Vampire Mage 4: An Urban Fantasy Harem (The Vampire Mage)

by Joshua King

  My vision was blurring, and my awareness was going in and out, so I wasn't sure of what was happening around me and what might be only in my mind. I could feel hands pulling my clothes away and prodding the wounds that still stung and ached across my chest, stomach, and legs, but I couldn't connect them to which of the group was speaking to me.

  "Brielle, can you help him?"

  "I don't know. I haven't seen wounds like these before."

  "Can you try?"

  The voices swirled around me and suddenly heat surrounded my body, lifting me off the ground. It felt like someone had reached into my body and was trying to pull me inside out.

  "Is it working?"

  "Yes, but I don't know how much more I can do."

  "What do you mean?"

  "The magic the Queen used to keep me in the throne room drew out most of my energy and suppressed my powers. Until the effect wears off, I won't have my full abilities."

  "We have to do something about his wounds. They are severe and could permanently damage him, or worse."

  "What do we do?"

  I felt helpless, unable to move my body or even concentrate. The feeling was more torturous than the pain of the injuries.

  "Get out the kit Malakan left us. The medical supplies. We have to try to recreate what Ghost did at the hotel."

  It felt like I was sliding down toward the ground as I listened to them digging through the bags to pull out the medical kit we found at Malakan's hidden cabin. My mind still held the image of the kit and I knew there were empty tubes where Ghost had a variety of the powders and liquids he used. The sound of the tubes bouncing against each other was the last thing that I was aware of before everything went black.

  The next bit of awareness came in the form of a bitter, burning taste flowing across my tongue. For a second, I thought I was throwing up, then I realized the taste was moving toward my throat rather than out of it. Something stroked across the front of my throat, compelling me to swallow, and my body wrenched up as it fought against whatever was trying to make its way into my blood. Hands grabbed at me, holding me up until I swallowed completely, then shook me until I opened my eyes.

  "Oh, what the living holy fuck was that?" I sputtered.

  My vision cleared and I saw Stephana and Aurora on the ground in front of me, mixing powders and liquids together in the once-empty tubes. Behind them, Erral accepted a handful of leaves from Ashe and smashed them in his hand.

  "We think it's what Ghost used to heal Jaxxim, Bex, and Ty's magical injuries," Aurora said.

  "You think?"

  "The best we can tell. We used the book Malakan left to find some of the medicinal plants and pieced the rest together from memory and knowledge each of us has."

  "Well, that sounds exact and reliable."

  "It seems to be working on you, doesn't it?"

  I had to admit, it did. The pain was dramatically less, and I felt like I was back in control of myself.

  "How is Bex?"

  I couldn't stop thinking about the blood streaming down from his hands.

  "I had to drink it, too."

  Bex came around the tree and sat down, setting an armful of leaves on Stephana's lap. His hands were wrapped in strips of cloth. The edges were stained with something blue.

  "What happened in there, Bex?" I asked. "What was going on with your hands?"

  "I haven't used that magic in a long time. You can see why. The ice coming through always causes damage like that. It's why I only use it when there's no other option."

  "And against the Dragon?"

  "There was no other option."

  I suddenly realized I wasn't seeing everyone I should be and looked around frantically.

  "Where's Brielle?" I asked. "What happened to her?"

  "She's fine," Aurora reassured me. "We gave her some of this stuff, too, and she's resting."

  "Where?"

  "There's a ravine not far from here. Erral was kind enough to get some rocks and put together a couple of shelters for us."

  "He just threw together a shelter while I was unconscious?"

  "You might not have noticed, but he's a giant. He can pick things up pretty easily."

  Erral was still looking down at the leaves he was grinding against his palms, but I saw him smile and his shoulders shake in a quiet, but rumbling laugh. I wondered how long it had been since Erral had laughed.

  "When do we leave?" I asked. "We need to get to the portal."

  "Not tonight," Stephana said. "You need to sleep and let the treatment take full effect. We'll leave in the morning."

  I wanted to argue with her. The sooner we could get to the portal, the sooner we would find where Malakan was leading us. But another part of me felt like just holding my eyelids up in between blinks was too much effort. Aurora and Bex helped me to my feet and directed me toward what looked like a somewhat tilted igloo built of large, flat stones. Walking around to the front, I ducked through the entrance and found Brielle asleep on a blanket. I lay down beside her and pulled her close so I could feel like I was protecting her as we slept.

  12

  My sleep was deep and dreamless. I didn’t know if whatever horrid concoction the women had poured down my throat made me sleep that hard, or if everything I’d been through had finally caught up with me and knocked me out for a few hours. Either way, when I started to come to it felt like I’d been sleeping for days. Brielle was still curled up in front of me, my body wrapped around hers. She wriggled her hips in her sleep and that was enough to make me fully awake. My cock hardened as I tucked up closer to her, wanting to feel the warmth of her body and the softness of her skin. Either she or one of the other women had taken off the dress she’d worn during the ceremony, leaving her in just a thin slip that left none of the curves and dips of her body to the imagination. I could feel the rise and fall of every breath and the occasional rumble of a contented sigh in her chest.

