The Vampire King restlessly prowled into one of his walled gardens late that night to soak into one of his artificial pools.

The bursts of cool wind blew the feathery clouds through the horizon.

The night's dampness didn't wear off, and it only became colder as the light faded in the east.

Indeed, he had become more powerful.

Preserving his central castle and encasing it in a tropical protective dome surrounded by the natural arctic environment of the Vampyr Realm didn't make him break a sweat anymore as it used to do when he was still experimenting with his magic.

The Vampire King was already used to the cold because he can't feel it, and the weather didn't matter to him at all, but he did it for his human subjects so that they wouldn't die quickly.

The vampires need their food stock warm and fresh, and he can silently show off how powerful he was to the entire Shadow World without even opening his mouth.

The Vampire King's gardens are nothing but a sensual paradise.

Swaying palm trees stood guard over the end of the garden overlooking the moonlit frozen seas.

He was surrounded by dozens of exotic blooms of bougainvillea and other tropical flowers emitting a blend of heady fragrances.

Broad, flat stones had been laid in the sand to create narrow, winding paths perfect for enticing a man and woman to seek an even more shadowy-and private-corner of the garden.

At any other time, the Vampire King might have appreciated the effort it must have taken to create this heavenly oasis when he was in a good mood to relax.

Still, on this night, the breeze whispering through the trees and the melodic spill of a fountain over stone failed to soothe his raw temper.

Ten days have passed.

Jon and the High Priestess were not able to come back to the castle. He is sending soldiers to find them at the caves right now.

This was peculiar, even for Jon.

He could get in and out of the underground caves even with his eyes closed or even if he was a newborn baby.

His right-hand man has a good sense of navigation.

That got him wondering.

Did he deliver the girl to the underground caves, or did he take her somewhere else and have his wicked way with her?

Just like what he would do if he could get her alone?

That pretty silver-haired High Priestess.

It would be a shame if she died too early in the initiation.

The only sounds that cut through the deepening twilight were his consort's harps and flutes, his concubines, splashing in the warm water inviting him to join, and the lonely cry of an owl in the distance.

A woman in front of him stared at his chiseled body hungrily like it was her last meal.

The Vampire King's gaze remained locked with one of his concubines as he stripped out of his only clothing, the black kilt-like skirt. His dark hair hung around disheveled on his shoulders.

He tried to be in the mood. He did.

But he can't get the high priestess out of his damn mind.

The feel of her touch.

Her curves against his.

He shook his head as if that would banish her from his dirty thoughts.

The High Priestess was off-limits.

Fei would nag at him like the old man he was.

He stood proudly before the women, wearing nothing but a smug smile, to bask in their appreciation.

He should get this over with.

Block his entire mind out and sleep without any nightmares triggered by the Blood Beast.

He should be physically, mentally, and sexually exhausted to achieve that peace.

As the Vampire King descended into the water, fireflies began to surround him as if attracted to his warmth.

The last light of dusk vanished and was replaced by the aurora borealis.

He waved them over. "Come, my concubines."

Fragrant lotus petals floated on the surface of the water, drifting like clouds across the misty reflection of the moon.

A doe-eyed, dusky-haired beauty knelt on the flagstones behind the Vampire King, massaging his broad shoulders.

He sat with the back of his head propped against the stone lip of the pool, groaning with pleasure every time the concubine's delicate thumbs dug deep into the tender muscles on each side of his shoulder blades.

"I am Catriona, Your Highness." One of his concubines, a girl with really long raven locks, gave him a drowsy look, bit her lip, and started to rub his lower abdomen. "It is my sole desire to please my King."

The trees seemed to stir around him, and he placed both of his strong arms near the bank, wondering if sleep would be difficult or just impossible.

His tense fingers stroked one of the female's breasts.

"Hmm. Catriona, you say?" The Vampire King's languor was at direct odds with the tension starting to course through every inch of his own body. "I will remember that if you make me come hard tonight."

The two women stretched their arms eagerly as they scratched their hands over his body.

They roughly nipped his chest with their teeth.

They pinched his nipples and tightly squeezed his erection.

The Vampire King groaned with rapture, his eyes closed.

He grunted as the females continue to stroke him slow then fast, touching him everywhere.

The Vampire King didn't last long.

Jets of white sticky substance shot out from his angry and swollen dick underwater.

His voice was husky as he regained control of his breathing after the orgasm. "Do it again, concubine, but this time, use your mouth."

Directly in front of him at two hundred paces, an eerie green glow suffused the ground and air.

A sudden intruder was with them in the pool.

He pushed the concubines' greedy hands away from his body and focused on the aura of the uninvited visitor who distracted him from his nightly pleasures.

He felt goosebumps at the back of his neck.

The mysterious creature is a powerful magician.

"Eunuch. Take the women back to the Red Room. " He said calmly to the concubines' assigned caretaker. "We will resume our activities there. Prepare them for me."

The Vampire King jerked his head toward the palace and dismissed the women, but before they could rise to go, he caught their slender wrists in his grip.

He brought each of the concubines' hands to his lips and kissed each fingertip in turn, eliciting delighted giggles.

He had to appease them in case one of them was going to be his future Empress.

He could get to know them some other time.

Unfortunately, it's not tonight.

Still, he wasn't satisfied yet.

He needed more sex.

He waited for them to go at a safe distance away from potential danger.

Darkness shrouded the landscape.

The Vampire King's eyes could faintly discern shadowed indentations behind the rocks.

The Vampire King called out, and it echoed in the silence. "I'll be sorry if you attempt to harm me. The next sight you see will be the fires of the underworld."

He knew that if someone or something lay in wait for him, he was giving it enough warning to bait the trap.

The Vampire King approached the thing floating far from him, every muscle a hard cord of tension.

He looked back to find the water's surface broken only by white-tipped froth.

With a vicious curse, the Vampire King plunged as his hands swept beneath the water and caught in a lady's hair.

The Vampire King gasped in a breath.

It was the High Priestess.