Page 20 of Ravaging Red (Monsters of the Hollow Realm #1)

Maw Market

RAEL

M aw Market was alive and bustling. Its crooked stalls, draped in canvases that were stitched from flayed hides and enchanted silk, lined the path.

The air reeked of iron, smoke, roasting meat, spoiled breath, and of course, magic.

The air shimmered with warding symbols, protection charms, curses nailed to the stalls wooden beams.

The creatures that roamed its broken lanes were older than nightmares.

Some still bore faces, others had long long surrendered to their truer forms of shifting bone and massive skeletal structures.

Dragon-blooded merchants hissed in lost dialects, scales twitching beneath silk robes as they bartered over jewels that had surely been stolen by the Orcs from the Shardspire Hollow.

They lived within those ravines, so deep they pierced into the world’s core.

The gems dug there rotted the hearts of those who stole them, turning them bitter and unable to see their love. Which explained the Orcs' grim nature.

Red stepped closer to me as we approached the next stall. She was finally hedging my warning.

Hulking shadow-beasts with branching antlers moved around us, they dragged sacks of breathing hides behind them.

Half-living pets that twitched at the sound of a coin.

They traded the beings for crystal vials filled with moans, harvested from sinners in their final pleasures.

Children’s laughter dripped from lanterns overhead, trailing down in syrupy giggles that never quite touched the ground.

Windchimes made of teeth whispered secrets in tongues no longer spoken.

A headless vendor in a long red coat whispered "come closer" from the mouths stitched into his chest. And somewhere above, something huge screamed from the rafters of a booth.

The sound was agonizing, but no one dared to look up.

Red stayed beside me, clutching my hand so tight it ached.

Smart girl.

My arm tightened around her waist, dragging her closer, making the message clear that she was spoken for.

Her scent was wrapped in mine. Her hips still trembled from my knot.

Maw Market respected possession more than they did affection.

Love was weakness. Lust, pain, and power, those ruled here.

I didn’t come looking for bloodshed, but I would open throats if any of them tested me.

At first, she didn’t say a word. Her eyes just drank in every grotesque thing around her, they were darting everywhere, wild but not scared.

She watched and dissected everything around her.

The colors, the noise, the chaos, it gripped her, it was all new to her.

She would never see anything else like it.

Witches stood behind tables made of animal bones.

Their blood-inked sigils seeped through parchments that were made from shed human memories.

They sold jars of madness corked with black wax, hexes bottled in black jars, and candles in an array of colors.

Their eyes wept black blood which they smeared across buyers' palms in silent rituals of binding.

We’d barely gotten past the stall when a raspy voice purred through the crowd.

“Well, what do we have here...?”

I turned fast, pulling Red behind me with a low growl that vibrated through my chest. My claws flexed instinctively. The crowd parted, not because they were afraid, no, but because they wanted to see what was going to happen. My glare cut through the swarm of bodies until I found her.

The witch stood cloaked in a tattered violet cloak, lined with black feathers.

Her eyes glowed a dim yellow from within deep-set sockets.

Her teeth were too white, her mouth too wide.

Black stained lips stretched into something that looked to be a smile.

But brought more terror than ease. Her face was carved with symbols, her hair hanging in knotted ropes hiding her face.

She wasn’t just any market hag. She was one of the Cursed Ones.

Witches with remnants of a humanity that was warped by black magic.

They were once high priestesses, seers, blood-bound witches of forgotten covens.

Women who delved too deep into forbidden spells, and who bartered their souls for power to demons who had refused their gifts, ruining them in the process.

They answered to no one but the Hollow itself.

And they were so powerful, even the Council feared them.

So they were banished to the outer reaches of the Veil.

Now, they lived in the hidden realms, only appearing in places of power like the Maw Market.

They were drawn by chaos, lust, and change.

They smelled fate like I scented blood in the air.

They spoke in riddles, cursed with whispers, and carried with them the spells of their covens, enchanted moonlight, and harvested screams. Each one bore visible marks of their curse.

Some had no mouths but spoke in dreams, others had weeping wounds that never healed, and the darkest ones left behind a coat of ash with every step they took.

The Cursed Ones were not bound by time. They could see glimpses of futures, sense bonds before they are marked, and they collected magic like trophies, always watching for the one that fate has chosen next.

Speaking to a Cursed One was dangerous. To owe them a favor was a death sentence.

“Careful, beast,” she hissed, tilting her head as her gaze locked on Red. “That one’s been touched by the Veil. The Hollow hums in her blood. Can’t you see it?”

“You see nothing,” I snapped, stepping forward, shielding Red fully with my body.

“Oh, but I do.” Her voice rolled like acrid smoke, curling under the skin. “She’ll need protection soon. His pull will eat her alive, if it hasn’t already.”

She reached into the folds of her cloak and produced a small glass jar. Black wax sealed the lid, and inside, something faintly pulsed. Like a tiny second heart.

“Take it,” the witch crooned. “No cost. A gift, for the girl with the wolf’s scent on her thighs.”

Red stiffened behind me. I could smell her shame, her fear… and her arousal.

“I said, no,” I snarled, stepping between them, my voice laced with enough threat to instill fear in any one of these monsters.

The witch tilted her head, amused. “You’ll wish you hadn’t refused it, Wolf. Not everything that wants her will ask first.”

With a twitch of her hand, the jar vanished back into her cloak, and she dissolved into the crowd, feathers trailing like smoke behind her.

