CHAPTER 1 - 1 YEAR LATER

Azul wrapped slender fingers around my throat and I stilled. Her eyes dragged over my face before settling on my collarbones, her irises shifting from blue to dark black.

“You have got to be kidding me-“

She slammed me against the door, one hand tightening around my neck and the other holding my wrist. As if I was going to fight her… I had experienced the hunger way too many times to know it was better to let her have her way with me. Her lips descended on my neck and sharp canines parted my skin like butter, drawing blood and making my breath hitch. She sunk her teeth into me and I fought to stay still, the sensation making my knees shake and my eyes close of their own volition. I wanted to slide to the floor and give her every ounce of me- that was the downside of letting her have my blood. You always wanted to give a vampire all of it…

She pulled away from me roughly and I gasped, my body suddenly cold from her absence. The world slowly filtered back into focus and I wrapped my arms around myself, blood slithering down my chest and between my breasts. Azul watched the trail’s decent greedily, before roughly turning away.

“I’m finished,” Her voice was hoarse and I rubbed the blood from my chest and licked it off my fingertips. Slowly I was coming back to myself and my breath steadied.

“Next time don’t be so rough, Azul,” I swallowed, my own blood wetting my lips and blessing my tongue.

“I’m sorry, I just- I needed a handle on my thirst before I went in to give this lecture.” She muttered quickly, eyes flitting back to blue as she returned to herself- the vampire complacent for a moment. “As long as you warn me next time, you can have anything you want. Especially since Angel isn't around to…you know…”

She cast her eyes down as my words settled over her, “Since she left me. I know Mistress, I usually go with her but I’m trying to get back on my feet. It’s not fair to you when I-“

“Hayati,” I stopped her, “You’re fine as long as you share.” I said the last part with a smile so she knew I was teasing but her returning expression was grim. She didn't like the way it felt giving her blood. It made her lascivious… It was always worse for girls, though I would never tell her that. Azul had come from a convent after all and believed vampirism a curse best to sate only when circumstances were dire. But female vampires were often promiscuous for a reason. I was a tangle of raging hormones all the time and if Azul knew even a smidgen of how hard it was for me she wouldn't take blood from me either. But that's why I worried for her. She would starve if she wasn't taking blood from others and if I could feed my sister, I would. Even if it did sinful, toe-curling, delicious things to me every time…

I left her, traipsing down the mustard carpeted hall of our gothic mansion and throwing back the double doors to a cloudy sky raining down over the campus. Tall twisted spires rose beyond our curated gardens, hosting the rest of the coven that had recently emerged into modern society but I welcomed the stress of governance. This was the world I had painted in Kazim’s blood afterall.

It’d taken us a long time to decide on a new name for our coven after we’d deposed the King of the Vampires, his council, and every other male vampire we’d been buried with. The Isadora, is what we’d settled on but there was still so much to do. Our coffers were half empty, I was still having trouble learning how to use a cellphone, and the word about our emergence was spreading amongst the other covens like wildfire. Angel had compiled a faction of our strongest and left to ally with the closest group of werewolves in case it came to war. Seline was in the west wing teaching the youngest among us spells from the Elf tome, and I was in charge of our people- making sure we had enough to eat, had enough to spend, and had enough to entertain ourselves so we didn’t kill each other.

I walked across the long lawn, shielding myself from the rain, passing under the roses, and relishing the darkness.

But Azul left me ravenous I soon realized, as I walked between the buildings heading for the east wing and grand entrance. She must have been starved because my energy waned with each step and I had to take several breaks before pushing open the doors and leaving the wet chilled air.

“Rasmine!” A soft voice called out to me from the foyer and I made my way over to her, urgency pushing my every step. I couldn't remember her name. I’d seen her in this mansion sparingly, she wasn’t new, but I dragged her into the lounge regardless.

“What’s up?” She chuckled, amused, but I barely heard her. Emily? Danielle? She had a normal sounding name and I was having a hard time placing it.

“I’m uh- I just need you to help me out for a second. I’ve just fed Azul and you know she doesn’t feel comfortable feeding from anyone else and…” I wasn't thinking clearly, my mind clouded with the need to have her against my teeth and drumming down my throat.

“ OH,” Realization dawned, I couldn't see her but I could imagine the expression. “Are you hungry?”

“Yes,” I rushed, looking wildly around the room before finding the hallway that connected to the library. No one ever used the library, right? It didn’t seem proper just drinking from her in the middle of the lounge…

“Look,” she chuckled, and I paused to take her in, clearly for the first time. Her name was Jessica, and all the sudden I realized she was a werewolf. “Why don't you go find Angel, she’s just returned and I’m sure she would be more than happy to help you out with whatever you need. I’m not interested in women.”

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My eyes narrowed and I didn't think before I spoke, the monster inside knowing only sweet seduction. “I can make you want it. You’ve never been bitten before. It’s not scary.”

She swallowed and said nothing which I took as my cue to drag her into the hall and push her against a wall. A virgin…“Be quiet,” I said in a whisper before licking her throat. She shivered, my compulsion taking a firmer hold on her desire. My fangs grazed her neck and then I bit her, warmth flowing down my throat and chasing away any thought I had other than the way her body felt against mine. Women were so soft. Her limbs slackened and I slid a knee between her legs, craving the heat of her, propping her up against me, scenting her immediate wetness. Ensuring she felt every delirious pull I drew from her body. She whimpered. She forgot to breathe and I slid a smooth hand behind her nape to cradle her to me. I knew my eyes were red. I was so so hungry and I bid her to give to me… I always wanted more.

