Lila nuzzled her nose against the cheek of the tiny creature that she cradled in her arms. It was a surreal experience to realize that this little body came out of her own not that long ago. She studied it’s fingers, toes, and ears before coaxing his mouth open. Expecting to see fangs, she was surprised to find only tender gums.
“My son looks like a normal baby,” she said with awe.
“He eats like one too,” Mirabella explained as she produced a bottle and handed it to Lila. “It’s mother’s milk with a hint of vampire blood mixed in. They tried several feeding types before this and almost killed the poor little tike before they settled on this.”
“Mother’s milk?” Lila said with surprise. “They haven’t asked me for milk. Where are they getting it?”
Scowling in thought, the maid said, “I’ve seen several strange women come and go. I’m not sure, but I believ
Jasper flattened his body against the exterior wall of his lab. With Marcus and Freya just feet away from him, his faith in the invisible cloak that Ben spelled for him was lacking. Holding his breath, he listened intently to their conversation as they slowly passed by him.“Have you any clue on the whereabouts of our scientist?” Freya asked as she slipped her hand through the crook of Marcus’ arm.“We’ve searched high and low,” Marcus mused. “I can only think that the damn fool took it upon himself to try to rescue Lila on his own.”Freya pursed her lips with disapproval as she muttered, “We cannot have him rescuing that abomination. It and the witch need to die.”“The local witch coven was raided not too long ago,” Marcus informed her. “The warlocks were killed. We think they took the witches for breeding.”“That’s not good news, Marcus,” F
Lila struggled against the guards as they presented her to Oscar. She’d had enough exposure to him during her time in the castle both with Jasper and now to realize the cruel streak he possessed. Even in her panicked state, it was impossible to miss the glint of excitement in his eyes as he listened to the guards pass on his king and maker’s instructions.After ordering them to tie her down on a nearby cot, he walked to the opposite side of the long and narrow room and disappeared through a door. Her head spun as she did her best to take in her surroundings. There were a dozen cots holding naked, handless, and legless females. Most of them sported bulging bellies from the life that grew in them. Had she not been so traumatized upon witnessing the mutilation that occurred to her fellow witches, she would have been mortified about the fact that they were afforded absolutely no modesty. It was as if they were nothing more than livestock to be handled and used in acco
Time dragged to the point of standing still as the guards continued to use her body with deliberate brutality. Whenever darkness blissfully consumed her, she was brought back around by a slap on the face or ice water tossed over her body. On the few occasions when a bone was accidentally broken, the vampire would feed her his blood to heal it before continuing with the abuse. Worried for her sanity, she focused on the memories of holding little Roger in her arms. Although the stamina of a vampire was extreme, the guards eventually tired of abusing her and sent for replacements.The reprieve she had gave her an opportunity to ponder upon her foolishness in being overly confident in her position with Samuel. Has she realized that her vile outburst would have suffered such consequences, she would have held her tongue. It was just that she’d said such things to him in the past with no repercussions. Then, she’d never said them with such abundance and vehemency. Nor ha
Hank nodded a greeting to Jasper as he wrestled with an extremely large vampire. Both impressed and surprised that the zombie leader was able to deal with a supernatural creature whose stature was twice his own with such calm assurance, Jasper watched as Hank used a few martial arts moves to take the vampire down just long enough to sink his teeth into his arm. After immediately jumping back as far as he could, he watched and waited the few seconds it took for the venom to attack the vampire’s system. The enormous supernatural foe was able to get on his feet and, with hate filled eyes, charge toward Hank, but he never quite reached him before his legs buckled and he fell in a heap on the castle’s stone floor. In no time at all, the creature lay lifeless.“Where did you get those moves?” Jasper asked with obvious admiration.“Before I was infected, I was a martial arts instructor,” Hank informed him. “I thought that I might have
The first thing that Lila did when she recovered from her fainting spell was to focus on her surroundings. They looked familiar. Yet, her still muddled mind couldn’t quite place them. It took several minutes of study before she realized that she was back in the wing of the vampire castle where she and Jasper had spent so many months. The room was closer to the lab than the one she’d occupied before her escape and much smaller. She’d used it to nap in a few times when she wanted a brief break from the lab but didn’t want to be too far from Jasper in case he needed her.Placing her hand on her stomach, she cradled the bump that seemed to have appeared overnight. Realizing that she was about to give birth to a baby in an environment that had never seen a vampire birth before sent a ripple of fear through her. She had no idea what to expect. She’d never had a human baby, let alone a vampire one. In fact, she didn’t even know that she’d ha
Freya propped her bare feet onto the railing of her historical home’s wrap around front porch as she slumped back into her favorite Adirondack style chair. The sun was slowly creeping below the treetops, leaving in its wake a brilliant hue of reds and yellows that almost danced along the skyline.“I love this time of day,” she said in a soft voice to Marcus who’d just pulled a chair up next to her and was mimicking her seating style.“It has a certain ambiance,” he murmured as he lit a cigar. Tipping his head back and making smoke rings, he added, “I’ll give it that.”“I am starting to feel the effects of the moon. It will be full in a few days,” she said. “Have you worked out a plan?”“I’ve got Jasper on it,” he replied.“Altering the genetics of the wolf so that we can turn at will instead of waiting for the full moon is a great long term s
Jasper popped the last of the roast beef sandwich he’d made for his lunch into his mouth and shuddered. The closer it got to the moon being full, the less he cared for the taste of cooked meat. Even the rare roast beef tasted off to him. This wasn’t a common complaint of the other werewolves with which he’d been associating. Therefore he assumed that it was either the zombie toxins or the vampire genetics in him that the moon was enhancing. Because the werewolf genetics had proven to have the strongest influence, he was surprised that they didn’t simply overpower the other traits instead of enhancing them. Since it only happened during the time of the full moon, he was confident that he was correct with his deduction.Coming to this realization filled him with dread and trepidation.His dislike for cooked meat was getting stronger with each full moon. That in itself was a serious matter. What made it worse was the fact that his craving
An expression of pure disgust consumed Samuel’s face as he and Oscar looked down at Cerie’s naked, sleeping form. Not only was her skin, dry, wrinkled, and grey from head to toe, but her ankles and wrists were tied to the bedposts. She’d struggled against the restraints so much that her flesh was raw almost to the bone.“She is damn gross,” Samuel spat.“She has lost a lot of magic,” Oscar said, “but there’s still some in her for the taking.”Visibly shuddering, the older vampire said with a grimace, “I’m not sure I can do it with the likes of that.”Raising a brow with surprise, Oscar said, “Really? You do not have to look at her. Just fuck her. Once you are doing it, keep your eyes closed and you will not know the difference. That is what I do.”“Damn,” Samuel hissed as he unfastened his pants and let them drop to his ankles. “I must be des