Page 7 of Their Blood Queen
I was always meant to be a sacrifice.
Blood drips from my finger and collects on the floor, the sound the only one in the room.
We all stare at the contract as it sizzles into finality. My arm stings, and I don’t have to look down at it to know three slashes are appearing on my skin.
One for each day I have left in the Nightingale residence.
Three days to say goodbye to my life.
Before the true nightmare begins.
CHAPTER 2
CAIN
A few moments earlier…
“Will you take a mate thisss year, Cain?” Helia asks, her s slipping on her tongue.
I don’t answer right away. Instead, I sigh and evaluate how serious she is about the dangerous prospect of a monster like me attempting to take a mate.
Again.
Usually, it’s a joke after what happened on the other failed attempts, but this year I sense she might mean it.
If she’s concerned enough to risk the life of prized selections better suited to build alliances, then perhaps I should start to worry, too.
She’s wearing her monster form, so that makes it more difficult to read her intentions. She has the freedom to show her true self whenever she likes, and I try not to indulge in the sense of envy her freedom gives me. It’s a luxury I don’t share, even though Helia’s true nature is almost as terrifying and beautiful as mine.
A long, pointed tail curls over her thigh.
Horns twist through her silky hair.
And a third eyelid flashes at me as she waits for my answer.
I’m looking at her face-to-face, which is a feat given how tall she is in this form. In my current human state, she would engulf me if she weren’t lounging.
But if I were in my true form, I’d be even bigger than she is.
She’s resting on an elegant chaise lounge, seemingly at ease despite the excitement of an approaching Monsters Night. The white velvet of the furniture makes her purple skin stand out as she curls her long nails through a male’s hair. The tattoo on his cheek marks him as one of the slave servants in Monster City, but it’s his behavior that betrays his training. Despite the terrifying creature stroking him, he’s currently kneeling obediently on the floor.
Humans serve a different purpose in Monster City than they do here. But their reward is the same as what the winning Elite families achieve in mine, so I don’t pity them. They willingly sold their mortal lives into slavery, fully knowing what they were signing up for, all because of the prize at the end of the journey.
Everyone wants immortality.
I find it overrated.
Perhaps because I’ve lived long enough to know that there are things worse than death.
Like starvation and the threat of insanity.
My monster growls inside my soul, snapping at me to demonstrate his impatience. After so many years of wearing my human form, my mind has begun to separate from him out of self-preservation.
Because he’s always hungry now, voraciously so. The only thing keeping him sated are the prayers of the Elites and some villagers who know my name.
Prayers have suited me thus far, mostly because I can’t track my prey in the Dream Realm. I can only feed on what’s freely given to me. I need to be invited in. Perhaps there are loopholes for such an invitation, but I have managed to create a system in my city that’s entirely voluntary.
Maybe that’s why I’ve never met any others like me. What creature would willingly give themselves to a monster?