07- Black Blood Brother

by Morgan Blayde

  A wind grew, a deepening roar. A swirl of glowing crimson mist obscured the ceiling. The bloody fog parted to reveal an alien sky: a midnight-red void strewn with pink stars, and a crimson full moon. A moon I knew well. Beams of bloody light fanned into the space. Through the floor, from the bottom of my shoes, coming up through the booth, I felt a shudder like the world was twitching, rousing, getting ready to stretch. Maybe to run away.

  I wanted to run away.

  The Red Lady.

  I said, “You might want to pull up my pants while you’re at it.”

  Utterly unpredictable, Selene could pop in to share champagne and a laugh or two, or she could appear guns blazing, ripping reality inside out with a casual, sadistic thought.

  Golden eyes opened in the back of my mind. My inner dragon raised his head and sniffed, as if lured by a commanding fragrance. My mate is coming.

  Tell me something I don’t know.

  Still a prisoner of my own body, I could only wait for hell to break loose. Being the victim here, the one thing I knew for sure was that Selene wasn’t going to hold anything against me.

  The crimson moonlight made the table glow. The surface shimmered and cracked. It granulated, motes of red lifting into the air as the table dissolved. In a moment, it vapored away—along with Chrys’ specimen jars—and I could see my lower body, my pants down around my ankles, cum stains on the floor. Fortunately, being naked didn’t bother me.

  Izumi bounced off the seat. She stared around, as did I. There was nothing left of the restaurant except for the immediate area we were in. A rapier of ice solidified in her right hand, a dagger in her left. Pieces of ice armor grew over her vital spots, enough for added protection, not enough to slow her down.

  I said, “I don’t think fighting Selene is a good idea. You should just let her take me.”

  Izumi shot me a hard, cold stare. “Shut up. I’m handling this. Your recreational sluts need to learn that they go to the back of the line when I’m around.”

  Laughter filled the air; crazed, brittle, edged like a spray of ninja shuriken slicing the air.

  Izumi yelled. “Coward! Come out and face me.”

  Selene’s too insane to know fear. She’s just being dramatic. It will be much more dangerous once she’s done setting the scene.

  I pitched my voice low, trying to communicate the urgency of the situation to Chrys. “Listen, you’ve never dealt with someone like this. She’s powerful. She is to a Villager what a Villager is to a human. You and Izumi are not going to be able to handle her. I don’t want you getting hurt. Let. Me. Go!”

  Chrys leaned in and kissed me tenderly. “You weren’t raised among us, like your father. You don’t know our true power. Trust me; I can handle myself. And you.” She reached between my legs and fondled me. “You just get that monster ready to go again. Since Izumi is going to be occupied, I may as well give myself a bonus ride.”

  Izumi stabbed the booth between Chrys and me. The glistening ice sword cracked a little along one thin edge, but the ice renewed itself, closing the imperfection. Izumi said, “Stick with the deal. No freebies.”

  Chrys muttered. “Spoilsport.”

  Red glitter spilled from overhead, coming from nowhere, thickening on the way to the floor. Inside that flurry, a female-shaped glow appeared. The glow dimmed and Selene stood there, immediately behind Izumi. The Red Lady lived up to her name; sheathed in a fine crimson mesh that hugged her body faithfully, her dark red hair a cataract down her back, her eyes red-hot coals that hazed the air in front of her face with a bloody light. Her lips were bright red and glossy, stretched into a too-wide smile. Her petite hands were sheathed in red-leather gloves with red-chrome spikes at the knuckles. She looked like an escapee from a Cosplay Convention, and hot as hell.

  As if sensing the nearness of Death, Izumi became rigidly still, her stare wide. She spun with blinding speed, her dagger arcing into the turn, her sword following.

  A red glow surrounded Izumi, rendering her immobile, suspending her inertia so her movement ended unnaturally. It was like time went away for Izumi, but not the rest of us. The dagger’s tip was a bare inch away from Selene’s light-glazed face. And she looked like she didn’t care, her molten gaze fixed on me.

  Our gazes locked. My inner dragon made my one dragon eye burn with golden light as he borrowed my voice. “My love, it has been too long.” Raw dragon magic tingled beneath my skin. Waves of warmth flushed through my bones.

