Blood Prize (Bloody Dance #1)

by A Muse

  “You’re so greedy today, Natsu.” I shook my head I wasn't greedy. I just wanted everything that he was going to offer me. I knew that I didn’t have to ask Ban for this. Even if I didn’t want it, he would take it from me anyway.

  I could feel the ring I took from him heating around my neck. Maybe it was crying for its old master back. I ignored the ring. Ban couldn’t have it. It was mine now. I took it from him fair and square. He didn’t seem interested in the thing. At the moment, Ban was only interested in his own pleasure.

  His fingers wrapped around my neck tighten. I could feel my body clenching around him harder. There was a darkness on the edge of my vision, but Ban didn’t squeeze hard enough for me to black out. The lack of oxygen made me feel his thrust even more.

  It was as if all my focus went to the part where our bodies connected. My fingers pulled from his shoulders as I wrapped my hands around his wrist. I already knew that Ban was stronger than me. If he didn’t want to let me go, I couldn’t make him. I wasn’t sure I wanted to. This felt just as intense as when he was . . . Killing me. His finger loosen and I gasped for air.

  “Ban,” His name was a moan on my lips as he thrusted hard. I felt his fingers in my hair as I wrapped my arms around him. Our chests pressed together as we both were coated in sweat. Ban yanked my head back and I could feel his smooth tongue traveling over my throat. He licked away the sweat that rolled down my flesh as our bodies continued to seek the pleasure the other brought.

  I could feel my own prick rubbing against his flesh and it was driving me mad. I shook my head as best I could. Ban just seemed to laugh as I was trying to hold back. He drove his body into mine harder. He was making it impossible to think.

  “Ban!” His name was a scream as my back arched I could feel myself tightening around him as I reached my climax. That didn’t stop Ban from thrusting into my body. It was a few minutes later before he held himself inside of me. I could feel the pulse of his prick before he pumped his load into my body.

  “Don’t waste that gift, Natsu.” Ban whispered in my ear. He pushed me from his lap grabbing my hands and tying them behind my back again. “Now for round two.” I could see the crooked grin on his lips. It made my prick pulse and my heart race. This man was evil and perfection. Ban was the perfect evil.

  Five weeks and eight towns Amy finally found a house she deemed livable. Buying the house had put a dent in our funds but it was worth it. Now that we had a home we could stop roaming around like lost puppies and get back to our business. Demon Hunters that weren’t hunting demons could hardly call themselves anything.

  We had something of a team again. Soji was a white mage, Emiko was a skilled gunslinger, and Rai. She was still training with her green magic, but I doubt that we would actually need her for missions. She would come because telling Rai no was getting harder to do now that Shu was gone. With my black magic and demon powers, we weren’t a half bad team.

  Still how could I asked these people to hunt with me. Maybe being Bounty Hunters was the better choice. Humans were less dangerous than demons. It was demons that broke our family. It was demons that I had a bone to pick with. It was demons that Rai hated and wanted to hunt.

  Amy was her daughter’s age when she started to hunt. Shu was much younger when Kaleb started to let him go on missions with us. Soji and Emiko could decide if they wanted to hunt or not. I guess Rai decision was up to Amy.

  Would she let her daughter hunt when she just lost her husband? I wanted to promise that Rai would always be safe with me. That I would bring her home time and time again. After Shu, I found that I choked on those promises.

  Sitting at the table I poked at the food on my plate. Moving it around but not eating. I didn’t have to pretend to eat anymore. Everyone at this table knew what I was. Maybe when we built up a new team, I would tell everyone what I was. That way none of them would turn on me the way Dante had.

  “So demon,” Emiko started and I rolled my eyes at her. “What’s the next move?” My eyes shifted from my plate to the big breasted woman across the table from me. She sitting next to Soji. Over the weeks, Soji and I shared a few more kisses. He was someone important. Someone that I was supposed to stay close to.

  Mother Fate said Ban and Kenji wanted to kill him. I was supposed to protect this boy. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to do that. I couldn’t even protect Shu against the two of them. Soji was supposed to help me become stronger. It all sounded like a load of bullshit. It was all I had to go on. The Night of Demons. I didn’t know what that was. It was coming though, and it wasn’t going to be pretty.

