realm. What do you think would be next? Power rules with that species. How powerful do you think he’d become feeding off god blood?”

  With my seed planted in the minds that control the fae here in the Human Realm, I say, “Like you said, we have time. I just thought you should know what’s going on. If you pull over, I’ll get out of your hair and let you continue with your busy day.”

  Tarquin asked as I left the vehicle. “What's in this for you?”

  I shrug lightly. “Maybe I’ve fallen in love… or maybe I’m just sick of Alexei ruling the vampires. Remember, I too am one of his subjects.”

  Dagney added, “Or maybe you’re just playing games, like always… brother.”

  My fangs make a brief appearance as I smile at her and give her an elaborate bow.

  “Maybe.”

  As the car fades into the distance, I open a portal to the Blood Court. Time to report back to the king. If I’m being honest with myself, I love to play at the Blood Court. The entertainment is much more satisfying than anything that little fae receptionist could imagine.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Olympus

  Time flies in the God Realm. My girls are toddlers now. In twenty-four weeks, they’ve grown from infants to two-year-olds. This can’t be healthy for them, and it’s surely not healthy for me. They’re loose and sometimes I feel like I need an army of nannies to keep up with them. Their tiny little monsters when awake and darling angels when finally asleep. I love them with my entire soul.

  We are still living in Atalanta’s manor house. I forgave her for treating me like some party favor to pass around. She’s a goddess and if I can accept a demon in my life, I can accept her as well. Especially now that I understand her a bit more. She is what she is, just as I am what I am. Now that I know, I can keep her at a respectable distance.

  The one good thing that came from that party was the interest in our fashion sense. My girls and I have started quite the little sewing business. We can now take care of ourselves and even pay a bit of rent. By God Realm standards we’re still dirt poor, but these guys will pay a fortune for a pair of jeans. Ryzier caught wind of this and partnered with me. He brings back clothing from the Human Realm and Jah sells that shit at market. We split the profits with Ryzier and it’s a win, win.

  Other offers to make money have filtered in, but they’re offers I’m not comfortable with. The sweet bite rumor has spread like wildfire thanks to me and my big mouth. Since I don’t venture into the village, Atalanta has had several quiet requests for me to meet with gods who wish to experience a prolonged orgasm.

  I’ve politely declined the offers only to find higher counter offers to come back. I don’t have a problem with making money using sex, I’m just seeing how desperate these mother fuckers are.

  Now if I can just get another win today. “Mason, I’m not sure about this.”

  Mason’s idea of teaching someone to fly is to drop them on a branch fifty feet up and tell them to jump. Well, he didn’t say, “Jump Nevaeh.”

  He just blew in my face and snorted, seeing that he’s in beast mode. He’s been in beast mode ever since returning from the Dark Realm. I have a feeling; I lost my gargoyle lover to a female dragon named, Luna. I just hope she’s not the jealous type.

  I know what Mason wants. He’s been training me to fly for a week now and I got the hang of the flying part pretty easy. I had to. He hauled me up into the sky and then dropped me as I screamed and almost had multiple heart attacks.

  Finally, I fell in such a way my wings caught the updraft and parachuted out. Only after learning to glide, which is actually just a controlled fall, I learned how to flap these dark wings and create lift.

  Do you know what the hard part of flying is? The fucking ground. So Mr. Mason, the hulking gargoyle who can fly and land like a ballerina, has decided to teach me how to land… proper like. If you’re reading a bit of snark here… good. The bastard has shown me his lithe landing techniques fifty times now.

  “You know, when I asked you to teach me how to fly, I was expecting a brief lecture on the mechanics of it all before you hauled me in the air and dropped me from five hundred feet… repeatedly. Now you expect me to leap off this branch and hit the ground over and over. Do you hate me?”

  He snorted and patted my back gently. Then he shoved me off the branch. “ASSSSHHOOOLE!” My wings opened just in time to catch the wind and send my ass forward over the ground. Then against the ground because gliding is just falling, going forward. Next ca
me the tumbling, ass over teakettle.

  I came to a halt in front of a pair of golden sandaled feet. I look up the male body until I recognize the face. “Hermes.”

  “Vampire.”

  I brush myself off as I struggle to my feet. Hermes doesn’t like me, but he doesn’t hate me either. His golden face is impassive as he watched me shake the leaves out of my wings. He has beautiful golden feathers in his wings.

  “It helps to learn how to stop flying forward when landing.”

  “Oh? I thought that was pretty good. Not impressed?”

  I almost get a smirk from the messenger god. “They have invited you to Olympus.”

  My gut drops and rolls like my landings. “What?”

  His jaw works a bit. He hates repeating himself. Detests it. “You fair lady, have been cordially invited to Olympus to be received by the high gods of this realm. They will expect you at seven p.m. this evening. Come alone.”

  I glanced at Mason before saying reluctantly. “Uh, I have a ten foot shadow that follows me everywhere. You want to try telling him to stay put?”

  His blue eyes slowly took in Mason before returning to me. “Not particularly… but you must tell Zeus why you brought him.”

  I sighed. “Why does Zeus want me to come to Olympus?” If I’m to be another party favor for the gods to play with, I will eat every single one of them. Zero fucks given.

  “I don’t question the gods, I just deliver the messages.” Great. Just fucking great. After telling me how to… fly there, Hermes took to the air and went on about his day.

  ~~~

  Mount Olympus was located high in the sky amid white puffy clouds. It was a long and arduous flight. I was glad Mason tagged along because he had to carry me the last half. I just wasn’t fit enough to fly such a distance. I was also grateful that Mason did the landing because we had an audience on the immaculate front lawn of the enormous white and gold palace.

  Waterfalls fell on either side of the imposing and beautiful palace from tall, lush cliffs that buffered the slice of land in the sky. The lawn was expansive and with half-dressed people milling around in small groups. From what I could tell, these people were waiting to gain an audience with the gods. They seemed to be deities of earth, water, air and fire from all over the world.