Innocent Devil’s Harem Ch. 69 (Patreon)

December 19, 2021

NOTE: I wanted this chapter to involve a 69 so badly, but it just wasn't in the cards. Too much plot going on for that kind of thing to make sense at this point in the story.

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<< Chapter 68 | Ch 1 (Book1) | Ch 16 (Book 2) | Ch 31 (Book 3) | Ch 46 (Book 4) | Ch 61 (Book 5)

- CHAPTER 69: Curse -

Despite having lost most of our hope that we’d find a straggler who managed to survive being mortally wounded, Miriam and I still searched both within the second barrier, as well as the much more expansive first barrier furthest away from her mansion, in an effort to continue looking for just one survivor.

But we found none alive, with all the bodies in the outermost area having been struck down by Miriam’s crazy powerful lightning storm attack, being little more than indistinguishable charred husks as a result.

We even checked outside of the barriers entirely, with her dropping down to the forest floor to jog with me as she led us to the edges of her property, areas that weren’t within her circular ‘domain’ even though she owned the land. It was there that we found a handful of abandoned vehicles that had driven through the trees, though there wasn’t even close to the number of cars that would be required to transport the hundreds upon hundreds of enemies that attacked us.

Miriam surmised that probably the apex leader, along with a few select alphas, had come via vehicle, whereas the others were required to traverse the landscape as monsters. However, being that her idea was only a theory, she planned on contacting the local police department, all of whom she had long since charmed into practically obeying her every wish, to handle making sure all evidence disappeared.

Which would include body disposal, as well as making sure that a bunch of abandoned vehicles scattered throughout the area -- in the event the hundreds of enemies all came via car -- didn’t hit the news headlines.

I could almost imagine it now, seeing on the TV about how a ton of unexplained disappearances had occurred in one small area, them finding over fifty cars just randomly abandoned. With it growing more suspicious the more vehicles they found.

It was the type of case that Nick would probably get put on, except that it might be a detective who was just as good, but who didn’t have any kind of incentive on keeping what really happened a secret. Just what we’d need, for someone to come snooping around who might really have to be ‘dealt with’ in order to avoid things getting out of hand.

Of course, the biggest problem was that Miriam couldn’t outright compel men like I could women, instead using their addiction to her as the primary source of control. Something that was hard to achieve if she wasn’t going to actually fuck them.

Just meant that I might have to experiment compelling men too, as much as I wasn’t a fan of the idea, not being interested in having a guy look at me like I’d seen women do. But, I supposed it was better than the alternative, and if it didn’t work, then I wasn’t sure what we would do.

I supposed we might have to resort to blackmail…or worse, just killing people who caused problems, but I knew that last option was something Miriam would definitely be against.

She was a vegetarian after all, and not because she loved animals.

It was because she opposed death.

All death.

At least, whenever possible.

She was also level-headed enough to know when it was necessary, but I still felt confident she wouldn’t want to kill a human who was just doing their job in investigating a serious incident.

Once we had pretty much covered the majority of her two-thousand, or so, acres of land, having at least seen a good portion of it as we ran through, we finally arrived back at the mansion to find that it was just after 2 AM in the morning. I knew the actual attack had taken place in the late evening, probably sometime around 8 PM, with us then subsequently having been out for probably a good four or five hours once the initial threat was dealt with.

I wouldn’t call it time wasted though, since the vast majority of it was spent with Miriam, jogging side-by-side through the midnight forest, though we did return empty handed.

Everyone else was still awake of course, but it was obvious both Serenity and Gabriella were looking pretty ragged. Miriam too, if I was being honest, looked fairly tired herself, with only me, Natalie, and Gwen still looking pretty wide awake.

It also appeared that they’d grown to trust the blonde vampire more, because it looked as if Serenity, Natalie, and Gwen had gone ahead and boxed up the old man’s corpse, leaving it outside on the pavement for now, having left Gabriella alone with the girl while they did so. Although, that appeared to be a decision made on the busty redhead’s part, since she especially seemed to have grown comfortable with the vamp.

