Of Fangs & Fins ✔

60. Temptation

SR: girl in red - dead girl in the pool.

Sixty.

Eryn.

Hades' fangs were on the fifth woman, her arms squeezing around her like a vice. She pulled back and threw her head back, closing her eyes as waves of a blood high hit her.

I sat uncomfortably across from her, waiting for her to finish having her playtime. We were here to ask questions per Invethim and Darien's advice, not fuck around with the locals. I was surprised a bar was up running with the way Manhattan was slowly crumbling back into a barbaric society. Darien knew they wouldn't be too much help, not with demons trashing everything. They had more important things to do, and it was understandable.

It was no surprise the vampires were acting as if nothing was happening. We were used to this sort of stuff. The only constants in a world ever-changing around us.

"We're wasting time," I snapped, peering out into the main floor. There were a couple of groups scattered throughout the room. The music was so loud it was impossible to listen to anyone's conversations.

No, we're not. Hades' voice rang sharply in my ear. She sank her fangs back into the woman's throat. The girl's skin tone had a yellow pallor to it. Jesus, she was turning her anemic.

What good was this going to do?

Shut up and let me concentrate. Golden eyes met mine. As she fed on the woman, her brows furrowed in thought. She gripped a fistful of hair and pulled away delicately, detaching her long incisors from the girl's throat.

"I think that was the last one," Hades muttered, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. Her eyes were luminescent in the dim lighting. Hades' was drunker than I thought, her depth perception was off as she tried to right the woman beside her.

I shot forward and helped her lay on the couch. I shook my head and bit into my palm, bringing my bloody hand over the girl's mouth. Drops of my blood slid into her purple lips. "Did you have to drink so deeply with this one?"

Hades chuckled, swaying to her feet. "It's been quite a long time since I've felt like this. Come, we have to get to the bartender."

"I think you've had enough," I interjected, grabbing her arm before she stumbled out of the private room. It was clever for Hades to pick out a private feeding room immediately, we couldn't draw too much attention to us. We didn't know if Lucinda was on the lookout for us. Anyone here could be working for her. Hades would always be a dead giveaway. I scowled at how disheveled she looked. She definitely wasn't the type to get this wasted, and this quickly.

"No," Hades slurred, yanking her arm away from my grip. She walked forward and opened the door. She stepped out into the main room clumsily, narrowly colliding into a short goblin. It whirled its gaze at Hades, fury etched into the goblins black irises.

"Watch where you're going-- " The goblin took in the both of us, his gaze going from Hades to me and to the room we emerged out off. His brows narrowed and his lip curled in disgust, "Sheng nu."

My eyes widened at the derogatory word and I stepped in front of Hades. "Hēi, lǎozhě, wǒ bùshì jiào 'Shina' ér bùshì 'Chugoku', duì ma? Ránhòu wǒ xiǎng tīng dào shēng nǚ yòu láile." I narrowed my eyes at the goblin. My Mandarin was not as fluent as my Japanese, but enough to get the point across. Faeries were mostly accepting of all lifestyles, but this man thought differently. His eyes widened in shock, I suppose not expecting me to understand what he said.