Fangs of Fate (Untish #1)

Chapter 36

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

CHANCE

Bexley was empty. Well, practically empty. The village’s dux who met us, Dux Carran, seemed unphased by the fact that the soldiers with us were barely outnumbered by the number of guaramen he currently had in the village.

“Where are all your men?” Holland asked, her short hair pulled back into an adorable and yet sexy pony at the base of her skull. I could still smell her; the after-sex breeze, as I called it, was very potent. From the look on Dux Carran’s face, he could smell it too. I could feel myself enlarging in pride.

“It’s a harvesting village. We manage a vineyard. We don’t need many men.”

I arched a brow.

“Maybe so, but since we arrived an hour ago and were taken to our quarters for the night, we haven’t seen more than a couple dozen men here. Care to explain where the rest went?”

He glared at me, clearly not loving the challenge. His barrel chest raised with each breath, brushing the bottom of his long, ruddy beard.

“We are understaffed. Thank blood for you, we’ve grown tired of each other’s company!” He clapped me on the back and let out a laugh. Was this guy serious?

“So, you’re telling me that you haven’t lost any men to uh, any strange events?” Holland asked, I could see her prepping to use magic.

“Business, business, business, eh? That’s all anyone wants to discuss anymore! Tell me, how’s ol’ Bole doing? He still got a stick up his arse?” His accent accentuated the last word while he simultaneously threw his head back and laughed. “I can’t imagine he was happy ‘bout you two and all your business .” He wagged his brows as he threw his arm around my and Holland’s shoulders before starting toward the pub. “Aye, it’s rude to talk all business before even having a drink with your host.”

“You’re not our host, so much as a fellow member of the guara, and it is your duty to see to our accommodations, as it is also your duty to appraise us of any irregular events.” Holland’s voice was rising as her footsteps sounded faster, attempting to keep up with Carran’s large footsteps.

Dux Carran was actually fairly large for a vampire. So much so, that I had a hard time keeping up with his strides, even with his arm around me propelling me forward.

“And I shall, but first let me see to your thirst.” He thrust open the door to the pub. “Aye!” He raised our hands in his in victory, the few unknown patrons raising their glasses to him in cheers. “Please, enjoy Bexley’s finest, the best wine in the Glenn.”

The pub smelled remarkably refined. No sweat or hoppy scents could be found. Instead, it was elegant, small tables with black cloths were scattered about. Candles lit the place and wine glasses graced every place setting. So at odds with our ‘ host’ .

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to partake.

“Helga! Some of our finest fer our guests.” Carran led us to a table and gestured for us to sit. A large and rather busty vampire came swaying out from behind the counter, her standard-issue uniform was covered with a black apron. She poured liquid gold from the decanter and filled each of our glasses before winking at me and venturing back behind the counter. The place was glaringly empty. So incredibly odd.

“Where, Dux Carran, are your men?” I demanded. Enough of this show.

“Ach! Can’t you have a drink and then talk business? You kids are all the same, business this, HQ this, protocol this. For the love of blood, have a drink with a fella before hounding him with bureaucratic bullshit!” He grabbed his goblet and threw the contents back, some dribbling down his beard, before reaching for the decanter and refilling his glass. His demeanor sorely lacked grace.

“Dux Carran, thank you for your er, hospitality, but really you must answer our questions. There have been some concerning events,” Holland tried again to get an answer from him.

“Aye! Dire indeed. But first, take a sip lass! Then we’ll talk.” He downed the glass again before refilling, white wine continuing to wet his beard.

“White usually isn’t what I drink.” She sniffed the glass. It was abnormally white. Where was the blood?

“You never know until you try!” He filled Holland’s glass, spilling some on the tablecloth, before pushing the glass closer to her.

Holland looked irritated. She was not used to this lack of coherence from another soldier, especially one of equal rank. The air began to tighten but I shook my head. She shouldn’t use magic on him. She’d used it too much already, and with the potential mole and their network, we really shouldn’t be showing our hand just yet. She seemed to understand and the pressure in the air dissipated.