When Miriam and I walked through the front doors to the mansion, we found everyone in the grand foyer, but with Gabriella sitting on one of the many couches with her arm wrapped around the blonde girl’s shoulders, seeming to comfort her.

And that fact became especially evident when the girl immediately started trembling when she saw us, only for Gabriella to reassure her that it would be alright. The girl’s lower face was still hidden by the black veil, though I was sure everyone was well aware of what was hidden behind it.

“Well, this is unexpected,” Miriam commented as we walked over to them, focusing specifically on Gabriella.

Serenity was the one to speak up, standing next to Gwen and Natalie by a potted plant. “We had the chance to talk to her while you were gone, and we think Kai was right to remove the knife. Apparently, she’s never even taken a person’s life, having mostly drank donated blood.”

“Really,” Miriam said with raised eyebrows, looking up at Gwen.

The maid nodded. “Yes, mistress. She’s only been able to respond to yes and no questions, but I’ve been able to confirm the truth of her answers.”

“Huh,” the short minx replied, one hand on her leather-clad hip, while she held the bottle of her own blood at her side in the other, as she focused on Gabriella and the blonde vamp again. “Maybe you were pampered like a true princess, if you were allowed donated blood.”

“It’s not that,” Gabriella responded. “We don’t know the exact details, but it seems that she was abused when she was younger for refusing to feed off people, and then given away?” she said uncertainly, glancing at the girl in her one-arm embrace. When the vamp didn’t respond, instead only keeping her crimson eyes lowered, Gabriella continued. “Or sold, or something, to another family. And sounds like they were a bit more flexible with how she chose to get her blood, but still expected a lot of her.”

“Well,” Miriam said loudly, seemingly in disbelief. “That only raises a million questions. Are you a princess because you were betrothed to someone in a royal family?”

The girl hesitated briefly, before nodding, keeping her red eyes down.

“And were you one of many suitresses, or the only one?”

“Mistress,” Gwen interjected. “Yes or no questions.”

“Oh, right.” She sighed. “Were you the only suitress?”

The blonde girl shook her head.

“So, are they going to come looking for you?” Miriam asked seriously.

She didn’t respond, but her red eyes were uncertain, her blonde eyebrows knitted together slightly.

Gwen spoke up again. “I don’t think she knows.”

Miriam nodded, focusing on the girl. “Then, let me ask you this. Is it your preference to return to where you came?” she asked seriously.

The girl looked up at her in surprise, only for her red eyes to pain as she focused down again.

Miriam’s tone was unexpectedly quiet and almost empathetic. “Might it be possible that you don’t want to return, but that you aren’t sure what you’d do without their support?” She paused when the girl looked up at her in shock again, as if she was stunned that the short redhead had hit the mark exactly. Miriam then continued. “You’ve never been on your own, would have no idea how to get blood without harming a person, and feel stuck between needing to survive and being forced to live with killers. Sound about right?”

The girl’s red eyes immediately began filling with tears, and she nodded adamantly, looking like she was suddenly falling apart.

Serenity spoke up again, seeming stunned. “Since when did you become a mind reader?” she asked seriously.

Miriam only sighed. “If it’s really true that she’s never fed from a human, then it’s not too far of a leap to understand how she might feel about her predicament. Vampires cannot have children biologically, although they can still grow older, which means that this girl was likely turned at a very young age, either kidnapped or her family killed, and is probably still chronologically young.” She sighed, her expression now a little apologetic. “One of the reasons I was so harsh with her earlier was because I assumed she was much older than she appeared, but I can see now that she has all the naivety of someone barely out of her adolescence.”

“Ouch,” I said playfully, just trying to lighten the mood.

Miriam gave me a small smile. “Sorry baby, but you’re all practically children to me. Adult children, but still far younger than I am.”

“Mistress,” Gwen interjected.

Miriam looked up at her maid, seeming confused.

“I do not believe it would be accurate to say that she’s never fed from a person, as it seems that was a part of the abuse she suffered, only that she’s never taken a life.”

