by Logan Jacobs
I led us back toward the rusted entrance of the Shadow Quarters while the sun began to set, and then we headed along the backstreets to reach the courtyard near the tavern. I managed to locate the tavern without any issues, and I opened the door and allowed Ashe to walk in first. It looked the same as it had the other day, and even though it was almost evening, it was still just as deserted as it had been the day before.
The man behind the bar looked up at us when we entered, but then he quickly shied away when he recognized me. He had a terrified expression on his face, like he feared for his life, but that changed to confusion when I dropped four pieces onto the bar.
“For the stew,” I muttered.
“O-Oh, thank you,” he stammered in response.
“I’ll be devouring your stew sometime soon,” Ashe assured the man with a playful smile.
The confusion stayed put on the man’s face as he stiffly stared at the countertop, and I imagined it stayed there long after the door had closed behind us.
Then we made our way to the shop of the woman who had made our clothes for us. I stayed outside in the shadows of an alleyway, and Ashe went inside with the correct amount of pieces in her hand. She returned a few minutes later with a bundle of black and blue material rolled up in her arms.
“It’s no fun having to buy the stuff,” Ashe said and handed me my black shirt. “I don’t understand why we can’t just steal it, if only for a bit of fun.”
“Because we’re trying to blend in, remember?” I replied, even though the idea of stealing it did sound so much more fun than paying for it.
I slipped off my jacket and then tore the old, bloody shirt from my body. The seamstress had done a good job, and the new black shirt fitted me perfectly. The long sleeves were cuffed around the wrists, and black buttons ran from the collared neck all the way down the middle. It wasn’t as ordinary as some of the humans I’d seen around here, but I appreciated the higher quality. It looked more like something the richer locals of the Shadow Quarters would wear, and it would probably hide the blood of my next victims pretty nicely.
Ashe’s sapphire dress was somewhat like her old one, apart from the fact that it flowed right down to her feet instead of sitting around her thighs. It came with a corset, too, that was a darker blue than the main body of the dress, and I found myself staring at the fantastic display of silvery cleavage in front of me.
“How am I supposed to do anything with this thing?” Ashe grumbled with her long skirts clutched in her hands.
“You’ll have to get used to it,” I snickered.
Ashe squinted her eyes as she thought for a minute, and then she grabbed the right side of the dress and tied it into a large knot. Now, the dress revealed the knee of her right leather boot.
“That does look much better to me,” I said with a grin. “Maybe a little higher, though. I like seeing your thighs.”
Ashe smiled with pride as she obediently tied the dress another two inches up, and when just a sliver of her silver skin was exposed above her boot, I nodded my approval.
“We’ll see if I can even fight in it,” Ashe sighed.
Now that we had sorted out the clothing situation, it was time to continue our study of the Shadow Quarters and find a place to sleep for the night.
The sky was darkening as the sun sank toward the ocean in the distance, and the buildings and spires glowed bright orange in the last light of the day. The two of us strolled along with fewer strange looks from the humans now that our clothes weren’t tattered or blood-stained, but as we neared the glowing light of the Shadow Quarters’ lanterns, I noticed a familiar smell.
“Ooh, look,” Ashe whispered excitedly. “I haven’t seen any of those yet.”
“Me, neither.”
I grinned as I inhaled the stench of the vampire strolling along the dim avenue, and my mouth began to water. He smelled like carnal appetites and ice, and I could even smell the frenzy taking place in his senses as he passed the humans in the evening streets.
The vampire had neat, pitch-black hair that stopped below his ears, and he wore a very well-to-do outfit that consisted of a black, velvet robe, a white, ruffled shirt, black pants, and shiny black shoes. I would have confused him for a human if it wasn’t for the deathly pale skin and the bright red eyes he kept glancing over his shoulder, and his movements were swift and delicate like he weighed nothing at all.
I had encountered only one vampire before, but that was long ago, and I could still remember the musical tone of his voice as he begged me not to kill him. I’d hunted for days to find that vampire since their kind were known to keep to themselves deep in the wildest forests, so it was strange to see a vampire out in the Port of Rengfri.
It was even stranger to see one outside the bounds of the Shadow Quarters.
“Do you think he’s hunting?” Ashe whispered.
“He shouldn’t be.” I furrowed my brow and looked around. “I’ve always heard vampires stalk their prey from the shadows. This guy’s just walking around like he’s a human, or something.”
The vampire stopped suddenly, almost like he’d heard us talking, but then an ordinary human man walked out of an alleyway and came up to the vampire. They exchanged something briskly, and then the man walked away and into the house across the street without a word.
“What the hell was that?” I muttered as I watched the vampire walk on.
“Can we stalk him?” Ashe eagerly hissed.
“Yeah, sure,” I replied. “I’m curious.”
“Yes!” she growled, and her eyes glowed brighter at the prospect of a hunt.
It was easy to trail the vampire from a distance since his scent was so distinct, but the metallic hint of mortal blood that drifted with him caused my adrenaline to bubble in my veins. We used our noses to follow him through an alley and down a side street, and we ended up following the vampire far from the Shadow Quarters, and far from the forest surrounding the city, too.