I lifted the glass to my mouth and took a drink. Fruity flavors assaulted my pallet in robust energy.Crisp and light.

“Delicious.” I took another sip and Holland followed suit. The wine was actually very good, it tasted aged, but it also lacked a certain iron flavor.

“But I must ask, where’s the blood?”

“Ach! Youth always has to mix what shouldn’t be mixed. Tell me, have you ever tasted wine this pure?” He swirled his glass before downing it.

“Can’t say that I have, mostly because I prefer for it to have nourishment to it. You know, blood . The thing we need to live,” I replied dryly. Dux Carran was beginning to get on my nerves.

“Tell me, Dux Carran, where are all the humans in this settlement?” Holland asked, taking another sip; she apparently liked the flavor.

“In the cafeteria.” He snorted.

“The what?” Holland choked on some of the wine and then proceeded to cough, trying to catch her breath.

“Aye, the place where we feed from livestock, if you know what I mean.” He winked at us before reaching for the bottle, but I reacted faster and grabbed it first, holding it out his reach. If he wanted to play, fine. I was all game.

“How many guaramen are at this settlement? I need a number.”

“You’re messing with the wrong dux, boy,” he growled as his eyes squinted. Good, let him be pissed.

“Boy or not, I hold the wine and if you want another glass, you’ll answer a very basic question. What is your headcount?”

He studied me for a minute before taking a hand up to his unruly beard and pulling on a single strand that was braided, beads hanging from the end.

“Not that I answer to you, but we have just shy of a hundred last I counted.”

“A hundred? That’s a skeleton crew!”

“According to documentation, you should have at least five times that amount. Where did all the personnel go?” Holland’s eyes were wider than I’d ever seen them—the light brown shade lightening to almost pure gold.

“Ach. We’ve had some incidents.” He reached across the table and yanked the bottle from my hands before putting it straight to his mouth and downing the remaining contents, spilling a good portion of the wine.

“Incidents? Care to expand?” Holland pried. I could see her physically restraining the magic begging to be released. To speed up this painful process.

“Aye.” He dropped the decanter and it clanged to the floor. “Creatures have been attacking us for the past month. We’ve lost a lot of men.” His voice was slightly slurred at the end as he pulled the back of his hairy hand across his mouth, wiping away the remnant of wine.

“When was the last attack? Why wasn’t it reported? What measures have you taken to prevent future loss?” Holland’s questions peppered him.

“Lass, let’s get one thing straight. I’m the dux here. This is my village. I take any loss personally. I have filed reports and oversight has simply instructed me to continue harvesting grapes and report any future problems. I’ve filed three reports.”

“But I didn’t see any?—”

“Ach! They probably wouldn’t be there.”

“That’s not protocol. If there’s an attack, you should be receiving reinforcements and investigators from Oversight,” I spoke. Surely Dux Carran was just covering his ass, Oversight would never let multiple attacks simply slide.

“You’re cute, kid. And you’re green, it shows.” He pushed back from the table and stood up. “I’ll be going to get a meal now. You’re welcome to join, but I’ll warn you to be polite. My men are hungry and even with our limited personnel, there’s a supply issue, as I’m sure you’ve seen with the last settlement. Bole’s correspondence certainly has made that clear.” He sauntered to the door.

Holland looked at me, questions shooting from her eyes. Vessels, he had to be referring to vessels. I didn’t particularly mind feeding from them, but it also wasn’t something I frequently did. I often just drank from blood bags or bloodwine; vessel feeding often turned intimate which clouded my judgment. Plus, too few vessels meant it could turn violent.

In basic, vessel feeding wasn’t allowed; only high-ranking officers could partake in a direct feed. The rest of us got cold blood. Even with my new status as dux, it felt strange to feed from vessels while away from HQ.

