The Prince of Cups (Villainess Book 2)

by Melos,Alana

  “You’re done,” I said. “You can’t keep up with me now.”

  “Not yet,” Erick growled. He staggered to his feet, fending me off as I sent my blade slashing at him. I went after his leg again, attacking the weak spot. He batted my sword aside like it was a toy, and grabbed my jacket, pulling me close. “Got you now.”

  I became a wildcat in his hand. As I threw the biggest hissy fit in all of history, I headbutted him. Fire raced through my head as my nose hit his face, but he dropped me. I punched him in the side aiming for his kidney, and kneed him at the same time, coordinating the attacks. Of all the hits he should have blocked, that was the one. I didn’t hit him as hard as I’d wanted, but it was enough. He grimaced in pain, and swung his sword out of instinct. It connected with my back as I was moving. A line of liquid agony stretched from my shoulder, rolling over and down. I was already moving, else it would have been worse, but I could feel blood spill from the blow as it began to soak the cloth of my jacket.

  Every movement stretched the cut flesh. It should have been more painful, but Regulus turned down my pain receptors, allowing me to move without feeling it. I let a quick scream go to focus my strike, bringing my blade down in blinding speed towards his throat. When he jerked back, I caught his arm instead. Blood spurted from the wound, covering the both of us. My own blood had begun drip down the back of my legs, only somewhat absorbed by the clothing I wore. From here, my training took over. I had but one goal and that was to take him down. Nothing else mattered.

  He responded to the strike with a low blow, intent on disabling me. I moved slower, and he clipped the side of my leg, scraping it with the edge of his sword. Using the hand and a half grip, I sent the blade whirling towards his wrist. He didn’t see it in time, and when I hit, I hit him hard. Unfortunately, I struck the edge of his hilt, and my sword bounced sideways. Instead of cutting him, I basically bludgeoned him with the weapon. The force of the blow made him drop his sword. It clattered on the ground, the noise harsh but still sweet music to my ears.

  He lunged, bellowing. I moved fast enough out of the way that he only caught a handful of hair. When I pulled and he tugged, he ripped a handful out of my scalp. I turned and stepped backwards warily, kicking away his sword with one foot, knowing he was still dangerous. He’d been overconfident when he had gotten ahold of me before. The second time would not end the same way.

  My opponent tested my defenses, and now that I had the longer reach, he didn’t even come close to me. I kept up the attacks, small ones, pushing him further away from his blade. Erick moved backwards, keeping just out of range, looking for an opportunity. I attacked… and he grabbed the sword. Blood welled where the razor sharp edge cut into his hand, all the way down to the bone. He held on, grimacing with the pain… but grinning madly. He was insane… but I saw Nazferatu’s red eyes for a moment and knew he was driving now… and the vampire liked pain. I tugged, but his grip was too strong and the sword stayed in his hand. I pushed forward instead, and he backhanded me across the cheek. I stumbled back as the sharp, sudden pain overwhelmed Gerard’s mental tinkerings. White hot agony exploded for a second, rattling my concentration.

  Instead of arming himself, he yanked the blade out of my hand and tossed it away. I moved backwards as my head cleared. His blade! I turned and ran for it, but my foot slipped. The blood from our wounds had made the hard rock floor slick. I didn’t fall, but my arms pinwheeled for a moment as I tried to catch my balance. Erick/Nazferatu caught my left arm, twisted it, and yanked me into him. I slammed my foot down as my wrist broke, the bones snapping like dry twigs. My kick crashed home in the same spot I’d hit him before. He let go for an instant and I pulled away, whirling around. He grabbed for me, but caught only air, his hand to hand technique not nearly as sharp as his swordplay. As he moved, I snatched his arm in the air before he could touch me, and flipped him neatly, using his momentum against him.

  Without hesitation, I curb stomped him. If I had my powers, I would have added my teke to the blow. A man’s head split apart like a ripe melon when I did that… but sadly I couldn’t use my powers. However, something crunched very satisfactorily under my heel, and when I lifted my foot I saw he was lucky I wasn’t wearing heels like I normally did. I would have taken his eye out, if not killed him instantly. As it was, his cheek had collapsed somewhat as the bone around his eye and cheekbone had broken under the savage force of my stomp.

