by Zara Novak
“And what’s that?”
“Spoiled little princess. Always need someone to look after them, always need a knight in shining armor standing tall behind them.”
“Fuck you.” She said, covering her mouth with her hand quickly.
Edmund raised his brows in response, a delighted smile spreading over his face. “There you go! Looks like you actually found your spine! How does it feel to have some control over your life for once?”
Just what the fuck was this guy’s problem? Sophia clenched her jaw in anger, balling her fists up tight, wanting to send them thrashing in his direction. “I have plenty of control, I can control you if I want to, you… fucking ingrate!”
“Oh really?” Edmund’s smile widened, and he seemed to take much pleasure in the fact that he was getting under her skin. He sat forward and turned his head. “And just how are you going to do that? Big bad guy like me against a little girl like you. You think you can boss me around just because you’re a Belmont?”
Sophia’s breath raced through her nose as she struggled to contain her anger. She stood up from the chair, her eyes blazing into Edmund’s like coals. “You have no idea what I’m capable of you stupid lump of muscle!”
His response came as a cocky chuckle. He held her gaze and leaned back on the sofa, spreading his huge arms across its back. “You haven’t got it in you. Sooner you realize that the better. Why not head to bed, catch some sleep? Wouldn’t want the pretty little princess getting tired and snappy.”
“So you think I’m pretty?” Sophia crossed her arms and raised a smug brow.
Edmund froze for a moment, indicating that he’d said too much. “I’m just getting under you skin. Don’t flatter yourself princess.”
She curled her fingers tight into her palms, suppressing the urge to scream. Failing to think up a witty comeback, she stormed across the cabin to the bedroom. As she walked, she heard him chuckling to himself behind her.
In the room, her feet paced quickly back and forward across the wooden floorboards. How dare he talk to her like that? Just who was he? She walked fast and furious circles across the floor before coming to a stop in front of the mirror. Her cheeks tinged with pink from her furor, her breath was shaking. Was it furor or was it arousal? She didn’t really want to admit it to herself. She only had one idea on how to shut him up, and she’d been seconds away from doing it. Storming in here was the only thing that had stopped her.
“You want me to tuck you in and read you a bed time story?” He shouted from the other room.
Her eyes widened with fire. That was it, she wasn’t letting this motherfucker bully her around any longer. Stood in the mirror, Sophia tugged the zip on her dress down and slipped her arms out of it. The dress fell to the floor around her ankles and she stepped out of it. She unclipped her hair, letting it fall too. The glossy black sheet rested halfway down her back. Her underwear was next, and a moment later she stood naked in front of the mirror, staring at herself.
Let’s see who is in control now then, brute.
Sophia took one final breath, steeled her nerves and walked back into the cabin. His back was to her, he was still on the couch, hunched over and reading a book. She didn’t wait, she didn’t pause, she circled round in front of the sofa, pushed him back and climbed right on top of him, straddling him as she did so.
“Sophia!” Edmund shouted in surprise. “What the—”
Her lips burst against his, tasting the sweet softness of his flesh. For a moment he sat there in complete shock. He seemed to get the picture quickly enough, and he dropped all pretense of putting up a fight. He wrapped his large hands around her tiny waist and kissed her back. Fire burst through her body at his touch.
His lips felt utterly divine against hers. She felt something thick and hard stirring beneath his towel. Their crotches pulled tight against each other as their lips worked furiously. She held his head in her hands, gasping and kissing him as much as she could.
They didn’t share many words after that, and their bodies said everything left unspoken.
“Are you sure?” His lips asked as she bit into them playfully.
“I’ve never been so sure of anything.” Her hand answered as it worked its way down his chest.
His towel was the only thing keeping their bodies apart. With a quick shift of their weight, she hovered off it and Edmund cast it to one side quickly. When she came back down this time, her wet and open sex grazed against the hot steel of his cock. Her mouth couldn’t help but exclaim her surprise.
