Esral shivered. It felt like someone had just walked over her grave. “I’m sorry for you, but I’m not sorry that it happened. I’m glad you know,” she whispered. She felt a deep sense of relief that her brother had finally seen the truth.
Keto nodded. “Me too…very sorry. Esral…” He swallowed hard, pulling his robe more firmly around him. “I should’ve listened to you. There is no excuse. She was really good at talking her way in and out of things. Had a way of distracting me.”
Esral chewed her lower lip. “I’m sure she did.” She tried not to sound pompous.
A pained look crossed his face. “I’m really sorry. I hope you’ll be able to forgive me.”
Esral smiled at him. “Of course I will, you pigheaded idiot.”
Keto smiled. “Your thorn is intact isn’t it?” He didn’t wait for her reply. “You aren’t with child are you? You’ve done nothing to deserve any of the ridicule. I’m such a schmuck. The way I treated you is unacceptable. Please know that I was worried about you. It wasn’t all just about father or the reputation of the royal oak.”
“I know. And yes, my thorn is very much intact.” She shook her head, trying hard to bite her tongue but there was something she needed to say to her brother. “So what if I had rutted with half of the vampire males though? Would it make me any less of a person?”
His face turned red and he growled.
“No really. Hear me out. Would it really be so bad?”
Keto nodded. “Yes it would, Esral. Listen to yourself.”
She took a step towards him. “This whole thing of highborn females remaining untouched while all other elves can cavort to their hearts content. It isn’t right, Keto. Elves, regardless of class, should be free to do whomever they choose.”
His eyes widened. “Really, Esral? Do whomever? Did you just say that?”
“Yes, I did.” She put her hands on her hips. “Come on. We don’t live in the dark ages. Even the humans are more advanced sexually.”
“What of the blood ritual and the joining of bodies?” He raised his brows. “What of age old traditions?”
“If the female has to wait then so does the male. Why can’t we just break our own thorns and be done with it? I’ve heard the vampires call our ways barbaric on several occasions and do you know what? They are right.” She was breathing hard. “We’re so stuck up our own asses it’s scary. I want to mate with Xavier yet I have to mate with a male that I am expected to hold up pretenses with…so that heaven forbid”—she put her hand over her mouth trying hard to make her point—“my reputation isn’t ruined.”
“It’s about father and you know it.”
She nodded, feeling her eyes well with tears. “Yes, I do. If it weren’t for father’s illness I would’ve left long ago. I would’ve mated the male that I love and lived a happy life. I’ll gladly do what needs to be done so that father can be well again and for no other reason.”
Keto nodded. “I understand.”
“Do you, Keto? You are the future of our species.” She kept her eyes locked with his, trying to drive home the importance of what she was saying.
His brow knitted into a deep frown. “I agonize over that very thought each and every day.”
“Good.”
He smiled. “Good…” He made a sound of frustration. “How can that be good?”
“It will make you a great king one day.” Esral smiled. “I only hope you will go after the female that you actually love as well.”
Keto’s blue eyes turned stormy and he shook his head. “No, that door closed a long time ago.”
“You are the prince of the elves, I’m sure you can open it.”
Keto clenched his jaw but much to her dismay, he said nothing more on the subject.
Chapter 9
The elven healer shook his head. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” His narrowed eyes scrutinized Gideon’s chest and down over his abs, coming to rest on his cock where he leaned forward for a closer inspection.
Selina, the vampire healer, had her eyes scrunched up in thought. “Mmmmm…” She pursed her lips, putting her hands on her hips.
“What is it?” Xavier asked.
Selina ignored him flat out, turning her intelligent gaze to Gideon. “Did this female you were with rub anything onto you, a lotion perhaps?” she asked.
