“Bullshit,” I muttered.
“You didn’t look at the wards above the bed very well, did you? Those weren’t just fertility wards placed on the ceiling and floor. They were druid wards to lock two souls together as one in the mating ritual of the druids themselves. I promise you, you’re mine forever. Last night wasn’t just about getting you into my bed; it was about claiming you in a much more primal way. Now, more than ever before, you are mine in every possible way. No, I don’t fucking care if you like it. I made sure you were safe by any means necessary. Yes, I’d do it again in a fucking heartbeat to keep you that way.”
“Like you did with Arthur? Am I safe from him as well?” I countered and watched his eyes narrow even further. “I must look like the biggest idiot to fall for that bullshit,” I laughed as I shoved against his chest. He didn’t budge. Instead, he placed his hands flat against the wall, trapping my body between them as he lowered his mouth to hover over mine. A chill raced down my spine as I licked my lips, wanting to taste him. I craved him; I craved the contact he offered like a fucking junkie needing a fix. He was the drug that could send the pain below and ease it until everything was numb again.
“I never said I played fair, little one. I did what I had to do to protect you,” he uttered before his mouth brushed against mine. “I’m not sorry for last night. You are, and were, everything I imagined you would be and so much more.”
“Kiss me,” I whispered, waiting for him to do just that. The moment his lips fully touched against mine, he jerked back in pain. I smiled against the look of shock as pain registered in his eyes. His body went rigid and then straight as a board as the wards rushed through him, taking him to his knees. I followed him down, smiling as my tongue pushed past the stiffness of his lips, delving and rubbing against his. “I am unlike anything you and yours have encountered, Paladin. You think I owe you and your people something? I owe you nothing,” I hissed as I pushed him and watched him fall to the ground.
An electrical current rushed through his body, leaving him helpless against anything I wanted to do to him. I knelt beside him and ripped his shirt open, smirking as I watched his angry glare following my movement. My tongue darted out as I lowered my lips to his ripped body, licking the pierced nipple before I nipped it between my teeth. “You play dirty, but guess what? So can I, and I sure as hell won’t play by your rules. Your people and the druids did nothing but treat me like a freak, like I was nothing more than an animal. Like an animal that needed to be whipped into shape, and so they did. Do you know what the druids did to me?” I asked through tears that slid down my cheeks to splash on his golden flesh as I continued to smile through the pain those ugly memories brought back. “They tattooed me in ink, strapping a helpless child to a chair as they branded me for hours. They made sure I wasn’t wanted by any man so that I was bound to jump at the first invitation to be used by you and your Knights. I killed them, Callaghan. I followed the ones who branded me, and I ripped them apart; don’t think I won’t do it to you too.”
“Release me,” he gritted out through clenched teeth.
“Release your own damn self, Templar,” I mumbled as I lifted to my knees, intending to leave him in pain on my floor. “When you have managed to do so, leave. You and your kind are not welcome in my life. The next time any of you tries to force me into anything, I won’t just leave you in pain, I will start hunting Templars one by one. You may not die, but you can be cut into small pieces and eaten,” I warned with a saccharine smile on my lips.
I started to lift my body up only for his hand to grasp my hair and pull me back down to him. He watched me struggling against him, unable to get free. He chuckled as he held my struggling form against his, staring into my eyes with a hungry look. Impossible! He should be immobilized by the wards, and yet he was literally holding me with the strength of ten men by my hair.
He rolled us on the floor, trapping me beneath his burdensome weight as he watched me struggle. “I told you I like it rough,” he warned. “Give me an excuse to fuck you like a beast, any excuse to take you without control. I fucking dare you,” he shouted.
His hips rolled, and I gasped as heat shot through my core. I growled with frustration as I fought to get from beneath him. Why wasn’t he screaming in pain? The wards were good, great in fact, and yet he was fighting them, but how? I frowned as I bucked against him, hitting his thick cock while he smiled down at me with something else in his turquoise eyes watching me from within. I swallowed hard as he ground his erection against the wet heat of my core that clenched with readiness in response. The tattoo on my wrist glowed brilliantly; his matched it as he continued to watch me struggling beneath him.
