Chapter 9
“Where have you been?” Adela asked the minute Aurelia walked through the door. She wrinkled her nose. “And why do you smell so… dirty?”
Aurelia did not respond. Her eyes went over the luxury she had taken for granted her whole life, cutting through the leather sofas, the glass coffee table. Even the artwork was a rare commodity in Citta di Palidi, which seemed ironic, given that this was one of the birth places of art and beauty.
Ashana glided into the room like a Roman goddess who had just stumbled onto a slave who was out of place.
“Where did you go?” she said, repeating Adela’s question. She stalked toward her sister before pausing and leaning forward. “Why do you smell like you’ve had a tryst with someone dangerous?”
“I did not have a tryst!” Aurelia exclaimed. Her eyes darted between both sisters before she pushed past them both in order to sit on the couch. Just because she could detect lying did not mean she, herself, was a good liar. “Where is Augusta?”
“Practicing her spells with Father,” Adela said, her tone biting. “Though she isn’t any of your concern. You had us worried, Aurelia. Do you think you can go walking through the Citta di Paludi by yourself? Men will take advantage of you. Vampires will, too. They’re not stupid enough to try and taste your blood, but they can injure you in other ways. They can take things from you that you cannot get back. And since your powers haven’t manifested, you cannot go out there alone. Even West Babylon is not your friend.”
“I’m not a child,” Aurelia said from her place on the couch. The braid hung over her shoulder, and she began to play with the ends.
“No,” Adela said with a sneer, one hand on her jutted hip. “You are nothing more than a mere human. And that is worse than being a child.”
“What is your problem?” Aurelia asked, jumping off the couch and leaning toward her sister with a furrowed brow. “You have hated me since I was born. Why? What could I have possibly done to you?”
“You were nothing more than a mistake,” Adela said. “Mother should have taken care of you long before Father even realized you were planted inside of her. Six people to a witch’s family. Six is the sacred number of family. You’ve ruined it. And you cannot even contribute to our welfare. You get Thyos injured because you are afraid of a little blood. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again. You’re pathetic.”
“Adela,” Ashane snapped, glaring at her sister. “Are your words assisting the situation? Aurelia will never get better if we do not guide her. Mother believes –”
“Mother is wrong,” Adela snapped, her eyes a raging gold fire she threw toward her sister. “Mother can’t say anything. If she had kept her legs closed, Aurelia would never even be here. But the woman cannot resist temptation, even if it’s filled with poison.”
Her eyes flashed over to Aurelia. “Just like you. I saw the way you looked at Thyos. You do realize he was formally a member of Berkano clan? Or are you so pathetically sheltered you did not know that?”
“If she does not know that, it is not her fault,” Ashana pointed out, her voice firm. “She has been sheltered her entire life, Adela. How can you expect her to act with a level of experience when she has had none? Her magic hasn’t manifested yet.”
“Yet?” Adela scrunched her nose and threw a vicious glare at her sister. “If it hasn’t by now, it will not. You know it as well as I. Stop pretending. Stop keeping her under this protection spell. Tell her what she truly is.”
“Why are you wearing a different dress?”
Augusta’s voice interrupted the argument that had broken out between the three sisters. Augusta was probably the most beautiful of the four, with long sweeping dark red hair and big brown eyes with flecks of honey swimming in the irises. She had a curvy body that men admired and carried herself with a natural grace Aurelia could never hope to imitate. She was also keenly aware of little details. Nothing escaped her.
Her question caused both Adela and Ashana to turn their heads and scan Aurelia from head to toe.
“No wonder you smelled so dirty,” Adela said. “You’re in a different dress. Clearly not one from our seamstress.”
“My other one was ruined when a man tried to have his way with me,” Aurelia snapped, though she’d had no intention of sharing that information.
“Are you all right?” Augusta asked, rushing from the hall to sit next to Aurelia on the couch.
“What happened?” Ashana demanded to know.
Adela had the good sense to remain quiet, though her quirked brow spoke for itself.
“I already told you,” Aurelia said. She refused to go into detail about Thyos. Even though she did not know if burning his sofa was a fluke or not, she cast a quick spell of protection so her sisters would not be able to tell that she was lying. On top of that, she tried to make her face as impassive as possible, just in case her spell flopped. “A human tried to attack me.”
“And why wouldn’t he?” Adela asked, pacing up and down the long length of the living room.
It was only then that Aurelia realized their living room was the same size of Thyos’s entire flat.
Perhaps thinking about Thyos right now was not the best solution to her current predicament.
“You’re walking around, a young witch in a pristine dress,” Adela continued, throwing her hands everywhere in order to emphasize her point. “You are practically asking to be attacked! You have no means to defend yourself. Why leave at all? Why make everyone worry? You were gone all night! I’m surprised you’re back in one piece.”
“Are you saying girls, young, innocent, ignorant girls, are asking to be attacked for deciding to walk this city alone?” Aurelia asked, furrowing her brow.
Ashana and Augusta seemed surprised by the bite in Aurelia’s tone. It wasn’t often that Aurelia liked to fight back and argue.
