“The Water Kingdom would be mine to rule,” Raion said clearly pondering the idea.
“Ours,” Sabrina corrected. “I will rule the Water half. You will rule the Tainted half.”
When Raion smiled, he looked like something from an eighties horror movie. “And our child would one day rule it all.”
Sabrina shuddered. The idea made her want to wretch.
“Our species…” She tried to speak but gagged.
“Soft and supple…your flesh is weak. But my kind has always desired it. Don’t you worry, fairy. My body may be made of stone and irradiated earth, it may be toxic to the living, but the Tainted have ways. We always have ways.”
Up from its feet sprung several dozen slimes. They leapt and climbed his body until they covered it entirely. It made Sabrina feel even more nauseous. She just could not get the feeling of those slimes attacking her—trying to invade her—out of her mind.
Dunyasha shook her head. “Repulsive.”
Sabrina agreed, and she wished she could have prepared herself for what happened next. Suddenly, the slimes changed color and mimicked that of tanned human flesh, vibrating and slowly molding themselves over Raion’s form.
“Tell me. What human do you find appealing, Sabrina?” he asked matter-of-factly.
“What?”
“Name one that you desire.”
“What does this… I don’t know.”
“Do it. You must.”
“I guess, Chris Hemsworth. Or maybe Jake…”
In a flash, the slimes that covered the Tainted’s leader took shape and suddenly the thing looked just like her favorite actor.
“Holy shit,” Sabrina blurted out.
“How do I look?” Raion asked. “Human enough?”
Sabrina was not sure how to answer.
“I accept your proposal, Sabrina London, heir to the Water Kingdom.”
“You what?”
“I accept,” he said. “And I very much look forward to consummating our marriage.”
Sabrina was shocked her ploy had worked. The Tainted receded, the earthquakes stopped, and even the air smelled suddenly fresher. Dunyasha nodded at her. Did she approve? Sabrina had won, but in doing so, she felt like she had also lost.
“One year,” Sabrina spit out. “We marry in one year.”
“Unacceptable!” Raion grunted.
“If you want to be king, Lord Raion, you must marry a queen,” Dunyasha stated. “She is not queen yet.”
“She’s right,” Sabrina said, but was unsure how it all worked.
“There will be questions, inquisitions, trials,” Dunyasha ticked. “When all is done, they will finally crown the princess. You cannot marry her before.”
Raion looked angry. Sabrina had to clear her smile—she’d always thought Chris Hemsworth looked sexy when he was angry.
“In one year to this day, I will be queen and enough time will have passed that I will be free to marry. Then, and only then, will I take you as my king.”
“And what do you expect me to do in the meantime? Retreat? Cower in the shadows?”
“Wait.”
“And watch,” he added.
Sabrina nodded.
“We will be watching you the most, Sabrina London. Betrayal will be answered with death. There’s nowhere you can go to hide. Nowhere Pollution cannot reach you.”
Sabrina believed him. “I know.”
“One year.” He laughed loudly. “We Tainted perceive time differently than you, fairy-kind. A year is nothing. I could close my eyes and open them to next month.”
“Fine! Go!” Sabrina shouted. “Close your damn eyes and dream of ruling.”
More Tainted had left. Sabrina could sense their numbers—no longer a multitude now, only several hundred remained.
“What of you, elder vampire?” Raion asked. “Have you gotten what you wanted today?”
Sabrina watched Dunyasha twitch. The woman looked like she mulled over her answer carefully. When Dunyasha finally spoke, Sabrina was surprised—and terrified.
“No.”
“And what will you do?”
Dunyasha pointed. “Know this, Lord of the Tainted. When you close your eyes, I will be there to plague your dreams with nightmares.
“More hollow threats.”
The slimes that coated the Tainted leader’s body fell away a moment before the ground crumbled at his feet and he was sucked down into the earth by Pollution. Startled, Sabrina fluttered and rose up.
“Fuck! That was scary. I thought it just… No. For that ugly fuck, merging down into Pollution is just some kind of dramatic exit,” Sabrina said to Dunyasha. “That bastard, he got what he wanted. Got what he wanted and he left.”
“The wraiths will come soon.” Dunyasha looked to the dawning sky. “My people must sleep. Must heal.”
“You’re leaving?” Sabrina asked as she landed. “Now?”
Dunyasha nodded.
“Then go.” She waved the elder vampire off as she sighed.
“I must take my soldier.”
Sabrina looked at Cade. He was still at work trying to get Nico out of the wrecked limo. Cade chose. He chose them over me.
“He’s all yours.”
“He always has been.”
“No.” Sabrina shook her head at Dunyasha. “Not always. I had him for a brief time.”
“A mere blink of time.”
“Yes. A mere blink of time.”