“Oh my goodness, Edmund!” She dropped her head back as his lips moved down her throat to her chest, to lay sprinkles of hot kisses across her small breasts. She rocked her hips back and forth, sliding the wetness of her line up and down his shaft. He growled his approval, curling one finger to smooth small circles over her ass, while his other hand found her clit.
“I want you.” She moaned while thrusting her lips against his again. “I want you Edmund, I knew it from the moment I saw you.”
His finger pushed inside of her folds, feeling her tightness. She let out a sharp gasp as warmth flooded her body. “Are you a virgin?” He asked.
She nodded.
In a swift movement they had changed positions, Edmund placed her on her back, with her legs draped over his muscled shoulders. His head was between her thighs, planting sweet kisses on her milky skin. He went slow at first, moving his lips up and down her sex, working it sensually and maddeningly.
After a few minutes she was writhing on the sofa, threading her fingers through his hair, tormented by the orgasms bursting across her body. Her pussy soaked through with want for him. He came up for air and pressed his lips against hers. She sucked her juices from his lips, finding it only aroused her more.
“I think you’re ready.” He purred between kisses.
“Yes.” She pleaded. “Yes, please!”
Edmund took her waist in his hands, repositioned her on the sofa and moved his giant body over the top of hers. He pushed her legs back, exposing her pussy to him completely. She stared down at the mammoth oak that was his cock, half wondering if it would fit inside of her at all. She licked her lips, pledging to herself silently that she would take all of him.
He shuffled forward, holding his cock in two hands as he pushed the hot marble of his tip against her folds. Sophia let out a loud gasp as she felt herself sliding around him. He slid inside of her all the way to his base, stretching her around the meat of his girth. She closed her eyes and moaned through a wordless smile. He filled her in a way that was almost painful, but it was a good pain. He pulled his hips back and then rolled them forward again gently, penetrating her properly for the first time.
Her thighs trembled with pleasure. His eyes burned down at her naked body, savoring every inch of her perfection. He leaned down and their lips were together again once more. She held him there, kissing him and gasping while he fucked her in the most amazing way. Several orgasms later, they were coming together, and she was crying out louder than ever as she felt him flood inside of her. In the silence after that first joining, she lay underneath him, stroking his chest and kissing his lips tenderly. She felt drunk with pleasure, drunk with want for him.
“I hope you like that,” she said. “Because I want to do it quite a bit more.”
“Do what?” He asked.
Sophia blushed, and spoke in a whisper. “...fuck.”
Edmund laughed, pulled her tight against him and kissed her lips. “Oh darling. You’re so innocent it’s cute. I was working you in gentle then. That was your first time, so we were making love. If you want to see a real fuck, you best prepare yourself. I go hot and hard.”
In a flash she rolled her body over his, straddled him and slid her hips over his cock. He hardened immediately and his eyes burned with want.
“Why don’t you come and show me then?” She teased. “I’m ready when you are stud.”
16
The archive building was red marble, jutting high
into the sky and blocking out the artificial sun overhead. Logan and Ruth stood halfway up the tall staircase at its front, looking up at the giant marble columns before them. There weren’t many people in this part of the Keep at the moment, and they were the only ones on the broad stairs.
“What do we do now?” Ruth tried to push her feelings for Logan to one side for now. He was staring up at the entrance to the archives, quietly muttering to himself while coming up with a plan.
“Wait for Vangzali I guess? As far as I know there’s only one entrance to the archives, so she'll come this way. If that’s the case, I need to get out of the way. Vangzali knows me well, she’d be able to detect my presence, even if I was invisible.”
“This is all up to me then? And I'm using this power which I’m not even sure I have?”
“Oh, you have it. I’ve seen you use it plenty of times. Most Supers have some extra power.”
“Supers?”
“Man, you know nothing huh?” He said. “Not all vampires are equal. Most of them don’t have super-powers. Super speed, super strength. Those vampires with dull red eyes? They’re mostly normal. The ones with bright red eyes like yours? Supers.”