  I leaned down and kissed the side of her neck, pausing just to breathe in the smell of her. It was only meant as a moment to enjoy her, to savor having her close to me, but then her body shifted next to mine. She sighed, a slight cooing sound that reminded me of the birds that used to gather outside my dorm when I was in college. One of the other guys living there had tried to discourage them from coming around by sticking adhesive toilet bowl cleaners around the patio area. We started with a swarm of birds. We finished with a swarm of birds on a patio that smelled like spring rain and bleach.

  Brielle sighed again as she turned over onto her back and her long eyelashes fluttered up so her intoxicating eyes met my gaze. Her lips turned up slightly. She looked stronger, somehow less frail than she had when we arrived in the woods. It was another situation of not knowing what was causing it, but being glad for whatever it was. I didn’t know what types of treatments the others had given her or how much the sleep had revived her. Maybe it was just the reality of freedom that was strengthening her and taking away the pale, fearful feeling that surrounded her. Whatever the reason, seeing her with more color on her cheeks and brightness in her eyes just reaffirmed my intense desire for her. There was no need to say anything. No words would have been able to fully describe what I was feeling or what we were going through together. Just like with the other women, bringing Brielle into our group was adding a piece that strengthened and fulfilled all of us even more. Trying to express it in words would have been useless. Instead, I wanted to show her.

  My mouth found hers and she lifted her head slightly to press into the kiss. There was no more desperation in the touch. Unlike the first time I tasted her, there wasn’t a sense of urgency or rush in the way that I touched her. Instead, it felt like time was stopping around us and we could totally lose ourselves in each other and how we made each other feel. Outside the makeshift stone shelter the world was dark and quiet, only furthering the feeling that we were alone and nothing else mattered. We kissed for several languid minutes and gradually I shifted so my body was on top of hers. My weight pressed her do
wn into the blanket beneath us, but the smile on her lips as she continued to kiss me said she didn’t mind the pressure.

  Slowly Brielle’s legs slipped apart, creating space where my hips could settle. I reached one hand down and moved the hem of her skirt out of the way so it was easier for her thighs to open further. Just as she had when she was in her chamber, she wore nothing beneath the slip. The thin pants I wore were nothing against the heat and wetness of her body, and I pressed my hips forward so I could feel more of her. Brielle groaned and rocked her hips to grind against me. All of our movements were deliberate and drawn out. We relished the peacefulness of our surroundings and the luxury of not being in the palace. In the back of my mind I knew we weren’t really safe. Eventually the Queen would come out of hiding with her bouncing baby boy and send what was left of her guard after us. Adding that to the Dark Fae and the Dragon on our ass, the mages we still didn’t fully understand, and the looming question of where Malakan had gone, and I should have felt any number of emotions other than calm. But having Brielle so close to me, her body molded to mine and the taste of her tongue on my lips lulled me. There was an undeniable sense of quiet and contentment that sank in when I was close to her and intensified when I touched her. Even when arousal overtook me and the need to touch her fueled me into trying to possess all of her, her presence eased the boil of the blood in my veins and created a veil between me and the world around me. It wasn’t enough to make me completely forget that there was more to existence than just what was happening with her, but enough to soften the edges of the intensity.

  Her hands slipped over me and before I fully realized what she was doing, she was halfway through taking off my clothes. It was then that it settled in that the sense of peace and calm that came over me when I was near her might not be a good thing in all situations. I remembered what she said about anyone with the power to heal having the power to destroy. That suddenly felt very real. If she could ease me into compliance and contentment that easily, she could do it to anyone.

  In that moment, I didn’t care. There was no threat coming from her. But knowing that potential changed some of how I thought of her. Her mouth found mine again and all those thoughts disappeared. I was going to have to have a talk with Ashe. She told me I was going to get used to the lust and the desire coursing through me after my change. Lies. Big fucking lies. If anything, the need for my women was only getting more powerful and the more I learned about each of them and what they were capable of, the more it felt like I had to have them.

  I helped Brielle’s efforts at disrobing me along and reciprocated by stripping away her flimsy slip. Her body accepted me eagerly as I sank into her. I did nothing to try to muffle the groan that dragged from low in my belly at the feeling of her hot, slick walls wrapping around me. Her hands pressed to my back and the pressure of her fingertips encouraged the movement of my hips. Each stroke drove me deeper into her and I closed my eyes to focus on the intensity of the sensations that stretched through every inch of my body. After a few seconds of not looking at her, I missed Brielle’s stunning eyes and stared into them again. They changed as our bodies melded and heated up, the color seeming to turn to liquid and swirl in a continuous motion like a smooth lavender whirlpool. We fell into rhythm and I watched her eyes shift and deepen as she moved through the stages of her pleasure. As I pumped harder and faster, bringing both of us closer to our climax, the color deepened around the edges until they went a rich shade of violet as her head fell back and she cried out with her release.

