Blood Flows Deep in the Empire

by N. Isabelle Blanco

Ismini thought she might be able to take them down thanks to her kickboxing training, but that was wishful thinking. There were two of them and they were huge. Not to mention fuck-ugly and unnatural. Something deep down told her she’d never win against them, and damn it, she was listening.

  She cut through an alley and ran headlong into another. What the fuck is going on? Her whole life she’d been groomed by Nylicia, visited in her dreams, prepared to wait for Dyletri to come and get her so she could be sacrificed. So why, on the day he was supposed to come, were those things coming for her, too?

  She had to die in order to prevent the Fates from going rabid on the Universe. She knew this. Wasn’t happy about it, but had accepted it.

  But really, was it necessary to throw the two puke-inducing things behind her into the mix?

  More of Nylicia’s words came to mind.

  “Remember one thing. Life tends to throw at you the most painful of lessons in order to forge your soul and prepare you for your destiny.”

  Yeah, well, screw life lessons. This was just unfair. While she ran until she was out of breath, those two things seemed to be merely walking.

  Come on, Destiny. Give a girl a break!

  With her ribs starting to cramp, Ismini knew it wouldn’t be long before running became unbearable. She reconsidered stopping to fight. Should she continue running and put herself at a disadvantage? Or should she just stop and show them they’d just fucked with the wrong girl?

  Sure, she was confident in her self-defense abilities and had a few years of sparring under her belt, but could she really hold her own against two whatever-the-fuck-they-weres? Maybe if she wasn’t about to double over. But right now?

  Probably not.

  Out of nowhere, she heard a voice calling out to her. Screaming her name and demanding that she stop.

  Her heart lurched in her already heaving chest at the sound. For all she knew, it belonged to one of things following her, but something inside her told her otherwise. Her whole body suddenly screeched, urging her to stop.

  Her fear of the things following her faded, and she slowed to a halt. Eyes wide and searching, she braced herself with one hand against a brick wall. The other clutched at her chest as another roar went through her body, nearly knocking her off her feet.

  “Ismini!”

  That voice. Gods help her, who was that?

  She could guess. She wasn’t sure how, but she had a feeling she already knew.

  With each painful thump of her heart, Ismini became more certain of who was approaching her. Someway, somehow, her body recognized that voice.

  A figure appeared right next to her, seeming to poof into existence out of thin air. She gasped in shock, as a large hand landed on her shoulder and she felt a series of short electrical impulses through her. As if a live wire had ripped through her hoodie and gone straight to her skin.

  She shivered, the sensation spreading along her flesh. The world tilted, her perception bending in on itself, and her reality morphed. Pain exploded inside her. Whoever, whatever, was holding her turned her, steadying her.

  Ismini’s eyes widened in surprise when they met the powerful, blue gaze in front of her. Her tremors doubled. Towering over her was Dyletri.

  Dyletri.

  Chapter 3

  Dyletri had just arrived outside Ismini’s apartment building when he heard what sounded like rubber tires screeching on cement. He turned instinctively to determine where the sound had come from.

  There, across the street. A small figure darted from behind one building and flew across the pavement, rushing for another alleyway. Her dark hair was loose and flowed wildly behind her as she ran. To his surprise, the light blue, purple, and white aura that flared in chaotic waves around her was one he knew well.

  Dyletri’s heart sped up in his chest, and he instantly dematerialized. Reappearing a few feet behind her, he peered at the running figure.

  He could sense no energy signatures close by, not even another human was near the alley. All he felt were the humans inside the apartment buildings.

  Why is she running? And where the hell is she going?

  “Ismini! Stop!”

  He saw her come to a stop. When he saw her clutching her chest, an odd stab of worry went through him.

  He decided to hell with it and dematerialized once more. “Ismini,” he said, appearing behind her.

  He was shocked by the changes in her. She’d been a child the last time he’d seen her. A chubby, awkward child. But it was a short, athletic woman standing in front of him.

