The Blood is Love (Dark Eyes 2)

I swear there’s a hint of a smile on her face when she says that.

We walk through the doors into what looks to be a lounge, a little similar to Dark Eyes, except that the furniture looks much older, with a Scandinavian slant, like nothing would be out of place in an old Nordic castle, and of course everything is red. The only light is coming from candelabras and chandeliers lit with hundreds of dripping candles. This is goth on steroids.

“What is this place?” I ask. “And don’t just tell me it’s the Red World.”

“It’s the gateway to the Red World,” Natalia says. “This is the only way in. To access the Red World, you must walk through those doors. Then, you are free to go anywhere you want in the Red. Each corridor,” she says, pointing down the sides where hallways seem to lead to nowhere, “leads to a different access point in the city. You’ll see, Helsinki is a different place when you look at it through the vampire’s eyes. We rule the world here.”

“Technically, our father rules this world,” Kaleid says. “And if we don’t stop him, he’ll move on to the next one. The human one.”

“You don’t have to give me your speech again, brother,” she says. “I heard you the first time.”

“And have you thought about it anymore? Because if Valtu is on board…”

“We’ll see. If he’s on board, then I’m on board.”

Kaleid presses his hand over his heart. “It’s your lack of confidence in me that kills me.”

She shrugs. “Just because I think the worlds would be better if Skarde was out of the picture, doesn’t mean I have faith in what your plan is. It’s a death wish, Kaleid.” She glances at Solon over her shoulder. “And you should know better than to think you can win this, Absolon. Frankly, I’m surprised you’re here.”

“You and me both,” Solon says gruffly.

We stop outside a door and Natalia waves her hand at it. “He’s in there. I have business to attend to, but I’ll be around. Good luck.”

Natalia walks off the way we came, and Kaleid looks to me and Solon with a hopeful look on his face. He puts his hand on the door and opens it.

It’s a fairly large room with lush shag carpeting, a bunch of circular beds and mirrors all over the place, including the ceiling, and groups of melting red candles. In the middle of the room is a naked woman on all fours, a dog collar around her neck, the chain connected to it running to the hand of a man.

The man is sitting in a huge wooden chair, gothic as fuck. He’s got longish dark hair, dark eyes, and is completely naked, holding a goblet in one hand, his mouth smeared with what looks like blood.

Below him, the woman on her knees is sucking his dick.

The man stares at us, eyes glazed with pleasure, not caring, or maybe not even seeing us. The lewd, wet sounds of the blow job fill the room.

Kaleid clears his throat. “Lenore. May I introduce you to Valtu. Better known in your world as Dracula.”

14

Lenore

Of all the things I thought I’d see today, I never thought it would be Count Dracula getting his dick sucked. Then again, if I gave any thought about where we were going, I should have seen it coming. Vampires are a kinky and uninhibited bunch through and through.

I should look away, I think. But I can’t. Just like it happened in the Dark Room at home, I’m watching this woman suck the life out of him and it’s turning me on like crazy. But unlike before, Solon isn’t pressing his cock against my ass. In fact, he actually takes a step away from me. I guess he knows exactly what I’m thinking.

“You’re back,” Dracula says, in a low, rich voice. His breath hitches a little with pleasure and he closes his eyes, his body tensing for a moment. He’s well-built, an eight-pack, all brawny shoulders and pecs and veiny arms. “Hope you don’t mind me finishing up.”

“I need to know what you’ve decided,” Kaleid says to him, as if we aren’t all standing around and watching this person go down on him.

I glance over at Solon, brows raised. Is this normal?

He smirks at me. You have to get over your puritanical thinking, moonshine.

I’m not puritanical, I protest. But I’m also not used to people having business meetings while getting blow jobs.

“Welcome to our world,” Kaleid says, picking up on my thoughts yet again. He shoots me a smile. “This place, anything goes. A lot different than in San Francisco, I know.”

“Ah. This must be Lenore,” Dracula says, and when I dare to look at him, his eyes are open and he’s gazing directly at me. “She’s pretty. For a human.”