CHAOS

CHAPTER TWO
CHAOS

The sweet scent of the raven’s roasted flesh reminded me of my own need to feed again in the near future. But I already knew the charred meat of some gigantic talking bird would never satisfy my hunger. The unwholesome blood of beasts could sustain a vampire for a very short time, and severely weaken them in the process. Many foolish bloodsuckers had died of starvation while trying to survive on a diet of purely animals.
The infamous Italian vampire named Drusilla had unwisely believed she could simply drink the blood of swine and goats to free herself from the burden of killing people. She’d slaughtered thousands of humans in her long lifetime but had a change of heart as she approached death from aging.
Drusilla had chosen to stop eating her neighbors, and she’d tried loving them as she’d loved herself, which was an uncommon and honorable decision for a vampire. She’d died a slow death for her noble choice, withering away into a frail shadow of her former strength.
Drusilla had eventually been found torn to pieces on her animal farm, her starved pale body malnourished to just skin and bones, and parts of her rotting corpse had been chewed up by her own pigs.
I wasn’t ready to make that kind of sacrifice. But I’d vowed to only feed on soulless evil beings who deserved to die. I was certain the blood of a sadistic murderer tasted just as good as the blood of a kindhearted nurse. Plus, the world was full of wicked people, so there was never any reason for me to drink from the veins of the innocent.
My vampire body craved delicious nourishing blood, specifically from the flowing arteries of a man or a woman. As a witch, I could also choose to brutally siphon the lifeforce from my victims using a special spell of black magic. To be honest, my fangs were much more satisfying.
The creepy raven Baltas wasn’t wrong when he said I’d consumed humans' flesh. The addictive flavor from within Cerissa’s throat that I’d recently ripped open still swirled around inside my mouth. And I wanted more.
But what I truly desired in my heart and soul was the cure that Naomi had promised to create. Her scientific research had gotten her killed by the vampire Alyssa. And I knew the former queen of bloodsuckers wouldn’t have personally assassinated Naomi unless the threat of a cure was real.
I would accept being a vampire for the rest of my life if I didn’t have this never-ending burning lust for warm blood. Even though I could summon dark sorcery to drain people or creatures to nourish myself, I still madly desired the flavor of feeding on humans. I was a slave to their blood, and there was sadly no substitute for the real thing.
My current plan was to quickly sneak back down to Naomi’s apartment to recover my red robe and somehow salvage the research data from the computers. Skye had suggested we steal all of the hard drives, which should contain the formula of Naomi’s cure for vampire thirst. At the very least, I wanted to hide the drives in a safe place before someone else beat me to it, or even worse, destroyed them.
I had to move insanely fast. The clock was ticking for my friends and as strong as Skye and Gretchen were, nobody was invincible. They would both be dead soon unless I saved them. And only six hours of darkness remained before sunrise. No pressure at all.
A fall from the tower was a long way down. I looked and not even my vampire eyes could see that much distance. If I jumped to my doom, I’d die instantly from the crushing impact. No living thing, natural or supernatural, man or beast, could survive a drop from this height.
But I’d never in a million years step off the edge and allow my body to splatter on the street below. Did old Baltas not know that I could now transform into a hybrid bat and fly to safety? Had he really expected me to stay in my naked flesh and shatter all my bones on the sidewalk? Whatever his bird brain had thought no longer mattered, since he was dead and eternally regretting his last words to me. Rot in the pits of Hell with the demons, you evil raven.
I’d hoped for a better message from him. Some kind of offer that didn’t involve me sacrificing my life in exchange for my friends. Hadn’t I already suffered and given enough by becoming a damn bloodsucker? Now I was expected to return to the Lake of Fire, too? Screw that.
No more making deals with God or the Devil. The next messenger that either of them sent to speak with me, whether holy angel or wicked creature, would be killed on sight.
I stepped away from the edge of the tower and returned to the rooftop door that Skye had previously opened. Her fading scent slightly lingered on the metal handle that she’d snapped in half. And if not for that nasty satyr’s horrible stench still polluting the air, maybe I could’ve smelled more of her. Most people disliked the odor from animal shifters, but I didn’t mind hers or Gretchen’s at all. Of course, my love for them both had something to do with that.
A nude vampire witch running down the stairs of Blood Tower would surely attract unwanted attention. Residents of the tower were all bloodsuckers or at least employed by them. Roaming security teams, video cameras, and Prince Khalek with his Archdemoness companion were all dangers I needed to avoid.
Officially, I was the new Vampire Queen but that wouldn’t stop Khalek or Medusa from trying to kill me again. And maybe I could command some common bloodsuckers to help defend their queen against attacks. Only one problem: There was no proof that I had actually defeated Alyssa. I’d planned on using her severed head as evidence, but Cerissa had ruined that strategy. The bounty hunter’s high-powered rifle had blown Alyssa’s skull into a thousand pieces.
My life was in absolute chaos. Fortunately, I had lots of experience dealing with hopeless nightmare situations.