  He grabbed her shoulder, tensing as she gasped. Something warm rushed through him. He barely stopped himself from clenching his hand as every muscle in him seemed to jump to attention. Dyletri reminded himself that one wrong move from him and he could crush her. Still, it was difficult, especially when she continued to pant in front of him.

  He swallowed, trying like hell to ignore the warmth he felt rise up in him.

  Familiar big gray eyes stared up at him from a dainty face he did not remember. It was different, pretty, but foreign to him. No longer childlike, it was appealing in a way that surprised him. He focused on the specks of hazel in in her eyes, and his heart sped up, his confusion giving way to something else.

  Something dangerous.

  Ismini stared up at him, fear rolling off her. He could see it in her eyes. Smell it in the air around her. The girl was shaking like a leaf, making him frown. He ground his teeth as a dangerous ripple went through him. What had frightened her? Had someone tried to hurt her?

  I’ll kill them.

  He blinked, the thought surprising him even as he began to question her. “Why were you running, Ismini? What’s wrong?”

  She didn’t answer but continued to stare up at him with an unblinking, terrified expression.

  Her legs gave out, and she started to slide down the wall. Unable to let go of her shoulder, Dyletri followed, kneeling beside her.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice lowering.

  Her lips parted in response, and the movement made him gasp. Her scent barreled into him, the taste of her fear and . . . something else. Something overwhelming.

  As confused as he was, there was no denying the way his blood was heating up. His muscles bulged. All of them. For the first time in millennia, a sharp slap of arousal hit him, diving straight into his lower abs.

  “Ismini . . .”

  Control yourself, Dy.

  Almost as if he’d been removed from his body, he watched his hand leave her shoulder. It rose, not stopping until it was on her skin. Cupping her face. Electricity shot out of him and into her once more. She felt it. He knew she did. Her pupils dilated and she gasped.

  “Why were you running?” he asked.

  Dyletri tried to make sense of how she was causing such a reaction in him. Sure, she’d grown up to be beautiful—he’d have to be fucking blind not to notice—but he was around goddesses and beautiful females all the time, and none of them made him feel such a craving. He hadn’t felt anything even close to desire since he’d locked his powers away.

  Dyletri’s cock swelled, making him shift uncomfortably. Shifting was bad, however. He realized that any movement his body made served to bring him closer to Ismini. Her skin was as soft as it looked, the heat of it leaking into his palm. He examined her face before fixating on her parted lips.

  They were the very definition of tempting. One glance and his shaft swelled further, becoming painful.

  Without realizing what he was doing, he leaned toward those parted lips, his eyes frozen on the bottom one. His thumb moved, ghosting across the plump moist flesh. Ismini’s breath hitched. He heard another shocked gasp escape her, and groaned in response.

  Then, highlighted across her skin, he saw something he hadn’t seen for eleven thousand years.

  Light. Pulses of white light reflected off the surface of Ismini’s cheek. Light that was coming from him, from his veins. The powers that had lain dormant inside him were showing th
emselves again.

  Dyletri’s mouth fell open as shock shot through him. It was enough to distract him from the heat rushing through his veins.

  Ismini answered him, and her voice nearly sent him into a frenzy. “I . . . I don’t know what’s wrong.”

  He locked eyes with hers again. His mind broke through the lust he was feeling, unleashing an Etaeryb.

  It was a one-sided mind-meld. A “gift” all the gods shared, and one that always opened up whenever they looked into another being’s eyes. If the being had a strong will, powers to block him, or if there was a physical barrier, like glass, in his way, they could stop it. If not, they were defenseless to the meld.

  As was Dyletri. He couldn’t control it. In a split second, his mind became one with Ismini’s, leaving her every thought exposed to him. Everything. Who she was. Who she had been. What she consisted of.

  And all the pain and sadness that came along with being her.

  Memories barreled through Dyletri. Things he didn’t need to know. Things he couldn’t bear knowing.

  “They never loved me . . . tried so hard . . . Nylicia . . . the diary . . . a purpose bigger than my life . . .”

