Chapter 13: Novak

Chapter Thirteen

Novak

“ D o you truly plan to stand by and watch her turn?” Reign’s eyes narrow. “Seiran would never forgive you. He’s much softer after his time with the old woman.”

I scoff. That incubus was mushy from the moment he materialized in the human realm. I expected any incubus I summoned to be more cunning. Really, he’s one of the gentlest creatures I’ve ever encountered.

It could be because of the sensual nature of his magic. Or it could be the luck of the draw. The Incubus Distribution System sent me and Reign a tender counterpart to offset the ruthlessness that thrived with no one around to temper us.

It doesn’t hurt my feelings in the least that Seiran left us to take over caring for an old human woman he met at the farmer’s market.

It’s so ludicrous that it annoys me.

And annoyance is a very different emotion than betrayal, no matter what that therapist tried to tell me. I don’t feel an ounce of guilt over draining that quack dry, either. I warned him multiple times that he was on thin ice, but he was like a dog with a bone. He kept trying to force me to say that Seiran hurt my feelings when he abandoned us.

My head whips up as the incubus in question thunders into my office.

“Fifty years of servitude. I’ll have Rut back to its glory days before you can blink.”

“No.” My freedom is worth far more to me than a bit of extra income. It’s not like I’m hurting for money.

“Fine, a hundred years. Final offer.” Seiran swipes his hair back from his face using his thumbs.

“Gods, you’re still a terrible negotiator,” Reign says, chuckling. “Ten is his final offer and you’re going to take it.” The mimic directs the last part at me. “He never took a penny from the business that he helped us build from the ground up. Never asked for a single thing?—”

“Except his freedom ,” I growl.

Yes, fine, I’m still unreasonably angry about that entire debacle.

Not hurt, furious .

I untethered him immediately upon considering him a friend. It’s not my goddamn fault he never noticed. And it still burns me to my core that he honestly believes I only unbound him when he asked to be released.

“Like that was so much to ask?” Seiran scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It wasn’t, and he gave you your leave,” Reign says calmly.

Seiran’s job used to be that of the peacemaker, but times have changed so drastically, I barely recognize us anymore.

“Well, we bonded. So, if you damn her to change into a ghoul, you’ll be signing my death warrant too,” the stubborn incubus says. “She’ll starve herself to death before she eats flesh, and the bond will pull my life force to offset her starvation?—”

Reign goes rigid, turning to Seiran. “Let me see the bite.”

Seiran doesn’t hesitate to pull down his lip, showing the two angry marks.

If he did cease to exist here in the human realm, he would simply be reborn in Hell, but it would wipe free all his memories of this existence. That thought alone sends an uncomfortable pang to my stomach.

“You fucking fool,” I mutter, shaking my head.

“I guess we’ll see if that friendship ever really meant anything to you. Huh, Novak?” Seiran taunts.

He would never be stupid enough to claim someone solely to test my resolve.

My fury only grows, because that means she’s important to him in some way. No, there is, in fact, no way I will allow him to forget the good times we shared, even if he currently views them through a sheen of hatred.

“Collect everything you can find that will hold blood,” I hiss, undoing the button on the sleeve of my shirt. “None of us can ingest what she’s about to spill, meaning this is going to get messy.”

“I’m not sure it’s sanitary to pour tainted blood down the toilet,” Reign says with an oddly jovial lilt to his tone.

“Oh, go fuck yourself,” I snap, swiping my hand over my face. The long hair on top of my head falls against my forehead, and I shove it back.

I’m sure the mimic does view this situation as quite humorous, especially considering I spent the last hour ranting and raving that I would never go through with it.

Seiran jogs closer with a bucket dangling from each hand. “Newton keeps a collection of tools and necessities in that giant building behind the garage. You may wish to consider giving him a raise.”

The look I give Seiran should succeed in melting his skin right off his bones. It’s unsuccessful, but I’m distracted by the wail that comes from inside the bedroom.

