Page 12 of Kiss of Seduction (Court of Chains #1)

“Smell that, Austin?” Stefano sniffed at the air around Evie’s head, sighing with satisfaction. “ Fear . It gives the blood a smoky taste.”

“She smells delicious,” Austin said. The young, white-haired man regarded Evie with the keen interest of a hungry predator.

The youngest of Varro’s spawn, he was cruel, violent, and disliked by almost everyone at the estate—including his Maker.

He still didn’t have his urges completely under control.

He’d killed five slaves just in the past year.

“Varro has been protective of this one,” Stefano said. “You’ve never tasted her. Isn’t that right, Austin? We should remedy that.”

Stefano ran a hand through Evie’s hair, and she flinched away from him.

Most of the red dye had washed out, and she was closer to her natural strawberry blonde, except for one side of her head that was bloody crimson.

She’d gotten cut when Stefano pushed her to the floor, and she hit her head on the coffee table.

Stefano had enthralled her into complacency when he made her invite them inside, though it was nothing like when Natalya had done something similar.

Evie still had agency then. When enthralled, she acted with complete obedience as she invited Varro’s progenies into her apartment and let them gag her with a cloth in her mouth and duct tape over her lips.

He dropped the enthralling when she could no longer scream for help or rescind their invitation. Stefano could’ve made her comply throughout this assault, but that wasn’t his way. He wanted her scared. He wanted her to remember.

Stefano touched her bloody scalp and licked his fingers. He sighed with satisfaction.

“Come have a taste,” Stefano said, gesturing at Austin.

“Varro said to return with her swiftly, but I think the Chains are busy enough with all those ferals we spent the past month herding to their borders. I don’t see why we can’t have a little fun.

It would be almost criminal if we didn’t when they served her up for us so wonderfully unguarded. ”

Stefano lifted Evie up by her hair. She screamed against the gag. “Tasty Evelyn. Or is it Eva now? That was clever. You know we had to use fucking humans to find you?”

He let her go, and she collapsed on the floor. Austin grinned, moving towards her, and Evie shuffled away from him as he advanced. They’d tied her hands behind her back but left her feet free. She could try to get away if she wanted. Stefano had always enjoyed a chase.

“How adorable!” Stefano laughed. “She’s trying to run.”

Austin laughed too, rushing her until he was on all fours, hovering over her body, and Evie was on her back. He pressed himself against her and inhaled. She could feel his erection through his clothes. She froze in place.

“Fuck, that’s savory.” Austin trailed a hand to the hem of her jeans. “Though the slut isn’t wearing her uniform. All covered up like this. Like she belongs to herself. I think I’d like to fuck her while I feed.”

Stefano pulled Austin off her.

“I said you could taste her, not fuck her.” Stefano’s eyes glinted with malice. “You’d make a mess of it, and she needs to stick around for a long while so she can feel just how disappointed we are in our sweet Evelyn.”

The gleeful cruelty in his eyes made Evie even more terrified. She was more than familiar with Stefano’s viciousness. Whatever he had planned would probably make her pray for death. And it definitely wouldn’t be quick.

She started to shuffle away, scrambling towards the apartment door. There was a dark laugh, and then Stefano appeared in front of her, blocking her escape. He was undoing his belt. She turned, but Austin was on her opposite side. He flashed his teeth, showing a pair of yellowed fangs.

“I’ll have first taste then,” he said, slamming her face into the floor. Her forehead smacked against it hard enough to make her head ring and her sight blurry.

There was weight on her back, and then a shredding sound as her shirt was torn open. Cold fingers touched her skin, making her shiver. Evie realized her blurry vision wasn’t from disorientation but from tears.

She knew what was about to happen. Her mind started to go blank.

There was a loud crash, and Evie looked up. She could see the apartment door between Stefano’s legs, saw it shake and tremble, and then swing open, nearly breaking off the hinges. The apartment was dark, but the hallway was lit. It created an illuminated backdrop to Natalya standing in the doorway.

