by Various
I laughed.
Devon stared at me. Anger rose in his eyes.
“You think I’ll become your poppet. No one rules me. I call no one Master, not even my own creator. You’re dreaming, Devon. You know, you got me. Sending Aria in so I would trust her. That was brilliant. Honestly, though, I don’t know what it was I saw in you when I was human. I mean, your dick is small. Now I can really see how minuscule it is.”
He slapped me. The force of it could have broken my neck, but Devon hadn’t hit me at the right angle. I opened my eyes once the stars had cleared and worked my jaw as the pain dissipated. My power stirred inside of me, coming out of its hole, but I held it back. There were still too many things I had to take into consideration before I let loose my powers.
“You have no idea what you’re talking about, Raven. It’s no use fighting me. Aria did at first and then saw the error of her ways, didn’t you Arriana?”
“Yes, Master.” She bowed her head.
“I don’t know what the hell you see in him, Aria. He’s nothing but a murdering monster.”
“Enough,” Aria yelled.
She plunged her talons deeper into my back. Something ruptured.
“There’s nothing you can say to change her mind. She’s completely under my control. She has been since the beginning. When she was the Delphic Oracle, she saw her own future. When she first saw me she gouged her eyes out, hoping what she had seen had been a false vision, but when I brought her over, her lovely eyes grew back, and she was my slave. Now Veronica. She was a chore. I knew she would be trouble when I first bit into her. She’s nothing more than a meat-loving bitch. But you, you could be so much more. You could rule beside me.”
A feeling of dread washed over me as he said that. He wasn’t lying. Something about his words hit the psychic chord in me. I understood why Aria must have gouged out her own eyes when she saw the future, being in service to a thing like him for the rest of her days. I wondered what type of human she had been as the Delphic Oracle. Whatever psychic powers she’d had had been used up ages ago. Devon must have sucked her dry, taking away all of her individuality, which severed her cord from the universe. I shivered at the thought. He was not going to do that to me.
“So you say she predicted all of this? What was the outcome? Didn’t she ever tell you that the future isn’t written in stone? It can be changed, you know.”
Devon smiled, growing all of his teeth into points. The beginnings of horn buds poked through his forehead. His face bubbled and twisted as hair sprouted and bones rearranged themselves. He laughed, the sound becoming garbled like grating stone in his throat as his vocal chords reformed. His shoulders grew broader and his talons became their full length. I didn’t cringe as his foul-smelling breath swept over my face. I stared up at him as he looked down upon me. His curved talon snuck underneath my shirt, ripping it and my bra as his claw moved against my skin. He pulled my shirt off, throwing in it somewhere into the cemetery. His cold, hard talon moved along the curve of my breast, embracing the nipple as to not hurt me. The gesture was almost tender. His other hand came around and pulled me closer to him, caressing my ass. He growled something to Aria, who let me go. He moved one claw under my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes. They were cobalt red, no irises, just red, as if his eyes were a liquid storm swirling around. I felt pulled into them.
The coarse hairs of his fur poked into me, burying themselves like wooden splinters into my skin. The more I struggled, the more embedded they became. His claw forced me to fall deeper into the storm. His mind pushed against mine. I resisted the best I could, but he knocked down my barriers as fast as I erected them. My eyes closed. His forked tongue snaked into my mouth. I didn’t want to respond to him, but my body didn’t know anything else. It wanted the ecstasy of his touch. His other hand pulled me against him. His dick throbbed against my thigh. I moaned, grinding my hips, wanting him to fuck me. All I wanted was him. I would do anything for him as his will took over my thoughts.
His cold talon moved inside of my jeans, finding the crack of my ass. I pressed in closer to him, not minding the small hooks of his fur, not caring that wherever it touched me bled; my body yearned for his dominance. “Tell me what you want, child. All it takes is one word and you can have it forever. What is it? Tell your Master, Raven, and I’ll be kind. I promise.”
