Blood and Madness Page 13

  I made Mary sit up. Candace’s spell paralyzed her soul, but mine wasn’t. So, I used her skin to save us both.

  James fell over backward, flopping his penis in the air, as the tentacle dug deeper into his stomach. He was shrieking in agony, but that felt good. The tentacles fed on dark emotions. And, they could consume fear, as well as pain.

  Intense, sexual gratification rolled down the tentacles, forcing me to put her hands behind her body to steady Mary. Unbidden, Mary’s back arched, and she moaned.

  Shit.

  That felt so good.

  Mary began to clench inside… in pleasure. Wetness and some of Jame’s precum began to leak out of her, as the tentacle pushed deeper into James.

  Then, Mary moved her head just a little.

  Down the tentacle, Candace’s soul slid.

  Mary swallowed it whole.

  It felt… oh fuck… so good to slurp Candace’s thoughts and memories down. For a few, tantalizing seconds…

  I saw Candace as a little girl, playing in a park. She was sitting on the swings, watching as her father came to push her.

  Then, I saw her looking down at a man, as she rode him for the first time.

  Charles.

  Her brother’s name was Charles.

  Disgusted, I tried to stop the flow.

  But, instead, more tore through Mary’s mind.

  I saw Candace graduating from college. She was walking across the stage. Under her gown, she was naked. And… Charle’s golden Ben Wa balls were stuffed in her pussy. They shivered and shook in her with each step.

  The presenter looked at her in confusion when she stopped and shuddered. The balls rattled within her, tearing at her control...

  A tremendous climax began building inside Mary. She loved watching other people’s emotions.

  This… this was the only way that she could feel them… even for just a second.

  She arched her back, regaining some of her faculties… and spread her legs wider. James screamed as Mary laughed and licked her lips.

  His soul slipped out of his flesh and traveled into my lover.

  I saw James standing over a naked woman with a ruler in his hands.

  Whack.

  She bit her lip and cried, but instead of asking him to stop, she said, “Please… Master… another.”

  James hit her again and again… growing harder with each strike.

  Then… I saw him standing in front of my father.

  What?

  I looked at Mog as he stared at the little accountant.

  “Bring my son to me…” he decreed.

  Then, Jame’s soul became fuel for Mary’s mind.

  She awoke some more, as my panicked mind thrashed. James had known my father!

  Those two souls swirled inside of Mary, right below her belly button. When all the girls and I had sex on the airship, the power had primed Mary’s mana vault. She had been close to creating another arcane bubble inside of her mind.

  When James’s soul began to burn within her…

  Mary’s vault exploded.

  Instead of intense pain, like I always felt when my mind expanded and power-filled it, Mary shrieked with pleasure. A nearly never-ending climax filled her body, making it clench and spasm again and again.

  Two new sigils slipped out of her mana vault, pulsating with power.

  Mary moaned with pleasure, unlike me, her power grew without pain.

  Chuckling, Mary stroked Candace’s memories, going over each of them like they were precious baubles.

  And, to her… they were.

  Mary had difficulty experiencing emotions.

  But, Candace hadn’t.

  Mary leaned back and moaned, as both bodies fell off her tentacles. She wanted to stay here and just absorb each second of those recollections.

  But, we didn’t have time for that.

  Forcing Mary’s mind to the side, I retook control of her body. Without any grace, I slid off of the altar, almost slipping on Candace’s blood.

  “Mary,” I yelled in her mind. “Mary... wake up!”

  I grabbed some of the soul energy that was swirling inside of her. Then, I jammed it in the direction of Mary’s thoughts.

  When that didn’t work, I shouted, “I command you to awaken!”

  That did it.

  Mary’s mind woke up with a gasp. Then, the poison that Candace had forced down my lover’s throat came shooting out. Mary bent over, vomiting fiercely.

  But, she was awake.

  And… more importantly… free.

  - 31 -

  Mary wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Then, she hacked loudly pulling air from up in her sinuses, before spitting on Candace’s corpse.

  Smiling wickedly, she stretched and prepared to fuck people up. James and Candace’s souls were swirling happily in her stomach, raw power always tasted so good.

  And… Inside her mind was… holy fuck.

  Sigils.

  Dozens and dozens of arcane bubbles that hadn’t been there before. When Mary ate Candace’s soul, she absorbed her magic along with her soul energy. They floated in Mary’s mind like a sinister little army of death.

  Candace had been a violent, bloodthirsty member of the House of the Serpent. And, her spells displayed that bent with a savage delight.

  Dozens of offensive spells filled my lover’s mind.

