A Grave Exchange (13 page)

Slowly
,
he inched his way toward me, his leering
men following
closely behind him
. O
ne stayed with Lucius, whose face
, I noticed,
was void of emotion
.
I hoped he knew what I was thinking, I hoped he knew I had no intention of bed hopping with these frightening men, that he truly was the only man I ever wanted to be with
. M
y heart tripped over its own beats with fear that he thought I could ever look at another man
.

“Ivy, dear
,
sweet
,
tempting little Ivy, you surprise me.”

Swinging my head around
,
I was shocked to see the
k
ing had reached the bed
. He
grabb
ed
my ankle
s
and
pulled me nearer
to the edge of the mattress
, spreading my legs wide
open in front of him
.
Whimpering
,
I tried to kick myself free, but the
k
ing had a death grip and yanked at m
y
ankles to stop me
from
moving
.
Crying out
,
I felt my bravery wane, but something, something small inside me
,
willed me on
.
I smiled up at the
k
ing and licked my lips
. T
he
k
ing dropped to his knees
.

N
ow or never
,
I told myself. I shifted lower,
nearer
to
the
k
ing
. As he watched
, I slid my fingers down to my core
and
rubb
ed
my clit
.
I moaned, half closing my eyes
,
but keeping my gaze pinned on
the
k
ing and his men, two of which had
partially
disrobed and
had taken themselves in hand.
I
swallowed back my revulsion and
used th
eir own depravity against them. I
started to rock my pelvis, harder and harder
, as
I slid my fingers along my core
. Finally
,
out of the corner of my eye, I saw
Lucius
spring into action. No one but I saw him dispatch the one guard who’d stayed with him. No one but me
noticed h
im as he crept up behind the king and his remaining men.
Rolling my hips, licking my lips, gasping
with pretend pleasure,
I
continued my careful distraction.
Slowly
,
I slid
one
hand up to my breasts and rolled and flicked my nipples, all the while riding down on my fingers
. T
he
k
ing slid forward
,
as did his men,
and
anger filled me to think the
y
thought they could have me
. S
lowly
,
ever so slowly
,
Lucius came up behind them
. S
heer will kept me going, my determination to see them all brought to justice riding on this very moment
.
Faking my near orgasm
,
I cried out
,
and with that
,
Lucius struck
. He
raised his arm in an arc and swung swiftly
,
removing three men’s heads
at once.
I didn’t know where to look
.
I froze,
felt I’d be sick.
I
’d known
he would have to harm them all
,
but to see three heads fall
from the shoulders of men who
had been very much alive and reactive
,
thanks to my amorous actions
,
made me go
quite numb
. F
ountains of blood
rose from the necks up into the air, and then rained down upon me. S
creaming
,
I tried to crawl away from the bloodfest, but the
k
ing had other ideas
.
A
pparently
,
he had become very turned on with all that was going on around him
. H
e pulled my legs with one hand and
then
held me in place
;
with his other arm
,
he swung his sword high to keep Lucius away
.

“
H
ad I known what a beauty
you were,
I would have
had
you earlier
. H
owever
,
I shall make up for lost time now
. T
his will hurt
,
Ivy, have no illusions
.
I love hurting
human women
.”

Screaming every obscenity I ever heard
,
I tried to push him away,
but he dug
his nails into my legs
and
crawled on top of me
. C
rying out
,
I tried to squirm
from his grasp.
I could feel his excitement
pressing
on my belly
and in my
desperat
ion,
I tried to claw out his eyes
. I
n return
,
I
received
a swift
fist to
my face
. T
asting my blood
,
I
vowed vengeance
.
He gripped
my hair
and
yanked my head to the side,
and I fought
to disengage his hold
.
The world seemed to stand still at that moment
.
I remember hearing Lucius scream and saw him dive toward us
. T
he
k
ing bit into my neck
.
An insidious poison attacked e
very fiber of my being
,
s
preading rapidly through my
bloodstream.
I felt
my heart weaken
;
I felt myself being drained
of my life
’s
blood
.
I tried so hard to push the
k
ing off me
.
Lucius appeared
in my line of vision,
and
he too
tried in vain to pull the
k
ing from on top of me, but in a shocking move, the
k
ing picked me up
,
and we simply disappeared
.

A moment later, we
reappear
ed
at the cemetery
.
Fear
coursed through my veins
. S
hivering violently
,
I tried to pull my weakened body away from the
k
ing
.
He
stood there
,
towering over me
,
laughing violently
.

“Little Ivy, I’ve brought you to a very special place
,
don’t you think,
to co
nsummate our
intimate
union
? I
believe I will keep you,
use you
as my blood
donor
, at least until I get bored, which
shouldn’t
be too long
from now
.”

Not truly understanding him but not wanting to find out
the meaning of his hateful words,
I started to drag myself around the very tombstone
before which
I
’d
met Lucius
. H
ow cruel fate could be.
Feeling overwhelmed and finding it hard to move
,
I started to cry,
to
roar,
to
scream at all the Gods in the heavens to
hear me and to
come
to my aide
.
Lightning lit up the blackened sky, freezing rain pelted
down on
my bare
,
tender
skin, tree branches whipped around us
,
and still I kept screaming
. S
omething inside me started to change, but still I ranted
. T
he
k
ing stood there
, obviously
bemused
,
an evil smile splashed across his cold face.

I somehow found the strength to stand,
and
leaning against Lucius’ tombstone
,
I turned to face the
k
ing
. N
othing would stop me
now;
if I died
,
I would die knowing I tried to kill this monster before me
. G
laring at him
,
I started to shout
. W
ords
flew from
my mouth in a tongue I did not recognize
,
and yet
, they
all sounded strangely familiar
. T
he
k
ing
’
s smiled disappeared
,
quickly replaced by a frown
.

“Ivy
,
what are you saying?
W
ho taught you this language
? S
top it
this instant
.”

He l
ung
ed
for me
, but
I quickly stepped back,
and he
fell to his knees
. T
he thunder above us roared,
and
the wind whipp
ed
the fallen
leaves in
a macabre dance around us
.
Still
,
I continued my rant, roaring words I did not understand but fe
eling
the meaning of everything I shouted
.
The
k
ing screamed at me to stop
.
Looking down at him
,
I noticed signs of aging on his once youthful face
.
S
uddenly
,
I felt a
n ethereal
presence and turned toward it
. A
glowing light shone between two
chestnut
trees, radiat
ing
heat and beauty
.
Smiling
,
I turned back to the
k
ing
. H
is body had aged grotesquely
,
and I could barely stand looking at him
.

“Ivy
,
please stop all of this
.
I promise you I will leave.”

A small
,
warm hand touched my shoulder
,
and I felt a beautiful peace spread through my body
. I
look
ed
to see who
had touched me, and
I gasped
. A
tiny female stood before me
,
smiling,
and
I instantly knew who she was
.

Screams punctuated the night
,
and turning
,
I saw King Casimiro doubled over
.

“Maria
,
forgive me, I had no idea of the grief I had caused
.
I will do anything, anything at all if you just let me go.”