Blood vow, p.30
Blood Vow, page 30
My eyes water, staining my cheeks with moisture. In a strained voice, I say, “Tell me.”
Avi
“Tell me.”
What a naive little girl. She is clueless as to what I am capable of, and I’m inclined to show her. I want to cut her open and watch as her body cries rivers of crimson for me. I want to fuck her in a puddle of her own blood. I want to dine on her sweet cunt and fuck every hole. I want to ruin her. She’ll be nothing more than a pretty fuck doll when I’m done with her.
But the other part of me is screaming that Villiana is more than just conquest. The rational part of me wants to cherish her and worship her.
“Come on, Avi, give it to me. I can hear exactly what you want.”
Fuck, this fucking tie.
I drop her, and she falls into the dirt below. “This is your last chance to leave.”
This crazy bitch stands up and slaps me across the face. “I’m not afraid of you, and you can’t change my mind.”
“Hurt me if you have to. Cut me. Bite me. Use me—I don’t care. But I will not run from you. I know who you truly are, your darkness, and I want all of you. So, no, I won’t leave you, now or ever.” This time she speaks aloud, determination woven deep within her words.
I close my eyes and turn my back to her. I refuse to take her down with me.
My little star speaks to me as if I’m her whole world. “My light is yours to take, just as your dark is mine.”
Spinning on my heels, my primitive side takes over. I grab her by the throat, my teeth tearing into her flesh. I drink down the sickly sweet blood that fills my mouth—coffee, vanilla, and caramel.
Fuck! Fireworks of red and gold go off in my head. I suck harder and Vi moans. I can feel her flowing through me. I can smell how turned on my little star is right now. Pure honey drips down her thighs.
Vi starts to go limp in my arms, and in the back of my mind, I’m screaming at myself to stop, but I just can’t. That irrational part pushes harder as she becomes paler and paler, barely able to open her eyes. I wrench myself away as clarity comes through. Frantically, I try to stop the blood, pushing as much energy into her as possible—it’s not working fast enough.
She weakly sets her hand on my cheek. “It’s okay, wildling. I told you I would give you my light if you gave me your darkness, and you gave it to me.” She tenderly smiles at me as if I have gifted her treasures.
“It’s not okay! Little star, I could have killed you.” Tears stream down my face, agony filling my dead soul. “What if I didn’t stop? Part of me didn’t want to, Vi.” My energy has brought some color back to her, but she is still weak.
“But I knew you would, Avi. I trust you. I know your heart is good.”
An angry roar barrels toward me before I’m roughly torn from Vi’s body. Ryu looms over me, his marbled eyes filled with malice. Ice seeps into the dirt around me, freezing me in place. With a flash of his razor sharp teeth, he bites down on my arm, temporarily paralyzing me—a power he never uses.
“You almost killed our mate!” Ryu hisses through our mate tie. As his poison takes over, I lay freezing cold, staring at the starless sky. I hate myself. I hate what I am. And I will never be good enough for her.
“Avi Wildling Surname-I-don’t-know! You better cut the shit. I am just as guilty. I will not tolerate that kind of self deprecation. We will work through the darkness together because we are a family,” Vi screams into my head.
As I lay here, completely powerless, my mind tortures me with a vision of the past. Reminding me that no one can ever truly love a demon.
16 years old
“You are a disgusting demon, just like your father. You are a useless reminder of the loss of myself. I can’t even look at you.” My mother shoves me into the dark room and locks the door.
“Mom, I didn’t mean to do it! I don’t know how to handle my demon; you won’t get me help,” I cry out, knowing she can no longer hear me. And even if she could, she would choose not to listen anyway.
Today I killed our neighbor’s entire flock of sheep. I blacked out, and the next thing I knew, I was covered in blood and disemboweled animals lay scattered around me. When I realized what I had done, I ran home to wash off all the blood, but my mother caught me before I had the chance. She beat me, broke my wrist, and threw me into this room.
