Dark Lord (2 page)

“I will not keep doing this, Bran,” the woman said.

One of the males vanished into thin air and the one named Bran stared at the woman cruelly.
“You’ll do what I tell you to do, Bitch.
Belenos
is going to find you another human right quick and you’re going to bite him.
We’re going to keep doing this until it takes.”

The woman stood her ground and looked at the male with a stubborn expression.
“No longer.
You cannot think to get away with this.
My family will kill you when they find out how you have treated me.”

“Your family will not say
shit,
that
is why I picked you,
Helsina
.
You are nothing but a whore.
Whatever did yo
u expect when you agreed to be my mistress?
Did you think I would buy you a big house and dress you
in rich furs and jewels?
Hell no, woman.
Now, be a good little whore and do what I request of you.”

“I never agreed to do any of this,” the woman said bitterly.

“Like I care, bitch.
I brought you on this little trip to
humanland
because I’m tired of stocking humans in the warehouse only to have them be deemed inappropriate for use.
When
Belenos
returns, I want you to bite the human.
He’ll keep bringing them until you find one that will take.
Refuse to bite and I’ll have no choice but to kill the human.”

“Th
e human will die regardless.
I’d rather you
kill the human and
let him die an instant death rather than leave him to the slow one you have planned for him.”

“Do not think to cross me,
Helsina
.
If you prove to be uncooperative, I’ll kill you and find another research assistant.”

“Fuck your research, Bran.”
The woman flinched as the male struck her with his fist, although she remained standing.

Suddenly the other male appeared in the clearing with Sebastian, who was tied with rope.
Dev
tensed and prepared to intervene, but halted when the male
called Bran
pulled out
an unfamiliar
shiny green weapon.

The male aimed the weapon at the woman.
“
I may let this one live, just to please you.
Do it now,
Helsina
.
Surely this human will do the trick.
Sink your fangs into
his
juicy throat and
try to convince me
that you do not find him
enticing
.”

Sebastian couldn’t move because his hands were tied behind his back with rope, but he glared at his captives with menace.
“Touch me and I’ll kill you.”

When the woman approached Sebastian and placed her mouth on his throat,
Dev
tried to estimate the danger to
his friend.
The woman had said that all the males that were bitten were killed in some way and he couldn’t risk that happening to Sebastian.
The only thing that concerned him was the unknown weapon brandished by one of the males.
He
moved silently through the woods and
rushed toward the
guy
from behind, grabbing him by the throat.
He tried to sink his fangs into the area to incapacitate him, but his skin was tough and difficult to penetrate.

Bran
cried out in surprise and tried to wrestle
Dev
away from him.
He lost his grip on the green weapon and it fell to the ground.
“What the fuck, man!
Are you some kind of faggot, to bite me like that?”

Dev
viciously set his fangs into the male’s throat and
he
slid to the ground.
The male
they called
Belenos
wasted no time in assaulting him, knocking him to the ground.

Belenos
kicked
Dev
in the stomach and put his hands around his throat
.
He
squeezed
tightly, cutting off his oxygen
.
“What the
hell did you do that for?
You don’t bite another male, you faggot.
It’s just not done.
”

Dev
looked into the male’s flashing red eyes and took note of his black hair.
The man that he had offended was
a
hybrid
.
It seemed he had committed another faux pas by biting
the
male.
He had no idea that there were rules against doing so, as he had always assumed that the fangs served some sort of evolutionary defensive purpose.
What other purpose did they serve?
He needed to learn what he could from these males before he dispatched of them.
“Why isn’t it done?”

Belenos
released his grip on
Dev’s
throat and looked at him curiously.
“You’re a hybrid, but you dress and talk like a
Flourdan
.
What are you doing here?
Are you a spy, one of the elite knights?”

If
Dev
could convince the hybrids that he was some sort of spy, that could help matters, but he didn’t know anything about
Asstrumnian
knights.
“Why is it wrong to bite males?”

“I suppose it is a fine thing to do if you are a faggot, but not if you prefer to mate with females.”
The male glanced at his companion who was lying paralyzed on the ground.
“It seems that you and
Bran are not genetically compatible for breeding.”
The man giggled and smirked at Dev.
“Big surprise there!
That is why you do not bite another male.
It acts like a poison.”

The fangs were used for breeding, apparently.
He had not known.
He glanced at the hybrid lying on the ground.
“Will he die?”

Belenos
looked at him incredulously.
“He’ll recover, but he’ll feel sick for some time.
B
ran
isn’t going to appreciate being fang raped by another male.
A few weeks at a brothel should repair the damage and make him feel like a male again.”

So the bite was only fatal to humans, if the hybrid was telling him the truth.
“What about the females who are bitten?
What happens to them?”

The hybrid’s jaw dropped and his eyes widened in shock.
“How can you not know these things, man?
You only bite a female if you wish to mate with her
, but you should only do it if you wish to make her a permanent mate.
If you only wish to bed the woman, then never bite her because it will be nearly impossible to rid yourself of her.
If the
K
ing finds out you’ve marked a female, he’ll ensure the union is recognized and made permanent.
You would find yourself tied to a baby making machine, which
I guess
pleases some hybrids.
Bran and I have no interest in breeding hybrids of our own, since our energies are better spent in developing our business interests and conducting our research.”

“So if you bite a woman, you’ll end up mating with her?”

“Mate or die.
Once the mating bond sets in, you’ll be a slave to your physical needs.
If not met, you’ll probably die.
You may go insane first, which is worse than just dying.
You could lose all control of your hybrid abilities and end up killing a bunch of your loved ones by accident.
It is never a pleasant scenario, so it is best not to bite a female.”

The woman lifted her face from Sebastian’s throat and stared at the two males on the ground.
“You would know all about that, wouldn’t you,
Belenos
?
It is all part of your spectacular research.”

“Shut up, woman.
My research will make me famous, and as soon as I get published in the
Asstrumnian
Journal of Scientific Research, I’m going to stick a copy of my latest papers in the first Druid ass I see!
They think they are so smart just because they’re better educated, but I’ll show them that warriors are superior to them in every way.
The
K
ing will soon see the
wisdom in the warriors taking full control over the portal.”

While the hybrid male was ranting and boasting,
Dev
made a move to gain control of the situation.
He flipped the male
over, punched him in the face until he stopped moving, and searched for the green weapon on the ground.
Finding it, he stuck it in his cloak pocket for safekeeping.
He would need to examine the weapon later and determine how to use it.

The woman eyed him with distrust and stepped away from Sebastian.
“I didn’t actually touch your friend, I swear it.”

“You assaulted my skin with your tongue, woman,” Sebastian said.

She looked at him and smiled.
“Your skin tastes delicious for a human.
Do not worry so, for I didn’t bite you.”
She looked pleadingly at
Dev
and fingered a silver band around her throat.
“
Belenos
and Bran will recover soon and I need you to get this
collar off me.
I cannot escape them with this thing around my neck.”

Dev
took a knife and cut the ropes binding Sebastian, setting him free.
He gestured toward the two hybrids on the ground.
“Watch those two.”
He walked to the woman
and examined the collar, but he couldn’t determine how to remove it.