“Oh,” Miriam responded. “Well, either way. I can see now that I was grossly mistaken about her, and it’s caused me to be very interested in hearing the whole story from her own mouth.” She took a deep breath, only to look down at the same time that she held up the bottle of blood in her hand. She then gestured with it as she continued. “Here, it’ll be at least half a day before I can get some blood bags delivered, and I’m sure your wounds are painful. My blood is safe for you to drink.”

Everyone immediately had varying levels of shocked reactions, with it being obvious that both Serenity and Gabriella didn’t know it was even blood in the bottle, while the blonde girl seemed stunned for an entirely different reason.

Stunned…and then afraid, starting to tremble again.

Gwen quickly spoke up. “Mistress, she thinks this is a test. She’s terrified you’ll kill her if she accepts it.”

Miriam seemed surprised now. “Oh. No, I’m not going to hurt you for accepting it. If anything, it’s so you can speak for yourself.”

I decided to chime in. “Not that I oppose, but what if your cameras do end up picking up on a straggler that survived?”

Miriam shrugged. “I have one more bottle as a backup, which has a spell on it to prevent it from coagulating. And absolute worst case, I’ll just have to do it the old fashion way by cutting my wrist.”

I grimaced at that, but nodded, knowing my concern was a bit misplaced anyway, since if we found a straggler at this point then it meant they were completely unharmed, which of course implied that we could keep them prisoner for days until we actually used them as a sacrifice. If that even happened in the first place.

Miriam focused on the girl again, seeing that she still seemed uncertain. Thus, her tone became firm as she continued. “If I’m going to let you walk around in my home, then I expect you to obey me, okay? This isn’t some stupid test.” Miriam paused to move closer, practically placing the bottle in the blonde’s lap between her wounded hands. “Now, take this, so that I can hear the full story from your own mouth.”

The girl accepted it tentatively, her fingers trembling, only to glance at everyone and then focus up at Gwen with a pleading expression.

The sexy maid spoke up. “She wishes to drink it in private. She is unable to drink it normally, due to her damaged mouth, and doesn’t want everyone to see her face.”

Miriam sighed heavily. “Okay, Gwen just take her upstairs, to the room Kai and Natalie were in.” She focused on me. “Kai, let’s go ahead and bring the crate inside.”

“It won’t be too heavy?” I wondered.

She shook her head. “Honestly, you could probably carry it yourself, but with just one person inside, I should be fine to help you bring it in.”

I nodded, glancing at Serenity and Gabriella, who in turn exchanged a look with each other.

Serenity spoke up. “We’ll just wait here, since it sounds like you’ll be right back. I should probably call Michelle again anyway. I’m pretty sure she and Avery are still up.” She sighed. “And I need to set myself a reminder to call your school again, since obviously you probably aren’t going at this point.”

I shrugged, noticing for the first time that Natalie was being exceptionally quiet. “I could stay up if I really had to,” I said to Serenity. “So let’s play that one by ear. Obviously, I don’t really want to, but I can’t exactly just skip the last month of classes. Miss more than two days and people will start asking questions. And I’m sure it won’t go unnoticed that Avery was off on Monday too. Last thing we need is rumors to start spreading.”

She nodded. “I’ll leave it up to you, but I’m still going to set myself a reminder just in case. Although, I might need to go into work myself. Their attendance policy sucks, and I’m already sort of in trouble for getting involved, even after getting taken off the case, when Gabriella got kidnapped. If I can get a few hours of sleep, I should be functional.”

“Makes sense,” I agreed simply, knowing there wasn’t much more to discuss at this point when there was still work to do. Thus, I turned to follow after Miriam back into the dining hall.

I could sense that Natalie wanted to follow, so I nonverbally gave her permission to do so, prompting her to whisper that she was going to go with us and then casually following after.

In the meantime, Gwen spoke to the blonde vamp, requesting she follow her upstairs. The girl listened without complaint, so I focused on the sexy succubus in front of me leading the way, quickly becoming distracted by her swaying midnight tail, and small tight ass in those glossy leather pants.

She still smelled as amazing as ever, prompting me to comment on it. Her skin and shirt were dry now, but the intoxicating scent coming off her was really potent.

“You know, most people stink after they sweat a lot, but you just smell better.”