Ashe and I both exchanged a glance as we entered the outskirts of another village not far from the Church, but we made sure to stay quiet as the scent became stronger the more we walked. Thanks to her time as an Infernal Huntress, Ashe’s nose was far more fine-tuned than mine, so I followed her as she slipped behind a building and through another alley before she came to a halt.
From the other side of the wall, I heard the tuneful voice of the vampire.
“Sixty pieces,” he said barely above a murmur.
“Sixty?” another voice responded. “It was forty last time.”
“This is of the highest quality,” the vampire responded with a hint of a threat in the melodic voice.
“Where is it from?”
“Only the richest of veins that this city has to offer,” the vampire replied. I could almost hear the evil smile that would have been on his face.
“Fine, here’s sixty,” the man sighed. I heard the jingle as pieces were handed over, and then the two made their leave.
Before I could ask the questions that were in my head, Ashe continued to follow the vampire. We ended up following him for quite some time, and we even watched from a distance as the vampire walked straight past the dwelling of the Church, greeted the armored guards who stood outside, and continued on without any trouble. He made another sale a few hundred yards from the Church entrance, and then another further down the street.
“What is he doing?” Ashe asked in astonishment.
“He’s selling mortal blood,” I replied while I considered the delicious metallic scent the vampire trailed with him.
“So, the Port of Rengfri is full of necromancers and other undead as well,” she snorted. “It’s happening right under the nose of the Church.”
We had witnessed much worse during our eons in the Hellscape, so selling blood wasn’t anything off putting, but I was interested in how easily the vampire managed to do it all. He sold the blood in the open, clearly in view of the king’s guard, and they barely batted an eyelid. It was as if this vampire had no
fear of the Church, and he seemed to walk right under the noses of society without any issues.
Then again, he needed to get his supply of mortal blood from somewhere, and perhaps, these guards were his chosen subjects. He could siphon just enough blood to sell, but also keep the men alive in order to return for more.
I mulled over the strangeness of all this while the vampire headed back toward the Shadow Quarters, and Ashe and I snuck behind him all the way there. When the vampire entered the darker side of town, he walked as if he owned the place, with his back straight, his head held high, and his shiny shoes glinting in the lantern light.
Then the Vampire walked straight down the grassy hill that led to the new oaken area we had discovered.
I couldn’t recall having seen any vampires there earlier, but their kind did tend to prowl around at night, so he could have had a coffin in one of the wagons we passed. I was about to voice this opinion to Ashe when the Vampire turned an entirely different direction from the marketplace. We both came to a stop as he slipped between several stone homes and whistled his way into the darkness, and I narrowed my eyes.
All around us, goblins, banshees, dwarves, and orcs snarled and drank around fires and from the stoops of their homes. None of them spared the vampire a second glance, and just like with the rest of the city, it seemed he could go anywhere he pleased, regardless of his potent scent of evil.
“What do you think is over in that direction?” Ashe murmured as she crossed her arms and watched the vampire disappear.
“I’m not sure,” I muttered. “But whatever arrangement this guy’s worked out for himself is exactly the one we need.”
Chapter 8
After stalking the vampire, we’d managed to find a place to stay in the mystical village in the oak grove. It was an inn beyond the marketplace, but this one was far more expensive and cleaner than the others we’d stayed at so far. It was fifty pieces for one night, but the dwarf who owned the place had spent a lot of time making it all look nice. It didn’t smell of mold and waste, and the thick, off-white candles lining the tables and shelves gave the rented space a warmer feel.
Our room had layers and layers of velvet curtains lining the walls, and the windows were clean while the bed was piled with more velvet blankets in all colors and designs. There was even a bathing tub in the corner that was already filled for us by the time we finished paying, and within five minutes of entering the room, I was basking in the feel of the clear, clean water while Ashe curled up between my naked thighs.
It was clear the demon woman only had one thing in mind, though, since she couldn’t stop trailing her nails along my naked body and admiring every chiseled inch of me. While I washed her off with the soap near the tub, Ashe lovingly stroked my dick like it was her favorite pet, and when both of us were clean, she all but threw me onto the velvety bed.
I didn’t protest in the slightest, but I handily turned the tables on her.
In a matter of seconds, I had the little fiend under my control with her legs hooked up on my shoulders, and I drove my cock into her soaked pussy again and again while we both moaned each other’s names. My demon lover bit on her plump bottom lip so hard, she broke the skin, and the whole time I fucked her, she massaged her breasts with both hands and pinched her glittery nipples while she whimpered with delight.
Ashe’s silver hair was strewn messily around her on the mattress, and whenever her pink eyes caught mine, I thought I was going to lose it there and then. The demon woman was sinfully beautiful and absolutely starving for my attention, and the sight of her nakedly writhing while I pounded my cock into her was what finally caused me to explode.
The demon shrieked like a woman possessed while I flooded her body with my hot cum, but I didn’t stop fucking her until we each climaxed four more times, and she was leaking my seed out of her pink pussy lips like a babbling brook.
Then she curled up like a kitten against my chest, and our tongues tangled with each other for what felt like an hour before she was finally satiated.