  A black cloud of shadow magic wisped off of my body, Chrys’ control being expelled. The dark streamers sought Chrys out, sinking into her body as she recovered her magic. Tense, cum still streaking her face, Chrys stared at Selene in mesmerized fascination. It explained why she hadn’t fought to keep me prisoner, just letting go.

  Selene’s brow wrinkled slightly between her glowing, teary eyes. “Do not worry, my poor soiled dove, I am here to save you from these man-hungry sluts.”

  Without looking at Izumi’s immobile, twisted body, and the threat of her frozen weapons, Selene’s fist lashed out. There was a loud whump and Izumi blurred aside, smashing at high velocity into a nearby wall. Sword and dagger were shattered. The captivating red glow left her as she rebounded, wilting to the floor. Izumi lay there, stunned, groaning faintly. Her fingers clawed feebly at the tiles. They frosted over.

  Fearless, Chrys pushed off of the booth, edging in between Selene and me. Chrys’ right fist spouted a coil of deep black shadow that stiffened into a sword that was thrust toward Selene’s face to fend her off, a silent threat. Chrys said, “This is going to be fun.”

  My cock had returned to life, happy to be fought over. Whoever won, he knew he’d be servicing the winner. Me, I had real fear that Selene was going to play too rough, destroying my fey queen, maybe starting a war with the Villagers by breaking Chrys beyond repair.

  I shoved myself off the booth, standing, and reached to hold Chrys back. Red light banded around me, becoming chains that reeled me back to the booth, anchoring me there. Again, I was a prisoner, this time to Selene.

  There are times I have to wonder if I own my women, or they own me.

  Selene said, “Save your energy for me. Don’t worry; this won’t take long.”

  “What is it with you and chains?” I asked.

  “You’re one to talk,” Chrys muttered.

  Selene said, “They remind me of when we first met in the dungeons of Atlantis. You were mine first, my first love—before all the others.”

  Only because I’d travelled through time. I was her first, but I’d known Izumi longer.

  “Enough chit-chat.” Chrys darkened like a smudge of smoke had seeped out of her pores, hazing her details. “Time to eat shadow!” She lunged, sword stabbing.

  A wall of light dropped into place in front of her. Chrys’ shadow blade skidded aside, blocked. Red light bled off of the barrier, revealing a steel surface. She crashed into the wall and fell back toward me, landing between my legs. The wall pierced the floor and extended high overhead. I looked up, and up, and saw that the steel wall was crowned with a cross-guard, hilt, and pommel.

  It’s not a wall. It’s a sword dropped from the sky. Selene’s playing fair; sword to sword. Toying with them. Chrys and Izumi might survive this after all.

  Chrys gathered herself, pushing up off the floor with a hand on my knee. Her gaze roved appreciatively over my cock. She sighed. “Business first, damn it.” She turned back toward the giant sword. It had turned red once more, its substance breaking down in a flurry of red motes that danced like a blizzard. In a moment, the sword vanished, leaving a straight cut in the floor where it had been. In another moment, the motes winked out and we had a clear view of Selene.

  The floor had iced over. Izumi’s work. Used to moving over ice, the winter fey had changed the environment to aid her. Selene stared down at her feet, finding them encased in blocks of ice. She frowned. As she gave a bark of laughter, her expression brightened—no all of her brightened, bursting into flame. The ice
blocks around her feet shattered.

  Having circled around, Izumi leaped, hanging over Selene, an ice sword whistling downward.

  There was a wash of crimson light, like a phoenix fanning wings. The light evaporated and I saw that Chrys and Selene had traded places. Protecting her, Chrys’ shadow sword caught the descending blade of ice. Izumi landed, driving Chrys to her knees. She skidded on the ice, crumpling.

  Seeking out Selene, Izumi pointed with her sword. “You! Get away from him. Without his tattoos, he’s fertile. I’m not going to waste this chance to get with child. I need an heir.”

  I heard Selene’s breath catch in her throat. Her flames died. She spun to look at my exposed legs. She gripped my cock—tight as hell—and shoved it into my belly so she could see my scrotum better.

  “Easy there!” I said. “My joy-stick is attached and I like it that way.’