Miriam giggled at the unexpected compliment, slowing down for a second to walk beside me, her emerald gaze affectionate as she looked up at me while slipping her small hand in mine. She then glanced back at Natalie, who was staying roughly twenty feet behind us, only to respond. “Yeah, that’s definitely a succubus thing. The more I work up a sweat while fucking, the more potent all my biological influences become. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that I do actually release pretty powerful pheromones when I want, and sometimes when I’m not necessarily trying, but have the right stimulation.”

I nodded as we began moving through the breakfast room, heading for the conservatory, kind of surprised that Natalie didn’t seem to be reacting negatively to that kind of talk. “Yeah, that’s not shocking at all. Although, that makes me wonder if that’s also how you mess with people’s heads?”

“I assume you mean when I make ideas feel real to you, like when I tried to make you see me as a classmate after we first met.”

“Wow, yeah, that was exactly what I was thinking of too,” I admitted, recalling when I first saw her in the kitchen after she used her soul scrying spell on me. “Or when you made it feel like we were really sneaking around and might get caught if we didn’t hurry, once you decided to help with my third-eye,” I added.

She smirked, reaching up to brush some of the leaves of the plants we were passing in the conservatory, not responding until we stepped outside. Her tone was unexpectedly concerned. “You don’t feel like I’m being manipulative, do you?” she asked seriously.

I looked down at her in surprise. “No, not at all. I actually kind of like it. And I’d imagine that it probably takes roleplay to a whole new level, since you could make it feel real.”

“Yep,” she agreed, glancing back at Natalie again for a brief second. “I can definitely make any fantasy feel real. And honestly, I’ve done the vast majority of them probably a million times. Usually pretending to be a person who would normally be taboo to fuck, like a mother or daughter.” She giggled. “Lots of men like to be called daddy in bed. And plenty more are happy to call me mommy, even if I look young.”

Of course, that disclosure didn’t bother me at all at this point. If anything, I was more than aware of the lifestyle she’d lived previously, and really just wanted to get to know her better. To have a better grasp of who she was, and the kind of experiences she’d had over her life.

I wanted to know Miriam.

When I didn’t respond, she continued. “But to answer your question, I’m sure that my pheromones play a role, but there’s definitely a magical element to it. Feels natural, like breathing, but I’m not sure that my influence could be assessed by traditional means.”

I simply nodded, since we were stepping up to the undisturbed crate resting on the pavement out back behind her mansion. Natalie had stopped on the porch, being well aware that she probably wasn’t strong enough to help, given that she was pretty much a normal person when she wasn’t a transformed monster.

“Makes sense,” I said simply.

Bending down, I carefully got my fingers under one edge, only to begin lifting it up. Of course, it didn’t feel any heavier than it had to lift the guy when he was alive, and I realized Miriam was probably right about me carrying the crate by myself, with the only problem being the awkwardness of carrying a four-foot long box.

Like, his center of gravity wasn’t exactly in the middle, making me hesitant to try getting it on my shoulder, concerned I might drop him and disturb the knife in his chest.

I was about to ask Miriam what she thought, only for her to get into position, spread her knees, her leather pants creaking slightly, and lower her ass halfway to the ground as she got her fingers underneath the crate. She then lifted right up, keeping her back perfectly straight as she rose using only her legs, her thin thighs looking hot as fuck as they tensed underneath the black glossy material.

“Wow,” I said in disbelief. “I think you’d make every store manager in existence very proud. That was perfect lifting form.”

She giggled at that. “Who do you think posed for the depictions?” she said playfully. “But in all seriousness, I might be stronger and more resilient than most human women, but even I can be prone to injury. Haven’t hurt myself in a long time thanks to the techniques I learned from an Indian witch doctor.”

“Indian, as in from India?” I wondered, as we began moving sideways toward the porch. “Like, yoga?”

She giggled again. “Kama Sutra is a very fascinating text, if you’ve never checked it out. Most of the good sex positions are mainstream at this point, but I bet I could teach you a few fun ones, like Jerk the Monkey.”

“Sounds very interesting,” I replied. “But that was also how you learned to avoid injury?”

