Evil Is a Man

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

If you like what you're reading, let me know: SellarDhor@gmail.com. And let me know where you want the story to go and who you want Jake to end up with. And if you have any ideas for the future, let me know, I might include them.

MAY 13th

"God Marutuk, the test finally came back positive. He's pregnant!" Dr. Runihura smiled.

"He, he is? Are you sure?"

"Completely."

"But I can't be sure it's mine, can I? Dr. Farhat could have impregnated him in the Sandfalls trial. Or, there could have been some of his sperm inside his phallus when I used it as a means to inject my own Cobra Seed."

When I heard this, I knew deep down he was right. My body just wasn't capable of letting Marutuk impregnate me. And Tahir had thrust inside me when he was trying to get that second load out when I was dying of thirst in the Sandfalls. He had already come once right before he did that, and could have easily leaked more of his semen into me right then. Not to mention, when Marutuk had forced me to have sex with his dead body, that wasn't that long after he had come twice. So, lingering sperm inside his urethra should have been expected.

"I can do a paternity test, it's no big deal."

Marutuk's eyebrow rose. "There's a such thing as a paternity test?"

"Of course!" At that point, I was ready to kill the poor doctor. I told myself he had no idea we had kept this from Marutuk for so long.

"How soon can you do that?"

"With a fanged vampire baby, almost immediately. It has a chance of hurting the embryo, but God Marutuk, as long as you are the father, this isn't going to be just any baby. This is going to be a new god, the start of a new Blood. It won't be hurt by a little poking."

"Yes, do the procedure right away, doctor."

And I glanced at poor Helina, back in her snake tank in the bedroom (in full view again this time), before following Dr. Runihura into the clinic.

The handsome Egyptian doctor led me to one of the clinic beds and had me lie down. I panicked as I realized that trying to get the doctor on my side was my only shot I had at saving Tahir's child inside me. I needed to try and gauge how much I could trust him.

"Doctor, this clinic is the only room Marutuk isn't potentially spying on. He uses the snakes all over the palace to keep tabs on all of us. Because of the mongooses, this is only place where it's safe to talk."

"That's good to know. Those mongooses sure are adorable looking."

"Doctor, you and I have a lot in common."

"Really, Jake Groves? I don't see how."

"Please, just Jake. Well, look at your clothes. Clearly you have little in common with all of these Arabian folks. And the same is true with me."

"I suppose I do get plenty of looks in this city for being different, Jake." His confirmation was lessened by the fact that he never told me his first name, as Tahir had done.

"So, uh, doctor. What is your opinion of Marutuk?"

"I barely know the guy."

"But if democracy was instituted, would you vote to keep him in as a leader here?"

"I really don't have time for small talk, Jake. I'm sorry. We have to get you sedated and start this procedure."

With my attempts at getting into his head having failed, the only other strategy that came to me was attempting to seduce him. If I could seduce him, I could either gain his trust if he was a good person, or blackmail him into helping me if he was bad. But I knew that my track record of being able to seduce doctors was less than stellar.

"You know what, Doctor? I'm actually afraid of needles. Dr. Farhat had this vampire ability that made him able to physically control my body after he bit me once I was out."

"All of Shankar Blood fanged vampires have that ability."

"Great! Would you mind biting me now so that I won't have to go through the trauma of the needle?"

"I think we should just stick to the plan and sedate you like everyone else is sedated."

"Well, could you at least bite me first, just to numb me before you put the needle in? And while you do that, I'd like your medical opinion on my blood. Did you know as the One, my blood tastes so magical, many vampires ejaculate just as soon as they taste it?"

"Oh my! No, I had no idea."

"I'd love for you to try it. And, I know this palace can be a lonely place. I know you aren't sleeping with anyone here. If you find yourself losing control, like a lot of vampires do when they taste me, if you find yourself not being able to do anything but ravish my naked body, well then, I perfectly understand and sympathize with you. It will be our little secret, I'll never speak a word of it or anything else you ever do to me when we are alone."

"Oh my! That is quite an offer. As intrigued as I am, I don't trust myself to behave. I'm not going to bite you in any way. Now, here comes that needle."

He stuck the IV needle in my hand.

