Court of Nightmares and Ruin

Chapter 20

Icelyn

I rounded the castle and entered through the main gates, half expecting to be stopped and dragged back to my room at any second. Luckily, it only seems that Kohl only told Athen that I was not to attend the party because everyone else paid me little mind.

Strange music increased in intensity the closer I got. The festivities were being held outside in the enclosed courtyard under the big, intoxicating moon. A hoard of fae was crowded in the courtyard's center and dancing provocatively to the music. Tables lined the walls and were filled to capacity with food and fae wine. I licked my lips as I made my way to a giant gourd filled to the brim with strawberry-colored wine.

Just what I needed... I reached for a cup, but it was plucked from the table before I had a chance to grab it. I turned angry eyes toward the offender but stopped short when I looked at the fae standing beside me.

He towered over me, but he was slim, almost sickly looking. His skin was pale, and his eyes were dark and nearly seemed lifeless. His odor reminded me of death, and I stepped back.

"May I?" He dipped the cup he snatched from me into the wine and handed it to me.

I accepted it against my better judgment and down the sweet liquid in one gulp.

"I like a female that knows how to have a good time." He smiled, and I couldn't help but notice the sharp fangs in his mouth.

"You smell exquisite," he said, taking the cup from my hand and stepping towards me.

I held my ground, this was the point of coming to the party, but this guy was a bit much.

"Your blood is so enticing." He dipped low and smelled of my neck.

My blood? What the hell?

"Oh no, no, baby!" Jen interrupted and shoved herself in between me and the dark fae. Relief instantly flooded my body.

"Sorry, she has already been claimed by the king." Jen smiled sweetly, and the male looked agitated but eventually stalked off.

"What are you doing, Jen? I most certainly have not been claimed by the king..." I hissed as she dragged me back toward the food table.

"You have if he or any other like him asks. Do you have any idea what he is?" she asked me seriously.

I looked back towards him, a chill running down my spine when I saw him still looking at me in the corner. When I didn't answer, Jen continued.

"He is a vampire fairy. They are sick creatures that drain the blood of their victims while they have sex with them."

I gripped my throat, where he smelled of me, the wine I just drank suddenly souring in my stomach. This was the first time I had seen one, but I had heard tales of them, none of which were good.

"Thanks." I smiled at Jen, who handed me another cup of wine. I chugged that one too.

"I thought you were forbidden to come here? How did you get out with miss grouch guarding you?"

"I have my ways..." I smiled at Jen.

"Well, I'm glad you are here. Come on. I know every creature here. I'll help you find a suitable male to spend the moon festival with!" Jen smiled as she dragged me to the center of the dance floor.

I stood there and watched her as she began to gyrate her hips in rhythm to the music. I watched her for a while, not sure what to do. We didn't exactly dance or have wild parties like this in my seelie realm.

"It's not that hard," Jen encouraged me, slowed her dance moves down, and motioned for me to do what she was doing. "Don't think about it so hard. Just get lost in the moon's gravitational pull."

I shyly glanced up at the moon, which made my body tingle strangely. Soon I forgot myself and the reason I had come to the party to start with. Maybe it's the moon, maybe it's the wine, or perhaps I just didn't care anymore. I swayed with Jen, both of us smiling from ear to ear. A big male swooped in and grabbed Jen by the waist. He pulled her into a dance, and she happily complied.

I started to slow down now that I was on my own, but as soon as I did, four males surrounded me, encouraging me to continue to dance. I finally decided to throw caution to the wind and dance with all four. They were each sexy in their own way but nowhere near as sexy as you-know-who, but that doesn't matter. He doesn't matter right now.

Everything was going fine until I smelled that scent that sent my senses into a whirlwind. I tried to fight off my mate's fragrance, but my body heats to an uncontrollable temperature between that and the strange persuasion of the moon. I felt like I couldn't breathe; I was so scorching hot. I fought off the temptation to seek out Kohl and throw myself on him. He...would...not...win, not after what he did to me. He broke me, and I was hell-bent on inflicting as much pain on him as he had caused me. I saw his tall, massive frame as he pushed through the crowd toward me. My skin tingled the closer he got.

The mate bond was pulling at me mercilessly, so I did the only thing I could think of to break it and to break him. I leaped on the closest male to me, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed him with such intensity that it had the possibility of singeing his lips from his face.