I pulled away instead, licking the blood that lingered on her neck. Nuzzling briefly into her scent. She’d gone limp from feeling and was panting against me. It felt good, I knew.

“I told you,” I said with a groan, “I promised I would be good to you.”

She barely noticed me leave, dragging an arm across her mouth dazed and touching her neck. That had taken ten minutes. Drinking blood always chased away the time and I had meetings to attend. I’d only taken enough to ease the bite of hunger, but I would need mortal blood to satiate myself soon.

If Angel had just returned, she’d headed to the second wing where Selina and her arcane lived. The lecture hall was fashioned as a miniature amphitheater, desks and benches stacked away from a stage, all facing a green chalkboard and a podium. Selina’s hair was pulled back into a severe ponytail, long black tresses falling silkily over her shoulder and leaving her large black eyes unimpeded. She wore a severe black blazer with sharp shoulders, elbow-high black gloves, and stood with a golden cane. She’d just finished her lessons so the hall was empty save Angel who was relaxing at one of her student’s desks with her feet kicked up. Angels curly fro was held back by a thorny crown, lips painted red like she preferred, and eyelids lined in kohl. Her red hair against her dark brown skin was volcanic, and when she saw me she smiled with her fangs.

“Rasmine,” They both purred when I entered, making me sound delicious, reminding me of the euphoria of our first murder together.

“Angel, you look radiant,” I trailed gentle fingers down her cheek and she inclined her head to me with a grin. Selina, on the other hand, was looking more gaunt by the day. All three of us ruled together, there was no need for there to be just one queen when there was so much work to do, but I missed the days when we were just friends.

“I was telling Angel about the lesson today,” Selina murmured, finding a chair next to us and drawing me into her lap. Languidly, she ran her fingers through my braids and I released a shuddered exhale.

“Lightning,” Angel’s serpentine eyes flashed amber. “Seline believes the tome could hold spells that might grant us power over the elements.”

I hummed in the back of my throat as Seline’s fingers trailed down the back of my neck, inching down my spine. Her gloved fingers were whispers against my flesh and I turned to lean my head against her own. “But it’s poisoning you. Show me your hands.”

Selina stiffened but I knew. She was wearing gloves in her sleep. I’d been in her bed long enough to notice.

Angel’s lips peeled away from her teeth in a hiss, forcing Seline to relent. She tugged the gloves off and we beheld. The tome’s inky death had crept past her fingernails all the way up to her elbows, staining her in malice. The darkness of her eyes was otherworldly, they were marbles of fathomless black that in my opinion made her all the more alluring.

“ I wasn’t trying to hide,” Selina cast her eyes away and I brought them back to mine with a tilt of her chin.

“Why should you hide? You are powerful.”She blushed so I continued, “You smell of infinity,” I ran my nose along her jaw listening to her breaths hitch, “You are a conquerer of magic. Mage of madness. Beauty of death.”

Angel took one of her hands, kissing her fingers. “We are strong because of you.”

I turned to her, “And you as well, Angel of Misfortune. Tell us of your wolves.”

She grinned and I noted how vibrant she appeared, how her lifeblood practically sang with power. She must have found something delicious.

She stood up to pace, working best in motion, “None of the werewolves are eager to ally with us save one, the Durgen clan. In slumber, I forgot what a patriarchal lot the werewolves can be, but the Durgen are a smaller clan than the rest and thus inclined to seek allies. They have no idea of our numbers or our powers so they sent an envoy ahead of me. She’s been here for a few days, now.”

“Ah,” I licked my lips, “Jessica.”

Angel rolled her eyes, “I see you’ve already had a taste.”

“She loved me, I assure you,” I chuckled.

Selina cupped my throat and pulled me deeper into her chest, nuzzling my neck and breathing in my notes.

“Hmm,” Her tongue darted forwards, tasting Jessica on my skin, teasing me, “She is a young werewolf- young, but stronger than most. A beta from… some eastern forest?”

“Russia,” Angel supplied with a grin. I hadn't realized Angel had traveled so far to seek allies but Selina’s grip tightened around my throat and I bared my neck to her, shivering in delight. I’d already fed one vampire today, what was two?

“How did she taste?”

“Like snuggling by a fire, I assure you. Liquid heat...”

Selina made to set me aside and get up but Angel stopped her, exasperated, “We can’t eat her. Stop encouraging her, Rasmine.”

I rolled my eyes, “I’m not encouraging, I’m just…sharing.”

“No,” Angel shot me a poisonous glare, “She’s here to see how we live and report back. If we can ally with these wolves we gain a lot more than bodies when the other covens chose to attack.”

It was inevitable the other covens would seek to test our strength. We didn't have a patriarch and our absence of a hundred years yielded us blind to the ways of the world. But, Seline and I tilted our heads in unison, cat-like. What could werewolves provide more valuable than bodies in an upcoming conflict?

“These specific wolves claim to have found a slumbering god, and I want more than just a taste.”