Rising Dark (The Darkling Trilogy, Book 2) by A D Koboah Page B

lips once again. But I found myself licking her blood instead.
Again the taste and feel of it electrified me, seeming to numb my
brain. My arousal increased. I wanted to rip her dress away from
her bosom and lick the blood off her dark, bare breasts. But I
continued to lap at her blood with greater urgency. She screamed
and fought to get away and rage blazed in my mind. I released one
of her arms and crushed her lips with my hand, cutting off her
screams though she struggled as she fought for her life. All sound
faded away and the world disappeared behind a red veil. The only
thing I heard was the frantic beating of the slave’s heart, which
only inflamed my arousal as I lapped at her blood.
    This was unlike anything I had ever
felt before in my life. It went beyond mere arousal but was the
pinnacle of every want and pleasure in life. All of it was in the
blood.
    Use your teeth.
    Auria spoke those words directly in my
mind. I did as she instructed and bit the slave, tearing a chunk of
her hot, salty flesh. She grunted in pain, her breathing restricted
by the hand I had against her mouth and nose. Once the meat was in
my mouth, I spat it out in disgust. It was not the flesh I wanted,
but her blood, and I ravenously closed my mouth over the wound and
sucked, drawing in a gulp of blood which left me swooning with
pleasure. I drank, and as I drank, the ache in my bones and the
burning sensation in my throat eased and then disappeared
altogether.
    The red veil eventually cleared and
sound came back to me. My fangs began to shrink until they were
back to normal.
    In my arms was a corpse, her eyes open
and glazed over. I let the corpse go and it fell at my feet. I
backed away and fell to my knees, frantically wiping the blood off
my lips.
    “ What have you done to
me?” I moaned.
    “ I’ve given you
immortality,” Auria said. “But it comes at a price, and that is the
hunger for human blood.” She knelt before me, her voice suddenly
tender and intimate. “Be honest—that was the best experience of
your life, no?”
    I did not answer.
    “ Because of me, you will
have many, many more moments like that when you devour blood and
the life force it contains, and you will have an eternity to do
so.”
    She straightened and laughed as tears
filled my eyes.
    “ Come, Onyx. We have much
to prepare for what I hope will be the last sacrifice. We need more
slaves than that fool Foster was able to provide. Let us see if we
can persuade him to bring more before tomorrow night.”
    “ Oh, I’m sure I can
persuade him,” Onyx said and laughed.
    Auria turned to me, her face creasing
into a sneer. “You! Do not let me catch you near your wife’s body
again. You are not even to mention her name. Do you
understand?”
    She did not wait for me to answer, no
doubt assuming I would be a fool to disobey. She vanished along
with Onyx. But this time I saw the air around them thicken and
waver, appearing to shimmer before they were swallowed by
it.
    Distraught, I crawled away from Emory,
who was still standing there gazing at me in amusement. Although it
was the last place I wanted to be, I staggered to my feet and went
into the chapel, too ashamed to be near Julia after what I had
done.
    I had just murdered someone, an
innocent, helpless slave. I had just murdered
and...and...
    I placed my head in my hands, hands
that still had the slave’s blood on them.
    Devastation rolled over me in wave
after relentless wave. I wept, despairing at the nightmare that had
wrapped itself around me and would not let me go.

Chapter 6
     
     
    I was staring at my bloodstained hands
when Emory came to stand a few feet behind me. He sighed
heavily.
    “ I have been at her side
for so many decades, but it is still difficult to be away from her
for even a few minutes.”
    I tore my gaze away from the blood on
my hands and stared at him, confused. He met my gaze a few moments
later, his dark green eyes direct and penetrating. He moved to sit
beside me.
    “ Is it