บท 48: A House of Cards [M]
Eydis, the Queen of the Damned, couldn't pinpoint the moment her carefully constructed walls began to crumble.
Perhaps it was the accumulated effect of stolen glances and shared conversations with Astra. Or maybe it was a single, pivotal conversation under the moonlit sky.
The scent of jasmine and lilies swirled around Eydis as she glided through the garden's night blooms. A playful glint ignited in her golden eyes as she spotted Astra, bathed in the ethereal glow filtering through the vibrant foliage. Settling down next to the hunter, Eydis wrestled with the unfamiliar urge to pry into Astra's mind.
Astra slurred, her voice laced with defiance and a faint undercurrent of intoxication, "Humans, our lives are fleeting. We learn regrets... often at our deathbeds. But you, you have the chance to learn and grow, to right your wrongs, to become… more."
A melancholic smile touched Eydis's lips for a fleeting moment. The youthful optimism radiating from Astra, that naive belief in the possibility of redemption, was a bittersweet ache.
"Tell me, Astra," her voice raspy with the weight of centuries, "why the burning hatred for my kind? Was it a vampire who left those vicious scars etched on your skin?"
Astra's eyes drooped, fighting a losing battle against sleep. "Soulless monsters. Always how I've seen you vampires." Her gaze flickered to Eydis, a flicker of something unreadable crossing her face. "Lately, though... confusing. You immortals seem to carry a burden heavier than just brooding and thirsting."
A flicker of surprise, laced with a hint of amusement, danced in Eydis's eyes. "Ah, the brooding stereotype finally crumbling," she teased. "But tell me, Astra, are humans inherently good? Or are there shades of darkness in your kind as well?"
Astra's eyes snapped open, the question lancing through her fatigue. "Damn it," she breathed, a wry smile twisting her lips. "Guess we're not exactly the shining heroes in the grand narrative, are we?"
"Perhaps give humans the power we wield, the eternity we endure, and see if their 'goodness' survives the test. Humans already built weapons of such destruction," Eydis murmured, the words laced with a profound sadness, "that even… even the oldest among us paled in comparison."
The hunter blinked, a thoughtful furrow etching itself between her brows. Leaning further into the bench, she mused, "Good and bad. It's never so clear-cut, is it? We've always seen it as black and white, them versus us. But maybe it's..." she trailed off, searching for the right words.
"Inescapable?" Eydis offered. "There are two sides to chaos, Astra. Progress and destruction. Both are inevitable. A never-ending cycle."
Astra nodded, a resolute glint replacing the thoughtful frown. "But since it's inevitable," she continued, her voice gaining strength, "isn't it better to focus on the things we can control? The connections we forge, no matter how fleeting they may seem?"
Eydis's breath caught in her throat. Each word struck a raw nerve, a truth she'd spent centuries burying. A soft sigh escaped Astra's lips as her head dipped, finding a precarious haven on Eydis's shoulder.
Eydis, captivated by this contradiction of fiery spirit tempered by darkness, watched Astra with newfound respect. How brave, she thought, her fingers reaching out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind Astra's ear.
The touch lingered, a tenderness both unfamiliar and strangely comforting. This game of seduction, meticulously planned, had taken an unexpected turn.
Except… the one falling under the spell wasn't Astra. It was Eydis, drawn in by the intoxicating promise of something more, something she'd almost forgotten existed – connection.
A metallic tang shattered the garden's peace. Terror flooded Eydis's face as the tranquillity dissolved into a nightmare. A broken figure lay sprawled in the rain. Through the red haze of bloodlust, the scent that once intoxicated her now sent her stomach lurching. It seeped through the crack in her helmet, a horrifying recognition.
It was Astra.
No! The gasp ripped from Eydis's throat as she yanked back. Beneath her fingertips, a ghost of a pulse hammered a horrifying truth. Almost. She had almost…
The realisation of what she'd almost done crashed down on Eydis. Her lungs constricted, choked by a wave of terror and regret. Eydis's heels scraped the slick ground as she fled, a ghost disappearing into the storm's violence.
She couldn't look back. Not at the broken figure in the rain, not at the devastation she caused.
How could she even dream of a connection when the greatest danger to Astra was herself? A villainess in Astra's story? A fool indeed.
Days bled into one another, each sunrise a fresh torment. The battle replayed endlessly in her mind, Astra's absence from the academy a chilling reminder of the consequence of her actions. But Astra had to be alright.
She had to.
Then, as suddenly as she vanished, Astra stood before her, unmarked. As if the fight was a figment of Eydis's imagination. Eydis's gaze traced the exposed skin, a welcome reminder that thanks to Astra's hunter power, she remained unscathed. But was she truly?