Red was silent as I grabbed her wrist and tugged her forward, guiding her fast through the maze of booths. She didn’t speak until we were deep in the food sector, where the scent of burning flesh was strong enough to mask even the witch’s lingering magic.

“Who was that?” she whispered.

“Don’t talk to witches,” I growled. “Don’t look at them. Don’t touch anything they offer.”

“But she…”

“I don’t care. You’re mine. You don’t need her protection. You have me.”

Red didn’t argue. She didn’t pull away. Her fingers slid between mine and stayed there.

But I could still feel the pulsing thing inside that offered jar. And I knew the witch wasn’t wrong. The pull was growing. The Hollow was stirring.

And something else was coming for us. For Red. Something worse than me. And the Cursed One had confirmed my fears, yet I would never let Red see it. I'd deal with it when I had to.

There were tables of twisted spices, baskets of sweet roots that bled sugar when pierced, oils that smoked when breathed in too deeply.

I had no idea what a human ate, but I knew they had fragile palates and weak stomachs. So I decided to watch and learn what she liked. And I’d feed it to her until her lips turned red and her belly round.

A hunched ogress with a mouth full of ivory fangs raised her head from behind a cracked counter. Her one good eye narrowed on Red, then on me. Her smile split her face, causing it to wrinkle. “New mate?” she hissed.

“Human,” I said, low.

“Let her taste,” she rasped, sliding a bowl of something soft and glowing across the stall.

I didn’t look at Red as I tugged her forward.

“Eat.”

She hesitated, her fingers hovering over the strange fruit. It was soft and purple veined and it pulsed once, as if it were alive. She looked up at me, questioning.

I growled. “Now.”

And she obeyed.

She took a small, careful bite. Then her lips parted on a moan so raw, so sensual, it sent blood rushing straight to my cock.

Her lips glistened with the fruit’s juice, her eyes fluttered closed, and her tongue, fuck , her wet tongue slid across her bottom lip with slow reverence, as if savoring every trace of sweetness, she’d just consumed.

My cock kicked in my pants, hard and demanding. I was already starving for her.

She opened her eyes again, dazed and dripping with innocent hunger. “It’s sweet… but hot. It tastes like…”

I grabbed her chin, forcing her to look at me. “Like me .”

Her pupils dilated as I witnessed her pleasure still flickering in her eyes.

I leaned in and kissed her. Hard. Deep. I swallowed her gasp as I crushed her mouth beneath mine, licking the sweetness from her lips, like I was parched, and she was the last fucking drop of water.

When she moaned, I nicked her bottom lip and groaned right back, grinding my mouth against hers until her body melted into mine.

“What is that fruit?” I asked the Ogress.

“It’s Veloria.”

“Give them all to me,” I growled, turning away from Red.

I was going to hunt down every last one in this realm, tear them open, and eat them off her cunt until she screamed my name loud enough to shatter the Veil.

While I struggled with keeping my sanity, she drifted to the next vendor, licking the glaze from something flaky, heat rising off her cheeks. Then came the bread. Golden, split down the middle, steam curling into the air, tempting any passerby.

“This,” she laughed, tearing off a chunk, “this is real food.”

I didn’t respond, just continued to watch. Her voice was bright and breathless as she tried each new flavor. Her eyes danced with curiosity; her mouth tugged into a smile I hadn’t seen before. One without fear. She bit into each new thing as if it were the most delicate of morsels.

Bread. Spiced meat. The sweet treats. I tracked every reaction, memorized what made her sigh, what made her whimper, what made her reach for more.

I handed the list to the merchant, dropping three red scales, and leaned in with a low snarl.

“Not a fucking word.” She nodded, and I turned back to see Red had disappeared.

It took me a mini-second of panic to see she had wandered over to the charm stalls.

Her fingers trailed across scarves of blue silk and black fur, touching them and seeming to enjoy their softness.

At a nearby table, her eyes flicked toward a chain linked bracelet, silver and thin, with a carved red stone.

She touched it once then moved on. But I saw she wanted it.

I slipped behind the vendor, left double the coin, and claimed both the scarf and the bracelet. I said nothing. These items would be for later.

We began our journey back to her familiar cabin which sat just at the edge of the Veil. I kept her near the human realm more for her protection than anything else. But I’d soon take her home. I’d never taken anyone home, and I wasn’t sure what she would think of it. I wanted her to feel safe there.

For now, back to the cabin we’d go, with the sack of food, and soaps she had picked out. I let her have one simple garment, a red dress. Although it wouldn’t last long since as soon as she wore it I was planning on ripping it off her.

I followed her along the path, that scent of fruit and her arousal causing me to snarl in frustration. The second we were alone again; I was going to press her bare skin to the cabin floor and remind her who she belonged to. But for now? I let her walk in front of me, enjoying the view.

She laughed as we walked through the Hollow Woods, her laughter cutting through the dark shroud of trees. She talked the entire way, gesturing with her hands, voice breathless with wonder as she tried to explain the chaos and beauty of the Market.

“It’s nothing like the human world,” she said, spinning once beneath the trees, her cloak flaring like a flame around her legs. “Nothing at all.”

I didn’t stop her, I didn't want to interrupt her.

I was enthralled just listening to her describe my world through her eyes.

I memorized every note of her voice, every curve of her mouth, every flash of her joy, because this sound, this light, this girl …

I would burn every corner of this world to keep it close.

And I planned to.

For the rest of my cursed, Veilbound life.