Dunyasha began to walk away when Sabrina remembered something she wanted to ask her. “Your…condition. How is it connected to fairy-kind? To me?”
“Tightly.” Dunyasha answered over her shoulder.
“Can I help you?”
“Not yet, Princess.”
In a blink, Dunyasha was away. She had crossed the yard and stood beside Cade and Jackson now. Sabrina watched her take hold of the side of the limousine and then, all of a sudden, tear the thing in two like it was only made of paper.
Nicodemus spilled out. The big old guy looks roughed up. Sabrina signed. He’ll be fine.
As she stared at them, Jackson stared back. He may not have been terribly physically hurt in the crash, but she guessed he was emotionally devastated by the obvious grief on his face.
“I’m sorry,” she mouthed to him before she stretched her wings and took flight again. “I’m so sorry.”
Sabrina flapped her wings and rose up into the sky. The higher she got, the more destruction she could see. All of this was her fault; she could not deny it. She wanted to hide. To run home, curl up in her bed, and sleep until it was all passed. But there was no escape—there was no hiding. She had to face it all, and she knew where she had to start: the Water Kingdom.
Abandoned
Jackson watched Sabrina fly away, the sparkle from her wings nothing more than colorful trails in the sky. His heart broke. He’d lost her. He’d lost her again.
“Where do you think she’s going?” he asked.
“No idea,” Cade answered.
“You both, clouded with so many questions, when the answers here are so apparent,” Dunyasha said to them.
“Enlighten us, mistress.”
“Your beloved fairy princess faced death and did what she had to do to save herself,” Dunyasha explained. “She made a bold and difficult decision today.”
“What decision was that?” Cade asked.
“She took the step that destiny always intended for her to take. She ensured the future.”
“Whose future?” Jackson asked. “Her future?”
Dunyasha gazed up into the sky where they glow from Sabrina’s wings scarcely remained. “All our futures.”
Nicodemus finally stood up. He dusted off his old Soviet military greatcoat as he cursed loudly. Jackson had no idea what he said, but the old man looked livid.
“I agree.” Cade nodded. “We still owe Pollution one, Nico.”
Jackson watched Cade reach into his jacket and pull out a flare, which he promptly lit.
�
�Popping smoke!” Cade yelled before he tossed the flare, which instantly began to billow forth thick, red smoke. “Look, Jackson, we gotta beat feet.”
“Okay…”
“Natalia.” Nico pointed up.
Jackson watched the gargoyle swoop down, the vampire Natalia in his arms. Once low enough, he released her and she dropped safely to her feet beside the group.
“We win?” she asked.
“Nyet.”
“Not all was lost,” Dunyasha answered calmly. “I will explain better at the caves before we return to slumber. Before we all return to slumber, children.”
“What about me?”
Natalia looked Jackson up and down. She paused a moment on his groin and smiled. “You smell like sex.”
Before Jackson could answer, Cade shoved him over. “Don’t think I forgot. Rebels never forget.”
Dunyasha’s head twitched as she looked at Jackson. His mounting will to fight dissolved the moment she stepped closer.
“I could make you mine,” Dunyasha said to him. “But what would you offer my family?”
“He’s handsome,” Natalia purred.
Cade groaned and then added his opinion: “We don’t need him.”
“Da.” Nico agreed.
Dunyasha tilted her head back and forth, reached for Jackson’s shoulder, but before she touched him, she stopped and then stepped away.
“My soldiers are right. Too much trouble follows you, human.”
“Sun’s coming up fast. Nico,” Cade called to his friend. “Where did you park the extraction vehicle?”
Nico pointed out the front gates, across the street to the hills. “Quarter mile.”
“Great.” Cade glared at Jackson one last time. “Let’s go. H.B., you’re coming with us, okay?”
“More action?” H.B. asked with a smile.
Jackson watched Cade exhale noisily and try to straighten his broken arm. “I certainly hope not.”
It had been several hours since everyone had left. Jackson sat atop a stone that had broken off Moselle’s wall near the street. He hoped to flag down a passing car for help, but there had been none. He’d lost his phone too. He had never felt so cut off from the world—so alone.
The sun was finally up. He considered searching what remained of Moselle’s home. Maybe, he thought again, just maybe the underground garage is still intact. Maybe there’s an undamaged car down there—one of Moselle’s awesome vintage sports cars. No…I doubt it.
He looked at the piles of rubble and then the damaged limo. “At this point, I’d be happy just to find a bottle of water.”
“I might be able to help you.” Weston’s voice was faint but there. “If I wanted to.”
“Weston?”
“Part of me,” he answered. “I split in two back at the storage facility. One half took Peter to the hospital. The other half came with you.”
“You split in two? Amazing.” Jackson was elated to no longer be alone. “Hey, can you help me get out of here?”
“No.”
Jackson was surprised by the deep resentment in the air spirit’s voice. “What’s wrong?”