The sound of my name on his lips was music to my ears. I was his Raven. His bird. I would use my powers to give him whatever answers I could. Anything. All I had to do was tell him what I wanted. And oh, how much I yearned for him. How much I wanted him to fuck me, ripping me apart with his cold, hard cock, working me with his fingers until I was raw. But…Master?
He had my jeans down around my ankles and backed me up against one of the cold crypts. His claws ran furrows in my flesh as he sought to get a good grip on my hips to lift me up and enter me. The smell of my blood perfumed the air. I heard footsteps on the gravel path coming this way, probably Aria coming to see if the master needed her help, or possibly other predators coming, being drawn by my blood. I didn’t care. They could all have a piece of me as long as I could have the ecstasy of having him ravage me over and over again, until the end of forever.
“Come child, tell me what you want?”
What did I want? Devon’s will pushed harder, wearing me down, but something deep inside wouldn’t give in to him, even though everything wanted to. That was an insignificant part that didn’t matter. It was nothing, something lingering from a past I hardly remembered. Something I had lost to my master’s hands. I opened my eyes and peered into my master’s face.
“I want you, Master. Take me; I’m yours. Forever and always. I’ll do whatever you want.” I grinned, exposing a mouth full of my own jagged fangs.
“Good girl,” he groaned as he pushed himself into my waiting cunt.
I moaned loudly with his entrance, reveling in the fact he had chosen me to be with him. As he pounded into me, my head whacked against the cold marble of the crypts. With each move he made, his hold loosened, and my own will came back. I worked against him, moving at will, letting him do whatever he wanted to me, and as we both came he bit into my neck, ripping out a piece of flesh with it. The pain was exquisite, and I didn’t care. I wanted more. I wanted all of it.
As he sucked me dry, still releasing himself inside of me, his control diminished, and I snapped. My eyes bled red. My hunger overtook me. There was a roar from deep inside of me, breaking my soul, but it was not a beast to speak of. It was remnants of the demon race that still lingered in me. Only now did I understand my true nature. I was not like the others. I was a separate kind of being. I was neither human, nor demonic vampire. I was the seed of a new race. That was why I couldn’t kill mortals. My hatred for this man emerged and ran rampant through me, exposing what was truly inside of me. I saw a beast that looked similar to Devon, but instead of leather, its wings were made of black feathers, it had no horns, and most of its features were human. The energy surrounding it was golden, something connecting it to the other side. If I was part angel I didn’t know, but I was not some evil being. Acceptance filled me and took over my body.
Bones cracked, realigning as I became what I had seen inside my mind. My teeth returned to normal, and I was left only with a double set of elongated fangs in the front. I had talons, black as a raven’s claw, but no fur. My wings burst forth and pushed out against the stone, causing Devon to lose his grip and fall backwards, letting me go. I got up in a hurry, not waiting to see what he would do.
I heard a crack behind me and saw Aria standing there in full transformation. I grinned at the thought of taking both of them on. Aria took a step forward, but I saw a shape lunge from the shadows and take her down. It appeared to be a large wolf of some kind, a hellhound. I smiled, knowing who it was. I turned from Veronica and let her deal with Aria. My beef was with my Master.
“Please, Master, why are you hiding? Are you afraid of me?”
A few rocks fell, and I turned to
see Devon perched on the outside wall. He looked down at me and grinned. He thought he was going to get away, but I knew better. He jumped into the air, gaining some altitude before I took flight. I willed my wings to beat and went after him. We flew over the city before he landed in Jackson Square. Then he was off running, pushing through the crowds of people. He crossed the street, not bothering to cloak himself. Mortals screamed at the nightmare that ran them down. He went up the steps and ran across the bridge to the River Walk, heading toward the Mississippi River. He landed on the concrete walkway adjacent the river and stopped, waiting for me to catch up with him. I licked my lips, spitting out any last taste of him. My will was clear. No more would he try to control me.