“Don’t get me wrong, I understand the need to feed from uh, vessels, but I’m not sure I’m comfortable doing it,” Holland said. For the first time since I’d met Holland, her vulnerability was shining.

“I know, but we need to feed Holland or else we may not be strong enough if another attack should come…”

She gulped in response, eyes lowering to my lips. Yes, feeding certainly could turn intimate.

I grabbed her hand and led her out of the pub following in the direction our friendly giant went. I could see him up ahead entering a B a vessel and a vampire enjoying the sensual high that came from feeding; a group of naked males and females all engaging in some type of post-feed orgy with at least one human.

Holland gripped my hand tighter. She was clearly uncomfortable with the scene around us.

“Holland, have you ever group fed before?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.” But the red in her cheeks was answer enough. I refocused ahead of us; this would be a very public group feed. But with no bloodwine or bags and limited supply, I didn’t see any other choice. We needed our strength.

“I’ll make it as smooth as possible. You don’t have to do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

We reached Arche Damaris, and I yanked him up to his feed. He was blood-drunk. Naturally, he’d lack self-control.

“Damaris. Get your act together. Get outside and stand watch, and for blood’s sake, pull your pants up.” He barely registered what I said, the haze was still too thick. I slapped him across his face and he went flying backwards, careening into the wall. I probably shouldn’t be enjoying this as much as I was, but the punk was getting on my nerves. My very hungry nerves.

“Get outside now.”

He blinked at me and shook his head. He was responding much quicker than I would’ve guessed. “Damaris, grab some men and take them with you. I want a group of at least five outside. Got it?” I turned, spotting an open vessel at the back. She looked plump, hopefully she was juicy.

“Dale.” He reached for my arm and turned me back.

“Dux Dale to you, arche,” I growled at him. Hunger mixed with the scent of blood was beginning to make me irritable.

“Dux Dale, something’s off here. Magic, I can sense it.”

“What type of magic?”

“Like at my last settlement but different. Stronger somehow. It just feels off. Dark.”

I didn’t like this. We needed to leave, but first we needed to eat. What a fucking mess.

“Find Arche Drew, blue-haired female, all intrinsic like, and stay with her. Get a group of at least ten men who are at least partially fed and be prepared to depart at any minute. Notify any of our soldiers who haven’t fed that they need to do so immediately as we won’t be staying here long.” I paused, dread pooling in my gut. “And Damaris, if anything occurs, I want you to notify us immediately. Take Dokimos Zinger and get her to safety. Do you understand?”

He nodded, grabbing two blood-drunk arches nearby and escorted them to the door. The vessel I had spotted was now in use. Damn it!

Another vessel lay before us, lifeless. I checked and found a very weak pulse. This wouldn’t do at all; if we fed, we’d drain her completely and then be responsible for breaking the no-kill law.

“Perhaps, I can assist.” Dux Carran approached, a brunette male in hand. His eyes were sharp, and he appeared flushed—human and very ripe.

“Very kind of you.” I grabbed the vessel and lowered him to the couch, more aggressive than necessary, but I was done taking things slow. I pushed the existing vessel off and she landed on the floor with a rather loud thump.

Turning to Holland, I offered her his wrist. She hesitated.

“What’s wrong lass, don’t tell me you’re one of those human-loving pacifists?” Carran let out a loud rumbling laugh, it nearly drowned out the surrounding sensual moaning.

“A bit of privacy would be appreciated, dux,” I spoke, winking at him. I didn’t care what I was implying, I needed him gone.

“I bet it would. Lucky bloke.” He made a scene of eyeing Holland up and down before wagging his brows at me and lumbering away.

“Dale, I don’t know about this. I mean, maybe we should just leave now. I heard Arche Damaris and this seems like an unwise use of time.”

“Holland, can you trust me?”

Her eyes shone with hesitant trust. Enough, it would be enough.

