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The High Priestess

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Luna was totally removed from her sanity.

In the aftermath, she had become something far closer to the monster that lurked in her heart.

The concubine was scantily dressed in purple robes that she could even see the outline of her nipples.

Her face was obscured, and her robe was half the length of what Luna had worn as she knelt patiently in the far corner.

When her replica got the opportunity to face in her direction, Luna could see past the glamour when the High Priestess focused beyond the mask the Vampire King had created for her.

The concubine had long auburn hair, green eyes, and curves so dangerous they could never be fully explored.

Jealousy.

Possessiveness.

What a ridiculous idea.

What a ridiculous emotion.

She was the High Priestess, and her husband had dared attempt a betrayal.

That darkest part of her psyche had whispered, 'Will you let him lead you around on a leash? Your husband had just insulted you.'

Power was an intoxicating drug that is hard to resist, and it didn't only corrupt her.

It was bound to destroy both of them.

But the quietness in her had changed the timbre of it to something close to evil.

A primal, reptilian part of her mind whispered, 'You should teach them a lesson, teach them that no one stands against a High Priestess of Hecate, and comes out the winner.'

'Kill his concubine,' The voice in her head murmured. 'Kill his concubine in front of him.'

It was a challenge, clear and straightforward.

Luna's punishment for the concubine was non-negotiable.

As would the Vampire King be if he stood in Luna's way.

It was foolish for the High Priestess to do, but it felt like it was the most suitable thing to do when she was quiet.

Luna considered it.

Now she soaked in the darkness as if it were power.

It wasn't.

The power came from within her, but the lack of stimulation—a kind of sensory deprivation—excited her awareness of that power to excruciating levels.

First, it was a hum in her blood, then a symphony, then a thundering crescendo that filled every one of her veins, stretching her tendons to breaking point and lighting her up from within.

It was at that instant—before an internal implosion that could leave her stunned for hours—that she raised her hands and threw power at the wall in front of her.

It buckled, then liquefied into a churning pool that reflected nothing in its ebony depths.

Quickly, before the power could grow restless and seek to shove itself back into her body, she threw it to the room in all directions.

"You don't know what I'm capable of, Apollyon." Luna raised her arms as the time seemed to stop.

The energetic field changed, and the atmosphere had turned heavy as if they were moving, no, swimming against the currents.

Their sluggishness hindered any further movements, not entirely frozen in place, but it was as if everything was in slow motion.

She focused her abilities without remorse, without anything but cold purpose.

'It would be best if you killed the concubine now.'

Now, choose very carefully." Luna's voice changed--her frequency much darker and wrapped in a blanket of a lighter pitch--like an Archdemon had possessed her.

The thorns inside her had seemingly sprouted thorns of their own, scraping at her, stinging.

She had to calm down to channel her strength outwards without hurting herself.

"This is your last chance to explain yourself, my King." Luna gave her husband a disconcerting grin before she strikes without warning, and all the glass inside the pleasure room shattered into tiny bits and pieces.

Apollyon threw up a shield, reflecting her cutting power, but it was too late.

It was a bomb that destroyed everything in its path as it exploded.

It destroyed who she was as it consumed her inner fire with the flames of her own power, melting her, making her into a new creature like a phoenix.

The shards of glass had hit the High Priestess' clone, specifically, since she was close to the windows.

Pointed shards of glass and crystals were embedded in her ribs and shoulders, and the concubine had whimpered in her pain and suffering.

"Or I will destroy this concubine of yours!" The last was said on a scream as the rage exploded inside her.

Her punishment to the concubine had been just.

Yes, the concubine needed to learn some respect.

Apollyon's concubine was going to beg for her mercy.

Smiling evilly, teeth completely bared, Luna ambled toward her but halted when she realized something.

'I don't want her to beg.' The echo of her own words stopped her for several long seconds.

Even when she was quiet, she understood the decision not to harm the concubine further.

It was the Vampire King's choice.

The concubine only did what was expected of her.

But there were ways to ensure respect without destroying the Vampire King.

First, he had to teach her husband not to play games with a powerful High Priestess.

The Vampire King's eyes flicked over Luna's face, but Apollyon made no move of rescuing the concubine.

Maybe, the Vampire King didn't want to enrage her further.

"If you don't come with me, I had no choice but to kill this girl." Luna calmed down and examined her nails leisurely, looking bored. "Or I could let the fractured glass hit her eyes on the second wave to make her go blind. Don't think that you are the only ruthless vampire around here, Apollyon. I wouldn't hesitate to destroy anyone who might come between us, nor would it be better…"

Luna laughed a cool sound that whispered of the grave and sunshine in one. "If I destroy you and we shall die together?"

Apollyon's eyes narrowed at her.

"What would you do if the roles were reversed, Apollyon?" Luna's tone was vicious and the impact of those words still reverberated in the endless night.

"What would you do if it was me who had cheated on you with Jon or any other vampire that caught my eye?" Luna asked, her tone a razor-sharp.

"You wouldn't." Something sparked in the Vampire King's eyes, hot and undoubtedly lethal if let out. "You would have little interest in Cederic or Jon. He likes his women submissive."

Her response was a smile. "That wasn't the point here."

"They will die," The Vampire King replied simply as he stared at her, in no mood to play games. "I don't share that which is mine."

"You are making me regret a lot of things, Apollyon, especially marrying you." Luna giggled, but the sound was somehow . . . off. "I shouldn't have removed your curse and just let the Blood Beast rule this damned Kingdom, and I will let him have his wicked way with me. That way, I wouldn't have to protect the Vampire Kingdom from possible danger because it was useless when the danger was already here, you know?"

"If the Blood Beast was in control instead of me, would you go to his bed sweetly?" The Vampire King asked against her ear, his voice an unsheathed blade.

Apollyon gently placed her down to the floor and brought her towards him, his hands clasping over her hips in outrage. "Would you prefer to whimper and beg to the Blood Beast than your husband?"

"I could if I want to," Luna said sweetly, standing firm even as her body had betrayed her, thighs clenching as need spasmed through her.

Lust in her throat, brutal and demanding.

The image of the Vampire King's long powerful fingers thrusting in and out of her as she lay helpless was suddenly the only thing she could see.

Closing her eyes just made it worse, so she flicked them open to stare fixedly at the black shimmer of the opposite wall.

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The Vampire King

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The High Priestess' eyes were fathomless when Apollyon looked at her.

It was as if Luna had gone quiet.

Luna's hair flew back in that ghostly wind she alone could generate.

The High Priestess had sounded more animal than human—or rather, vampire—just then.

Looked at it, too.

Blood had smeared over her lips and chin from biting her lip in her wrath, and her fangs were longer and sharper than ever.

The Vampire King didn't mean for the situation to escalate in this manner.

"I don't care anymore. I'll give you what you want." Luna said as she waved a dismissive hand. "You want sex? Then I would give it to you. It wouldn't really matter. You used a clone of me to serve you. My soul didn't matter to you. In your eyes, all women are just holes for your cock. Nobody was special. You can have any woman you want, so whether it was your wife or not, it really didn't matter."

Luna walked back and went in the direction of the door.

She didn't even care if the Vampire King followed her.

If you want to fuck, then go back to the marriage bed." The High Priestess laughed darkly. "I'll be waiting for you there."