Gideon’s eyes widened. “Oh yeah…I guess I forgot to mention that. How did you know? It wasn’t even necessary since she was so damned wet, we could have—”
“Spare us.” The old healer sounded bored. “Take us through the events again.” Selina rolled her eyes. “Don’t leave anything out. When I say anything, I especially mean foreign substances and or objects that came into contact with your”—she blew out a puff of air as she gestured towards his still swollen cock—“that.”
Gideon looked tired. Although he was still a little pale, his color was starting to return. His eyes were still bloodshot, but they had lost the glassy look. His male parts were not nearly as red as what they had been earlier. “We talked. The server offered me her blood and the use of her body and I agreed.”
Selina rolled her eyes. “You met on one of the walkways.” The healer sounded bored.
Gideon nodded.
“Did you touch her at this point? Did she touch you?”
“She played with my dick and showed me her mammary glands. Gave me an instant hard on. Elven females are really well put together.” He looked at the male healer who nodded his head in agreement.
“Did she touch you through your pants or put her hand into your pants?” The elven healer asked.
Gideon grinned. “When I have a hard-on, there is no room for a hand. She felt me over the front of my pants. Damn good with her hands too.”
“Then what?” Selina asked, clearly trying to move him along.
“I walked with her to her chamber. As soon as we were inside, she told me to undress and to lie on the bed. She took her robe off.” He squeezed his eyes shut, looking pained. “I almost came just looking at her. Next, she got the lotion which she said she had made herself from plants and roots. It smelled funny and was a bit cold, but damn…” He rolled his eyes. “Once she started touching me I couldn’t speak let alone think. That female gave me the best hand job I have ever had. Even put my dick between her tits. It felt really good and looked even better. I don’t think I lasted thirty seconds between her soft mounds.”
Selina made a disgusted noise. “Enough with the details.”
“Yes.” The elven male had turned pink. He even fanned himself. “Please stop…go on with what you were saying.” He added on the very next breath and even leaned forward.
Gideon shrugged. “I was still rock hard after cumming. She pretty much climbed on”—Gideon gestured to his lap—“and rode me like a show pony. It was so good watching her mamm—”
“Spare us.” Selina shook her head. “Did she use the lotion again?”
“No, not that I can recall.” Gideon shook his head.
“Did you drink from her?”
Gideon nodded. “After she rode me, I rutted her from behind and took blood.” He lifted his eyes in thought. “I only took that one time. I didn’t want to take too much. She said she had an early shift, same as me.” He chuckled. “In the end though, she begged me to drink from her again but I refused.”
“Did she use anything else? Sex toys? A different cream maybe?” Selina asked.
Gideon looked confused. “No…nothing.”
“How many times did you rut?” The elven healer asked.
Gideon counted on his hands. “She got me off so that one doesn’t count, she rode me…” he lifted a finger. “I took her from behind…” he lifted a second finger. “We slept for a while and I took her from behind…you know where both of you are on your side?” Another finger went up. “Then she sucked on—”
“Is this really necessary?” Xavier was getting irritated. They were wasting time. “We need to find this female…Glendril. She has some e
The elven healer was red like an overripe tomato. He sucked in a breath. “I’ll come with you, she will need to be examined.”
Selina snorted. “You stay here. I’ll go. As a female, I am sure that I am the better choice.”
“You are a vampire and she is an elf. It should be me.” The male made to stand.
“You! Stay!” Selina used her no nonsense voice which she coupled with her death stare. The one that made the most hardened, vampire males cower in fear. The elf sat back down so quickly that the bed rocked causing Gideon to grimace.
“I’ll just stay here and make sure that the vampire is okay.” His red complexion had turned distinctly pale.
“You do that.” Selina growled, flashing a fang. “He will need his wounds dressed. We wouldn’t want for that to fall off.” She looked pointedly at Gideon’s midsection.
“Enough with the dick jokes already,” Gideon groaned.
York chuckled. “I don’t think you’ll ever hear the end of it.” Xavier heard him say as he walked out of the chamber.