“Well, Kama Sutra is about much more than just sex, and doesn’t really cover the techniques the witch doctor showed me. I suppose yoga would be more accurate, although I don’t think there’s actually a yoga pose for how I just lifted this. Not sure.”

I was about to respond, but unexpectedly we both froze solid when we heard Gwen yell for Miriam at the same time that it sounded like someone projectile vomited all over the place. We both looked at each other with wide eyes, even as we almost dropped the crate in sync, setting it down roughly and bolting for the conservatory entrance.

Natalie was confused as hell, running after us anyway, but being far slower.

I knew I probably wasn’t the best person to help with whatever was going on, but I couldn’t help but run at full speed, rapidly leaving Miriam behind, to the point that I was entering the grand foyer just when she reached the halfway point through the dining hall, Natalie having barely reached the table, ignoring Serenity and Gabriella’s shocked looks as I dashed for the twin staircase close to where they were sitting.

“What’s wrong?!” Serenity asked as she and Gabriella chased after me.

But I didn’t know how to answer them, and was too busy focusing on the panicked coughing, followed by more vomiting.

Gwen must have run to get help, because she met me at the top of the stairs, quickly stopping and running with me as she spoke.

“I don’t know what’s wrong. She got some blood down just fine, but then all her wounds started bleeding.”

I rushed through the open bedroom door and zipped past the bed where I’d fucked Natalie earlier, knowing the sounds were coming from the bathroom.

What I saw was worse than I was expecting.

The blonde girl was on her hands and knees on the floor, and it was more than just her wounds.

She was beginning to bleed from both her ears and eyes, the dark crimson fluid mixing with her tears as she looked up at me in a panic, everything about her expression begging for help. But I had no idea how to help her, urgently glancing at the counter to see the undisturbed bottle of blood, still appearing to have over ninety percent of it remaining, as if she’d barely had a few sips.

The pleading expression only lasted for a second though, before she bent over again, vomiting more blood just as Miriam finally reached the room.

“I thought you said your blood was safe for her to drink!” I exclaimed.

The succubus focused on me in alarm. “It is safe! She…” Her voice trailed off as she looked down at the girl, her emerald eyes widening as she took in the sight. “Fuck! She has Alukah’s Exorcism!”

“What in the hell is that?”

Her emerald eyes were still wide. “It’s a type of curse that reverses vampire biology. Instead of blood healing them, it causes damage! It kills them! And this didn’t just happen recently! She must have been cursed prior to escaping into that hellish dimension, because this is almost as bad as that blood curse on your stone!”

Fuck!

“How can we help her?” I asked urgently.

She threw her hands up in defeat. “It’s a literal death sentence! I’m not sure if there’s even a cure! I think…” She abruptly pressed her hands on her temples, partially grabbing her own head with her eyes closed, suddenly seeming extremely frustrated. “Shit, I think for a female vampire, the purity of a virgin man’s blood, willingly offered, is supposed to help, but…fuck! It’s been forever since I read about this! I don’t remember!”

“Do you think that will really work?”

She just looked at me in disbelief. “Even if it did, we don’t exactly have a virgin here! And even if we kidnapped someone, I’m pretty sure it has to be willingly offered! No sane person is going to let a monster take their blood, and possibly kill them in the process!”

I knew what she meant about ‘monster,’ since the girl looked like a nightmare right now, especially with her mouth so badly damaged. No way any guy would even be lured in by her beauty, since she was far from attractive in this condition.

“Dammit,” I muttered, sincerely frustrated as the girl vomited blood again, knowing Gabriella, Serenity, and Natalie were all just outside the bathroom now. I then gritted my teeth. “Fuck, I know I’m not a virgin, but what if I try? Is it possible that the willingness part is all that really matters?”

“Kai, if it doesn’t work, then you’ll just make her die faster!” She grabbed her head again in sincere frustration. “Shit, Gwen, grab the sealing knife! That’s the only way we can stop her from dying right now!”

The girl screamed at that, seeming sincerely terrified, only to vomit more blood all over the tiled floor.

“Just let me try,” I urged. “And if it looks like it’s killing her faster, then we’ll seal her.”