My mother is a beautiful Nagi, and my father—wherever he is—is a Rakshasa. I only know that much because my mother loves to remind me of the brutality that brought me into this world. How one night, while my mother was coming back from the market, my father found her and brutally assaulted her. I am a product of rape—there is no chance she will ever love me.
I fall asleep on the cold floor and am woken up by three men dragging me from the room. On the other side of the door, my mother stands with her arms crossed and a smirk on her face.
“I hope you feel every second of what your father did to me. You are going to learn what happens to those who are truly evil. And if you live to see another day, I pray that you take your own life.” She spits on me for good measure and leaves me to my fate.
FORTY-TWO
Villiana
It’s been three days since the incident, and everyone has been a little weird. I haven’t heard a single peep from Locren and I’m no longer drinking the tea. Even with this good news, the guys are walking on eggshells around me.
Avi refuses to acknowledge me. He won’t be alone with me for more than a few seconds, and if he does, one of the guys is up his ass. Ryu is constantly looking me over, asking me how I feel and about the headaches—not that I’m having any. He’s micromanaging my every move. And Fear, well, he’s doting on me. I’m not going to complain about the affection, but it gets overwhelming. I’m not allowed to go very far on my own, but I try to find some solitude and meditate daily. At least Lys is trying to keep things somewhat normal.
The days have been getting shorter, and the nights are colder. The death of the season has come upon us, but the bite of the frigid air reminds me that I’m alive.
I hear a gurgle next to me; the telltale sign of hunger.
“Does anyone want to stop and eat soon? I’m starving.” Lys rubs his belly.
“We can stop whenever you want, Lys. It won’t make a difference in time. Speaking of which, how many more days do we have?” I huff.
“Four,” Avi grinds out. Holy fuck! He can speak.
“Nice to hear from you, Avi. It’s only been three days since you spoke a single word to me. I really love that.”
Avi has the decency to look upset about it. He knows I’m not happy but refuses to do anything about it. I think he’s scared of what I might say or do—which is ridiculous. I made myself very clear throughout the entirety of the situation, and yet that still wasn’t good enough.
“Villiana.” The warning comes from Ryu. He levels me with a leave it alone look, but I’m not the one who caused the tension; he did.
“Do not Villiana me! I’m not going to live like this.” I walk over to Avi and stand right in front of him so he can’t ignore me. “We are irrevocably tied. You are my mate. We will talk, and it will happen right now.” Crossing my arms, I level my gaze at him, overly irked.
I have been on my own for so long that I forgot what it’s like to have to—voluntarily—deal with other beings’ issues. I know I’m not all sunshine and roses to be around. I’m full of angst and hate. My trauma has taken over so much of my personality that I’m not sure who I am. But from the second I met the guys, I’ve been on a roller coaster of secrets, lies, and emotions; I’m so tired of all of it.
“The blood magic was intense and stirred up a lot of emotions. I expected you to freak out a little. Fuck, I was surprised you even agreed to it. And then we woke up, forever changed, and you lost it. Big fucking deal. I came after you knowing full and well that you were not in the right state of mind. I baited you. I wanted you to react and give me something raw, something real. Avi, I know what you are capable of, and I don’t care.”
Shame oozes from him, pushing its way through our tie. My heart sinks, realizing how much Avi hates himself. It took me too long to recognize that just because he’s a demon, doesn’t mean he’s evil. I contributed to his self-hatred, and I despise myself for it.
I approach him like he is a scared animal, with small, calculated steps. When I go to touch him, he shies away. It hurts. I want to punch Ryu and Fear in the face for planting this seed of doubt. “You think you’re a monster? You are far from it. Monsters are the beings that take children from their homes, rape and abuse them—they breed more monsters. Monsters hide in the deepest shadows because if you can’t see them, you can’t stop them.”
This time when I grab his face, he doesn’t move. “You are my wildling. You don’t live inside the lines. You embrace your lightness and darkness, never pretending to be something you’re not. Even when I didn’t want you, I needed you. I always knew you were mine. Just as I am yours.”
