Cassie

I awoke in a nest of hair. We weren’t moving. Rana rushed to my side in an instant, holding my hand, checking me over, failing to conceal her surprise I hadn’t screamed. Daniel noticed me wake and paused work on his project to come over.

“How long was I out?” I asked them.

“Almost eight hours,” Rana said.

“How are you feeling,” he asked. “And what woke you?”

I tried to stand but couldn’t. “Still awful. The nightmares, as usual. Except this one was weird. I have to go back. Try something else.”

Daniel nodded. “Good. I mean, it’s terrible you’re feeling bad, but it’s good you want to keep trying. Meantime, we have to get some blood in you right away—the Black Dog could be here any second.” He called to the others, “We need another volunteer!”

Not Wendi. Anyone but Wendi, I thought.

“I believe the obligation falls to me,” Lea said, cheerful as she came over. “Assuming Cassandra consents. It is quite dangerous for people to touch me; the experience makes them more vulnerable to suggestion.”

My throat felt so dry I found speaking difficult, and my voice cracked, “It’s too late for me, Lea,” I made myself smile. “Come here so I can get a drink.”

She chuckled and sat beside me, facing the opposite direction, carefully keeping as much distance between us as possible. As if that would help. I could already smell her.

I’m not sure Lea knew this about herself despite what Wendi said during our fight with the beast, but her Charm ability amplifies all her attributes—including natural scent. While it affected beasts and some Therianthropes like Wendi, an instinctual predator like me could be overwhelmed. A cloud of intoxicating aromas followed her, caressing my nostrils, making my mouth water, every note proclaiming her health and vitality.

Lea played off the tension while lifting her inner arm to me. “Please, be gentle; it is my first time.” She forced a laugh at her own bad joke, making the situation even more awkward. Yet, her voice was more than music to my ears. Nothing else mattered when she spoke.

She was as gorgeous as ever. No, far more so now. She’d been pretty as a little girl; cute, adorable, a poster child for precocious. She blossomed into her teens but kept everything tied up in braids and wrapped tight under long sleeves and ankle-length skirts. Now, one couldn’t help noticing the unbridled glory of her free-flowing hair and playful dress. Over the last year, she’d gained an ethereal, entrancing beauty that would continue to ripen as she grew.

Beyond physicality, I’ve always admired Leanan. In my darkest times, I tried to emulate her strength and confidence. When my heart tells me to rush in, I remember her self-control.

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As children, we were instant friends. Lea was a born leader—especially among the girls. I followed her everywhere, copying her style and mannerisms. But, as with everything, things changed after Eastwood. Lea used to be a chatterbox, but her time in the Facility left her more formal and withdrawn.

After Radio World, the two of us have been even more awkward. I think she regrets how she handled her mourning period. I’m ashamed not to have been there for her. We used to be so close, and now our friendship feels forced.

I responded to the tasteless humor in kind. “Then I’ll take it slow.” I brought her arm to my lips and went for a bite. Despite how long I’d anticipated sampling her exotic flavor, I hesitated. What gave me pause, what nearly stopped me, was how close Lea was to going full-monster.

This doubly frightened me both because of the caliber of her potential and the simplicity of her taboo act. Lea could step onto the path of the worst monster in the universe by speaking a single word.

My nightmares typically end in my death, but my dream of her begins with it. ‘Bow,’ she tells me. At that word, my desire to serve her overcomes my dignity, my ego crumbles, and I Obey. Gone is the living Cassie with hopes and goals and desires. Instead, I exist to serve, a soulless shell that follows her orders.

In turn, Leanan becomes a monster obsessed with domination. Unlike other monsters of her kind content to subjugate one or several pawns, Leanan’s drive and ambitions turn her gaze outward. She appears to the human worlds as their benevolent goddess and the people worship her as the epitome of all goodness and beauty.

With every conquest, she grows in power and influence, expanding to world after world like a plague. She leads an army numbering in the billions to march on the City itself with a vanguard of defeated Wildlings, mages, and monsters—Red Tail and worse among them—all captivated by her Charm.

Leanan’s ascension causes a disturbance among the pantheon, provoking Progenitors to act, instigating a Third Great War across the cosmos that inevitably ends in her death—and possibly the extermination of the human race. This nightmare I have had many times, all with unique, tragic conclusions, and it leaves me more in turmoil than fear.

My hesitation lasted less than a second before I bit into her vein.

I had yearned for this fruit from afar, the most succulent and delicious of all. The flavors, the sweetness, and the silken velvet streaming down my throat electrified every nerve in my body. She cried in pain and reflexively retracted, but I didn’t let go. I wasn’t done. I wasn’t sure if I could stop or if I should.

Knowing Lea’s possible future, her potential for evil, I’d often pondered what to do. How certain was this far-flung future? A lottery ticket or another inevitability? Had Lea already changed her destiny? Something big happened on Radio World—Enough to take her off that doomed path? Or would it be best to eliminate the threat here and now, before she destroyed us all?

My teeth sank further into her flesh. She cringed for a moment, then spoke. “Sorry, Cassie,” Lea said and stopped pulling away. “I know I volunteered for this. It would shame me to stop simply because it hurt when the whole group depends on you.”

I felt mortified for the pain I caused. What did it say about me that I stole life and brought suffering to my friends?

I’d hurt so many people. Humans around Eastwood. Kenta and Lea. The awful toll I’d taken on Rana’s health.

I had to do this to protect my friends, but I wished it at least didn’t have to hurt.

Then, to my surprise, I felt something inside me change. Some drool brushed Lea’s wound while I suckled. My ultrasonography sensed the inflammation around the damage calmed as her rigid muscles released their tension.

My saliva had become analgesic!

“Thank you, Cassie,” Lea said. The Libra girl’s face relaxed as the pain faded. “You are so kind.” Her words stung my aching heart, stained dark with thoughts of betrayal.

I loved her too much to kill her, even if I could.

I’m not as strong as Rana. If Lea ever turned her magic on me—I would fall.