  I spit on him, blood and saliva mixed in equal measures. “I told you you were done, asshole,” I said.

  My urge to kill had been diverted away by Regulus so subtly I hadn’t even noticed it was gone until I took a couple steps back, panting lightly. I would have gone in for more damage had my blood lust been upon me, but it wasn’t. He was beaten, and so I stepped aside. Now that the fight was over, Gerard relaxed his control over my pain sensors. Every ache and pain ebbed into me, a tide of the wrong kind of pain making me groan. My face in general, and nose in particular, sang to me in sharp tones, throbbing with every heartbeat. My back only burned badly when I moved, so I tried to stay still as the blood trickled, coating my clothes and making a small puddle on the floor. My wrist was a mess of knobs sticking out the wrong way under the skin, and I didn’t dare to try to move it. I cradled it against my chest instead. I would definitely need the Doctor’s attention after this, but I had no way to pay him. Damn it.

  Erick’s groans faded into a whisper, and when I looked at him, I could see his skin paling in the dim light. Nazferatu took full possession of the body again. Gerard approached me, messing with the wristband as I watched the vampire’s face begin to right itself. The flesh filled out as it paled to bone white, making the blood which spattered his face look an extra bright red, even in this internal twilight. When the wristband clicked off, Gerard put it smoothly into his pocket and my senses came back to life again. Yes, I’d used Gerard’s mind to help… but what they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them. Now that I could sense everyone save for the Siren in the room again, I felt whole. It was lonely being locked inside your own head.

  Nazferatu rose to his feet, his bones still cracking as they snapped into shape. He worked his jaw back and forth, and gestured to Adira. She must have been ready, for she stepped forward with someone handcuffed, their eyes wide with fear. A low moan came from the male captive, and when he opened his mouth, it was full of blood. His tongue had been torn out not long ago. Maybe they didn’t like their food talking back to them?

  The vampire grabbed him, and bit deeply into his neck. I gazed into his mind, and felt the blood rush over my tongue, down my throat...the intense pleasure from feeding the bottomless pit which was his body. I swayed as I stood there, thinking I should sit down and let these feelings wash over me as someone bandaged my wounds. The room spun, and I stumbled backwards. Regulus caught me, and eased me down to the floor. I sat there, looking at him dazed with blood loss, pain, and Nazferatu’s noisy feeding pleasure playing a merry tune in my head.

  “Let’s get this off of you,” Gerard said, peeling my jacket back. “Need to see how bad your back is. Where else?”

  “Mah face,” I said, and I was horrified to hear the stuffed up sound in my voice. With my nose swollen and plugged with blood, I couldn’t talk properly. That helped me to snap a little bit out of my daze, and I helped Gerard with the jacket as much as I could. My wrist sang a high pitched wail of dismay as it traveled through the sleeve, and when it was off, it went back to the dull throbbing of before. He knelt down behind me, and moved the cut pieces of the shirt aside.

  “You need a hospital,” he said, his voice neutral sounding.

  “No,” Nazferatu said, causing both of us to look up. “Come to me.”

  I stood up, using Gerard’s shoulder to lever myself to a vertical position. Rebekah squeaked a bit behind us, but everyone ignored her. Regulus cautioned me telepathically, but I took the steps to Nazferatu anyway. His blood healed. I’d have to fight soon, before dawn maybe, and I’d need to be a hundred percent. Whe
n I looked up at the handsome vampire’s face, he was completely healed, and had wiped the blood from his face. It still stained the collar of his white shirt, turning it crimson. That didn’t seem to bother him, and I knew why a heartbeat later. He drew a talon across the jugular on his throat, and offered his other hand to me.

  “Drink,” he said.