The door was never latched closed, and my forearm lands against it, shoving it open.

Seiran’s black blood spills from her eyes. It takes me several long seconds of blinking to comprehend that she’s been crying.

“Just kill me,” she whispers. “Make it quick, please. I can’t do this. It hurts too much.”

Reign hisses from behind me, and I use my speed to reach her before he or Seiran can. I’ve never witnessed this process, only heard about it through second and third hand accounts.

The stench of Seiran’s blood makes my nose wrinkle, but I do my best to keep my face placid.

“You’ll be dying today, but when you awaken, you’ll be reborn as you should have been the first time.” If this works, that is, but being truthful has a time and a place. Now is not it. I have no idea if the vampire blood that turned her initially will be enough to keep her alive in her current state, so I slice my wrist and bring it to her mouth. “ Drink ,” I instruct, lining my voice with my compulsion.

She struggles against the command, but my power quickly overpowers her free will. Her teeth slide into my skin, and my head tilts.

Cheeky .

My command wasn’t to bite, only to drink. Her venom is extremely potent, considering her half-dead state, and I glance at Reign. There was a fair amount of heckling when I realized he came simply from her bite that first night outside the club.

“I’m beginning to understand your state the other night a bit better,” I admit.

“I’ll bet,” he murmurs, watching Greer closely.

“What do we do?” Seiran shoves past Reign with the buckets still held in his clawed hands.

“Once she’s had a bit more…” It might be best if I don’t warn him about what’s coming. Now that they’ve bonded, he could do something stupid, like attempt to stop me.

Greer’s first transformation was likely much less traumatic than this one. The air in the room permeates with the sulfury scent of Seiran’s undigested blood. I’ve done my best to mindfuck Greer into a state of rest, but it’s a fitful sleep, and her pain is evident in the way she writhes.

Reign sits behind me on the other side of the bed. He said he was going to attempt to keep her company in her nightmares. I’m sure he will also try to make whatever she’s dreaming about more tolerable.

The little not-quite-a-siren and I are getting quite comfortable. She lies on her side with her arms over the edge. It’s a gruesome process of slicing her wrists again each time they heal, but I handle it like a dutiful maker.

Seiran is going to owe me centuries of work after this debacle.

I huff against her pink hair as I lie curled around her from behind. It’s the easiest position to massage her arms to improve circulation and also to offer her my wrist. I’ve been giving her my blood off and on to help fortify her system, but ultimately, that will be drained too. I have to get out all the tainted blood, and just before her heart stops completely, I’ll need to dose her with my venom.

Seiran peeks inside the buckets and frowns. “It doesn’t seem like that much.”

Curling over her, I look for myself.

“It’s what I would expect.” I shrug, settling back against the mattress. “You’ve put a lot of faith in me, considering I’ve never once, in thousands of years, turned someone.” The mess we find ourselves in is only compounded by the unusual circumstances.

Seiran falls to his ass on the floor next to the nightstand. “If anyone can do it, it’s you.”

I snort. He knows how much I enjoy a solid compliment.

My head tilts as her heart slows and eventually sputters.

“Shit,” I hiss, pulling my wrist to my fangs. Ripping into my flesh, I relocate it to her mouth which Seiran already holds open. I seriously underestimated how long it would take to drain her, so now I get to replenish her with my blood, only to drain it again once we have a human present.

I use the hand I’ve been holding my head up with to tug her hair to the side. “You need to find a human. Someone no one will miss if she goes overboard.”

“Fuck,” he whispers with huge eyes.

“Now, Seiran!”

“Okay, I’ll handle it.”

My teeth pulse, and I strike her lithe neck with little thought, outside of how urgent the matter is. Almost no blood fills my mouth, despite my hitting her vein, which I believe is a good sign.

This isn’t actually about me drinking her blood. I need to dose her with enough venom to ensure that, when she wakes up, she’s officially my progeny.