  “We need to hunt. We’ll need credits and this house put a dent in what we had.” Even after collecting on Maya we were still going to need more money. We had to pick a demon and hunt them. That would keep food on our table and a roof over our head.

  “I’m going with you.” I already knew that Rai was going to say that. I knew that she wanted to hunt with us. Over the weeks, all she had been talking about was hunting down Ban and Kenji. Paying them back for killing her father. I didn’t want Rai to become like Shu. I loved Shu, but his obsession with Kenji was part of the reason he wasn’t with us now.

  “Rai,” I sighed, what was I suppose to say to her.

  “I’m a green mage. My mother taught me how to use my magic. My father taught me how to use guns. I’ve been training since birth to be a Demon Hunter. I will finish what my father started. I’ll kill The Blood Demon Kenji.” She glared over at me a small smile on her face. “Then I’ll kill the Great Demon Ban.”

  My fist slammed down on the table. She didn’t jump. She just looked over at me. Amy looked between the two of us. What did she have to say about this? Did she really want Rai to go on missions? Did Rai really think she had the power to take on two demons?

  “You can’t go after them.” I spoke softly. Didn’t she understand how dangerous it was. Her father just died. This wasn’t some game that we were playing. Not just Ban and Kenji. Anytime we went after any demon we put our lives on the line.

  “Why? Scared I will do what you’re too weak to do.” I was weak. I knew that already. As weak as I was I was still a demon. I was still something that she should fear. Or maybe being around me all her life has desensitized her to the threat of demons. Maybe because I was her friend, her uncle, her brother she thought all demons were . . . toothless.

  I leaped across the table. It only took me a half of second to shift into my demon form and crash into Rai. Her chair banged against the floor loudly as I had her pinned under me. My fangs were only an inch from her face. If I were any other demon, she would be dead.

  “Look at me.” My fingers grabbed her chin when she tried to turn her head from me. My red eyes peered down into her green ones. “This is what a real demon looks like.” I could see her eyes swelling with tears. “Cry Rai. We like it.” I sniffed at the air as I bared my fangs. “I smell your fear.” It smelled like citrus. I opened the third eye and she gasped. I felt vines wrapped around my arms. They yanked me off of her.

  Using my nails, I cut them away. I could hear the way Rai’s heart racing. She was glaring over at me, but she was scared. If this was how she was going to fight, then she was going to be useless on our team.

  “Fear will get you killed. Act or die.” I went to her again and I could feel her blood boiling. Good, anger would make her move. The vines came at me again and I flipped out of the way. Backing up to the wall I touched the wall making three more versions of myself.

  “Demons don’t fight fair.” The four of us surrounded her. She spun around in a circle trying to keep her eyes on the real me. I gave my body over to the shadow becoming a shadow version as well. Now it would be nearly impossible to tell us apart.

  I was an S-classed demon. I used high-level black magic to do this. Lower class demons wouldn’t know this trick. Ban and Kenji would. They would know much more than I knew. They wouldn’t hold back and go easy on her either.

  “Don’t waste your time on the shado
ws. Find the real me or you’re just wasting energy.” I told her. For a mage, it was all about keeping their energy level high. If you went crazy with your magic at the start of the fight, you would run out of energy and be demon food.

  She closed her eyes trying to sense the real me. I sent one of my shadows to her and watched as he kicked her in the stomach. It brought her to her knees. “You better be faster. A demon isn’t going to wait for you to pick him out.” This was the big leagues she wanted to play in. She needed to know what came with that.

  Turning around her vines grabbed my wrist pulling me through the shadow. I grabbed the vine cutting it away before it stabbed me in the shoulder. Coming towards her I started to attack. I didn’t use all of my strength as we went hand to hand. I knew that she could fight. Shu had trained her. Still I wanted her to remember to stay on her guard at all times.