Miriam just shook her head in disbelief. “Kai, I know you want to have hope that your blood can fix anything, but your optimism might really kill her.”

“Then let’s allow her to decide,” I offered.

She grimaced at that, though the gesture was enough to provoke me to action.

I quickly knelt down beside the girl, growing out my claws so that I could dig into my graying wrist as I spoke. She was trembling violently, her disfigured lower face a bloody mess, her bony mouth hanging open, her panicked groans and whimpers coming out between her shaky breaths.

“I’m really sorry. We didn’t mean for this to happen, but you have to decide right now. We either need to seal you while we look for a cure, or else you can try some of my blood first. It might make it worse, and we might have to seal you anyway, but…” I paused when she abruptly vomited more blood, her arms trembling violently as she whimpered. “I’m willingly offering my blood, so if you want to try, then do it now before Gwen gets back with the knife.”

She whimpered again, only to nod.

That was all I needed to take things into my own hands.

Grabbing for her barely clinging veil and ripping it the rest of the way off, fully showing her exposed jaw, teeth, and damaged interior of her mouth, I simultaneously jabbed my claw into my skin as deep as I could while shoving my wrist into her mouth, forcing her head back and then grabbing the back of her head while I held my breath and strained all my muscles to try to raise my blood pressure.

The girl winced as she took a gulp of the blood splashing into her throat, only to urgently pull away as the bones in her face snapped loudly.

I was immediately alarmed as she groaned in a panic, afraid I had made it worse, only to be shocked when I noticed the color returning to her face, with some of the raw areas on her jawline growing brighter red, like freshly torn flesh, even as all her teeth began to elongate and her jaw widened…

Even as dark veins began forming around her crimson eyes.

Holy fuck.

She had a transformed state like werewolves did!

And the fact that my blood had provoked it could only mean one thing.

Sensing the fear, panic, and existential dread coming from her, I immediately knew what I had to do.

I reached out and grabbed her body, pulling her into my arms while running my fingers through her blonde hair, causing her to scream urgently as I grabbed a fistful and tilted her head back while thrusting her mouth against my throat.

Her teeth sank in like a reflex, and she groaned almost in pain as I heard her gulp the blood rushing out, even as she tried to push herself away, her hands tense against my chest.

“Kai!” everyone screamed at once, with Serenity and Gabriella both transforming, rushing over to try to pull her off me.

My head was spinning now, as I tried to tell them to stop, unable to speak, but then the daggers in my throat pulled out on their own, the girl urgently burying her head against my chest in an attempt to get away from what she’d just been doing, bursting into tears as her body trembled violently in my arms.

She was beginning to make the most pitiful and terrified sounds I’d ever heard, sounding like a beaten and tormented soul.

I spoke up the moment my rapidly healing neck would allow me. “I’m fine,” I croaked out, holding onto the girl tightly as I eased us back so I could lean against the nearest wall, my head still spinning a little.

Of course, a small part of me wondered if her drinking my blood would have a similar effect as when I injected it directly into someone’s vein, or if everything might be different for a vampire, in general, but the alternative had been letting her die, so I wasn’t too focused on it at the moment.

Because my own body felt a little cold now, and I could feel my own thirst rising, knowing I was going to have to make hunting down my own source of blood a priority soon.

Serenity and Gabriella had stopped trying to pull her out of my arms after initially grabbing her, but they stuck close, with Serenity sitting down at my side while Gabriella crouched right next to me. And then, much to my surprise, the girl spoke, though I couldn’t understand her.

“Mio signore dio,” she whimpered, sounding as pitiful as ever. “Perché mi hai abbandonato.”

I looked up to see Miriam grimacing, only for Gabriella to speak up. “What’s she saying?”

The short minx sighed heavily. “She’s not speaking to us.” She took a deep breath. “She’s…” Miriam sighed. “Asking God…why he’s forsaken her.”

Fuck.

Suddenly, I understood exactly what this girl said, as if she’d spoken it in a language I understood.

‘My Lord God, why have you forsaken me?’

Fuck.

She didn’t ask for this. She didn’t want to be a monster, and clearly she’d done everything in her power to try to retain her humanity. She’d done everything in her power to remain good, even though she’d been turned into an inherently evil creature.

