Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 67437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
What should I do with her?
I knew what my body yearned to do.
My fangs erupted from my gums, aching and craving the taste of her. One would have thought I was a young vampire just off his mother’s tit.
That rich crimson liquid began to sing to me with deep, throaty notes.
I gritted my teeth.
No. Do not listen anymore.
Her blood’s song had lured me out of the meeting with my War Council.
This music of life could never be ignored. It was a loud rhythmic pulsing within those veins. A symphony of existence. The very melody of nature’s dance. It beat in harmony with the cosmos.
Perhaps, it was not Ian after all.
Maybe, it was the gods.
Ambi, why do you taunt me this way? Why gift me with something that I cannot taste?
While I would have loved to pierce this blood mage with my fangs, it would not be wise.
Phinova would never allow it.
For decades she had warned me against drinking blood directly from a mage’s flesh.
Always, I honored this, even though it tended to feel like a heavy burden.
How long has it been since I have truly feasted on a mage like this?
No. Do not think about it. Remember the promise to Phinova.
I had already failed my queen long ago. Because of my lack of protecting her, she was stuck in her mind—only able to talk to me, yet never fully returned to life.
Dark guilt pushed through my blood lust for the mage.
No. I must not taste.
If Phinova had been here, I would have drained this mage’s blood, filled Phinova’s body with it, sank my fang’s in my queen’s neck, and then drank it that way.
This was the only method I was allowed to feed on a mage.
But. . .Phinova is not here. . .and. . .this one smells so good.
I inhaled, and a groan escaped me, rocking my chest.
The fragrance of the mage’s blood was intoxicating—a mesmerizing perfume summoning and serenading the primal beast within. Already, the creature hungrily roared in my chest. The thirst for violence drew near.
Then, I breathed her in again, and caught subtle notes of familiarity.
I have. . .smelled her before. . .but where? In my castle? Did her blood also feed Phinova?
The Horned King had not only stole my queen, he had released all the blood mages from my dungeon.
This could be one of them.
I pushed at her mind again with an iron will, determined to get answers.
The mental wall remained impenetrable.
Reveal yourself to me!
I growled.
Her shimmering blood quaked in terror.
Good. You at least fear me.
A sense of power washed down some of my anger. It was a storm of dark pleasure that twisted my insides.
Little blood mage, I will break you eventually. You will only be able to keep me out of your thoughts for so long.
Yet, there was a twinge of guilt—a prickling sensation that reminded me of the monstrous power I held.
Although she was frozen in mid-air and held captive by my command. Within her stillness, I could see the spark of her spirit. The flame of her resistance.
Hmmm. Not just powerful. You are strong minded. Determined. . .a survivor.
This stirred something within me. Something that reminded me of my own struggles. My own fears—the ones I never whispered in the minds of anyone.
Would I ever be healed? And would Phinova ever truly return to me, even after I had her body back?
The air thickened with dread.
And so we remained—the blood mage and I—in a tense stalemate.
Her body hovering a few inches above the ground.
Me maintaining control.
A puppeteer and his marionette.
Locked in a dark duet of power and fear.
A macabre ballet orchestrated by the blood in our veins.
And then my stomach gnawed at my will, triggering my blood lust again. The intense hunger was not a gentle reminder but a relentless savage beast clawing at my insides with no mercy.
Never had I felt so powerless.
Do not think about her blood.
My body trembled.
What will I do with her? She keeps. . .enticing me.
Surely, she could not reside in my camp. With Phinova not near, her blood’s song and scent would be impossible to avoid.
However, I could not let her go either.
Do I kill her?
Her fragrance teased at my senses, luring me into a dance of temptation.
I cannot kill her. It would be wrong to end something so. . .beautiful to my blind eyes. . .so intoxicating to my nose. . .so musical to my deaf ears?
My mental hold on the blood mage loosened a little as my protests against biting her began to shift to mere whispers in my head.
Phinova is not here. . .
Seconds later, the raw, primal hunger inside me exploded like a raging inferno, devouring everything in its path.
Phinova would not know.
The craving was maddening.
Uncontrollable.
I inhaled her.
My fangs ached.
My cock vibrated.
Just one tiny taste.
How could I deny this hunger?
In this moment, I was not a king, but a beggar.