“You want me, sweet girl,” he laughed coldly. “Your wards only work if you don’t want me.”
“I don’t want you!” I seethed, hatred dripping from my lips.
“Liar,” he chuckled huskily as his eyes searched mine. “I know it, and you know it. Your wards are good, I’ll give you that much, but I’m better than most at being able to break through anything you can throw at me. I always have been. Even now, you want me buried deep inside that tight, welcoming heat. I can smell it, your anticipation, the way your body weeps for me to bury my thick cock into it over and over again. You are so fucked, Erie. I’ve never craved anything as much as I crave the need to be with you.”
“I hate you,” I cried as his forehead pressed against mine, his eyes boring into me with carnal knowledge.
“You don’t have to like me to fuck me, Erie. I was gentle last night, but this I promise you: next time you won’t walk away so easily. You’ll crawl, you’ll beg me for more. Hell, I’ll even oblige you and maybe even let you suck my dick for a little while between pounding that sweet, tight pussy you are trying so hard to protect from me.”
“You’re a bastard,” I screeched as I pulled power to me and sent it sailing into him. Blood splattered on my face as I shoved what little was left of him off of me. He was nothing more than a puddle of blood and singed severed flesh. “Asshole.” I wiped his flesh from my face as I sat up, smiling at his mangled corpse.
He had no idea what he was fucking with. None at all. I lifted from the floor, wiping the blood from my face as I sat back on my haunches. I didn’t bother dressing before I moved to the freezer and opened it, staring at Fred, who winced.
“Still alive, I see,” he pouted.
“I have serious men issues!”
“Oh, honey, you are the issue. Maybe if you were less slice and dice, you may find one willing to stick around longer. From the sound of it, you didn’t let him play, and therefore, you are the issue, not him. But that’s not you, you prefer to blow them up, and then you come crawling to me, and say guy issues? He sounded pretty clear, he wanted to fuck you. I wanted to hear your screams. Pity, none of us got what we wanted, now did we? Oh, that’s right, you did.”
“He only wants my womb!”
“No man wants a womb, woman. We want what comes before that pesky womb gets filled.”
“Not him, he wants me to carry his son. He wants me to save them when they couldn’t even help me, knowing that I suffered. It’s bullshit.”
“You know, not that I care, female, but if he’s got a nice cock…what the hell is the issue? Who cares if he wants that womb? Make him earn it, and hell, I’ll even help you. Because that’s who I am, the helpful demon willing to help that pussy get lit, but first, I’ll need my body.”
I snorted as I stifled a laugh. “Damn, that was smooth. I mean, you almost had me, but you lost me at womb.”
“Bitch,” he growled.
“Demon,” I shrugged.
“That’s the best you have?” he snorted.
“I had a very lacking education. It wasn’t as if they wanted me to talk back, or just talk at all,” I explained, pulling another piece of Callaghan out of my hair and tossing it aside. “I think they need to be reminded of who I a
m and how I was created.”
“I think they’re aware of that, hence the wanting to be in that womb of yours. To them, you’re the Holy fucking Grail. To them, you’re everything that will keep them alive.”
“I’m more than just a womb, Fred. I’m also insane,” I smirked as I closed the freezer door and padded towards the bathtub as I wiped off another patch of Callaghan that clung to my shoulder, hoping the water was still warm.
Chapter 6
Two days before Christmas, and the druids just kept handing out mission after mission while everyone else prepared for the holiday season. Not me, because I wasn’t given time off, not that I had anyone to spend it with or anything. Callaghan had yet to regenerate, which was a testament to my magical skills, and made me have a skip in my step. He may have been one of the strongest Knights ever born into the Order, but even his kind had to regenerate an entirely new body if they died. Even the strongest had to come fully back from wherever the Knights went to when they died.