She was a dark silhouette, wearing a black dress torn to shreds from the thighs down.

Grayish, violet smoke oozed around her feet, and her hands ended in claws rather than fingers.

Contrasted with the hallway light, she was a shadowy form except for her slitted scarlet eyes that glowed with horrible rage.

As she stepped into the apartment, the smoke flowed with her like the train of a dress.

“Hello, boys,” Natalya said, and this wasn’t the warm, controlled voice Evie had come to know her by. This was the many-layered rumble of a being made to ruin men.

“What the fuck…” Austin’s weight disappeared from her back.

Natalya’s face was more visible now. There were no whites in her eyes. They were all crimson, and her skin had a scaly, purple sheen. A terrifying being to behold. Evie couldn’t look away from her.

“Having fun, are we?” A forked tongue snaked its way out between Natalya’s teeth. “And you didn’t think to invite me? Now, that’s just rude.”

“What the fuck, Stefano!” Austin had gotten completely off her now. Stefano hadn’t moved from where he was standing.

“You stole our property,” Stefano said with contempt. “We’re only taking back what’s ours. Do you have any idea how rare she is?”

“Rare?” Natalya chuckled, and the noise sounded like a precursor to pain. “You know what’s rarer than her? I am. A demon free of her summoner, a greater fiend unbound. And you managed to piss me off.”

In her current visage, the words were easy to believe. If this was Natalya’s true form, Evie understood better why Varro had been wary of her presence.

“My last Master was a lot like you, Stefano. Cruel. Weak. Pathetic . You know what happened to him?” Natalya smiled widely, showing needle-sharp teeth. “I tore off his cock and made him choke on it.”

Stefano took a step back. He gestured at Evie.

“Get her, Austin!” Stefano started towards the window, but he didn’t make it more than a single step before Natalya surged forward, slamming into him and forcing him to the floor.

Her claws plunged into his chest to the knuckle and he writhed in pain, sinking his fangs into her wrist with a snarl.

Natalya didn’t even flinch at the attack.

She laughed as Stefano coughed and retched, black blood flowing from his mouth.

“You can only feed on humans,” Natalya said. “I am not human.”

“Get off him!” Austin yanked Evie to her feet. He put his hands around her throat and squeezed hard enough that it cut off her airflow. “Let him go, now! Or she dies.”

Natalya rose slowly. Her scarlet eyes, filled with hateful glee, locked onto Austin.

“You wretched little worm.” Natalya smiled maniacally. “You make threats. That is not smart. Kneel .”

Natalya’s eyes flared, and Austin’s grip loosened. Evie fell away from him, landing hard. She tried to cough but couldn’t with the gag in her mouth. The attempt made bile rise in her throat.

Austin fell to his knees. In a blink, Natalya had pushed him over to lie on his back and then straddled his hips, pinning him to the floor. She poked a bloody claw on the tip of his nose.

“Stupid boy.” Natalya pressed herself against his hips, and Austin made a pathetic whimper. “How many women have you killed, I wonder? As many as you’ve raped? You like being stronger than them, don’t you? You like hearing them cry. You like making them feel pain.”

Natalya grinned, flashing pointy teeth, and slammed her fist into the nearby coffee table, breaking it into pieces. She picked up a long sliver of wood, resting it against Austin’s chest. He whimpered again.

“Let me show you what pain feels like.”

Natalya slowly pressed the sliver of wood into Austin’s chest. He struggled and cried as she pushed into him, black lines of death cascading over his skin as the wood entered his heart.

He started shaking, and with a final scream, his body convulsed.

Blood oozed from his pores and orifices, leaving a pale, exsanguinated corpse covered in dark veins.

Stefano was still coughing black gunk on the floor.

A flash of pain went over his face when he saw Austin get staked, but it didn’t linger.

He pulled himself to his feet, staggered through the apartment, and then sprinted until he threw himself out of the window to vanish in the dark.

Natalya rushed after him but stopped on the balcony, looking like a ravenous cat cheated out of a meal.

