He raises his thumb to his mouth and bites it lightly. The small dribble of blood down to the heel of his palm has me salivating. Any disgust at my body’s reaction pales in comparison to my need.
I need it. Give it to me. More, a voice within urges louder by the second.
Ruvan’s fingertips slide along my cheek, curling around my jaw. His thumb rests on my lower lip. “Just a touch. Just enough to get you through.”
My lips part. His thumb slides between them. Slick with blood. I run my tongue along the cut on instinct and swallow.
Magic surges from him to me as though I am a vessel that his essence is eager to fill. I inhale sharply. Ruvan pulls his hand away as my worries begin to dull and my senses heighten. A frown tugs on his lips, but I don’t ask why. I don’t want to know what causes his displeasure when this feels so…deliciously good.
I didn’t know what to expect with the elixir Drew gave me. The oath happened in a blur. But now, I’ve accepted power with both eyes open. I am ready as it crashes upon me and I use its force as momentum. I spin and lunge into the darkness while I have the courage and strength to do so, chasing the noise of battle.
Ventos and the others are a blur. I cut through the first fiend effortlessly with my right sickle as my left catches the wrist of a second. They both fall with a brief cry of agony, dead from the silver that punctured their skin. Another monster swings for me; I duck and dodge around to his back, slicing up his spine as two more lunge.
Surprisingly, Winny is the first to catch up to me. The lithe little creature is a whirlwind of blades and daggers. She throws two. Stabs another as she retrieves the first dagger. Two more fall by her blades as she reaches for the second.
I keep my focus ahead. There’s groaning rising from the depths—a stirring of something mighty and fearsome. More are on their way. I can sense them. Many, many more. I split my attention between those around me and the ones that are coming, working to the back of the pack and the front of the next wave.
There’s a moment to catch my breath between one body hitting the floor and the next five crashing into me. They come all at once, a clawed hand grazing the armor of my shoulder as I eliminate two more. Five, ten, twenty, these mindless fiends aren’t going to be what takes me down.
If the vampire lord himself was an even match for me, nothing less than him will stop me. Not like this. Not with his power.
Ruvan. I can feel him moving behind me. I know him as well as I know my own flesh and blood. I leech his power shamelessly to continue pushing ahead, springboarding off a body to get leverage over two, using my sickles in their shoulders to vault farther down the hall.
A smirk cuts my lips. This…this fight now feels…almost pleasurable. I am too strong for these monsters to stop me. Their blood is warm on my face and hands. I lick my lips, feeling its sting across my tongue. Their blood is sour compared to Ruvan’s. But it fuels me nonetheless. A cheaper, dirtier magic. Still powerful, though. It’ll do.
More, the voice in me screams, the same voice brought to life by the elixir the night of the Blood Moon, give me more!
I spin, swinging, taking four down at once. It barely registers that the rest of my party is behind me. Too slow. They’re missing all the fun ahead. But I suppose I will thin out the pack for them. That way they don’t have to worry or struggle much.
The hallway ends in a T. My chest heaves. My breaths are so rough and ragged that they hurt. It’s almost as if I am inhaling glass and not air. Yet I gulp it down anyway, muscles screaming, lungs aching. I almost want my body to break.
Break so it can be rebuilt stronger with this magic. I want more—tobe more.
A rumbling to the right heralds enemies uncounted. I can see them in the distance—a whole horde, barely able to fit through the hall. They scramble over each other, gouging the skin of their allies, all in a rush to get to me. I sink low in my legs and am about to lunge when Ruvan calls out, “Left!”I instantly recalibrate. We’re headed left and this horde is coming from the right. There’s a door, halfway between me and the mass. The vampires’ talk of securing routes and ensuring safe passage lingers with me, even in my battle haze. I sprint.
“I said left!” Ruvan shouts. It only agitates the beasts more. Wails and cries rise from within the walls. It is as if the entire castle was built on a foundation of these monsters. I now understand what they meant when they said that we needed to travel during the day while “they are sedated.” If this is sedated, what will the night bring?
I slice through the first three and kick their corpses back down the sloping hallway, toppling four others. One lunges for me and I kill it with a well-placed jab to its temple. I grab the door, pushing it halfway closed as three try to jam through at once. It’s a game of slicing and kicking as I slowly try to work the door closed. At least I have the high ground.
A claw sinks deep into the soft spot of my leather armor at my elbow. I bite back a cry of pain. Blood explodes, the scent bright and sharp even to my nose. I’ve never been so keenly aware of my own blood in my life. The aroma seems to work them deeper into their frenzy.
Angling myself against the door, locking my legs, I push with all my might. It’s me against at least eight of them. I clench my jaw, holding back a grunt as I strain. My muscles quiver but I don’t have enough strength, not while I keep having to slash and push through any who try to enter.
“Ventos!” I shout. I need that brute of a man. “Ventos!”
The rumbling that heralds his footsteps is a welcome sound. “I’m here.” I would’ve never imagined I’d be relieved to hear him say that. A sturdy hand slams itself into the door and suddenly the effort I was expending to close it completely vanishes.
I leave the brawn to Ventos, focusing on stopping the monsters from getting through. Together, we’re able to get the door closed. I assess the lock and hinges and unsheathe three daggers from my chest. Based on how the door is constructed I think I can barricade it for the time being. I slam my steel dagger into the wood of the frame almost to the hilt. It wedges against the door handle, preventing the latch from being undone. I put two more by the hinges, using a strength I didn’t know I possessed to render them worthless.
“That won’t hold for long.” I cover my wound with my hand. “They’ll topple it eventually.”
“It’ll hold long enough for us to get out of here,” Ventos says as we rejoin our companions.
Lavenzia has a deep gash down the side of her face that’s quickly knitting, and is otherwise unharmed. Ruvan regards me warily. I give him a cautious smile in return. I’m good, great, even. So why does he look so hesitant?
“She’s wounded, too. The scent of her blood is going to draw even more out,” Ventos says.
“She won’t be for long.” Ruvan takes my hand in his. The grasp is surprisingly gentle. “Look.”