I watched the Fae coming and going from their notorious nightclub that seemed to draw the dangerous and unwanted creatures of nightmares into their doors. Vlad was known for enforcing laws and rules by wards, and my prey was about to enter his domain. That meant I was about to walk inside and break his laws, but hey, a girl had to eat, right?
Druids only paid when you finished a mission, and I’d been hunting these creatures down for weeks. They fed on children and innocent women and were notorious for leaving them in disarray, or on display with pieces cut off of them. The last one I’d found had her tongue removed and branches shoved into her arm sockets. They’d used a rope to string her up by her neck, leaving her to stand on her tiptoes or hang to death. They’d known she’d die; she’d have had a fighting chance with arms, but without, she faced certain death.
That had been two days ago, and since then, I’d not slept or eaten while I hunted them down. I stared at the doors of the club as I studied the wards, biding my time as I waited for the creature and his cronies to show. This was where they’d picked the last three victims up, and since they were Fae, it only made sense that they were creatures of habit.
The issue with it being at this club was the Witches Guild castaways were inside. They were oblivious to what those inside did while pretending the world was right when everything was wrong. I got it; they had been through hell, and no matter what anyone did, you couldn’t entirely close the holes that stretched daily, letting everything imaginable slither through.
Well, they couldn’t, but I could ward them enough so nothing could escape. Not that I wanted to, not while I enjoyed killing those who preyed on weaker species. I reveled in it. It allowed me to test my boundaries without harming innocents. The druids had rules which I was forced to follow, and the Knights Order had even more rules than they did. I had no limits other than being able to be killed, which sucked, but I only ended up dead if I failed. I wasn’t about to fail and end up pushing daisies.
My prey strode up to the doors of the club, hooting and hollering as they strutted with the joy of hunting their victims. Remaining in the shadows, I lingered as the doors opened, revealing some of what was inside. It included Callaghan, who sat at the bar talking to Vlad, King of Vampires. Great!
I swallowed hard, considering my next move. To get to my prey, I had to drop my glamour to hold focus while fighting the wards and them. Callaghan to see my true self, which no one ever did, but the Fae were masters of wards too. They had powerful magic which had been used to create the wards that kept the peace inside the nightclub.
Would he recoil from me as everyone else had done? Would he stare in horror once he saw what I looked like? Probably. I let the glamour drop, pulling the hood over my unruly mess of crimson curls. Stepping away from the building, I hunted the monsters that preyed upon those who couldn’t defend against them.
The doors of the club sparked as I pulled them open, ignoring the curious stares as I entered. Maybe I’d been wrong, and it hadn’t been Vlad I’d seen through the doors. My eyes scanned the bar, and my hope sank as I took in the silver-eyed male who was pouring Scotch into Callaghan’s glass.
I pushed the heavy cloak off as the wards felt my presence. The moment they did, I sent a jolt of power pushing back at them. My other arm threw the entire crowd against the walls of the club, all except Callaghan and a blonde female who stood over babies, who luckily seemed immune to my magic. Who the fuck had babies inside a nightclub? Pausing, I added wards between me, my prey, and her. I stared at her before my gaze lowered to the babes who had been warded away from her, which she wasn’t happy about.
“Erie, stop this now,” Callaghan warned, and I lifted my gaze to his, watching as he flinched. Ah, there it was. The repulsion at seeing what he’d begged to when he’d had me at his mercy. I threw my arm at the blonde again, watching with unease as she didn’t budge from where she stood, pulling power to her as she watched me back. “Stop this.”
“No,” I uttered as I started placing wards around the little ones as the blonde moved towards me. I moved my fingers, adding even more wards until set after set of magical barriers stood between us. No matter what she was, she wasn’t getting through them. I finished protecting the children and then blinked in wonder as the little girl walked right out of it. “Back inside,” I urged. “It’s for your protection,” I explained, and I swear she smirked and tilted her chubby face to the side as if she was considering my words. One minute I was alone, and the next she was in my arms. I held still, uncertain of what the fuck was happening. Her small hand touched my cheek, and she smiled. She vanished from my arms, and I watched as she nodded platinum curls and moved back into the safety of the stronger wards I’d placed.
