Restless, Urian drifted through the crowd in the dark hall where many of their community had gathered to celebrate his sister’s news and feed. Which meant the hall was quickly turning into an orgy, so parents were covering the eyes of their smaller children and rushing them home. No doubt that was really why Tannis had called their mother away. They were all careful to keep their human mother separate from any of their “parties.” Aside from the fact that the way they ate tended to horrify her, as a non-Apollite she could easily find herself someone’s prime course—and the witness to Urian’s first massacre, as he was rabidly protective of his mother and sister to a frightening level. While his father might sharpen the knife, Urian was a little too quick to use it.
Another reason no one would feed him. His temper was quite legendary among their people already.
As were his powers.
Davyn staggered over to him. By the glazed and dazed appearance of his eyes, it was obvious he’d been feeding quite a bit already and was more than a little blood-drunk. Licking his fangs, he smiled as he draped himself against Urian’s back and rested his chin on Urian’s bare shoulder. Because they’d grown up together, he alone held no fear of Urian.
Or much of anyone else.
“Hey, brother Uri. Sure you don’t want to join us?” His hand drifted a little too far south, toward the hem of Urian’s short chiton.
Urian laughed as he extricated himself from Davyn’s hug and sloppy grope. “You’re a little too happy, Dav, and Paris doesn’t share. Believe me, I know. I still have a bruise from the last time I hogged too much blanket. Given the ass-whipping I took from that, I’d hate to think what he’d do if he found his boyfriend draped all over me.”
Davyn tsked. “I know you’re hungry. Don’t you get tired of drinking reheated blood? Wouldn’t you like someone fresh to eat?”
His breathing turned ragged at an invitation that was extremely hard to say no to. Every part of him was attuned to the scent of Davyn’s blood. To the hunger inside him to feed.
However …
I won’t be an asshole.
Not to his brother.
And definitely not to Davyn, who would be horrified if he were sober. Davyn wouldneveract like this if he weren’t high from the bloodlust. Paris should have known better than to have fed him and left him alone to find his way home. It’d been a stupid thing for his brother to do. Davyn was too young and inexperienced to have been abandoned in a crowd where someone could easily prey on him.
“Tell you what, Davy. Let’s find Paris, shall we?”
“Ooo, three of us, frolicking. Good idea. I like that even better!”
“Yeah.” Urian draped Davyn’s arm around his shoulders and led him through the crowd to hunt for his twin.
Yet the sight and smell of the others feeding while he was starving and this close to a willing donor … it was torture. And it made his stomach rumble with need. Not to mention, other parts of his body reacted with a disturbing hunger of their own that he didn’t even want to contemplate.
“Where did you leave Paris?”
Davyn was almost unconscious.
Urian had to shake him awake. “Davyn! Where did you leave my brother?”
“In a room.”
Oh, that was so unhelpful. Had Davyn been sober, Urian would have slapped him. Instead, he sighed in irritation. It was a good thing Davyn was the only friend he had or the temptation to gut him would have been harder to resist.
Unsure of how to best handle this, Urian decided to find his brother Theo, who had taken his wife and children home the moment the first set of clothing had started coming off. While Theo was far from prudish and had been known to participate in some of the most lascivious parties ever thrown—as had Theo’s wife, Praxia, prior to their marriage—Theo’s eldest child was a daughter and he was extremely protective of her virtue.
Not to mention, Theo’s home was the closest to the hall so it made sense to head there first and start with him.
After Urian’s insistent knocking, a barely dressed Theo answered the door with an annoyed frown. Given his brother’s state of dishabille and the redness of his throat, Urian would say Theo had been in the midst of his own sexual encounter with Praxia.
Something further confirmed by the bite in Theo’s bark when he growled at Urian. “What do you want?”
He blinked slowly, just for maximum annoyance as that was a moral imperative whenever dealing with one of his older siblings, then he spoke slowly, drawing out his words to again irritate his brother as much as possible. “Apollo’s death. Apollite domination over the world of mankind, and an end to our curse. But at the moment, I’d settle for you returning your attitude to whatever asshole gave it to you, and finding Paris.”
Urian caught Davyn as he began to slowly sink sideways to the floor and helped to right him. “Our good and thoughtful brother abandoned Davyn and vanished to who knows where, to do who knows whom. Can you lend us a hand and watch over Davyn while I try to find the stupid bastard?”
Davyn finally stopped trying to grope Urian long enough to scowl at them both. “I don’t want to sleep with Theo, Uri. He’s an asshole. Let’s find Paris. He’s very cuddly.”
Urian passed a see-what-I-mean stare at his older brother.