"See? Not so bad. Now, just let the sleep overtake you."

I started to freak out. I was beyond being safe. "I assume you've taken an oath to protect your patients?"

"Yes, I suppose so."

"Please, think of me as your patient. If this paternity test comes back showing the child is Dr. Farhat's, Marutuk will do exactly what he did the last time I was pregnant with his baby. He'll use his snakes to chew the embryo out of me while I'm awake for the whole thing."

"Sounds brutal!"

"It's torture! I'm begging you, lie to him and tell him it's his baby. He won't have any cause for suspicion, no reason not to trust you. After a week, he'll let my friend go free. After that, I'll just disappear, and you won't ever see me again. I'll have Tahir Farhat's baby on my own. He'll never know you ever lied. And I would owe you everything. Anything you wanted from me, I would do."

"I'll think on your proposal. Now, it's time for you to go under."

He knocked me out with anesthesia.

"God Marutuk, get ready to be a father. The baby is yours. Without a single doubt in my mind."

Dr. Runihura gave no sign to me whether he was misleading him or not. All I could do was hope it was Tahir's and the doctor was deceiving him. I figured the fact that the doctor didn't say anything about my request to Marutuk was a good sign.

Marutuk jumped up and down excitedly and hugged the doctor.

"I've waited so long for this, worked so hard for this. It's long overdue. Doctor, I'm counting on you to help me through this."

"That's what I'm here for, God Marutuk."

"I know the first week is important."

"After that first week, Helina goes free. That was our deal."

"Yes, yes. I will let he go."

"I want Vizier Bazzi up here writing a contact for her."

"Fine." He opened the door and summoned the Vizier.

"I know that I'm not supposed to paralyze him while he's pregnant."

"That's probably true."

"What about not making him do spells, or not having sex with him?"

Dr. Runihura shook his head. "You need to keep him well fed and hydrated. And keep his stomach from taking major impacts. Other than that, feel free to do what you want with him."

"What about oral sex? Is there any risk?"

"Obviously, you cannot do anything that would kill Jake. You can't choke him to death. But not having a constant intake of breath isn't going to matter at all."

"And intercourse?"

"Should be fine, as long as you don't rip into him. You don't want to injure the fetus, or cause it to bleed."

"Before, I was carrying him in my arms everywhere, just to make sure he was always safe."

"In terms of the baby, there's no need to be that protective."

"What about protecting him from assassins?"

"I think holding him everywhere you go is only going to open you both up to attack, since its mainly your arms that you'd be using to ward off any would be assassins. As long as we keep him at arm's length at all times, I think you will be fine."

"Noted, doctor."

"Uh-oh," I said. "Why do I feel so queasy?"

Marutuk gasped. "Is something wrong with the baby?!"

"No need to worry," he said. "I'm sure it's just a side effect of the anesthesia I gave him during the procedure."

"You gave him anesthesia? Why?"

"It was a minor surgery, Marutuk. I had to."

"No, not anymore. I don't care if it's the most serious surgery ever invented. As long as he has my Cobra-Child inside of him, he will not be on pain killers of any sort, you hear me?"

"Yes, God Marutuk."

"Excellent, thanks doctor, you're dismissed."

Vizier Bazzi came in with his quills and parchment as the doctor left. "Vizier, we need you to write up one of your contracts for the life of this woman."

"Helina Petrov. Please, put that in your contract," I said.

He started to write in Hindi.

"Wait, I want this written in Hindi as well as translated into English, so I can understand it all."

"Alright," said Marutuk.

"When is she going to be let free?" asked Bazzi.

"In a week, as long as the pregnancy holds and Jake follows all my orders."

He wrote it all down.

"Wait, you told me a week after conception, which was technically yesterday."

"Six days, then," Marutuk told him.

"Like this?"

"Yes," I said. "But I want two more copies made. One for me, one for you, Vizier, and one to be sent to Devanshi Shankar."

"Agrreed," said Marutuk.

Bazzi finished, and Marutuk signed each copy, handing me one and leaving with the other two. I put my copy with my other things in the closet.

"Time for another spell, Jake."

Marutuk grabbed my arm and forced me to follow him. He took me back into the snake pit, with me already starting to feel sick with sadness at this traumatic space. I prayed he wouldn't force me to interact any further with Tahir's remains.