  I smiled as she was keeping her own. There was a lot of openings that I didn’t take but for a newbie she wasn’t half bad. She would need more practice, but we could do that while we were on the road. She would still need protection, but everyone needed protection when going against a demon. That was why you had a team. So that there was always someone out there watching your back.

  I kneed her in the gut. She started to go down, but I caught her before she could. Grabbing her I yanked her back onto her feet and Soji and Emiko started to clap for her. I watched Rai glare over at the pretty boy but then her expression softened as she took a bow. Reverting back into my human form I spun around her my nails at her throat.

  I could feel her gulp. I could smell the light sheen of sweat that coated her forehead. Her heart was racing again as I lowered my head allowing my fangs to brush against her neck. Amy was still in her seat watching all of this. The whole time she had a small smile on her face as she rubbed her belly. She wasn’t worried about Rai. She knew I would never actually hurt her daughter. She knew that Rai needed this wake-up call if she wanted to be a true Hunter.

  “Never trust a demon.” I hissed in Rai’s ear and she nodded her head slowly. If she remembered that, she might just become a Demon Hunter after all.

  THIRTEEN

  The next morning we all left after breakfast. Driving to the Demon Hunter bar we all stood in front of the board to see who our target would be. Just as always Ban and Kenji remained on the board untouched by everyone who didn’t have a death wish.

  My eyes stayed on Ban’s smiling face. Just as beautiful as every. He stared from the picture as if he was looking at me. I could hear Mother Fate’s words. She asked me if I loved Ban. How could anyone love a demon? I’m a demon. I’m incapable of love. Even if I could love Ban has only earned my undeniable hatred.

  Shaking silly thoughts like love out of my head I cast my eyes away from Ban so that I could look at the rest of the board. A C-class demon would be best for this team. It was strong enough to get us some money. Weak enough to be used as the practice we needed in order to get our teamwork down pack.

  Looking at my ragtag team of misfits I wondered if teamwork even existed between us. Rai hated Soji because I kissed him. Emiko hated me because I was a demon. Soji was free loving and smiles all around. What was I? Annoyed with all three of them.

  Pulling a page from the board I looked at the demon on it. The Soul Demon Azul. He would fetch us forty thousand credits. He would be a good first mission for the team. Maybe being trapped in the car as we make it to him will be good for team morale.

  Spitting up we all needed to go shopping for the road ahead of us. I didn’t need anything so I sent Rai with Emiko and Soji. It would be good for the three of them. At least I hoped it would be. For now I wanted a few minutes to myself. Since Shu's death and making to back to Rai and Amy, I don’t think I had a moment that it was just me.

  Pulling a pack of cigarettes out, I placed one between my lips. Flicking my finger, the black flame appeared lighting the end of the stick. Inhaling deeply the smoke burned slightly as I blew it out through my nose. I could feel the stress of the last few weeks melting away from me.

  Turning I started to walk when I was frozen in my tracks. My eyes fell to a man who wasn’t actually a man. The Blood Demon Kenji was in this city. It had been a while. Maybe he picked this city to be where he got his next meal. Some family was about to be demon food.

  The last time I saw him he was kicking me around as if I was some rag doll. The last time I saw him Shu died. The thought of Shu made my blood boil. He was alone, without Ban around I wondered if I was demon enough to take him. This was my chance to avenge Shu and his family. It was my job as a member of that family to take my pound of flesh.

  Flicking the cigarette away, I followed Kenji as he walked through the streets. Fighting him out in the opening would just mean more humans would die as they were caught up in our battle. I would follow him until he was somewhere less crowded.

  As Kenji walked down an alley, my nails and fangs pushed down. I was ready to end his life. He had to pay for all the sins he commented. He had to pay for the pain that he has caused the people I love. The people who took me in when I had nothing. Kenji had to pay.

  My steps started to quicken. Soon I was rushing towards the Blood Demon. Before I could touched him, hands grabbed me yanking me back. They covered my mouth and wrapped around my waist as I was pressed against something, no it was someone.

  I could feel my mind racing as I struggled against hands that had enough strength to hold me. Who was this? Kenji wasn’t alone. Who was he with? I stopped my struggled for a moment. I could feel someone lowering themselves so their face was beside mine. My eyes shifted and I could see hair as red as blood.