  “Don’t do it,” Rebekah spoke up. “It’s--”

  A hiss from Adira caused the Siren to shut her mouth. Didn’t matter. I leaned up, and he leaned down. I put my mouth over his wound and drank deeply of the elixir of light and life. Like before, it was… indescribable. Warmth, thick and gooey, ran through me. My pain subsided as the wounds began to knit themselves back together. I drank down the sunshine, mouthful after mouthful, and as I did, lust and possessiveness bloomed in my heart. I wanted him. I’d always wanted him in some way, but now it bloomed into a full fledged obsession. My heart beat faster and faster as I drank, and the need for him sprang from the bloody fount. He was mine. Mine.

  When I stepped back my lips and face bloody, I looked up at him. I looked past the beautiful mask, the flesh he wore. I looked into him, and knew he was the one for me, the only one. As I realized what I was thinking, I figured out it wasn’t the bites; it was the blood. A bond had formed between us, some mystical thing which I couldn’t have anticipated. Regulus tried to stem the flow of feeling, but he couldn’t, alone. The question was, did I want to stop it?

  I closed my eyes and shook my head slowly. I was no one’s. I belonged to myself only. I forced Regulus out of my head. He went with difficulty, and under loud protest. When I was alone in my mind, I concentrated. I looked around my mostly empty mind, whirling about my core self now suffused with feelings which weren’t mine, which had no business being there. My body burned for him, this obsession taking the shape of lust and desire. I knew how he felt underneath me, behind me, and while I wanted that… I wanted it on my terms. Not his. Never his.

  My mental representation of myself ‘looked’ around at the empty space which was my head. I didn’t have many emotions of my own, so the invading thoughts and emotions were easy to find. These alien threads weren’t the red of lust or the softer pinks and oranges I’d come to associate with warmth and love between people. They lay in my head, colored dark jade, throbbing, writhing around as they tried to settle in and find a permanent home. I tried to lift the green from my head, but as I ‘grabbed’ them, ripping them out at the root, the threads dissipated in my hands. The spot filled in again, welling like green blood from an alien wound. If it was because of the vampire blood in my system, until it had run its course it would be impossible to change it.

  Focusing, I built a barrier around them. As the bubble around them grew thicker and stronger, I saw they weren’t quite the same. One was shaded lighter than the other; possessiveness and need, coupled together to make a strong mental punch. Two or three drinks from him and any normal person would be his adoring slave, willing to do almost anything. I poured as much as I could into the barrier, and felt the threads’ hold on me weaken. The feelings dwindled until a light infatuation lay across my mind, which was something I could handle. It took a fair bit of concentration, so I doubted I’d be able to do much telepathically other than talk until I lowered it, but it was there, and I’d built it myself.

  I would never submit, not unless I chose to.

  When I opened my eyes again and gazed at my dark, dead lover, I smiled. “I beat you,” I said, the words clear, “and I claim that sword as part of my prize, so that I might remember my victory.” I had to have a trophy. It would look good in my collection.

  Surprise filtered through Nazferatu’s mind, and he grinned widely showing all of those uneven teeth. I know you are reading me… he thought at me, sounding more like my Nosferatu here, where the mind was pure. And I would have… been disappointed if you had submitted.

  I wondered idly if his proper pronunciation of words was due to Erick’s influence or not as I replied. I cheated, I sent.

  Of course you did, he replied. And I let you.

  Because you cheated too, I laughed silently. Because of course we did. We’re fucking villains, not white hats.

  We both laughed aloud, and some of the tension in the room drained away. “We’re stopping the invasion, and you’re helping us,” I told him, but I raised my voice as I spoke to address the entire cavern.

  “If we do, they will hunt us down,” Adira said, her voice twisted and harsh. “You’d have us throw away everything we have.”

  “They’re hunting you down anyway,” I said, pointing to Rebekah. I rotated my newly healed wrist before lowering my hand to my side again. “Your proof, if you remember.” I smiled at Adira while she scowled. “But not to worry. You can come back with us. Live on Prime. Do what you wish there.”

  A murmur went through the crowd, and Nazferatu, canny as always, thought at me, This was your intent all along.