He made me descend the ladder to the dais, and he had me lie on it once more.

"We are going to do the exact same spell as we did before. Only this time, you aren't going to lie to me about what you see."

"Alright."

"Repeat after me, and concentrate on the baby being ten months older."

I did as he asked, already knowing to use the lifeforce of the snakes to power my spell.

The spell engaged, and I felt weak. My stomach grew again, becoming beyond swollen.

"Good. Now, you're going to concentrate on being able to see through your skin, and being told the other things too. Ready?"

"Yes."

I repeated the spell exactly as he did. That time, before the skin turned translucent, I saw the word Special.

"It's a special."

"Good."

And then I saw an image of myself next to a picture of an egg. I looked at the image of the picture next to a sperm, and I almost wanted to cry. There was Marutuk's naked body, looking back at me haughtily. I felt like someone just sucker-punched me. All my hope faded in a quick moment. "You are the father," I said, and with those words, all my hope of taking a piece of Tahir left vanished.

"Good."

At the same time, those snakes seemed to get tired, probably due to this spell using their life-force, and they fell to the ground, limp. Which meant the skeleton I knew was Tahir's suddenly popped into view, being ever so close. Seeing his bones made me feel even worse about my failure to keep him alive, and now my failure to keep him alive inside me at all. I had ruined him.

I couldn't hold back the tears that assaulted me.

"What's wrong with you?" Marutuk asked me. "Why would you cry when this is the happiest moment of my life?"

From the tone of his voice, I felt like Helina's life was at stake. "Isn't the carrier of your child allowed a few tears of joy?"

"I guess so. All those motherly hormones making you weak, huh?"

"Exactly," I said, though I hated the lie.

"What does my God-Spawn look like?"

My belly skin went translucent. "It's a boy."

"What does he look like?"

"He looks just like you. There's no trace of me anywhere in that child. It's all you."

"Just what I like to hear. What else?"

"He's got the meanest look I've ever seen on a baby. He's staring me down with the most evil look. Oh my goodness!"

"What?! Tell me!"

"He's got red irises!"

Marutuk took a sharp intake of breath. "You know what that means?"

"What?"

"He's the start of a new Blood! It's just like my sister was able to do! Only my son will be so much stronger, so much eviler, than her weak offspring ever were!"

"Wait, there's one more thing. Huh, that's weird."

"Tell me!"

"I see the word `HATE' over him. What does that mean?"

"That's a good sign. It means, unlike this Blood which does not feed off any negative emotion, the Blood we gave birth to will feed off hate. And see? That's proof that you actually did pass down a piece of yourself to our son, he's not all me after all."

"I'm not following."

"If the Blood ends up feeding off a negative emotion, like the Petrovs and the way they sense and feed off of lack of self-esteem, the mother's emotions after conception lead to the offspring feeding off those emotions. Your hate created in our son a sexual drive to feed off his mother's hate, and soon to be others' as well."

This only worked to further disturb me, so much I was at a loss for words. What had I created? What would I bring into the world?

He pulled me by the arm up the ladder and back up to his bedroom. I was limp and listless, feeling totally dead inside.

"I know what you are thinking," he said. "Your true feelings are as transparent to me as your belly was to you when we just did that spell."

I felt an icy worry that I was endangering Helina with my known weakness at lying. "They are?"

"You are thinking, because you really do now carry my Cobra-God-Son, that you will now return to the esteemed position I once held for you. That I will start trying to please you so that you will fall in love with me."

"Yes, you know me ever so well, God Marutuk," I said, trying not to show any irony in the words. "Is there any way I can regain your love?"

"No. You couldn't be further from reality. You used me and broke my heart. I no longer care at all whether or not you care for me or are happy here. You are just the vessel that is holding my Cobra- Son."

"It pains me to hear that. I don't want to me the cause of anymore pain every time you look at me. That's why I think it best that you just give me my own room or hand me off to the doctor. You won't have to look at me for nine months."

"Because, even though I hate you, you are still beautiful to me, and your blood is unbeatable. And the fact that my son is inside you makes me sexually wild for you. So, you'll be staying right here, getting fucked by me constantly. Starting right this second."