How would Astra react if she knew the truth – that Princess Athena was Eydis, the Queen of the Damned she had been hunting all along?
This charade…it had to end.
"As for affection," Eydis rasped, her gaze stubbornly averted from Astra's crimson eyes. "It's a luxury we can't afford." The words tasted like ash on her tongue, a desperate attempt to convince not just Astra, but also the traitorous ache blooming in her own chest.
Astra, with her unwavering courage, deserved someone like the silver-eyed warrior who'd willingly thrown himself into danger. Someone who wasn't a creature of shadows, forever tainted by the blood she'd spilled.
Someone not Eydis.
"Don't flatter yourself… you're… convenient." Astra's voice cracked. The words a physical blow. A flicker of possessiveness ignited within her at Astra's frustrated response.
Screwed it all.
Ignoring logic, Eydis initiated a clash of bodies. This wasn't hollow intimacy; it was a desperate yearning she hadn't known she possessed, to hear Astra whisper her true name – Eydis – not the fabricated persona she'd used. A primal hunger to see Astra unravel beneath her touch.
Just once. Just tonight.
"Wait," Astra gasped, wrenching back from a kiss, her face flushed and eyes a whirlwind of emotions. Her head snapped back, a delicious aftershock rippling through her.
But once wasn't enough.
"Wait?" Eydis echoed the plea, a slow smile playing on her lips. Her amber eyes devoured the sight of Astra trembling against the rumpled scarlet sheets. Crimson blooms dotted Astra's feverish skin, her lips glistening a tantalising shade of pink, and her hair a tangled mess from their passionate encounter.
"Even with this reaction?" The vampire punctuated the words by rolling her palm in a slow, insistent grind that dragged delirious friction deep against Astra's aching center, every nerve ending alight and thrumming with need.
Despite her half-whispered plea, Astra's hips surged upwards in a sinuous sway, chasing the maddening rhythm Eydis dictated. Primal instinct trumped any faltering protests as her back arched, pressing her flushed breasts against Eydis's chest.
The Queen's fingers continued their relentless pace, curling and stroking, targeting every sensitive spot she had discovered. Her lips descended upon the taut flesh, nipping and sucking, marking it as her own.
Be mine. Even just for tonight.
Astra stammered, breath catching in her throat. "It's… hard to think clearly when you…" Shame burned in her cheeks, but the truth wouldn't be denied. "When you do that." The hunter's nails dug into Eydis's back, leaving red trails of desire in their wake.
Eydis's free hand drifted down, her cool fingers tracing a gentle path along Astra's heated skin until they cupped her hips, a fleeting anchor in the storm of sensations. A flicker of affection, a rare guest in Eydis's eyes, battled with the embers of desire.
"Then don't," she rasped, her voice a husky caress with a hint of awe. "Just... let go."
With a primal growl, Eydis plunged her fingers deep inside Astra. As pleasure clawed its way towards a shattering climax, a desperate plea echoed in the cavernous silence of Eydis's mind: just tonight. It was enough.
Wasn't it?
Astra surrendered, a strangled whimper escaping her lips as her body convulsed. Yet, beneath the haze of desire, a primal yearning for connection ignited. "I... I want to touch you too," she breathed, the words laced with frustration and a yearning that went beyond the physical.
The rawness in Astra's voice sent a jolt through Eydis. "Not tonight, Astra," she said finally, her voice softer than Astra anticipated. "You're all mine… tonight."
All mine.
Despite the promise of time, this night, their first and perhaps their last, felt... incomplete. Eydis traced the swell of Astra's breasts with a lingering touch, memorising the way the muscles tensed beneath her fingertips. Every shallow rise and fall of Astra's chest fueled a relentless hunger within Eydis.
Just once. One more time. Once again.
More than just physical desire, it was a desperate urge to etch Astra's essence onto her very soul. The way Astra's breath hitched, the embers of desire glowing in her lashes – these were treasures Eydis craved with a frightening intensity.
Long after their explorations, Eydis held a sleeping Astra close. "Just tonight, then I'll let you go." Burying her face in Astra's hair, the familiar scent of sandalwood both intoxicated and terrified her.
A choked vow escaped her lips. "I won't hurt you." Her fingers, hesitant and light, trailed along Astra's pulse point, a stark contrast to the memory of her vice-like grip on the hunter's throat. The terror she'd inflicted, a chilling echo in the stillness.
Sleep refused to come. This stolen intimacy was a treasure Eydis clung to as dawn painted the horizon with a faint blush. She would savour every moment until the harsh light of reality shattered the illusion.
Until the day Astra walked away.
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