Every inch of me was buzzing with satisfaction when I slipped into a heavy sleep, and the last thing I recalled was Ashe sliding her fingers along my spent cock while she softly muttered about how much she loved fucking me and taking my warm sperm deep in her pussy.
I woke up with her still cuddled up against me with my dick still in her hand, and I grinned at the sun-flecked ceiling.
As much as I wanted to lavish all my attention on the beautiful demon woman, I had other things on my mind from the moment my eyes opened.
The dealing we’d witnessed the vampire take part in last night was strange, but also interesting at the same time. He clearly knew how to get around with the king’s guards nearby, and he didn’t seem to think twice about the Church. This setup was exactly what we would need if we ever wanted to get on board a vessel and leave the port without issue.
This made me think about his dealings in general, and knowing he worked in an illegal trade gave me a few ideas. There were plenty of beings I’d preyed on over the years who were part of larger crime syndicates, and I’d been around enough of them to know they always had hierarchies of their own.
Somewhere in that hierarchy were the beings in charge of managing shipments of their illegal goods, and shipments often involved vessels.
Which meant finding our way into any hierarchy of this kind could solve all our problems. It would place us beyond the eyes of the king’s guards, provide pieces to support ourselves with for the time being, and possibly lead to safe passage from the harbor that seemed to be overrun with Church officials.
“Good morning,” Ashe yawned as she stretched her arms over her head.
“Good morning.” I smiled.
Ashe sat up in the bed, and her silver hair rippled down her back in neat locks. I couldn’t help myself as I twirled one soft tendril around my finger, and when I gently tugged, the demon moaned and curled up against me again.
“So, what’s on the agenda today?” she sighed as I ran my fingers down the satin skin of her bare shoulder.
It was almost like Ashe could read my mind and knew exactly what I’d been thinking about.
“I think we need to find a syndicate to help us leave this place,” I explained.
“We are a crime syndicate,” Ashe snickered, and I smirked as I trailed my fingers from her shoulder down to her spine.
“I mean a surface world syndicate,” I clarified. “That vampire is running an illegal blood dealing operation, and he’s worked it out so nothing seems to touch him. That’s what we need, and what I want for you. No worries about being snatched by the king’s guards… no worries about the Blessed rooting us out. We could find a place for ourselves here if we play our cards right.”
“A place among the blood suckers?” the demon woman groaned. “It’s so degrading.”
“No, someone other than the vampires.”
“Good,” she agreed. “Mortal blood really isn’t my thing if it’s not spilling all over the pavement.”
I let out a quiet laugh at her defensive nature, and while I hadn’t expected her to fight my decision at all, it amused me that she could be so particular in our circumstances.
“We also won’t be looking for a place within a syndicate, so much as one we can conquer for ourselves,” I continued.
Ashe sat up and looked at me when she heard this. “You mean… we get to steal one?”
“‘Steal’ makes it sound easy,” I snorted. “No, we’re going to have to do some research and find the ideal setup. Someone who is already established enough that we’re walking into a decent situation, but not so established that we’ll get too much backlash for conquering their organization.”
“Hmm…” the demon woman mused. “This sounds fun.”
“It could be,” I agreed.
“I enjoy the idea of you gaining subordinates in this world,” Ashe added and fluttered her silver eyelashes. “You should be the master of these pathetic mortals.”
&nbs
p; “I don’t mind the idea at all,” I chuckled. “Just so long as we get what we need at the end of all this.”
“But how are we going to find a syndicate for ourselves?” Ashe asked. “I mean, who can we really trust in this area to tell us what we need to know?”
She made a good point. There wasn’t a way for us to truly trust someone, especially with a plan as potentially suicidal as ours. Any one of the beings who walked the streets of this city could have a connection with the Church, and even if they didn’t, they could easily sell us out and receive a hefty reward for doing so.
“There has to be someone around here who can offer us some information,” I pointed out. “The tinsel fairy from yesterday seemed to know a lot about the inner workings of the Shadow Quarters.”
“Not that I’m eager to see her obnoxious smile again, but let’s hope we can find her,” Ashe sighed. “Tinsel fairies keep themselves hidden until they actually have the need to go out, but if something doesn’t interest them, then they’re almost impossible to track down.”
“It’s a good place to start, at least,” I decided. “For now, let’s get cleaned up, look around the village for some better information, and keep our eyes out for a pair of white wings. I saw a few other tinsel fairies flying around yesterday when we first got here, but I’d rather find the same one to speak with about this. Their kind are tricky.”
Ashe tucked a velvet blanket around herself to pop her head out into the corridor, and in only a few minutes, the dwarf who owned the place arrived with a few others to refill our bathing water. It turned out there was a drain in the bottom that ran who knew where, and after telling the dwarf we preferred colder water in our baths, the work went quickly.
I left the velvety bed, pulled Ashe’s blanket from her, and stepped into the tub, and then my demon woman decided to wash me this time. The chilled water sent shivers down my spine but also rejuvenated my tired body at the same time. My long, black hair stuck to my skin more than it normally did, but it didn’t feel as awful as normal. It was almost a satisfying feeling to have the water drench my skin and take the salty sweat of last night’s sex with it.