  Then, a spark erupted deep in my soul. Relief nearly overwhelmed me.

  Hana was awake… just like The Lady of Plants had warned us. Felmorna had revived her somehow, and now the evil bitch was preparing to kill my lover again.

  Pain flooded Hana’s mind, as Felmorna stabbed her in the leg.

  Hana screamed.

  And… Mary could hear her.

  Emotions… alien, human emotions… came alive in Mary’s soul. She didn’t understand them, but she did understand the adrenaline and endorphins.

  Mary was furious.

  For the first time in her life, she had sparked a real, human emotion.

  Fury.

  Mary was pissed.

  Without thinking, she stepped over Candace and James’s corpses and strode to the doors. Throwing them open, she surprised both guards. Neither of them had come in when they heard both of Mary’s tormenters screaming. To them, it was just another victim.

  Mary’s tentacles shot out and impaled one of them in the chest and wrapped around the other’s guard’s face.

  Then… she squeezed.

  Blood began squirting out of the coils in the loops of her tentacle… then… ploock... the Goblin’s head exploded like an over-full bag of crap. Brains and pieces of skull shot straight up in the air, covering the ceiling in a geyser.

  The impaled Goblin screamed, as the tentacle turned inside of him, and then exited his back. With a sadistic glee, Mary used it to grab the back of the creature’s head.

  Then... she slammed its face into the ground, again… and again. Shrieks of misery slowly ebbed and then stopped as she smashed the Goblin to death.

  Both of their souls floated up and into my lover.

  Cackling with glee, Mary radiated power. Soul energy is like nitrogen fuel to motorcycles. It can be used to overpower spells to staggering degrees.

  Hana screamed again, snapping Mary’s head around.

  Snarling in a fury, Mary dashed forward, completely naked except for the blood and gore covering her body. Two more Goblins came around the corner. They stopped dead in their tracks when they saw her. Then, they turned and fled, dropping their spears to the ground.

  At the end of the hallway, Mary slammed through the two double doors and sprinted into the room. The Lady of Plants turned and looked at her in shock.

  Shrieking in a rage, Mary unleashed all of Candace’s spells on the Malignant, along with every ounce of soul energy that she had harvested from Candace, James, and the two Goblins.

  Lightning, fire, ice, and torrents of magical power slammed into Alagossa and picked her up, hammering her into the wall. The Lady of
Foulmire screamed as her legs were torn off and incinerated at the same time.

  Holding up her hand, Mary used a telekinesis spell to slam Alagossa from one wall into another. Red, nasty splotches covered both walls, as Mary pressed her hands together, crushing and snapping Felmorna’s ribs.

  Then, the spell died.

  The Lady of Plants collapsed to the ground, landing with a wet splat. The creature was now only a pile of gushing wounds…

  Blood bubbled out of her mouth as she coughed and choked.

  But, she wasn’t dead yet.

  Mary stared at her in shock. She had never fought a Malignant before. The depth of power that was jammed into the Unclean flesh was astonishing.

  My lover twisted her tentacles, trying to decide what to do.

  If she sank both of them into Felmorna, Mary could claim the creature’s soul, sucking her dry. But, that would mean touching the infected sorceror.

  Mary would win… but the triumph would be her last.

  Unclean.

  Mary would become an Unclean thing, infected by the living corpse that was only inches away from her.

  A psychopath’s calmness descended on Mary’s mind, as her fury evaporated. Killing the Malignant wasn’t as crucial as saving Hana.

  Hana was important to Bazal.

  Killing Felmorna wasn’t.

  The choice was easy.

  Mary wasn’t fighting my control like Taesa was. She liked not having to be in charge. It freed her time up… immensely. And choices were easier. If it made Bazal happy, then it was good.

  Turning, Mary walked calmly over to Hana. The little Hidden-Goblin had a knife jammed into her leg. Gouts of blood were gushing out of the wound.

  Without emotion, Mary grabbed a rope and tied off Hana’s leg, making a tourniquet. Then, she picked up the younger woman and carried her out of the room, leaving the injured monster behind.

  Revenge could wait.

  Hana couldn’t.

  - 32 -

  I tried to wake up.

  Hana and Mary needed me.

  But, Oba Shufen’s spell held me fast asleep. My mind could wander, but it couldn’t wake up my flesh.

  Snap.

  One of my ribs cracked and slipped out of my skin. If I had been awake, it would have broken my mind, especially with my flesh flayed open.

  Wakening up right now was impossible.

  I needed Taesa.

  Reaching out to her, I forced my way into her mind. It should have been easy.

