by Liddie Cain
“How did it happen?”
“Bunch of rednecks beat me up and left me to die. My maker had seen me earlier in the day in the march and while I was listening to the speech. Said he could see the hope in my face that day and he didn’t want to let that die.”
It was hard to grasp what he had seen. Things had come so far from the day he was turned, but there was still further to go. He had been given the immortality to witness it. I glanced back down at him and found his eyes closed. I resumed petting him, running my hand up and down his side.
Sylvia and Darby walked into the living room a few minutes later, and I realized that Sylvia had heard what Jason just told me by her emotional expression. Jason noticed her then and stood up, walking over to hug her. As their embrace lengthened, Darby and I both walked over to them and held them as they held each other. Finally, they drew apart, and Sylvia cupped my face affectionately. Then she kissed me on the cheek before turning and taking Darby’s hand.
Jason turned to face me, a world of emotions still on his face. I reached up and placed my hand on his cheek. He met my gaze and whispered. “Gonna let me hit that Roz Bliss Drip now?”
Darby and Sylvia burst out laughing with me. I shook my head at him. “Nope. But how about this?”
I went up on tiptoe and lightly pressed my lips against his. I moved back, but he wouldn’t let me. He caught the back of my head and kept me there. Then he kissed me much more thoroughly. Sylvia and Darby decided to go, but as they passed, Sylvia teased, “Get a room.”
When he pulled his mouth away from mine, I was breathless. “Jason.”
“Roz?”
Then from behind me, “So now you’re going to make me compete with Jason’s charm, too?”
Mac looked amused when I glanced back at him. Jason grinned. “I know, it’s not going to be easy for you.”
“I have home field advantage,” he replied to Jason before walking up to give me a peck on the lips.
“Actually,” he murmured as he lifted his hand to cup my jaw, tracing his thumb across my cheekbone. “I won’t get to hold you as you sleep tonight. Me and Felix have a meeting down below we have to go to. I was coming to ask if you minded if Barden stayed with you. Jason would be a good one to add as well.”
I couldn’t completely hide the pained reaction to this. He gave me a tender kiss on the lips to soothe me.
“I’m sorry, Dove. Attendance is required on this one.”
“Okay.” I nodded then cleared my throat past that moment of emotion and looked at Jason.
“I would rather you be one of my guards for the night, if you are okay with that.”
“Like I told you earlier, I’m your guy.”
I smiled at him then realized how long he had been here with me. “Your donor has probably been waiting for ages by now.”
He made a guilty face. “Yeah, let me go do that. I’ll see you soon.”
“Come to Mac’s office.” Felix’s spoke in my mind. I was starting to get more used to it and had stopped flinching or jumping when he told me something. Mac followed me as I headed toward his office and opened the door for me when we got there.
Felix met me in the middle of the room and pulled me into his embrace. “I’m sorry we won’t be here tonight. I felt how sad it made you.”
“It’s okay, I know the two of you have things to do at night.”
They both spent some time holding me. Mac seemed a little more on edge that Felix did.
“You are nervous,” I said to him.
“Yeah, a little bit. Going to the lower realm is not as comfortable for me as it is for Felix. I’m more stuck there if I get separated from him. Vampires can’t do the transportation thing without help.”
“Felix wouldn’t let that happen.”
“Some things can be beyond his control and we are on the way to see the Earth demon Overlord.”
It did sound intimidating, and I hugged him closer.
“I’m one of her favorites, though,” Felix said in an attempt to make me feel better. “I helped her get that throne. It might only be about the fact that we submitted approval for Jason to be the deputy magistrate.”
“Really? He would be good at that.”
Mac nodded. “I think so, too. I need a second in command here so I can take you on vacation.”
“The beach?”
“If you’d like.” He smiled at me. “With Rose and Destiny helping you out, we can have a little more freedom to travel around.”
Felix added, “I will get you the best vacation rental wherever you pick, my pet.”
I knew the two of them were just trying to distract me from being upset, and I loved them for it. I managed to hold it together when Felix finally said they had to go. They spent their time telling me bye before finally disappearing from the room.
I stood in the office fighting off tears after they had vanished from sight. Barden stepped through the door a moment later. “My lady Roz, I need to stay close to you until they return.”
I nodded, mopping at my wet cheeks with the back of my hand. “Sorry, I know this is silly. They are only going to be gone one night.”
“Going even one night without your loves with you is painful. Tears are understandable.”
“Thank you, Barden.”
“I am here to serve you. King Conall has demanded that you be treated with great care.”
“Has he? He told you to say that to impress me.”
“Perhaps,” Barden replied with amusement. “You impressed him first, though.”
“I think your shiny glow is what impressed him, and I can’t take all the credit for that.”
“No, he was impressed with more than your potent blood. I had similar thoughts when we first met.”
“You do not now?”
“Now I am out-ranked,” he said carefully.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that and frowned at him. I also wasn’t sure what I felt about Barden was strong enough for me to push the issue. He kept to himself the majority of the time that I was around him. I was attracted to him physically with his unique night time skin and amber-colored eyes. He was almost like a black panther that had morphed into a human form. He had not shown me a lot of his personality yet, so I wasn’t as sure there.