I exhaled my relief and turned towards my prey. The leather I wore covered my breasts, my waist, and barely covered my ass, but it was the outfit I’d worn since I had been a mere child. It was what the Pict women wore to battle. Every tattoo was laid bare to see, everything I was exposed. Usually, no one lived to tell what I looked like, but this time everyone, including Callaghan, would live to tell the world my shame. I called forth my swords, listening as the others spoke.
“If she attacks, she will die, Callaghan,” Vlad growled.
“What the fuck is she?” a male asked.
“Impossible, the druids birthed no females,” another muttered as he struggled to get off the wall.
I closed myself off to their words, rounding on the monsters that stood motionless, frozen by the magic I’d cast. I released them from it and watched as the biggest one moved into swift action, rushing right for me. I let him come right at me until I jumped, flipping into the air to take his head with my blade. I threw a smirk at Vlad and wiggled my brows for him. His wards were good, but mine were better.
The second guy sent out a burst of power, calling forth multiple versions of himself. I twirled my blades and started forward, slicing through the clones one by one until nothing but bloody pulp remained. He called more to him, and I rolled my eyes, dropping my blades as I brought my fingers together, snapping them. The room emitted in raw, uncut power as the clones exploded into pink mist as if a bomb had exploded.
The last male watched me, his sunken eyes slowly trailing over my ruined body. Scar after ugly scar covered it, and that which wasn’t covered in nicks or abrasions was covered in ink. I called my power to me as I cracked my neck, stepping closer to him.
“It is forbidden to harm us here!”
“And yet you hunt those weaker than you right inside this very room? The last victim was left to teeter on her tiptoes with a rope around her neck. Her tongue had been removed, and you’d replaced the arms you had ripped out with tree branches. Is this not true?” I called back angrily.
“She was human,” he spat out as if it was vile to even slither over his tongue.
“She was. She’s no longer of this world because of you. She died on that leash you tied her to, and
now here I am, hunting you. The Guild may have fallen to rubble, but they’re not the only ones who enforce the laws in this world. You will die screaming,” I informed before I rushed at him, whispering a spell that made my hand sharper than any creature’s claws could hope to be.
My hand slipped through his throat carefully as I grasped his tongue and pulled it before I flipped over his shoulder, wrapping it around his neck before I kicked him to the floor and went down with him. There, I lay beside him, braced on my elbow as I stared at him. He screamed, but no words escaped, only muffled cries.
“You see, I enjoy slaughtering monsters that hurt weaker species. I don’t know…” I sat up, turning my head a bit as I peered at him. His tongue was longer than I’d thought it would be. His eyes were wide with pain, and blood oozed out of his wound and mouth as he continued to screech in pain. “I think it’s an improvement from how you looked before. Don’t you?” I asked before I straddled him and smiled down at him. “I think so. What was that?” I asked, moving my ear closer to his mouth. The only noise escaping sounded as if he was encouraging my trip to hell. “No. No, I won’t because this is where you die,” I chuckled as I sat back, tossing a curious gaze at the female who had been unaffected by my magic. Whatever the fuck she was, she was strong. I could feel her power rippling against the wards as she worked with Callaghan to undo them.
Turbulent ocean blue eyes held mine as I brought my dagger down into the creature’s skull, ending his suffering. I stood up slowly, letting Callaghan see every detail of my body before I stood nose to nose with him, only the ward between us.
His hand pushed through the wards before I had a chance to react and wrapped around my throat. I winced and then laughed darkly. “Do it, end it,” I uttered through the crushing hand that held me.
“Drop the fucking wards, Erie, now. Those children are sacred,” he growled.
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