  Her stare brightened. The glare would have blinded me if I’d had regular human sight. Her too-wide smile was gone. This was as serious as I’d ever seen her. “Indeed, this is not an opportunity to be wasted, but his first-born is mine! Ours is a destiny written across time and space in the fires of passion.”

  In my head, my cock said: It feels so good to be wanted.

  As if they’d choreographed it, Izumi and Chrys yelled in unison. “We had him first!”

  Selene spun toward them, screaming. “Learn your place, sluts!” The last word hit them with physical force. Skidding on the ice, Chrys slammed into Izumi’s legs. Izumi fell on top of Chrys. They continued to slide another four feet.

  Selene lifted a hand toward the exposed sky.

  I looked up. A rain of falling swords descended. A dozen of them moving with killing force.

  Playtime’s over.

  Tangled with Chrys, Izumi’s weapons of ice had broken and been dropped. She dug in her clothing and pulled out the Glock she’d taken off me. She squeezed off a shot. The back of Selene’s head sprayed blood, bone chips, and frothy, shredded brain matter. I sat there, freshly splattered, knowing I’d have to throw this suit away. No amount of dry-cleaning could save it.

  The giant swords fell all around Izumi and Chrys, a cage of steel. The racket they made biting into the floor deafened me a moment. Still on her feet, Selene turned back to me. The entry wound in her forehead was a neat, petite. As I watched, the hole closed. I imagined the exit wound to also be in repair mode. Selene didn’t entirely exist in linear time. It made her survival understandable, but no less shocking.

  She gestured toward me. My clothes ghosted away, red motes of light wagging off on a stray wind. Wearing chains, I stared up as her clothing became red mist, spilling away into nothingness. Her perfectly restored hair fanned behind her, the serpentine coils writhing with life. She reached down with both hands and cupped my face, coming closer. She pressed my head against her pale stomach, running fingers through my hair. “Oh, my precious one, I have waited for this point in multi-time to come. From here, a new age of empire begins.”

  “Not on my watch!” Izumi’s voice peeled down from the sky.

  I stared past Selene, up to the top of the cage of swords. She and Chrys were there; atop a phallus of ice that Izumi had grown to lift them from confinement. Izumi held my stolen Glock in both hands, getting ready to take a few more shots.

  The dark smudge was off of Chrys, but she’d grown monstrous bat wings of shadow. They beat and lifted her into the air where she hovered like a succubus, ready to swoop down.

  The war for my seed was still going strong. Regardless of how this turned out, I was pretty sure I was going to pay for it, one way or another.

  SIXTEEN

  “Hell hath no fury like a womb scorned.”

  —Caine Deathwalker

  Izumi emptied the Glock’s magazine. The bullets deflected off of a shell of crimson light covering Selene and me. In frustration, Izumi flung the empty gun at the barrier. Selene let it through and caught the handgun. She turned and handed it to me. “Your stolen weapon, my love.”

  “Thanks, I said. “Sweet of you.” I set it aside on the booth. My extra clips were gone along with my clothes, but eventually, the Glock could be reloaded. “Don’t you think we should avoid all this drama and just get the fuck out of here? I’m cold.”

  I never got my bluetail sushi. And with the restaurant now a reality away, I’m not likely to get it any time soon.

  I gripped the loose web of chains she’d draped over me, testing their strength.

  She smiled. “You certainly are anxious to get me alone, aren’t you?”

  “Not going to happen.” Chrys swooped down on shadow wings, kicking the crimson shield Selene had erected. “You destroyed my samples. He owes me another ejaculation.”

  Selene turned to the feisty blonde. “Just who the hell are you anyway?”

  Chrys eyes narrowed. “Your worst nightmare, old lady; a younger, hotter chick.”

  Selene spoke to me over her shoulder. “Sorry, precious, but spare the pounding, spoil the child. Hang in there just a little longer.”

  “Who are you calling a child?” Chrys lifted her hands, her palms extended toward the red shell. “Any barrier open to light is also open to shadow!” Three-foot javelins of darkness appeared, floating parallel to her forearms. They blurred, streaking missiles that ghosted through the barrier, finding no resistance. Shadow magic often proved difficult to counter.

  The shadow streams tore into Selene’s body. She arched backwards. A scream ripped out of her. Her body shuddered. There was a brittle string of cracks and pops. She crumpled, limbs twitching, muscles writhing.