“Well, you aren’t out ranked to me,” I finally responded, but changed the subject. “Give me a little bit to make sure the donors get what they need for the night, then I’ll let you and Jason know I’m ready to head to bed.”
Some of the donors had to be given a ride back home, which Destiny or Jason normally provided. Most of them had family or a friend come pick them up. I typically stayed with the ones waiting to be picked up.
Jason’s donor for the night, Brittany, was the only one waiting when I got there. She jumped when I got close.
“Oh no, are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m sorry. Something weird happened today, and I’m still jumpy. Wasn’t anything about being a donor. Jason was great.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed your time with Jason,” I said warmly. “What happened to make you jumpy?”
“Oh, this woman was just being really weird. I work at the library, and she just came up behind me as I was putting a book on the shelf and, like, grabbed my hair. Not that it hurt or anything, it was just weird.”
“Yeah, that is weird.”
Brittany shrugged. “Then they couldn’t find her after I told my manager what she did. She managed to scoot pass the security cameras. Still, I think I’ll wear my hair up tomorrow.”
“I think I would, too.”
She pointed at the car approaching the house, “There’s my roommate to pick me up. Thanks for the chance to be a donor.”
“No, I should be thanking you.”
She snorted. “Nah. You give me money for my time, a sexy-as-hell vampire to be bitten by, and the feeding made me feel like I was halfway asleep on a beach. I could actually smell the ocean. You are doing a great service here.”
She waved
and walked out to get in the car.
That had made me feel a little better. It didn’t take me very long to get everything put away in Mac’s office. The new household staff members had already gotten everything cleaned up from the donors being in the house that day. Barden had been hanging back but keeping me in his sight. I texted Jason to meet me in Mac’s room. Barden followed as I headed upstairs.
He continued to keep his distance once we were in the room. He stayed near the door as I walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth and wash my face. My actions all felt a little foreign now that I was in here with someone I wasn’t normally around. I felt awkward as I went into the closet and put on a shirt and shorts to sleep in, something a little more concealing than the night wear I typically used in front of Mac or Felix. I walked back out into the bedroom as soon as Jason came through the door.
I should have picked up on the change in Jason as soon as he entered the room. From the first instant, something seemed wrong, but Jason immediately lifted me into his arms and wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed me and pushed any other thought out of my mind.
I knew that this was faster than I expected him to move, but the surprise excited me. Barden was still standing close, and Jason reached out and touched his shoulder as he continued to kiss me. I could hear Barden’s sharp intake of breath. Then his hands were sliding across my ribs, my breasts and Jason’s chest. It should have clicked; I should have realized that whatever was happening with Jason just swept over to Barden, too.
But my only concern was getting the clothes removed that stood between us. The three of us landed on the bed once we were nude, and I turned to Barden, sinking my hands into his flowing midnight hair and capturing his mouth with mine. Jason pressed his body up against my back, caressing me with his hands and pushing his hardness against my thighs. I broke my kiss to look down at our bodies all pressed together. It was beautiful, their dark bodies against my pale skin. They both captured one of my breasts into their mouths, and I moaned, arching upward into their touch. Jason slid his hand between my thighs and stroked me slowly. My body responded quickly, and I cried out when he brought me over the crest of my lust.
Power echoed back and forth between the three of us, and their touches became more desperate. Jason showed his strength, jerking me over onto my hands and knees. Then he grabbed the hair at the back of my head and jerked me upright with my back molded against his front. He skimmed his fangs across my neck and broke the skin. One bright drop of blood trailed down my neck, and he captured it with his tongue.
The power within him vaulted higher. Barden sat up in front of me and found a blood drop tickling down my neck. He pulled it into his mouth with his kiss then fell back on the bed with his back arched as the same power scorched through him. Jason was no longer gentle. He shoved me back down on my hands and knees, grasped my hips and impaled himself within me. I gasped at the aggression, but I liked it and I gripped the sheets as he began to thrust into me.
Barden slid over underneath me, and I grasped him. He lifted his hips into my touch. Then I leaned down and took his hardness into my mouth. They both cried out, thrusting in and out of my body. I found the edge of my lust again and screamed with Barden still between my lips. The power that surrounded us rose even higher and was so intense it whirled across my ears like the wind. Both men were brought to a finish in that moment, spilling their seed into me. The power pulsated then closed in on us. It flashed in my mind that it shouldn’t happen like that.
Then both Jason and Barden lost consciousness. Jason fell over. He hit the mattress and didn’t move. Barden’s hands dropped limply from where he had been holding my hair.
I was panting for breath. I grabbed Jason’s arms and shook him. In the instant it finally sunk in that something was terribly wrong, I was grabbed from behind. I started fighting, kicking and screaming Rose and Destiny’s names. Then another hand touched my forehead and a thick oozing power slid across me and everything went dark.