Avi leans forward and kisses me. It says a million things in just a touch. Leaning into him, I wrap my arms around his neck. I need to touch him. I need him to understand. Breaking away, we realize everyone has left us alone.
“Please don’t hide from me, Avi.”
Stroking my hair, he replies, “For you, I will try.”
It takes another four days before things start to get back to normal. Ryu and Fear are still distant from Avi, but Avi and I are good. Lys has been trying to make things lighter by playing music at night—it’s working.
As we approach the outskirts of Carnelian City, the sun has barely crested the morning sky. We passed the way to the guys’ house a while ago. Now the outlines of the brick-and-mortar buildings appear in front of us. Seeing so much open space after traveling through the forest for two weeks is strange. Most of the trees are just skeletons at this point, and the ground is littered with dead leaves, crunching under our feet with every step.
“I can’t wait to sleep in a bed tonight,” I groan, stretching my arms over my head and shaking out my stiff legs. It will also be nice to have some privacy. I love Lys, but having your grandfather in a cuddle puddle with your boyfriends is awkward.
“It will be even nicer to have you all to myself, little one.” Fear grabs me from behind, trapping me in a bear hug. I giggle as I try to escape him—a fruitless endeavor. Behind us, I hear Avi scoff at us.
“That’s not how it works anymore, Ophir Saito! We will have a warrior’s battle to see where Vi will sleep. No more hogging her.” Avi throws his fists up as if he is about to fight Fear—I would pay to see that. Ryu sneaks up behind Avi. Making a knife hand, he chops the back of Avi’s knee. Avi crumbles to the ground, and we all burst out in laughter.
“May the best man win!”
“Fuck you, Ryu. That was dirty.” Avi huffs like the little brother he is.
It takes me a second, but something he said before clicks. “Wait, are all of your surnames’ Saito?”
“Ahh, you caught that. When Ryu’s family took us in, we took his surname. Fear and I consider them our parents and wanted to leave our dead lives in the past.” Avi puffs up his sculpted chest with pride—as he should. I know one thing very well: blood and bones don’t make a home, but love and trust do.
“Who knows, you may be a Saito one day too.” Ryu winks and walks ahead of us.
A blush creeps up my chest, tinging my cheeks. Villiana Saito—that doesn’t sound bad at all.
We all put our masks on just as we approach the city’s boundary. Today the streets seem to be very busy. The businesses have many patrons entering and exiting their storefronts, there are food stands on the sidewalks, and for the first time in a very long time, I see children running around.
“It’s the Frost Moon Festival. Magical things happen on the full moon, my dear.” Lys must have noticed my amazement.
“How do you know that?” The more I think about it, the more I realize that I don’t know much about Lys. I spent my youth with him, but I was self-absorbed. I regret not asking more questions.
“There was a time when I came to visit my sister. I’m sure I’m going to get an earful today.” Lys walks through the city as if he’s lived here his whole life.
When we get to the Green Goddess Boutique, he looks at the door as if it will shock him. Waltzing in without hesitation, I don’t wait.
“Ana!” I call out.
Anabell emerges from the back room with pins clenched between her teeth and fabric thrown over her shoulder. As soon as she recognizes me, she rushes forward and drops everything on the front counter.
“Vi, my love! It’s so wonderful to see you. How was your trip? Are the hooligans with you?” Anabell rattles off her questions in quick succession.
“It was… interesting.” That’s an understatement. “I brought back a gift for you!”
She waves me off. “You don’t need to do anything like that! I’m just grateful for the visit.” The bell at the front door rings as it opens, and I can feel his anxious presence behind me.
“Long time no see, big sister.” Lys cautiously steps forward. Each click of his hooves echo throughout the store.
Anabell’s breath catches, and her face pales with genuine shock. “You brought back my brother?” Her eyes are brimming with unshed tears, hands tight around my arms.
“I can return him if you don’t like it,” I giggle in jest.
Playfully swatting the back of my head, Anabell moves me out of the way. She falls into a deep embrace with her brother; it warms my heart to see someone who loves Lys as much as I do.