  The girl had been neglected by her adoptive parents, and that was putting it lightly. The abuse had never been physical, but they’d left mental scars that haunted her.

  Scars that whispered in her dreams, telling her she was worthless. They might have never known she was born to be a sacrifice, but the way her “parents” mistreated her had ensured Ismini’s belief that she deserved it.

  He slid his hand from her face and into her hair, tilting her head back so he could take in more. One memory above all others sucked him in, making him furious. Ismini couldn’t have been more than six years old. He saw her so-called mother throw an odd-looking sock monkey at her, one that had a wide, red mouth.

  She’d grabbed the thing, hugging it to herself. She hadn’t seemed to notice it was filthy. It seemed that her mother had found him in the street somewhere, or perhaps the trash. It didn’t matter to Ismini, though. The small girl had kept him, cleaned him and treasured him.

  Dyletri felt raw rage unleashed in his system. He had to steady himself to keep from falling over. Her memories continued to sear him, but he couldn’t break the bond, even when he realized Ismini knew what was happening. Nylicia had told her about the Etaeryb. She was aware of everything, and her embarrassment was raw. Her emotions poured into his body through her thoughts. Instinctively, he tried to soothe her, his thumb caressing her chin and lower lip.

  Her heart fluttered in response, and he tensed, his eyelids lowering. Ismini inhaled a shaky breath. When she exhaled, warm, wet air rushed over the skin of his thumb. Then more memories attacked him—recent memories that were drenched in lust, a lust that existed for him and him alone. A lust that tormented her against her will.

  Even her best friend had picked up on it. He saw images race past in his mind. Her friend dragging her to a sex shop. The neon sign above it and how Ismini had looked up at it as they’d entered. She’d gone back home and hesitantly opened the vibrator.

  That night, she’d lain back in her bed, pale legs spread. He could hear the vibrator buzzing in the background. Right as she had tensed, her body on the edge, it was his own image he saw reflected back him. As she tumbled over that edge, it had been him she had been thinking of.

  His chest expanded, a dangerous rumble building.

  Too much. It’s too much. I can’t pull away. Addicting . . . I need more . . .

  Air rushed in and out of his lungs, his breathing harsh and untamed. Each inhalation brought with it a moist scent he knew was from her. A scent he knew had to do with . . .

  No, damn it. Pull away. Move!

  Instead he was moving closer. Her painful past and her present arousal were swirling inside him, along with the painful realization that she’d had such an ugly life. He locked eyes with her, and felt his lips pull back as he bared his teeth.

  His growling hadn’t stopped. It was getting worse, and right when he feared what might happen next, he experienced something he’d never felt before.

  His jaw tingled, and a bizarre sensation shot through his teeth. The feeling concentrated in his incisors, and then, with dizzying speed, they elongated. A haze descended, one that pounded loudly in his head and managed to break the mind-meld. His eyes dropped to Ismini’s neck.

  Her heart. He could see the pulse pounding in her neck. Could hear it merging its rhythm with his own.

  Yes . . .

  No!

  He was going to lose control, he was sure of it. What he wasn’t sure of was what would happen when he did. His throat was . . . it was convulsing, an odd thirst sliding deep. He’d never felt anything like it. His thoughts whispered that he’d heard of this before, but Dyletri couldn’t focus past the pulsations of heat in his head and in his groin. He pushed her back an inch or two, trying to clear his mind.

  “I was being followed . . .”

  Huh? Was the girl talking?

  Dyletri shook his head, trying to regain some clarity. “What?” His voice was nearly unrecognizable. He heard the echo in it growing.

  “I said . . . I was running be-because . . . two guys. Being chased—”

  “What!”

  Someone tried to hurt her. Tried to hurt what’s mine. Rip them apart. Destroy them . . .

  Ismini’s voice pulled him back from the edge. “Two guys. Things. They were chasing me before you came.”