Macory–
The journey into the underworld was never one that I looked forward to. There were few traces of humanity there. Felix strode in front of me, unfazed. I probably would also be if I could wield as much power as he could.
The eternally overcast sky cast minimal light down over the city, backlighting the various figures flying across the sky. There were plenty of Imps on the back of their reftwing dragons in different colors. Members of the Unseelie court blazed across the sky, enclosed in fireballs of bright light. Larger airborne ships transported the flightless or incarcerated.
The human facade Felix typically wore began slipping away as we approached the palace. The fire-ember integument covering him glowed and flickered, demonstrating the strength of his power by the number of white flame slivers that broke through the darker coals. Weaker demons were dimmer, barely glowing coal. The weakest among them did not burn and displayed only a cold, dull physique. Felix looked like marbleized fire, and many beings in the underworld stepped out of his path as he approached.
My ability to sense and connect to Rozalyn was ineffective even with being just one realm below the human one. Felix would still have his link to her until we entered the Lady Devina’s private chambers. Devina, the overlady of the demonage, was every human-realm-roaming demon’s overseer and judge. The only authority over Devina came from the very lowest realm, the home of Lucifer and his governors.
Felix grumbled as we walked away from the first guard post, “This better be super important. Roz started crying as soon as we left.”
“We will hold her again soon,” I replied, but the urge to return to her immediately was strong.
Entering the palace took time as the guards verified who we were and that we had an appointment. Then we were sent into the main hall to wait to be called. There were only a few others in there with us, some were creatures from lower realms that looked like alien translucent spirits. There was another vampire who was shackled and guarded by another archdemon. She and Felix greeted each other. By her ember physique, she wasn’t close to Felix’s power level, but she was bright enough to signify being one of the higher-ranking archdemons.
She and the vampire prisoner were called to Lady Devina’s chambers a moment later. I sat down at one of the long tables that were there for events like feasts or ceremonies that were sometimes held. Felix joined me and propped an elbow on the table top.
This room was large, dominated by the raised platform at the front of the room where Devina’s throne sat. There were benches on each side of the throne where her consorts would sit on one side and her council on the other. A large black flame chandelier was the centerpiece. Elaborate tapestries and drapes lined the black stone walls. They were intricate and colorful, depicting ancient battles or moments of redemption.
“Did you get any indication what this was about?” I asked, and Felix frowned.
“I have a feeling it is about Roz.”
“Was afraid of that.”
“You know how Devina likes collecting her human pets.”
“She wouldn’t offend you that way.”
He shrugged. “She might try.”
We let the conversation trail off because in this realm it was always possible that someone was listening.
“We’ve got some new vamps coming in for you. I got the specifications earlier.”
“Who is coming?”
“The only one I recognized was Hugh Draper. Remember him?”
“The British one that was in a relationship with Leona, right?”
“Yeah. Leona was executed not too long ago though. Got into trouble for killing in public.” Felix said.
“She was always a little more wild than not.”
“She did plenty more that she didn’t get caught with.”
“So who was the archdemon that went in before us?” I asked.
“That was Meredith. She’s got the Las Vegas dominion.”
“Nice. But would need a lot of donors in that climate.”
“And you can’t really do donors from tourist traffic.”
We heard footsteps, and Meredith soon appeared, without the vampire she had been escorting earlier.
“Felix, nice to see you.”
“You, too, Meredith. Taking out some trash?”
“Always. I can’t get a vampire that knows how to behave.” She leaned against Felix’s shoulder and winked at me. “How about you, vampire? Do you know how to behave?”
Felix chuckled and gestured to me, “This is Mac. He’s one of my magistrates.”
“Ahh, well, can’t really poach a magistrate from you. Nice to meet you, Mac.”
“You as well.”
“Make Felix bring you out to Vegas for a visit. I do run a pretty nice place.”
Felix smiled at her. “I’ll hand it to you, Meredith, you know how to throw a party.”
She beamed. “Thank you. I enjoy it.”
“Felix, the Lady awaits,” came the call from one of Devina’s council members.
“Show time.”
“Good luck, boys. She’s in a mood,” Meredith whispered as she turned to go.
I grimaced then stood up with Felix to walk to Devina’s chambers. The hallway was bare of decoration until we reached the entrance to the private chambers. It was a circular vestibule with a fountain in the middle and the double doors leading into Devina’s rooms behind it. The fountain was worn black stone with the water flowing out from the edge of a wide, ruby-encrusted bowl. Before being allowed to enter, we were required to cleanse our hands and heads with the water from the fountain. It was an enchantment that would isolate us from telepathic or empathic connections.
As we both knelt, I looked at Felix. “How is Roz?”
He paused to listen. “She’s fine. She’s talking to one of the donors. She is enjoying talking to her.”
“Good.”
I dipped my hands into the water then held them out to the sides, dripping, and held my head over the fountain. One of Devina’s servants poured water over my head, and I could feel the quiet wash over my mind, like I was human once more. My connection to Felix was washed away. Being the only one in my head was a relief in some ways, but it was such a normal part of life the void the absence left was uncomfortable.