“Don’t you ever stay away for that long again, Lysander! I’ve told you a million times you can bring our granddaughter with you. Where is she anyway? I know she’s older now, but I would have loved to meet her.” Anabell’s eyes scan the room, checking if anyone else is in the store.
“Ana, you already have.” Lys extends his arm out, and I walk over to his side.
“Hi Ana, I’m Lys’ granddaughter!” Extending my hand, I give her a beaming smile.
She squints her eyes at us and squeezes us in her arms. Damn, she is strong. “I can’t believe this! I have so many questions, but they can wait. Come, come. Let’s get comfortable in the back. Vi, can you call your men, please?”
“Anabell is requesting your presence. So hustle your cute heinies in here!”
The guys enter the store in a receiving line for kisses before making their way over to Anabell and Lys.
For the next few hours, Anabell gets caught up on the last six years and all the crazy details in between. There are many tears and laughs; I love every second of it. Well after nightfall, the guys and I want to head back to the house for the night.
“Ana, spending time with you has been wonderful, but I am exhausted. The guys and I are going to head back to the house.” I look to Lys. “You don't need to feel obligated to come back with us.”
“Thank you, Kostbar. I think I’m going to stay with my sister tonight. Try to make up for some lost time. But tomorrow, we have an early start!”
“Yes, sir!” I salute him.
Resting my hand on my hip, I look at my men. “Ready, handsomes?”
“Off we go! There will be a battle to the death. I will be the winner, of course!” Avi sprints out of the store like his pants are on fire.
Maybe I’ll sleep alone and let them figure the rest out. That would go over so well.
FORTY-THREE
Ryu
Ophir and Avi beat the shit out of each other in the middle of the sitting room. They’ve been going at it since we got home a half hour ago, but I think the battle for Vi has long been forgotten, and now it’s all about who will tap out first.
Vi giggles, shaking her head against my chest. “These two still haven’t figured out they’ve already lost.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, pulling her closer to me.
She tilts her head up and bites down on my earlobe. “Want to take a bath, doc?”
Never have I jumped out of a chair so fast. Slinging her over my shoulder, I take off running toward the bathroom. Vi’s laughter makes my chest tight with happiness.
Once we’re inside, I kick the door shut and lock it. Vi sashays over to the bathtub, perching her magnificent ass on the edge. Slowly, she unbuttons her shirt to reveal that there is nothing underneath.
Fuck me.
Slinking forward, I kneel in front of her. “Continue.”
She tosses the shirt off to the side and unwraps her hair, letting her long locks sweep across her back. Her violet eyes connect with mine as she pulls on the string of her pants. Helping her out, I pull off her boots. My restraint slips, snatching the material still sitting on her hips, I rip her pants down.
Pressing her knees together, she tsks me. “So impatient, doc. Don’t you know that good things come to those who wait?”
“Start the bath, Villiana. Now,” I tell her sternly.
Opening her legs widely, she covers herself and winks. “Yes, Daddy.”
Oh, she’s testing me now.
Turning around, Vi leans over to turn on the tap, placing the smooth globes of her ass in my face. Very aware of her position, she shakes it at me. I have to take a bite—I can’t help myself. As my teeth close around her skin, she yelps and shoves her ass further into my face. Perfect. I spread her open to find her dripping. Her natural scent sends me into a frenzy, making me take a languid lick front to back.
“Ryu! I haven’t had a proper wash in two weeks! A quick dip in the stream is only going to do so much!” Vi’s words are mixed with a screech and a sigh, so I give her another lick.
“Stop moving, kitten.” I will take my girl all natural any day. I want to bathe in her nectar.
She can’t stop squirming. I stop everything I’m doing and step away.
“Why did you stop?” Vi pants.
“I told you to stop moving. You haven’t been a good listener, kitten, and now you will see what happens to bad girls. Get on all fours. Ass in the air.” She shuts off the water and stares at me. “Every second you aren’t here is another second added to your punishment. Get. Here. Now.”
