NOVPUBAila stood beside Davian at the voyeur to the castle. She felt uncomfortable by the idea of other vampires visiting unannounced. The hybrid had only met a few vampires, and luckily they weren’t too bad, but she remembered the fight that broke out in ONYX all because they entered as werewolves.
She may be a hybrid now, but that didn’t mean she shouldn’t be cautious, especially if they were friends with Cassius.
Davian nudged her, mouthing, ’You okay?’. Aila nodded, then flicked her cold gaze back to the approaching vampires walking through the large golden double doors. Malia growled in her mind; she sensed trouble instantly, making Aila more alert and on her guard. There were at least ten of them, and they all eyed the hybrids like they were nothing more than a pile of dung on their shoes.
They must have smelt their odd werewolf scents; she didn’t think Cassius would tell them they were actually hybrids.
The group of vampires parted as one woman, tall and slender, her movements poised and her nose up as she looked at Aila with a twist of her beautiful lips. If she smiled gently, then Aila would say she was stunning. But looking back at the brunette whose brown eyes looked her up and down in disdain made the hybrid think otherwise. Ugly personalities really did make the most attractive person ugly.
The vampiress then flicked her gaze at Davian, and it seemed whether he smelt like a werewolf or not, she approved of his looks. Davian raised a brow at her, meeting her eyes icily, making the vampiress blink back in shock, but she held her head even higher, scoffing at them.
"Cassius," She called over her shoulder in a shrill voice that made Aila grimace. "Why in the world do you have mutts here? Are they your new servants?"
Cassius walked through the parting group and snaked an arm around Aila’s waist, pulling her into his side. "You will respect them, Claudina."
The vampiress, Claudina, gaped at his hand around Aila, but then she rolled her eyes and stepped up to him, placing her manicured hand on Cassius’ chest and flicking her wavy, silky hair back as she put on a flirty smile. "Oh, come on, Cass. She is another one of your flings. You don’t need her when I’m here." Her hand slid up to his neck, and Claudina pulled his mouth down to hers.
Aila’s eyes widened at Claudina’s obvious claim to Cassius. If she really had feelings towards Cassius that way, it would have definitely made her rip the vampire’s throat out. She looked away, thinking about Damon and her chest and eyes burned at the idea of another woman touching him.
Claudina chuckled as she looked at Aila, delighted at her reaction. She presumed her features looked pissed off, but the vampiress didn’t know that her actions meant nothing to her. Only Cassius knew from the bond, and he frowned before looking away. "Enough, Claudina. You WILL respect, Aila." He gripped Claudina roughly by the cheeks.
"First, you and your posse arrive unannounced, and now you dismiss my orders. Why should I let you stay?"
Cassius may have accepted them at first and wanted Aila to meet more of his kind. But she could sense through the bond how irritated they were making him, and lack of respect was making him seethe. Technically, Cassius was still a King. He had ruled over the vampires when Gabriel wanted a break, taking it in turns.
Claudina and the others didn’t seem to know this, though, making Aila aware of how small his inner circle really was. Cassius didn’t trust anyone, and from the waves of emotions washing across to her from her master, she knew they were nothing but bugs to him.
Cassius glared at the others, and they all inadvertently stepped back. Claudina’s eyes widened, and fear filled her features, but a lazy smile replaced it, and she raised her hand to Cassius’ wrist, twirling her finger. "The last time I checked, you liked me disobeying you."
Malia made a fake gagging sound in her mouth. "There’s nothing fake about this. Vampires flirting.. It’s too much. SHE is too much. Do we really need to stand here?
Can’t you go to your room.. Or go for a run like Davian suggested earlier!?"
Cassius released Claudina’s face and turned abruptly. "Go to the usual guest quarters. Fiona has already set it up." He left her and the other vampires. Aila glanced at Davian in question, but he shrugged like this was normal.
Claudina looked back at them, smiling at Davian and then glaring murderously at Aila before walking down the long corridor. Her heels echoed across the walls before the others followed behind her. It was then Aila saw a few humans trailing behind them; the sight of them made her blood run cold. They had collars and leads on them, their hands cuffed together, their necks bruised with fang marks.
The men wore open shirts, and the woman wore tiny tight shorts and a vest clinging to their bodies. Just below their right collarbone was a tattoo of the initial’s C.W.
Aila stared after them, even as the halls grew quiet, her hands curling into fists and almost jumped on the spot when Davian placed his hand on her shoulder. She whipped her head at him, and the hybrid raised his hand, looking at her concerned. "Hey.. You’ll be fine."
"Those humans.. are they feeders or slaves?" She asked through gritted teeth. Her dread over the vampires was gone and in its place was the feeling of being powerless. This hadn’t been her world until recently. Before, all she had to worry about was the hunters trying to kill werewolves, vampires and shapeshifters. Now she was faced with the reality of how poorly vampires were treating humans.
No, she couldn’t say vampires as a whole. Even though Cassius had feeders, she knew they were there by choice. These humans, whose eyes were blank and their heads downcast, did not look like they were voluntarily giving their blood. She knew collars and leads were a kink among people, but it didn’t look like that, especially with that tattoo.
"They.." Davian trailed off, looking as though he was trying to find the right words. "Some vampires like Cassius keep human feeders who volunteer, but.. there are others who do treat them like slaves."
Aila felt the weight of his words on her shoulders. She felt so small to the growing list of issues and problems in the world. She wanted to help them, but how could she when at the moment she couldn’t even help herself?
"Hey, chin up, kid," Davian fake punched her chin to look up. "Pow. When you’re out of here, you won’t be alone. Maybe then you can kick some vampire ass, eh?"
Aila looked at him, her lips twisting into a small smile, feeling slightly better by his words. "Davian.. do you think later tonight we can go for a run? Hideout from them all for a while?" She asked as they started to walk in the direction the others went.
"You don’t even need to ask. I can already tell they are going to turn this castle upside down," Davian replied as he slid his hands into his jeans pockets.
Aila sighed and followed the noise of music and chatter until they were in the guest quarters on the second floor. They’d opened the patio doors, letting the sheer white curtains blow towards them gently with the cold breeze. But it was a welcome breeze. Already the large room felt sticky and hot from the movements of the vampires dancing, drinking and openly feeding on the slaves on the couches.
Aila felt her stomach churn instead of wanting more.
Her face hardened at sight, but she wandered to Fiona, the little strawberry blonde vampiress who was holding a tray of champagne flutes. Aila grabbed two, downing one before sipping on the other. Cassius didn’t send them away, and she could tell through the bond he wanted her there.
Unfortunately, Aila couldn’t push against that pull of wanting to please him. She already used whatever energy she had to go against him and nearly strangle him earlier in the dungeon. Aila huffed, another reason why she shouldn’t be at this strange vampire party. They had Aldric and the other lycans in that dungeon.
Worry tightened her chest, but she let her features harden after catching another vampire watching her curiously.
Aila turned away, sipping her champagne and ignoring him, but he appeared before her with that annoying vampire speed. Aila stopped, almost spilling her drink. "Aila, was it?" He asked with a charming smile, blocking her path.
Aila looked at him, bored; she didn’t want to waste her breath. "I can see why Cassius keeps you around." He reached his hand out to touch her, stopping when another hand gripped his wrist and crushed the bones.
The vampire’s eyes widened. "Cassius?!"
"No one touches, Aila," Cassius spoke menacingly quietly. "No one."