Xavier went straight to the eating hall where he quickly found a few servers to question. It turned out that Glendril hadn’t turned up for her shift that morning either. It didn’t take long to find out where her chamber was.
Xavier knocked on the door. Surprise, sur-fucking-prise! There was no answer. He knocked again.
“I think that we should maybe come back later.” A female elf, called Starlight had offered to show them the way.
“No,” Xavier growled. “You two go ahead.” He looked first at Starlight and then at Selina, gesturing for the two females to move.
Starlight went in first, followed closely by the healer. They left the door open just a crack. Xavier was tempted to barge in behind them but he put a firm lid on the desire. Elves were strange in their ways. Like humans, nudity was a thing for them. It made them shy and embarrassed. Although he was pretty sure this female had something to do with Gideon’s illness, he couldn’t be one hundred percent sure.
It took only seconds before the little elven female gasped. “By all that is green…” she cried. “Glendril, what is wrong with you?”
Selina moved back towards the door opening, poking her head around the jam. Her face looked grim, the lines around her eyes and mouth more pronounced. “It’s similar to Gideon. The female is unconscious. You should see this.”
“No. You need to get out.” Starlight cried as he walked into the room. Darting left and then right, she managed to pull a piece of the sheet high enough to partially cover the naked female.
Xavier stepped towards the bed.
“As you can see,”—Selina pointed at the female’s face—“her lips and mouth are inflamed. I’m pretty sure…” She lifted the sheet.
“You can’t do that. It’s not right,” Starlight shrieked.
Xavier averted his gaze, grinding his teeth in frustration. He was not interested in anything this female had on display. Not a single thing. His reason for being there had strictly to do with Gideon. A nasty feeling had taken ahold of his gut.
The elderly vampire ignored the elf. “Yeah.” She sighed. “Just as I expected. Her genital area is also slightly swollen. Not as bad as Gideon’s.” She dropped the sheet, sufficiently covering the female’s modesty. “Take a look at her breasts.”
“You vampires are despicable.” The elven female was pale and trembling. She took a step back towards the door as if she half expected something to happen to her as well. “What happened to Glendril? What did you do to her? Stop looking at her like this.” Her eyes were wide and full of fear.
“We didn’t do anything to this female.” Xavier tried to keep from growling and failed. The little elf flinched in response. He sucked in a deep breath. He so didn’t have time for this. “If anything, it’s what she did to one of our males.”
“Glendril is a wonderful female, she would never do anything to hurt anyone. Are you sure you have your facts straight?” Her hands had moved to her hips and an edge of defiance had crept into her gaze.
“That’s why we’re here, to try and shed some light on this whole thing.” It came out sounding much calmer this time. Thank fuck some of the tension eased out of Starlight’s body.
“Let’s just stop pointing fingers. Both of us,” Xavier continued. “Glendril needs to be examined. We want to try and find out who is responsible. As you can see, she could do with the medical assistance”
Selina nodded in agreement, pulling some plastic gloves from a black bag at her feet.
He pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and speed dialed York. “The female is in the same way as Gideon.”
“What the fuck is going on?” York growled.
“That’s what I’m aiming to find out. Go to Keto and fill him in on the situation. Something is not right with this fucking picture.”
“Will do.” York’s deep voice vibrated through the other end. Selina waved a hand to gain his attention, she made a sign to show him that she needed to say something. “Hold just a second, York.” Xavier used his hand to cover the mouthpiece of the phone.
“Like I was saying…” Selina gave the elf a dirty look. “Her breasts, particularly the area between her breasts, are badly affected. Take a look at her hands…”
Sure as hell, her hands especially inside of her fingers were angry red and badly swollen.
“Pretty sure it had something to do with that lotion.” The vampire female added. “Get York to ask Gideon if he kissed the female.”
Xavier relayed the question to York and within a few seconds the male was back on the line. “No kissing,” he growled.