“You destroyed me. My other half. You destroyed me, when you suggested I rise up and create a storm.”
“I was trying to help Sabrina. I was trying to protect her—”
“Protect her?” he grumbled. “You-you forced me to undo myself for just a few strikes of lightning. Did it alter the course of the battle? Did it save the day? Was Sabrina saved?”
“No.”
“Was that your plan all along? Remove another person from her life? Another obstacle?” Weston formed up in front of Jackson. It wasn’t much but enough to display his annoyed face. “I am free of you now. You cannot order me around anymore, asshole.”
Jackson clenched his fist with anger, but said nothing.
“You know what, human? You took my free will and then you took my girl. You forced me to watch you-you fuck her! I should kill you right now!”
Weston surged forward. He pressed hard into Jackson like a gale force wind, but Jackson did not flinch. Instead, he lifted his hands up, palms out.
Jackson was unsure how he knew he could do it, but he siphoned Weston into him through his open hands and as he did, he felt an odd, untapped power within himself grow stronger. It was then that he realized and he finally accepted it. “Oh shit. I—I have Kintner’s powers…”
Epilogue
“Fuck me!” she said loudly. “Come on! Deeper! Fuck me deeper!”
She had allowed herself to lose control. The thump of loud music inside the club caressed her body; the bright lights heated her skin. She was being filled by everything she loved. Or at least that was what she had convinced herself.
The lace Venetian masquerade mask she wore covered her face, and the three layers of full cover concealer hid her wings. She even wore a dark brown wig and had removed her bangle; no one knew who she truly was. Just as planned.
“Damn it.” She gnashed her teeth. “Fuck me like you want me more than any other girl you’ve had!”
“I want to,” he said over the music. “But in front of all these people?”
Los Angeles’ Club Afterlife overflowed with partygoers. Exactly how she’d expected it to be on New Year’s Eve during one of their famous masquerade balls. This year’s theme was Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Masque of Red Death.”
“All these people?” she repeated. “All thousand of them will succumb to the Red Death by morning, my love. They’re all walking corpses.”
He laughed and then looked her in the eye a moment, and she was suddenly afraid she’d given herself away.
“Come home with me,” he whispered over her lips.
“Oh, really?” she asked with a smirk.
He squeezed her breasts harder, so much so that it nearly pushed them up and out of the tight corset of the Victorian-style dress she wore.
“So you wanna stop right now? You wanna leave right now?”
“No.”
Suddenly up from the booth they sat in, she was lifted from his lap. Pinned to an adjacent wall, she barely had enough time to breathe before he reentered her.
“Fuck!” she gasped. He’s harder than a moment ago, if that’s even possible. Such passion. How many women have you had since…
She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath. The last few weeks had been a whirlwind. She had to remind herself what she was doing, that she was lucky just to have gotten out—escaped.
“Mmmm… Good… That feels good.”
His thrusts grew faster and faster. She guessed he was almost finished when he reached up under her billowing skirt and between her legs to ensure she finished first.
Not yet, I need more.
As she neared climax, she reminded herself again just how lucky she was.
“Do it inside me.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
He released only a few seconds later—only a moment before she did. Her legs went weak, but he held her up in a loving embrace.
There was a cheer, one she thought was meant for them—for her—but to her surprise no one had even noticed their act.
“Not every night you get to fuck a horny brunette against a stone wall, is it?” she teased with practiced words as she fixed her skirt.
“What did you just say?” he asked with a hand up to his ear. “Take off your mask. I want to see your face.”
She staggered away, uncertain on her heels. She wished she could tell Jackson the truth, but she couldn’t. When she looked back at him one last time, she watched him gaze at the palms of his hands. With a glance down, she spotted the edge of her one wing, uncovered and smeared with sweat.
As the crowd swallowed her up, she heard him shout, “Sabrina”, and she smiled.
Sabrina, she thought, I am Sabrina London.
The story continues in Book Three of
the Water Kingdom Series.
About the Author
Kevin James Br
eaux is an award-winning author and artist. He has nearly ten years of professional writing credit, including short stories and novels and has completed seven books.
He is a member of the Horror Writers Association, the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America and The Paranormal Romance Guild.
Breaux has a growing fan base, including foreign markets in Great Britain and other parts of Europe, and has never stopped striving to better himself as an author as well as to encourage his fellow writers.
He loves video games too, and often has the Streets of Rage 2 intro music thumping away…continuously…in his mind.
Write Makes Might!
Author website: www.kevinbreaux.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/KevinJamesBreauxAuthor
Twitter: @kevinbreaux
Author Blog: kevinjamesbreaux.blogspot.com
Book Blog: www.onesmokinghotfairytail.com
e-mail:[email protected]
Two Polluted Black-Heart Romances Page 37