“I’m saying that whether we like it or not, we have to be careful,” Adela said, though Aurelia could detect a slight hint of caution in her tone, one that suggested she was doing her best to think before she spoke. “Young girls—young witches—know how to protect themselves because, from a young age, we manifest magic.” Her eyes flickered over to Aurelia. “Well, almost all witches.”
Aurelia clenched her jaw. “And what of the human girls and the human vampires?” she asked. “Humans have no means of protecting themselves and young vampires—the ones we do know about—don’t develop their abilities until they become teenagers and go through puberty.”
“What do I care about them for?” Adela asked with a careless shrug of her shoulders.
Aurelia blinked, her mouth dropping open in surprise. She looked over at her sisters, at Ashana and Augusta to garner their reactions. Both found other places to look, refusing to meet Aurelia’s gaze. She clenched her jaw and looked away, curling her fingers into tight fists to the point where her nails dug into her palms.
“You cannot be serious,” Aurelia said. “Certainly you must be aware of the fact that these girls – regardless of what faction they belong to – do not asked to be attacked or raped or tainted. They are still girls. If it happens to one of us, it happens to all of us.”
“You are a fool,” Adela muttered, shooting her sister a disgusted look. “So incredibly –”
“Why do you think that being human is a bad thing?” Aurelia said before Adela could throw her favorite insult around while her sisters said nothing. “Humans are the ones in power, are they not?”
“They would be nothing without the protection of the witches,” Ashana put in.
“Why even have the humans in power?” Aurelia asked, keeping her eyes on Adela. “If we’re so powerful and so intelligent, why did we agree to guard them? Why put them in power?”
“Are you actually saying,” Augusta said, “that witches should rule over the city?”
“Of course not,” Aurelia said, throwing her eyes over to Augusta. “I’m saying that no faction is better than the other. Humans should not be in power, but nei
ther should we, and neither should the vampires.”
“Madness,” Adela muttered. “You are a –”
“Fool, yes, Adela, you tell me this multiple times a day,” Aurelia said, with a roll of her eyes. She had no idea where this boldness was coming from, but she found she enjoyed it. She enjoyed standing up for herself. And she did not want to stop. “Will you ever come up with something new? I do not believe I’m the only one who has tired of your insults.”
“Where do you come off, talking to your sister that way?” Ashana asked, taking a step forward.
“So quick to defend her, Ashana,” Aurelia said, swiveling her head to the eldest sister. “And yet more often she has talked to me like I’m a worthless dog rather than a sister and you say nothing. How fitting.” She sneered. “Factions should come together and compromise. Come up with something so everyone is equal. No one is on top, and no one is on bottom.”
Adela snorted, shaking her head.
“Aurelia,” Augusta said softly. Her eyes seemed regretful. “This is the way it has always been. Since the Rift. What makes you think it will change anytime soon?”
“Just because something has always been a certain way does not mean it will always be that way,” Aurelia pointed out. Her tone softened as she regarded Augusta. Though Augusta rarely defended her, she was the nicest of her sisters, and Aurelia was grateful, even if she was grateful for silence. “Think about before the Rift. We weren’t enemies. Certainly, there were people who viewed the different factions as something strange and to be feared, but never to this extent. Think about it.” Her eyes flashed to Adela. “The Rift was created as a result of a partnership between a witch and a vampire.”
“Exactly, you foolish girl,” Adela said through gritted teeth. “A partnership between a witch and a vampire condemned us to this fate. The vampires in their desperate need to be human again wanted a cure for vampirism. That’s nearly as stupid as you thinking all three factions can work together.”
“It happened once,” Aurelia pointed out. Though her tone was civil, her eyes were golden daggers being thrown at her sister. “Why can’t it happen again?”
Adela snorted again. Aurelia ignored her. She wasn’t looking for answers from Adela.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Three sisters looked to the eldest, waiting for her to make the first move to get it. She rolled her eyes but headed across the living room, past the fireplace, in order to open the door. There were two guards in crimson robes, both witches, with solemn expressions on their faces.
“Emperor Paletyn requests the presence of Ms. Aurelia Stone at the Colosseum immediately,” the one on the left said.
“What’s this about?” Ashana asked, furrowing her brow.
“You do not question orders from the emperor,” the second one snapped. “Here is the royal summons.” He handed Ashana a rolled slip of paper, tied together and sealed with a lion’s head—the royal seal. “He expects her to be there tomorrow at three. Do not be late.”
With that, they turned around and walked off the property.
Ashana handed Aurelia the scroll without opening it. “What’s this about?” she asked once more, this time to Aurelia.
Aurelia had no idea. It could be a lot of things: her inability to produce magic in front of the surviving warrior, or perhaps he wanted a statement on her attack, or maybe he’d found out about Thyos saving her, and she was in trouble for risking his prized warrior. No matter what the reason, Aurelia did not know for sure what the emperor would want to do with her.
Adela muttered something about this being crap, and Augusta bit back an amused smile.
“I don’t know,” she replied, picking up her eyes to look at Ashana. “I honestly don’t know.”
Chapter 10
When Thyos returned home from feeding, he felt much more like himself. The injury on his arm had already healed, and he was prepared to face the next call from the emperor to give the humans another spectacular show.