  Maybe, I replied, and I could feeling him pawing after my thoughts. He wasn’t telepathic, but he was strong willed enough he could probably have evicted me from his mind if he really wanted to, and spent time trying. He didn’t. He grabbed my thoughts and pulled them closer, inviting me deeper in his mind. It was cold, and old… ancient, as it always had been. A twinge of that barely repressed obsession came back, and I knew we’d be fucking before we attacked. I knew it, but I didn’t want it. I had to hold myself together. If I gave in, I would be his. I would stay here or go there… wherever he went, I would follow. The block my mother put in wouldn’t help. It wasn’t an attack through mental force. It changed me on some level...some physical level using magic, letting a peculiar and potent mix of hormones loose in my system.

  That blood was downright insidious.

  Perfect, he whispered to me, sensing my lust if not my actual thoughts.

  I hate to interrupt your sexy times, Gerard sent to the both of us, his thoughts snarky and sarcastic. But we should probably make a plan before any fucking is done.

  I raised my voice, “Regulus and I can show you the ropes in Prime, but after that you’d be free to make your own way, however you wanted. There’s plenty of space, plenty of cash, and plenty of opportunities to live a life free.”

  “We will have to think on it,” Nazferatu interjected. “Each will have to make his own decision.” His gaze fell upon the wolves in the crowd, “For now, spread the word. Tell Freyja this is what we are doing, and the reason why. Back here before dawn. We strike when we join the regiment.”

  The wolves exchanged a few looks between each other, but got up as one, saluted Nazferatu, and left as one. The vampires melted into the darkness, all save for Adira and Naz himself, who looked at me with greed in his dark red eyes. The connection between us, now mostly manufactured but not completely, pulled at me.

  I grit my teeth and cocked my hip to the side. “We should rest, and get ready,” I said, not breaking my gaze from Nazferatu. “Living people need to sleep.”

  “You can stay here,” Nazferatu said. “Adira, show the other two quarters and see to their needs.”

  Gerard arched a brow, and I looked at Nazferatu. “I’m going with them, soon as I have a sheath for my new sword,” I said.

  The vampire glanced at me, then nodded to Adira and faded into darkness. Adira rolled her eyes, and gave the three of us a scathing look. “If you get us killed, I will make you suffer.”

  “That’s fair,” I said. “If you don’t do your best when we attack, I’ll fry your brain.”

  Next to me, Regulus laughed and Rebekah sighed, shaking her head. “This way,” Adira said stiffly. I grabbed my jacket, the sword, and my pack, and we all followed her down another passageway. It led to a Spartan looking bunk house of sorts. Plain beds lined the wall just like in an Army barracks in the movies, but only about five or so deep on either side. The back was dedicated to closet space, presumably for gear, and a doorway which I assumed led to a bathroom.

  “You may rest here,” she said. “Someone will f
etch you when it is time.”

  Once she left, I sat down on the closest bed and sighed heavily. Now that I didn’t have to show such a strong front, I was left shaking from the loss of adrenalin as my body wound down. Gerard sat down next to me, and Rebekah opposite.

  “We’re so screwed,” she said glumly, putting her elbows on her knees and resting her chin in her hands. “We’re soooooo screwed!”

  “No we’re not,” I replied. “Just get some rest.”

  She eyed me for a moment, then got up and went to the other side of the room, slinking off like a kicked puppy. I rolled my eyes and looked to Gerard. He smiled slightly and shrugged. It’s not like I raised her, he sent to me.

  You’d think she’d have gotten something from you other than the blond hair, I replied. I felt sticky and bloody, but for right now all I wanted to do was rest.

  Gerard evidently had other ideas. He kissed my neck and moved to cup my breast. I knocked his hand away, frowning at him. What? Could be the last chance we have to fuck before we die.

  We’re not going to die, I replied, so knock it off. I want to sleep. Although my wounds were healing, they weren’t healed… and there was still a faint dizziness which plagued me. I ached, wanting a bed to just sleep in.

  He leaned into me, straightening slightly and kissing my cheek. Come on, he sent. I know you want it. You always do.

  What is this? I asked him, giving him a scathing look. I’m not your fucking girlfriend, so stop treating me like one. Fuck off and get some sleep.

  His eyes darkened and I could sense his anger at being rebuked, though he kept the same friendly, slightly lustful expression on his fair features. Don’t, he warned.