I led her closer to the vessel, he was clearly high on something. Hopefully it wouldn’t cross through the feed. I knelt to one side of the chaise with Holland opposite me. I lifted his arm, gesturing for her to do the same, and then clamped down on his wrist. Warm, iron-rich blood assaulted my tongue. It was delicious. It tasted of raspberries and grapes. I hadn’t had pure blood like this in far too long.

A moan ripped from Holland as she dug deeper into his wrist, blood leaking around her mouth. Pleasure roared through my system; I could feel my energy stores refilling. I took another deep drag and savored the taste. There was something underneath the blood, something I hadn’t tasted before. I couldn’t place it; it was elusive and yet familiar. Another moan from Holland had me reaching over with my free hand to cradle her neck. Her eyes were shut, and she seemed to be enjoying herself.

I stroked her neck with my thumb and gently dug my fingers into her scalp. I took several more drags as I focused my senses on Holland. Her pale skin was glowing, the blood sensually dripped from the corners of her mouth. She was blissfully oblivious to the crowded room around us. Amazing.

I closed my eyes and adjusted my fangs on the vessel. I could feel his supply running low, I would need to finish soon, as would Holland. I felt a tiny hand reach over and caress my chest. Holland. She suddenly pulled me back from the vessel and walked around the chaise to straddle my lap. Her face was speckled with blood and her eyes were hazed. She had more restraint than I did. I reluctantly let the vessel go and grabbed Holland around her waist. I was hungry, but for something other than human blood.

She claimed my mouth with hers before I could even move. The taste of iron and her sweet saliva claimed my senses. I pushed the vessel off the chaise, he too fell to the floor with a thump next to the woman, and then I lowered Holland to the couch. I dug my hand into her light brown hair, undoing the tie that held it in place. Her short locks fell over her shoulders, just dusting them with their ends. My other hand found her low back and began to stroke her skin in tiny circles, slowly moving lower. She moaned into my mouth and reached behind me, sliding her hands into my pants. She stroked a line up my ass to my back.

Energy erupted through me. I needed her now.

I pulled back and yanked off my shirt as she ripped hers open and then yanked down my pants. I was blood-drunk, I knew that, but still I found my bulge impressive. She moved her pants down too, revealing a turquoise thong that contrasted her delicate skin tone so perfectly. It hugged her generous hips and accentuated her curves. Fuck me; she never stopped surprising me.

I lowered myself to her, kissing her belly button and then slowly worked my way up. I unclamped her bra, a perfect match for the thong, and yanked it off with my teeth before claiming her left breast. I pulled at her nipple with my mouth as I swirled my tongue around it. The sweet taste of her sweat filled my mouth; a salty iron that was incredibly intoxicating.

Her hand gripped my shaft and I nearly lost control at the contact. I could feel the pressure building, demanding release. Not yet, the pleasure of the pain was such a huge part of euphoria.

I moved my mouth from her now peaked nipple and licked slow, lazy circles around her breast as I worked my way up to her collarbone and found the delicate spot, perfect for fangs. If it weren’t illegal or I was an irresponsible kid, I would engage in that pleasure too; but I still had enough wits about me to resist. Her grip tightened on my shaft, and I bucked. The motion she began had every nerve ending begging for more. She worked her way up and down the length of me, the perfect pressure and slickness from my sweat, her sweat, and precum made her motions slick.

Slowly, she guided me to her entrance, and I didn’t hesitate. I thrusted inside and the pure warmth encased me. I found her mouth with mine and began to explore it. She rocked her hips in pace with mine and met me thrust for thrust. Pressure kept building and she released a moan as her hands dragged down my back, fingernails digging in and no doubt leaving marks. Ones I’d proudly bear.

Release exploded through me, and my body trembled, trying to contain the effort and pleasure overwhelming my senses.She shuttered in turn, tightening around me and then releasing.

We lay there for a minute, breaths heavy, blood haze thick. The whole room felt numb and quiet. Yes, it was common for group feedings to turn intimate, but with Holland, it was more. I hadn’t had a high like this since Tate.