  My hips thrust faster, the tightness of her body around me making the feelings even stronger until I exploded into her within seconds. I stayed buried deep inside her as we rode the last waves and our bodies started to cool and relax. Wanting to memorize all of her, I ran my hand along her face and down her neck, then onto her shoulder and along the side of her ribcage her to waist. They moved back and my fingers brushed against her wings. They trembled and I moved my hand away quickly.

  "Does that hurt?" I asked.

  She shook her head.

  "No. It feels wonderful for you to touch them."

  "Why are they kept bound all the time? Don’t you want to be able to fly?"

  "I would like nothing more than to be able to fly whenever I wanted to. There was a time when all of my kind were allowed to fly freely, to soar up into the sky whenever they wanted to and without fear of retribution. Fairies could move about quickly and easily, or just enjoy the blissful freedom of the air across their skin and no need to have the ground beneath their feet."

  "Did you get to experience that?"

  She shook her head.

  "No. I’ve flown before, but long ago when I was much younger and only for a very brief time. It’s a compulsion, something every one of the Fae wants desperately to do from the time of birth. It’s an instinct for us as much as it is for the birds or the butterflies."

  I remembered the behavior of the terrifying butterflies who came after us when we were making our way through the woods before encountering the Fae women and thought the two species had much more in common than just the desire to fly.

  "So, why don’t you? And why do you keep your wings bound up?"

  "Freedom threatens control. That’s not always a bad thing. There are many times when control is absolutely necessary. It’s impossible to create a sense of unity or to protect a group without exerting control. Look at you. I have already seen the incredible way that you lead this group. They will do anything you ask of them. That right there is relinquishing their freedom, but they do it willingly because they know it’s for the good of the group and of the rest of the Underworld. What you are trying to achieve is magnificent, but also unbelievably hard. You must maintain that control in order to do what needs to be done."

  "I don’t understand what that has to do with your wings and not being able to fly."

  "Generations ago, the relative peace of the Underworld was destroyed. Don’t think I’m romanticizing the past. There has always been conflict and difficulty. There have always been challenges. That is just a part of trying to co-exist in a world with many other types of people that are so different from you. There will always be the push for power and the need to exert dominance. Some will make it easier to live alongside each other without friction, some will make it harder. Back then there were more clear delineations between the different groups, their territories, and how they lived. Even where there was cooperation and alliance, there was always the unwritten rule to respect the cultural differences and allow for leniency and understanding. Then the tensions began to build. The population got bigger, the cities developed more, and what had once been whispers about taking more power turned into rumblings and then war cries. The species fed off of one another and relationships between them were torn apart."

  "The wars."

  She nodded.

  "There is much more to the bloodshed between the vampires and the mages than just those two groups. Their hatred toward each other and push for power within the Underworld caused division and chasms throughout the realms. That anger and horror was enough to set the entire world on fire. Soon the differences in others weren’t just about finding separations. Instead, they became the opportunity for exploitation. Us being able to fly became something they could turn into weapons to use for their own search for power. The Fae stopped flying to stay safe, but then it turned into a form of control. Flying, except in extremely specific circumstances, was outlawed."

  "What is the point now?"

  "I don’t know," she admitted. "There is obviously still the risk, but the wars are coming, no matter what. The Fae have long desired autonomy. This Queen, however, has turned."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Many believe in the realms being able to rule themselves. Even if each individual species does not have total reign over themselves, they can exist within a small, regulated realm rather than being expected to exist under the force of the vampires or the mages. The Dragon has changed this for the Queen
. She wants absolute power over the Fae and has been promised rule over our village and the woods in exchange for helping the Dragon take the rest of the Underworld. That’s why she wanted my power."

  "Is she like the Dark Fae King?"

  "No. The Queen isn’t Dark Fae. But the separation is getting less and less, and that is only making it more dangerous."

  "I haven’t heard of the Fae being a part of the war."

  "Most haven’t. Most of the efforts have been hidden. But they are readying, Hayden. They don’t want to be forced under vampire or mage rule."

  "That’s not what I want," I told her. "I’m not planning on just strong-arming the entire Underworld into my rule. That’s not the point of the war."

  "I know. But they’ve been pushed to the edge. Many species have. They don’t want to listen to anyone else’s promises of doing things differently or doing what’s best for them. They want to fight for what they believe is best for them."

  "Hayden?"

  Aurora’s voice came to me from outside the shelter. I rolled over and reached for my pants, shuffling back into them as I called back to her.

  "Brielle, how are you feeling?" Aurora asked as she ducked into the shelter with us.

  Brielle dropped her slip over her head as she pulled herself up to sit.

  "Better. Thank you."

  Aurora knelt down beside me and leaned in for a kiss. Brielle’s eyes flickered over us. There was no jealousy in them, but curiosity as she tried to understand her role in this new group. I wrapped my arm around Aurora’s waist and cradled her close, then took Brielle’s hand.

  "Is there something you needed?" I asked.

  Aurora shook her head.

  "I don’t need anything. But there’s something I wanted to talk to the two of you about."