  “You’re so feisty, Natsu.” Ban’s lips were at my ear as he whispered. My eyes shifted down the alley, but Kenji was gone. He got away because of Ban. They were trying to bring about the Night of Demons. I was the person who was supposed to be stopping this. Killing Kenji probably would stop it.

  In a smooth motion, Ban slammed me against the wall of the alley. My face hit the wall hard enough for spider web cracks to form. I hissed out as he was still behind me.

  “I live to see that look of pain on your face, Natsu.” Twisting my head Ban pressed his lips to mine. I parted my mouth under his. Our tongue twisted around each other as I started to close my eyes. I knew what this was. I knew how easy I could get lost in Ban. I could feel his fingers grabbing a fist full of my hair as he slammed my head into the wall. The warmth of my blood ran down my face as dust from the wall rained down on us.

  Ban slipped his fingers into my pants groping me. I gasped at the pleasure of his touch. How could this man make me feel so good? A small moan parted my lips as his fingers wrapped around my length and started to stroke me. I shook my head. Trying my best not to fall into the trap Ban was laying for me.

  Jerking my head back, I could feel it slamming against Ban’s face. He backed away from me and I quickly turned around. My lips pulled back in a sneer as I let out a low growl. Ban was rubbing at his nose, but there were no outward signs that my headbutt affected him.

  “You know it turns me on when you fight.” He was smiling that perfect smile at me. His fingers wrapped around my throat as his other fist slammed into my stomach. I doubled over as he let me fall down to my knees. His fingers pressed into my hair as he yanked my head back hard enough to make me look up at him.

  “You’re so hot when you’re on your knees, Natsu.”

  “Burn in hell, Ban,” I growled at him and he laughed before punching me in the face. I thought I saw stars for a moment, but I shook it off trying to get back to my feet. There was no way I was going to stay on my knees in front of him. Ban pulled on my hair making me raise back up. He pushed me into the wall again before mashing his mouth against mine.

  My fingers pressed up his shirt resting against his chest as he deepened our kiss. He tasted like coffee and blood. I could feel myself giving into him before he pulled back. There was a frown on his perfect face. I don’t think I ever saw Ban frown before. There
has never been a need to. He has always gotten what he wanted.

  “You smell different.” He pressed his noses into my hair sniffing me as if he was some kind of animal. Maybe being a demon and a dog wasn’t that far apart. He shoved his fingers into my pants again and I gasped as he squeezed his hand around me. It felt amazing as he started to stroke me.

  “Who has touched you?” No one touched me. At the very most Soji and I kissed. Could he smell that on me? Or maybe it was just the fact that Soji was so close to me now that he could smell his light on me?

  “Ban,” I moaned his name as he pressed in closer to me. Ban was the only one that touched me like this. Maybe I wanted someone else to. Maybe I wanted Soji, there was no maybe about that. I knew that I wanted the white mage. Maybe that was what Ban was smelling on me. My want for someone other than him.

  “What whore did you lay down with?” I laughed. Was he . . . jealous?

  “Any I like.” I hissed at him and moaned when his fangs sank deep into my neck. I could feel him drinking from me. My nails ran down his chest as he continued to stroke my member. I didn’t know how much longer I could last. The pleasure this man caused was always overwhelming.

  Ban was the only demon I knew that drank from other demons. I had some of that power in me. I didn’t drink from demons, but I could take their powers by eating their core. It was the same thing I had done with Maya and so many others before her.

  Pulling back I watched as my blood dripped from Ban's lips. He grabbed my shoulders turning me around. My face was slammed into the wall again as my pants were yanked down my waist. I could feel two of his fingers enter me and it sent another wave of pleasure coursing through my body.

  “You’re mine, Natsu. Only I can have you. Only I love you.” This was whispered softly in my ear. It was almost said a plea. I shook my head. I didn’t accept his words. I wasn’t his. I didn’t believe that someone like him could love. Even if he could, I would never love him back.