I gasped for air as I felt his snake-penis invade my mouth, pushing into my throat. And soon enough, I felt his fingers invade my butt with some of his lube.

I knew then it was going to a long 9 months. My one saving grace was that he wasn't allowed to make me bleed during sex, so he would at least use a lot of lube.

Dr. Runihura awkwardly put his arm around me as we sat together on his couch. He had asked me to come into his apartment, where he would feel totally safe talking to me, he said, and he locked out the mongooses after they were all being too affectionate.

"Jake, I wanted to tell you that I was thinking a lot about what you told me candidly. Both about this place being the only safe haven from Marutuk's ears, and how you were so open about your hope that Dr. Farhat was the father. I was astonished how upset I was when my tests proved otherwise. I wanted to say, I am a bit captivated with you, Jake, for trusting me with information that could have gotten you killed if shared."

"Thanks, Doctor, I guess I just saw something in you that I felt I could trust."

"There's something about you that makes me want to share my whole life story with you. I know you will never tell a soul."

"I will not."

"Because I'm feeling romantic, I'm going to go through my love life. Please tell me if you are getting bored."

"There's no chance. Please, divulge away."

He went through his love life, from his unrequited crushes to his six actual relationships. Three were men, three were women. Four were Egyptian, the other two Arabian. He went over why each one ended, from death to bitter breakups.

When he was done, he asked me to return the trust and go over my love life before I got here, so I did. From my crush on Ahmad, to loving Parker, and all the way to Alik's death.

Marutuk showed up again, cutting our talk short.

MAY 14th

Marutuk banged on the doctor's clinic. "Doctor, open up!"

Dr. Runihura opened the clinic doors. "Good morning, God Marutuk."

"Morning. Doctor, Jake woke up this morning complaining he was in pain."

Marutuk was holding me in his arms. He handed me to the doctor.

"Hmm. Alright. I could run an ultrasound."

"And look at his face. He has two major, dark lines across his face. They almost look like old scars, but I did not cause them, and not even my blood will heal them. Do you think the baby is doing that with one of his powers?"

He looked at the two grotesque lines on my face. "Most definitely."

"What is he trying to tell us?"

"Perhaps nothing. Perhaps it's just his form of decorating his home, so to speak. But I'll run tests to make sure."

"Yes, doctor. Take him. I need to go meet with my tributes this morning. I know people in the palace know that I no longer bestow the same respect on Jake as I used to. But I refuse to take him to any event now where outsiders will see him."

Marutuk left as the doctor picked me up and placed me in a clinic bed. He gave me an ultrasound. "Everything seems fine," he said.

"So why do I feel so much pain and queasiness?"

"Did you ever think that you were just pregnant? It's not all going to be rainbows and sunshine." He put away the ultrasound equipment.

I walked out into the courtyard and didn't see the mongooses. "Doctor, where are the mongooses hiding today?"

"Oh, they are in my apartment. I'll go get them, hold on."

When he came back into the courtyard, he had Jim Hawkins and Jacquotte Delahaye.in his arms. "Here they are."

"Hey, guys! Long time no see."

Dr. Runihura handed me Jim. I held him in my arms and then gasped. "Doctor, why are these mongooses paralyzed? Did you bite them? Is this some method for keeping them behaved?"

"Oh, do you like what I've done with the place? They aren't paralyzed. I always had a thing for taxidermy, and I think they make such prettier decorations frozen like this than they ever were running amok, don't you agree?"

I gasped in horror, grabbing at them and realizing it was true. "What is wrong with you?! What happened to you thinking they were adorable?!" I started to cry.

"Don't you see? It's just that I find them so adorable that I decided to immortalize them forever as my personal decorations. They are so much prettier still like this than when they were running all over the place, don't you think?"

"All I think is that you are a very disturbed person. Where is the other one?"

"I am still looking for him. The other two were so trusting and came to me right away to the slaughter. The other one bit me and ran off, disappeared. I'll find him soon enough, and when I do, he won't be lucky enough to join my collection. No, I'll take great ironic pleasure in cutting him to pieces and feeding him to as many snakes here as I can." He grabbed them from me and set them down in the courtyard. "I was being so selfish earlier today, keeping them in my room where you would never see them. I'll keep them here in the courtyard, just for your benefit. That way you can see them every day, and the magic I've created will keep a pregnant mother happy."