I landed only a few feet from him. We stood in the ultimate showdown. Boats passed us in the background on the Mississippi, their passengers unaware of what was happening on the shore. I opened my mind, pulling in the energy around me until my shields were up. In that second I took stock of my body and its wounds. I was bleeding badly, outwardly as well as in. Aria had probably hit a few major organs. Holding this form was taxing. I wouldn’t have the strength much longer to keep it up.
As I pulled in energy, Devon took me off guard. He charged me like an overgrown football player. I flew about ten feet across the concrete, landing hard on my back. I got up and saw him behind me. I ran at him, claws outstretched, and before he dodged I raked my talons through his arm, severing it right above the elbow. He howled in pain. I smiled. He came at me, this time taking to the air. I tried to get under him, but every time I swiped at him he moved a little further out of my reach. He toyed with me like a cat playing with a ball of string. So I waited, gathering strength and then sprang, propelling myself into the air. I grabbed onto his leg and let gravity pull us down.
His remaining claw began ripping out the feathers of my wings as we both fell to the ground. I got on top of him and sat there. He struggled and then quieted down. I stared into his red eyes, knowing mine were shining with my own hunger. He was still hard underneath me. His dick was slick and partially fur covered as I sat on top of it. It moved on its own, seeking entrance into my depths, but that would never happen again. I licked my lips as I hovered inches from his face, smelling his putrid breath.
“You could surrender. It would be so much easier, don’t you think?”
Devon smiled at me, revealing his rows of teeth. “Child, why are you trying to hurt your Master?”
His eyes swam red again, tried to pull me in, but I wasn’t going for it. “You’re not my Master, asshole.”
And with that, I slashed my talons through his neck, severing vertebra and flesh. His head spun around, rolling a few feet, teetering on the edge of the concrete. It stayed and then landed with a plunk in the river. Blood poured out from the stump of his neck. I got up, watching as his body transformed back to human. I picked up the carcass, not wanting to leave it where humans would find it, and hoisted it over my shoulder.
I took to the air, using a little energy to shield myself from prying eyes. I made my way back to the cemetery and landed near the front wall. I dropped the body, propping it up against the wall. I looked up at the tombs in the wall and pulled against the marble slab, but the bolts held tight. I focused my mind around the screw. I willed it to come undone. At first the bolt creaked on the rusted screw, but then it spun around faster until it dropped to the ground. I focused on the second bolt and it did the same. I pulled the marble slab back and then threw in Devon’s body. I also walked over and grabbed Aria, stuffing her in as well.
I smirked as I put in the remains. The keeper, in a year or so, would wonder why there were three mummified corpses. I didn’t care. I just knew that the sun would bake the shit out of what was left. That was the beauty of the eight-foot thick wall. It acted as an oven.
I put on the slab and screwed in the bolts. With my task finished I wound my way through the cemetery to Veronica. She was curled into a ball against Marie Laveau’s tomb, weeping. I sat down next to her and just waited. After a moment, she looked up at me through bloodstained tears. I knew by looking into her face something had happened, something that she could never fix.
“You killed him.”
“I had to, love. For both of us. He’d have destroyed you and me. You didn’t want to live with him the way he was. He used us. You know that. That was why you tried to keep me from him. Remember?”
“I know, but he was still my Master. He gave me life. How could you?”
She took a halfhearted swipe at me, but I just took her in my arms, understanding how she felt. Devon had tried to control her for so many years and for a brief moment she had a taste of freedom, but he lured her back in, just as he had me. I found the strength to overcome him. Maybe it was because I wasn’t bound by his blood, or because I was a different type of creature than the rest. I didn’t know, but in the end it didn’t matter. He was dead, and would no longer haunt us. All I knew was Veronica and I were together and with the moon overhead, we would continue to see eternity.
Epilogue
My name is Brenna.
“Good morning, Boston Tearoom.” I tried to sound as polite as I could on the phone, but sometimes people got to me. The woman on the other end asked me for directions and what kind of readings we offered. I answered and then she hung up.