“I’m willing to bet cold, hard cash that he didn’t go down on her either,” Selina said.
“Do something,” Starlight wept. Big, hot tears rolled down her cheeks leaving wet splotches on her silken robe.
“She is breathing normally.” Selina said as she gently pulled back one of Glendril’s eyelids. “This female is worse than Gideon. She must’ve come into contact with more of the lotion than he did. Also, she is so much smaller and would therefore have been more affected by whatever was in the lotion.”
“We’ll talk later.” Xavier said, ending the call before the male could reply.
“So you think it’s the lotion?” He said already looking around the room.
Selina nodded. “Definitely. Gideon said that she used it on him to give him a hand job and to do that thing between her breasts. She later went down on him. Her hands and breasts are the worst afflicted, as is his cock. Her mouth and genital area were affected to a much lesser degree.”
Xavier scanned the room, deciding to start with the most obvious area which was the bathroom. He unpacked cabinets finding nothing. Next, he opened the drawer to her bedside table. No luck. There was nothing on top of her dresser but he found several unmarked bottles of lotions and ointments in a cupboard below.
“Don’t touch anything.” Selina glanced his way, still busy examining the elven female.
“I wouldn’t dream of it. Any ideas what we are dealing with here?”
“The only substance I know of that would do damage like this is silver, but surely the effects would’ve been instant. There was a lag. Also… I’ve never heard of silver in a lotion form before. Why would this female use it on herself? It makes no sense.”
Glendril stirred. Her eyes fluttered, she made a groaning noise while clutching at her stomach and then groaned even more loudly as her swollen fingers made contact with the skin.
Her eyes flew open, wide and just as bloodshot as Gideon’s had been. Xavier knew what was coming next. She doubled over heaving, choking and puking her guts out. The scent of half fermented fruit hit his nostrils. Xavier had to fight the urge to gag. Just when he thought that she was done spewing, another spray of putrid green liquid erupted from her mouth. She crumpled in a crying heap. “Oh, my god.” She moaned over and over.
“What’s wrong with me?” She whispered just before she doubled over clutching her stomach. “It hurts.” She cried, a loud choking noise erupted from her throat. Tears streamed down her face and her eyes bulged from her head. It took several long minutes for the heaving and choking to stop.
Starlight reached down and pulled the sheet back up. The little elf looked even paler and even more afraid. Her lip trembled. “What can I do?”
“Help me,” Glendril croaked. “I think I am dying.”
“You’re not dying.” Selina rolled her eyes before looking at Starlight. “Go and fetch me some water. I’ll also need honey and aloe if you can find me some.” She searched in her bag for a few moments before pulling out a glass jar. “Good, I have devil’s claw so that’s not going to be a problem.”
Starlight swept her eyes from Selina to Glendril then back to Selina again. Her hands were knotted tightly in front of her.
The old healer kept her eyes on the female and then she finally lifted her eyebrows. “Off you go then.”
Taking a deep breath, the little elf seemed to snap out of it and she turned and fled from the room.
“Right…” Selina turned back to Glendril, her eyes were squeezed tight shut and her mouth was set in a thin white line. “You used the lotion last night.”
Glendril’s eyes shot open, a hint of fear in their depths.
“Was it one of those bottles over there?” Selina gestured to where the cupboard was still open.
“You’ve been going through my things?” Glendril narrowed her eyes, not looking half as sick as what she had just a few seconds ago.
“We were trying to find out what was wrong with you,” Selina said in a no nonsense voice.
Glendril pursed her lips for a few seconds. “I don’t really remember.” She said without even looking at the cupboard.
“It was just a few hours ago,” Xavier growled. The female didn’t flinch, she kept her eyes on the ceiling and her lips sealed tight.
“One of my males is going to see Keto, he should be here at any minute. I would advise you to work with us so that we can get to the bottom of this. Right now, it looks as if you have something to hide.”
Grimacing, Glendril shook her head.
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