  Each step of the way was hard. Something had blocked my connection to her. Growling, I forced the bond open.

  And found a human woman instead of a Pale Witch. Making love to Azlin had completed the process.

  Taesa was looking into a mirror.

  And, she knew that I was looking at her.

  Taesa was beautiful. I had expected pale white Caucasian skin. Instead, Taesa’s skin was a deep brown. Her long dark hair was filled with tight black curls that glistened in the candlelight.

  Her eyes were magnetic. They were a pale brown with a touch of almond yellow burning in their core. I couldn’t stop staring at them. They seemed to pull me in and drown all of my thoughts.

  “I wanted to be me again… for so long,” Taesa mused. “But, now I can’t help Mary and Hana... at all.”

  I felt a deep and abiding hatred of herself bubble up into her mind. Taesa was profoundly miserable and humiliated.

  “I let the Elf poison me…” she admitted, “so I could be human again. I knew what she was doing and encouraged her.”

  Tears filled her eyes.

  “I’m sorry, Bazal,” Taesa said, as she picked up a knife.

  I could feel her thoughts.

  Death was only inches away.

  “I fought to be free of your grip,” Taesa choked, “when I should have been just happy to be wanted… and needed… again.”

  Raising her forearm, she stared at her veins, choosing where she would sink the blade.

  “If I let her, Azlin will use me to hurt you,” she whispered, “poisoning your mind through our link.”

  Lifting the knife up into the air, she muttered, “I will not let that happen.”

  “We will all die if you kill yourself,” I yelled at her.

  It was the only thing that I could think of saying.

  I know that she wanted to hear, “I love you. Don’t do it.”

  But, I didn’t love her, not yet. Maybe someday, when I knew her better. But, right now, I didn’t.

  I cared about her.

  I didn’t want her hurt or unhappy.

  And, I wanted to protect Taesa, and give her a safe place to live.

  But love?

  Not yet. For me, real love took time to grow.

  “Hana is hurt,” I told her. “I am in the middle of surgery. Mary is alone and defenseless, in the home of a killer. If you die… we will all die.”

  It was selfish and petty. I was putting what I needed before her feelings. She needed me to love her.

  But I didn’t.

  I saw her as mine… to care for, to be with, to protect. I let her feel those feelings. Lying, and saying, “I love you,” would have been worse. She would have sensed the deceit.

  The truth was always better.

  “Please…” was all I could get out when her mind wavered toward death.

  Slowly, she began to lower the weapon. Apparently, please was the right word.

  Then, a wave of apple-blossom drenched depression and hopelessness rolled over her mind. I could smell the freshly picked blossoms in the air all around her.

  “Do it,” Azlin prompted from behind her. “End your suffering.”

  Taesa looked up into the mirror, seeing Azlin in the reflection. The Elf was naked and still wet from their lovemaking. She should have been beautiful, with her red hair and exotic features. But, her face was a mask of horror.

  “You are useless and fat,” she spat out. “You’re nothing but a drain on Bazal’s resources.”

  Leaning closer, she whispered. “He doesn’t love you, no one does.”

  Melancholy filled Taesa’s mind, pushing me to the very edges of her thoughts. The knife slowly raised back up into the air.

  “They will be better off without you,” Azlin insisted. “You poor, stupid bitch.”

  Kneeling closer, Azlin wrapped her arms around Taesa, pulling her body close to my suicidal lover. I could feel her full breasts pushing into Taesa’s back, as the serpent whispered death into my lover’s ear.

  “He never loved you… Taesa,” Azlin mused, as she slowly kissed her neck. “Bazal only uses you for his own gain. You are nothing… to him.”

  Azlin’s scent wrapped around the darker-skinned woman smothering Taesa’s ability to reason. Hopelessness flowed over her flesh, dragging her soul down into the depths of self-hatred.

  I could feel the depression in her wet kiss. Azlin was leaking misery with her very touch.

  Mournflower.

  That was Azlin’s true name.

  She fed on despair, pain, and sorrow. Suicide was her bread and butter. Azlin loved its taste as she swallowed it down.

  And… she was hungry.

  “I warned you, wizard,” she whispered, as Taesa’s hand quivered and shook. It would only take one little push, and the blade would descend.

  “He choose the other girls,” Azlin insisted. “Bazal picked my mother--knowing--it meant your death.”

  I wanted to scream that she was lying.

  But Azlin wasn’t. I had hoped that I could rescue all of my women, but I made my decision based on what was best for me.

  If I didn’t lie to myself… my real goal was power. And, I wanted it more than I wanted any of them.

  Despair filled my mind, as I was finally honest with myself.