  I winced in sympathy.

  Selene’s shield became as shattered as she was. It faded.

  Chrys laughed. “How does it feel to have every bone in your body broken?”

  The Red Lady met laugh with laugh, but her voice was ragged, pitchy, and shrill—becoming a primal scream. Fire dribbled from her mouth—ignited dragon spit—as she threw her head back. Beams of crimson light shot out of her eyes. Her entire body became translucent, a pink crystal statue that morphed, shedding human features for dragon. Her face became a scaled mask baring too many teeth. The red mesh and the leather that clothed her melted, rivulets that dripped down her body. Her back swelled, humping up. And then the hump shredded like an opening seed pod as red dragon wings unfurled. Her hands and feet grew larger, claws and talons ready to rend. Her tailbone added fresh vertebrae, lengthening. New muscle, arteries and veins grew in. Scaled skin appeared to seal it all.

  Dark snakes of shadow wiggled through her, surfacing from her skin. The pressure of the searing light ate into the shadow magic, thinning it, forcing it into the open. Once out of Selene’s body, the shadow dissolved.

  Her incandescent, pink-crystal body floated into the air, loosing stiffness. Her new tail lashed with a dragon’s fury. Her flopping limbs straightened, healing. Selene went opaque again, human and dragon in a half-and-half mix. Her strained voice remained broken, flinty. “Oh, aren’t you the clever one.”

  “Run-run-run-run!” I tried to catch Chrys’ eyes. “Fuck it all, run now!”

  But the lobsters wouldn’t let her. They were out of the glass case and had grown about a hundred times their normal size. Red claws closed on Chrys from two sides as a pair of crustaceans struggled for a piece of her. She screamed.

  Swords of ice sliced through the air, clipping off the claws. Still gripped by them, Chrys fell from the air. The impact shook her free. The clawless lobsters tottered around, their carapaces shimmering, growing black spikes. Abruptly losing animation, maybe crushed by their own size, they slumped in death.

  The black spikes became tendrils, some kind of wild thorny growth. Thorns bursting from their carapaces swallowed the lobsters. The growth continued. The black thorns spread out and then grew straight up, as if encountering invisible walls that they were determined to conquer.

  The groping tendrils thinned and branched even more excessively as they shot ever higher. The thorns brushed the ho
t-pink stars out of alien constellations, stirring them up. The tendrils wrapped around the crimson moon, digging in, claiming the prize. In an orgy of growth, fresh leaves sprouted, stretching, unfurling, and adorning the thorns high and low with obsidian beauty.

  Talk about a weed from hell.

  Dislodged, agitated, the pink stars swelled in size. They grew tails, falling into the atmosphere.

  Fuck! Selene’s going to bomb the hell out of this place. It’s Ragnarøkkr all over again: The Twilight of the Gods.

  Izumi latched onto a vine and used it to climb down. The bundle of giant swords she’d left behind leaned like the Titanic going down. The thorns had broken up the soil, weakening the anchoring of the red-steel swords. Sensing the mass toppling toward her, she tossed an annoyed glare at the swords, then hauled ass, running my way. She could have opened a portal to take her back to Earth or Fairy, but she wasn’t giving up on me.

  Neither was Chrys. She flew a curve around Selene, coming to get me.

  The cluster of giant swords slammed into the ground with a deafening clap that sent up dust. Thorns were crushed under that impact. Fortunately, none of my admirers were injured. Yet.

  The pink stars were still coming, now the size of softballs. I had no idea how big the stars of this pocket dimension would be by the time they hit and I didn’t want to find out.

  Selene gestured with a clawed hand. Red monolithic slabs of rock thrust out of the nearby thorns.

  Chrys and Izumi were blocked for the moment.

  And now the falling stars were the size of basketballs, easily a hundred of them bringing cataclysmic death. But then, Selene had never been strong on restraint. Her hands became human again. She gripped the chains that draped me. They dissolved into red mist. She lifted my whole body easily, holding me in her arms like a rescued maiden. Since I’d started morphing to dragon in recent years, I’d not been coming back as fully human as I’d started; my bones were heavier, denser, as were my muscles. This was no challenge to her. She’d started life as a full dragon, and had forcefully evolved from there.