“So I’m a ‘Super’?”
“Yes. And some supers have additional powers. I doubt you would have seen anything like that, but believe me, it’s true.”
She did believe him because she had seen it for herself first hand. There were two vampires for sure that stood out in her mind: Cairo Inai and Igo Kasper.
“My father…” she paused. “I mean, the man who used to be my father was a Super. He had a power. His name was Cairo Inai.”
Logan turned his head in surprise. “Cairo Inai? He’s a ward for the Circle!”
“Was.” She corrected Logan and brought him up to speed.
“So Igo killed your father? And this… Cairo Inai—he had the power to shape shift? That explains a lot. His power is like yours in a way. You both cloak yourselves in various ways.”
“So how do I make myself invisible?”
With time to kill, Logan took her to a quiet spot round the side of the building and they practiced honing her power. It would be another hour until Vangzali was due to arrive, so they had time to prepare.
“I imagine the things important to me.” Logan said. “When danger presents itself, I’m not doing it for me, I’m doing it for the people that matter to me.”
“And who are they?”
He paused. “My pack. Chang. She is my right-hand woman.”
Ruth felt her face burning. Logan had someone back on the other side. She had to be an idiot to think otherwise.
“She’s been my second in command for the last few years, and she’s like a sister to me. Without her I’d have nothing. When I feel threatened or need to go invisible, I tell myself I’m doing it for her. Let’s try it out, pretend that I’m an enemy guard walking around the corner, we’ll try it a few times.”
They went over the routine several times, and for the first 20 minutes, they made no progress.
“This isn’t working.” Logan said in exasperation. “Who is in your mind?”
“Edmund.” She said timidly. “He’s the vampire that turned me.”
“And this Edmund, do you have a romantic relationship with him?”
“We’ve… I mean… we’ve been together that way, but it’s just part of the turning. I get the impression we’re destined for other people.”
“Then think of someone else. A maker is a good connection, but it’s not close enough. You need someone that’s close to you, someone that is important.”
They tried it again, and this time she thought of Kat. What would happen if they never saw each other again? Was Kat okay now? Ruth couldn’t bear the thought of being caught and not being able to see her sister once more. A pulse of warmth spread over her body. Logan rounded the corner and looked right through her. He broke out in a wide grin.
“See? Looks like that worked.”
“Huh?” As soon as she spoke the warmth burst, and she felt herself pop back into view. She looked down at herself in amazement. “That’s unbelievable!”
“And there you have it.” Logan said, smiling. “Let’s try it a few more times. Vangzali is nearly due.”
They went over it several more times, and Ruth got it every single time.
“Perfect.” Logan finally said after deeming their practice done. “It doesn’t take long to master when you get the hang of it. Let’s wait at the top of the stairs, Vangzali is due any minute.”
The heavy rain from earlier had subsided, leaving a glistening coat of diamonds across every inch of the surrounding Keep. Vampires now packed the street at the bottom of the archive stairs, making their way about the Keep.
“What is it people do here?” Ruth asked as they waited.
“The Circle is a research facility predominantly. Most of the vampires you see here are of extreme intelligence.”
“What are they researching?”
“Ways to end disease, ways to help advance humanity. The goal of the Circle is to prolong humanity.”
“But they’re vampires… for vampires to survive humans must die.”
“Exactly, and the Circle acknowledges that. Without humans, vampires cannot exist. The main job of the Circle is to control the vampire population and help humanity thrive. With plenty of happy humans, there can be vampires too. If vampires get too greedy, they starve.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
He nodded. “As twisted as these fucks are I agree with parts of it.” Logan peered into the crowd below, then he straightened at the sight of a lone figure ascending the staircase. “Shit, that’s Vangzali, I'll make myself scarce.”
Ruth straightened up too, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. “Fuck. What do I do?”
“Just stay calm and remember everything I taught you. Stay close to Vangzali. There might be a point when she has to remove her locket. If she does, take it and run. When you’re out, I’ll meet you round the side where we trained. Good luck Synth. You can do this. I know you can.”