  The pounding in his head grew worse, but she was still shaking, and the need to get her somewhere safe overrode everything else.

  She looked both scared and agonized. Sweat gathered on her brow, and her skin turned a darker shade of red.

  Wait. Red?

  Something was wrong. Something was happening to her. Something he didn’t understand.

  “Dyletri?”

  The fear in her voice was too much. Everything within him demanded he protect her. He knew it was ridiculous, considering what he’d come for, but he was powerless against his instincts. He lifted Ismini into his arms as gently as he could. She cried out from the movement, and her skin reddened further.

  Enzyria. He had to get her to Enzyria. He had to take her to Vedlyl, the God of Medicine. Whatever was happening to her, he had no idea what it was or how to fix it.

  Fear clouded his logic, filling him with a type of panic he’d never known before. Without another thought, he broke their molecules apart, sending them hurtling through the dimensions, straight for Enzyria.

  He couldn’t get her there fast enough.

  Chapter 4

  Ismini had often wondered what death would feel like. What it would be like to be pure consciousness, free of a mortal shell? Free of a human prison? However, she wasn’t dead. She was being ripped through the very fabric of reality, and it wasn’t freedom she was experiencing.

  It was pain exemplified.

  Everything went dark. Air rushed and roared past her ears. Like dropping at full speed on a roller coaster, her body was propelled forward. She tried to reach up and cling to Dyletri. She tried to cling to anything, but there was nothing left for her to cling to.

  Nothing. Not even herself.

  Thrown into a state of in-between, her body’s matter had been dispersed and thinned enough to be shoved through the layers that made up the dimensions. Her consciousness was trapped between life and death while her molecules traveled violently, reaching speeds that would make light envious.

  It might have lasted ten seconds at the most. Maybe less. Regardless, they were seconds that seemed to fucking last forever. Even without a body, she could feel the agony, and it was so great that her mind refused to process it.

  Then, in a blur, reality came back. The roaring stopped, and her body slammed back into solid form.

  Ismini felt like she’d been hit head-on by a freight train. The air rushed into her re-formed lungs so fast it burned. She gasped brokenly, saw a flash of color, and the world around her r
eappeared between surges of black. She saw the sky, the pink and light blue hue of it.

  Instead of tall buildings and glass, there were thick forests all around her. She caught a glimpse of mountains and trees surrounding a clearing, which she was pretty sure was paved with marble.

  Yeah, it had to be. The moment she collapsed onto it, pain exploded. Somehow, Dyletri hadn’t been able to hold on to her.

  “Ismini!”

  Every bone in her body wailed with the impact. Her unseeing eyes widened and her chest heaved. It was as if her organs were trying to escape. Nothing else could describe what she was feeling. Ismini tried to move, tried to claw at her chest. Her lungs were staging a revolt.

  A gurgled sound left her.

  All the heat in her body disappeared in an instant. A bone-deep chill came over her, even as her blood rushed to the surface of her skin.

  It was almost as if her blood was purposely trying to call his attention, trying to get at him by leaving her body through any means possible. Just like in the fucking alley. The memory blanketed her mind, pulling her away momentarily from her agony and back to the moment she had first met Dyletri’s gaze.

  Oh Gods, his eyes had dilated so much that they almost went black. The bits of his irises that remained visible had flashed white and stayed that way. Then his hand had tensed against her face, and a current of power sizzled through his fingers and into her skin. When he had begun reading her mind, it had only gotten worse. She felt his energy slide into her, a whisper that nudged through the middle of her mind.

  Panic, pain, awareness, desire. Too fucking much for her to sift through.

  Images had begun running through her mind. She could freaking see him probing through her early childhood and move forward. Like a movie on fast forward, moment after moment had been replayed for both of them to witness. He’d seen everything. Her shitty childhood. Her job. Her friends. Her fantasies.

  Her desire for him had shamed her, wrestled with anger and conquered all of her common sense. Then hunger rose, victorious, hammering into her and demanding she find the strength to crawl into that gorgeous god’s lap.