Thyos had never done anything to be tagged. Not intentionally. A human had attacked him, hoping to drain him of his blood and use it for his own purposes. Thyos had defended himself, killing the human and feeding on his blood. However, when his action was found out and it was discovered that he was old as the Rift, the emperor demanded he participate in the games or be thrown in the dungeons and starved to death. Thyos had nothing to lose, but foregoing blood meant turning into a beast, someone who could not control his bloodlust and would kill himself trying to get it.
It was the worst death a vampire could have, even worse than burning.
When he reached his bed, his eyes drifted closed of their own accord. Settling down wasn’t always easy for him, but his thoughts drifted back to Aurelia and the taste of her blood, the soft sound of her breath catching as he’d sunk his fangs into her neck and tasted her for the first time.
If she was full-witch, he would have died. A teaspoon was enough to paralyze a vampire, a tablespoon was enough to kill. But there was something so deliciously forbidden about her blood that he could not bring himself to stop even when he knew he must. He’d kept going, taking deeper sips. His fangs had tingled with this mixture of both pain and pleasure, a feeling he knew he could get addicted to.
The sounds she’d made were enough to surprise him, enough to make his pants tight. The thought of even being aroused by a witch was not something he had thought possible, and yet, Aurelia was causing him to do things he didn’t normally do. Things he regretted the instant he did them. Things he continued to do despite the fact.
He’d felt her power course through his body as he’d sucked at her skin, drunk more of her blood. Her power was there; she just needed a release. He wondered if she was pure, if perhaps reaching her sexual peak would help her manifest her abilities.
The thought nearly made him spit up. Sex? With a witch?
He had never thought of such a thing before. The more he allowed his mind to dwell on it, however, the more he realized he wasn’t entirely opposed to the idea. Especially if that witch was Aurelia.
The minute he’d tasted her blood, he knew she had never been with anyone before. She tasted fresh, pure, tainted with something that prevented her blood from harming him in any way.
There were such things as small blessings, it would seem.
He had never been the sort to pursue virgins. They were too tense, too quiet, and did not know what pleased them or how to please themselves. However, even he could admit that there was something dangerously wicked about claiming Aurelia as his own, being the first to bury himself inside her, ruin her for everyone else.
For the most part, factions bred and married within factions. Every now and then, it was heard of that a human and a witch or a human and a vampire co-habited and even participated in monogamous romantic relationships. But absolutely nothing about a witch and a vampire. Even the filthy fiction books women consumed did not even use the forbidden romance between a witch and a vampire as a trope in their books simply because it was akin to having sex with a beast.
Unheard of.
Even more so in reality.
But the more Thyos thought about it, the more he realized that it could not be that bad, being inside the nectar between Aurelia’s thighs. Just the thought of it made his eyes close and his cock stiffen.
The fact that she was an untouched witch made the entire thing even more arousing.
Her blood was delicious, like the drink gods indulged on. He wanted to see if her cunt tasted as delicious as her blood did.
The thought made him groan and his cock twitch painfully.
He shouldn’t be thinking about her in such a way. She was an innocent, so young and inexperienced. He was old, his hands stained with blood, from both her people and from his. She deserved someone who hadn’t committed such cruelties, who didn’t belong to such a wretched clan.
And yet his thoughts didn’t give her up. His cock was still erect, demanding to be taken care of.
Fuck it.
He needed a shower anyway.
He stepped into his small shower and turned on the water. He preferred hot water that bit his skin and caused the pale color to turn pink, as though he still had blood coursing through his body. He let his hair get wet, let the water coat his body. He was still hard, however, even without the attention he usually gave it by now.
After a sigh, he wrapped his fingers around his hardness and began to give himself a couple of pumps. He hadn’t touched himself in a long time, since he attained sexual release nearly every time he fed. Yet the taste of Aurelia’s blood, the echoes of her groans as she’d sucked his blood, the way she’d clung to him when he was taking hers…
He let out a grunt, feeling himself twitch at just the thought of her. He would not be satisfied until he released the tension that had built up in his body since their encounter.
Him, attracted to a fucking witch.
His clan would have laughed at the irony before expecting him to kill her. If he didn’t, they would hunt her down, rape her multiple times in front of him, and then drain her of her blood.
They wouldn’t kill him. Berkano did not kill Berkano. But he would go on for the rest of his life without her, watching her die a horrible death.
He would be forced into an existence without her.
Which was fine. He would survive. He always did.
It wasn’t like he was in love with her.
That would be a joke. Love. Thyos couldn’t remember loving anything or anyone in his entire life. He loved his strength. He loved fucking beautiful women, vampire or human alike. He loved being alone and not having to worry about anyone or anything.
But to love an individual outside of himself?
That was a laugh.
No. he could handle being attracted to Aurelia, the witch with no abilities. She was beautiful to a fault, and her innocence just added to her allure. She was too trusting which made her easily corruptible. But it also made her innocent, and that was something that was hard to find in this day and age, especially from a witch.
Poisonous Temptation: Division 2 (The Berkano Vampire Collection) Page 6