I clicked the phone off and put it back into its cradle. Someone else could get it the next time it rang. Voices in the background alerted me that customers were coming in, but I made a dash for the back room and asked Peter to take care of the clients. I grabbed a seat on the couch and looked at the collage of photographs on the wall. Many of them were of Edmund, my former boss and friend.
Little did I know at the time, but after he died, he left the Tearoom to me. I was shocked when I found out, but it made sense. Six months after his death I was still getting used to the fact that this place was mine.
“Raven, telephone,” Peter’s voice called from the front, a hint of his German accent surfacing.
I sighed, retrieving the phone. “Hello.”
“Hey, how’s it going?” Veronica’s voice moved through the phone like a welcome relief, caressing my insides and making me quiver.
“It’s going?” I didn’t dare ask how she was. After Devon’s death we’d tried to be together, but there were a lot of things she had to work out. She chose to stay in New Orleans, and I decided to go back to Boston to make the Tearoom take off. I was living in her house for now, but it was up for sale. Both of us wanted to get rid of it.
I thought of the past six months. The woman I loved had changed in so many ways. She considered herself a meat-lover, as her kind called vampires who loved humans, and she wasn’t ashamed of it. Neither did she try to hide it. She and her beast had come to an understanding and had meshed somewhat into one personality, but Veronica was still volatile. As much as she cared for me, both of us knew we needed time apart to discover what we were, what we had become.
I was reading everything I could get my hands on to try and discover my origins, but there was nothing. I only knew I had some connection to the Divine in me, and I was part demon and part angel. I was still able to see angels walking around everywhere. At least Aria had shown me one useful thing. I hadn’t gotten up the courage to actually stop and talk to one. When I did see them, they acknowledged me, and that was it. Other than that, life was normal. I continued to do readings, waiting for Veronica to give me some signal she would be coming home.
“It sounds like you’re busy. I’ll let you go”
“No, not really. It’s just the normal crowd. It’s great to talk to you. The energy in here is dead today. Besides, the weather is starting to warm up. It gets awful hot in New Orleans this time of year. Maybe you might think about coming up North to cool off for a bit?”
There was a silence on the phone. Longer than what I wanted. “I had noticed the weather getting kind of sticky and had that same thought. I didn’t know if I would have anyone to come back to.”
/> I smiled. “There’s always someone waiting. All you have to do is get your ass up here.”
Veronica chuckled. “Soon, love, soon.”
“Good.” I clicked the phone off, knowing the conversation was over, but things between us were just beginning.
About the Author
Hart is a bestselling author of Erotic Romance. Her worlds are filled with luscious vampires, gorgeous gods, quirky witches, and everything else that goes bump in the night. Crymsyn worked as a psychic for many years in Boston while attending Emerson College. She graduated with a BFA in Writing, Literature, & Publishing. When she gets bored, she sneaks away to local cemeteries and coffee shops to find peace and quiet. Crymsyn shares her life with a small zoo, two playful puppies and her hubby Mark. If you come after dark, you’re more than likely to find her snuggled up with a gory horror movie, or a bloody vampire movie. Crymsyn has a collection of Living Dead Dolls and five bookshelves overflowing with books. Of course there's always room for more.
Visit her on the web at:
www.RavynHart.com
Also available from Crymsyn at Purple Sword:
Tarnished Choices
Tarnished Souls
Remember Me?
Role Reversal
Murmurs
Violet and Silver
Bitten By Love
Blood Angel
Anastasia Rabiyah
Dedication:
For Robert in my world history class who I used to stare at.
Chapter One
The Dog
It began when I was nine. “I want to be a ballerina,” I told my mother.
“Angela,” she said between bites of her sandwich. “That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. You—you’re so ugly and fat, just like your father. You have the grace of a hippo.” She laughed harshly at her own joke and turned back to the television, ignoring me and my tears. I went out onto the balcony of our run-down apartment to watch the stars and cry.