Logan darted off, leaving Ruth alone at the top of the staircase. She kept her eyes forward on the crowd below, watching the lone figure of Vangzali as she ascended the staircase and disappeared through the large door at the entrance. She thought of Kat and invisibility’s warmth slipped over her. Ruth stalked inside silently on quiet feet, keeping a good distance between her and her target. The entrance vestibule to the archives was a large round room with a domed ceiling. A long reception counter sat in the middle, operated by a dusty looking vampire with thick bottle cap glasses.
“Name and rank.” The vampire said dryly, without looking up from a heavy book in front of him.
“General Jago Vangzali. I have an appointment in the forbidden archives.”
The vampire lifted a dusty eyebrow and brought his eyes to meet hers. His voice changed at once, panic hinging in his words.
“At once Ms Vangzali! Proceed through, follow the signs!”
The old man stood and handed a pass to Vangzali. She grabbed it and took off at once without saying another word. Behind the counter there were two doors cut into the dark red marble. The archives were a sprawling maze of long and dark corridors. Every so often the corridors would branch away, but Vangzali walked with purpose and clarity. Ruth got the impression they were descending slowly underground. Their corridor finally ended, opening out into a gigantic subterranean library.
It was all Ruth could do to keep herself from saying something out loud. The library extended all around her in every direction, darkness swallowing its infinite book shelves. Vangzali grabbed a gas lamp from a table by the entrance to the room, and walked into the shadow, her heels echoing across the void. Everywhere Ruth looked, there were shelves filled with dusty looking tomes. She thought the darkness would carry on forever, when a box of illuminated glass broke the shadow in the distance. As they got closer, she realized the box was a large glass room, with four row
s of shelves inside it. A single guard stood outside the door. As Vangzali approached, he held out a hand.
“Name and business?”
“General Jago Vangzali, here on behalf of the High Vistor.” She pulled a scroll from her pocket and handed it to the guard. He read it and nodded, opening the glass door behind him.
“Take as much time as you need, but please leave all loose items on this tray here.”
Vangzali complied, taking off several jeweled rings and a golden wristband. “Done.”
The guard’s eyes flicked down to the pendant on Vangzali’s cleavage. “Necklace too.”
“No. I keep this on at all times.”
The guard stepped back in front of the door. “It comes off or no entry. Those are the rules of dealing with antique books.”
Vangzali scowled. “I’m sure the Vistor would like to hear that you are impeding his own research.”
The guard shrugged. “I follow the orders of the archives. If the Vistor doesn’t like it, he can take it up with the High Scepter. Remove the necklace or go home. It’s up to you.”
“I should pull your spine out of your mouth for speaking to me like that you wretch.” Vangzali hissed.
Ruth watched with bated breath. After a moment Vangzali removed the locket and placed it onto the tray with the rest of her belongings.
“If anything happens to that, you will be the one paying for it.”
“Whatever.” The guard said, handing her a pair of gloves. “Wear these. Damage nothing.”
Vangzali snatched the gloves and walked into the glass box. The guard turned away instantly, returning to his desk and resuming his book. Ruth skipped across the dark floor toward the tray. Vangzali’s locket was a green pendant on a silver chain. It sat harmlessly enough in the tray with the rest of her items. Ruth eyed it for a moment, and then she grabbed it. She slipped it over her neck and turned to leave. This was it, she had their ticket out of here!
Her eyes caught on the sight of Vangzali in the glass box. What exactly was she reading in there? The urge to leave was tugging at her, but there was also an urge to find out why this trip was so important for Vangzali. Ruth knew it definitely had something to do with Ansel Draco. She stepped inside the glass lined library, squinting at the bright light overhead. Vangzali had moved straight for a tall black book, and sat hunched over a desk, flicking through the book's thick pages. Ruth stepped closer, until she was almost standing directly above the woman.