She made a horrifying sight. Claws instead of fingers, eyes glowing pure red, and her legs covered in Austin’s blood.

Evie coughed against the gag. It was hard to breathe, and she was lightheaded. She tried to get to her knees, but she was too dizzy to get into the position.

Suddenly, Natalya was by her side. She pulled the tape off Evie’s face and removed the cloth from her mouth before undoing her restraints. Evie coughed, gasping air into her lungs.

“You’re alright, darling.”

She sounded like the Natalya that Evie remembered. Her voice assertive, in control, and safe. It was safe . The proximity to that feeling made the adrenaline wane. Evie started shaking.

“He was going to… When you came, he was about to…” She couldn’t get the sentences out. They were too horrifying. “They found me. Oh, God. They’ll come back.”

“ Evie .” Natalya grabbed her face, making Evie look up at her. The demonic version of her was gone. No sharp teeth, no scales, and no forked tongue. Her eyes violet rather than scarlet. Just Natalya. Beautiful Natalya.

There wasn’t the same surge of fear or calm as in the guest room at Varro’s estate. There was no forced emotion. Just Natalya’s intent gaze filled with assuredness.

“They’re gone. They won’t come back. If they do, I will tear them apart.”

Evie stared at her in disbelief. “You came for me.”

Natalya stroked Evie’s cheek. Her fingers were sticky with blood. “You needed me.”

Evie couldn’t control the feeling that came over her at the words. It was trust mixed with hope, two emotions she had a painful relationship with. To feel them both so completely made tears rise in her eyes.

Throughout her life, Evie had kept herself safe by keeping people at a distance. By relying on herself rather than anyone else. By not feeling anything. Right then, she felt so much. Someone had saved her. Someone was with her. She wasn’t alone.

She leaned against Natalya, putting her arms around her, and hugged her. A tingling flowed through her as she did, sparking sensation into her body. Evie sighed at the feeling. It was comforting. It made her feel alive, and she held Natalya tighter. She didn’t want to let her go.

Natalya was otherworldly and terrifying. She was covered in blood and had just killed someone. It didn’t matter. She had come when Evie was sure no one would. When she was sure she would be taken away again.

Being near Natalya was the first time in months Evie felt truly safe.

Natalya’s arms hung stiffly in the air as Evie embraced her.

Natalya didn’t hug anyone, ever. She didn’t even let people touch her.

When she touched others, especially humans, it was a hyperconscious thing with a specific purpose.

It was to manipulate, torture, or bring pleasure.

It was controlled, and it took extreme effort to keep the power of her infernal abilities contained.

She hadn’t been ready for Evie to hold her like this. She should have darted away immediately. Instead, she leaned into the embrace. She held Natalya tighter.

Natalya slowly put her arms around her. The movement was hesitant at first. Unpracticed.

Carefully, like Evie was made of glass, Natalya hugged her back.

She drew her close and held her in an embrace that should have sent her into sensory overload.

Evie leaned into it, sighing deeply. She relaxed into the hug.

For the first time in over a century, Natalya did too.

She could smell Evie’s hair—a scent of blood and citrus shampoo. She sensed her sorrow and fear and the overwhelming relief flowing through her. Natalya felt it deep inside herself, as though Evie’s emotions were her own.

“Don’t go.” Evie spoke the words against Natalya’s shoulder. She could feel Evie’s lips on her skin. “Please don’t leave me alone.”

Natalya drew her closer, suddenly afraid fanged monsters would come take Evie away from her if she let go.

“I won’t. I won’t leave you.”

As Natalya held her, staring into the night beyond the balcony, she thought of the vampires that had used and scarred Evie. Of Stefano’s cruel eyes and his desire that increased with his victim’s fear. Of Varro’s slimy smile.

They’d kidnapped countless humans. Murdered more. They’d conspired to kill Natalya and to harm the Chains. The anger she felt from all that paled when compared to what this woman had started in her.

Because they’d hurt Evie, Natalya wanted to kill them all.