And I felt that same struggle strike a cord in my own soul, knowing I’d felt like a monster only days ago, and realizing I’d sort of lucked out by being able to feed off of animal blood. Because, what if that hadn’t been reality? What if I’d discovered it had to be human blood?

Then what?

And I knew Miriam felt the same. Her pained expression said it all.

She’d had to give up any semblance of a normal relationship for a long time, since she too could be lethal to most people.

I took a deep breath, focusing on Gwen when I realized she was standing just outside the bathroom door, having returned with the knife, her expression somber as well. I then focused on Miriam again. “So now what?” I wondered.

She similarly took another deep breath. “Well, it looks like it worked. I sensed the curse break almost immediately after she swallowed the blood from your wrist.” She then gave a small smile, sounding like she was trying to lighten the mood, her tone having a hint of playfulness. “Which either means that the willingness part is what mattered, or else your soul is just that pure. Or maybe all the times we fucked didn’t count, and I need to work extra hard to ensure the universe doesn’t perceive you as a virgin.”

I scoffed at that, rolling my eyes, but actually appreciating the teasing. “Oh, and…” I paused as I glanced down, seeing just enough of the girl’s cheek through her blonde hair to verify that it looked like her face was mostly healed. She was sobbing still and didn’t seem to be fully with us mentally. Still, I lowered my voice. “Was it normal for her face to change like that?” I asked hesitantly.

The girl stiffened.

Miriam shrugged. “Let’s just say I’m not surprised. Both the werewolf and vampire curses share the same original ritual, just with different goals in mind. Immortality and rapid regeneration came with a lethal reaction to the sun and need for blood to survive, while increased strength and power came with loss of control and a painful transformation. So I wouldn’t say it’s abnormal. I’ve heard of vampires having transformations before, especially under stressful or traumatizing circumstances.”

I simply nodded, not wanting to inquire more when it was clearly a sensitive subject for the trembling girl in my arms.

“Well,” I said after a moment. “If the curse is broken, then that probably means she can use that bottle of blood now. In the meantime, I need to do my own hunting in the woods.”

“Oh, of course Kai,” Miriam said simply.

Serenity spoke up, still seeming stressed by everything that just transpired. “Mind if I go with you?” she asked quietly.

I nodded. “Sure, Ren. Love you.”

“Love you too,” she whispered.

Gabriella took a deep breath then, standing up, speaking to the shorter redhead. “Well, if you’ve got some supplies, I can help clean up. Do you have something she can wear? That robe definitely needs to be washed.”

Miriam nodded, glancing back at her maid. “Gwen, please grab one of the cleaning carts, and something for our guest to wear.”

“Yes mistress,” she replied. “I’ll leave the knife in your room for now.”

“That’s fine. Thank you, Gwen.”

She didn’t respond, turning to go do as she’d been asked.

Taking a final deep breath, I sat up straighter, prompting the blonde vamp to immediately scoot away, her hands splashing in some of the blood she’d just vomited, her body still trembling as she sniffled.

Much to my complete shock, I watched as the blood directly around her hand began slowly, but noticeably, disappearing as if her body was absorbing the crimson fluid directly through her skin. My mind immediately flashed back to when I’d woken up after dying, recalling that her bare feet had likewise seemed to have an outline around where she was standing as if the blood was actually repelled by her body.

In reality, I realized the opposite was true, which only brought up a bunch of questions.

Because, I was well aware I had some vampiric qualities, but I hadn’t anticipated an elite vampire being able to absorb blood directly through their skin…like I apparently could. After all, several times now I’d been exposed to blood, on my face or otherwise, only for it to disappear.

Fuck, just what kind of creature was I?

Maybe I really was some kind of Frankenstein monster, on the genetic level, at least. Because I seemed to have the traits of werewolves, vampires, imp lords, and possible even arch demons. Never mind the fact that my biological father was undoubtedly an incubus.

Like, seriously, what the fuck.

FEEDBACK: Thoughts on this chapter? Does Kai and Miriam's change of heart feel natural (or understandable)?

Chapter 70 >>