The tears kept on coming, seeing these poor animals killed just as senselessly as their master. "You do know the snakes will just come right back here. Say goodbye to any hope of privacy from now until the end of eternity."

"I told Marutuk all about your earlier request for my sedition. He was so impressed by me coming forward, he told me I had the right to make any changes I like, and I am free to order you to follow my will when he is gone. All I had to do was act last night like I was your friend and get you to tell me about your love life."

"How silly I was to ever think I could trust you. Clearly I was so lost and alone after losing Tahir, that I could not see that Tahir's replacement was covered with slime until this very second."

He laughed. "The first suggestion I made was for me to get rid of the mongooses. I told him the clinic was really just here for him, you, and his son. No snake is ever going to bite any of you three, so why not have snakes crawling through this whole place? They won't bite me, either. They can smell how loyal I am to beloved God Marutuk, who let my Egyptian village into the The Raajya West in the first place, the only one here not showing us any shred of xenophobia that all the Arabians did. He told us, why would he judge us for being different? He was no more Arabian than we were. I already have my first task for you. Since we will be seeing each other every morning, you can consider it a daily exercise. Come. "

He grabbed me and pulled me upstairs into Tahir's old apartment. Seeing all of Dr. Runihura items here instead of Tahir's was bad enough. The worst part was being dragged into the bathroom, into the bathtub that we had so recently shared together.

Dr. Runihura stripped naked, and stood in his tub. "Did you know my family was descended from pharaohs? As a tradition, all the males in my line shave every part of their skin every day. This is really a much too menial task for me to do it alone, it was meant to be done by a servant." He pulled me into the tub and handed me a razor. "And now, this responsibility will lie in your hands." He turned his back to me. "Since you really aren't worthy of touching a pharaoh, you can start on the worst part of me. My rear end. One word of protest and I'll have Marutuk kill your friend."

I felt like I was back in the slave pens as I started to shave Runihura's butt. In my head, I removed the Dr. from his name for treating me this way, even if I would never get to tell him that. Being in the special tub with another naked, handsome vampire doctor made it infinitely more disturbing.

I shaved every inch of his muscle butt, even up the crack, noticing he was just as sealed up back there that the others had been, making him a clear top. Not that that revelation excited me about us possibly being sexually compatible, it wasn't like I would ever, ever want to experience his top-ness first hand.

I shaved down the rears of both legs, all the way down to his feet. Then I started on his lower back and made my way up. His back was muscled just like Tahir's, but Tahir's back was naturally hairless, he needed no modifying. Also, Tahir's skin was darker than Runihura's, and his hair would have been hanging down.

When I finished his back and shoulders, I started to shave his head. When I had the back of his head done, he turned around and I started on the front.

"Wait a second, what did you just do?!" he demanded.

"What? I'm just shaving all of your skin, just like you said."

He grabbed a mirror and looked into it. "You just shaved off my right eyebrow!"

"Wasn't I supposed to shave every bit of you? I'm just following your orders here."

"I can't believe you could be so stupid. You Americans really are as moronic as I've heard."

I played up the one accent I could actually pull off because I was raised with it, Southern "That's right," I said, in my best Southern drawl. "And, even worse, I'm from the South. None of us can even spell education. Should I shave the other eyebrow off just to even them out?"

"No, leave it alone! And before you get that razor anywhere near my eyelashes, I don't want you shaving anywhere on my body that already has hair."

"Yessirree."

I shaved his arms. He didn't have any armpit hair, so I shaved his pits. And then I shaved down his muscled chest and abs.

When I finished shaving his legs, I said, "Alrighy, all done."

"What? You haven't even gotten to my stick yet."

"I skipped that because its got the tiniest bit of hair there."

"No, you imbecile, shave it!"

I started to shave his penile area, starting at where his pubes would have been and moving down his circumcised, large dick. I ended up shaving his rough balls before he let me go.

That night, back alone in our bedroom, I got Marutuk to tell me when the purpose was of him getting me to tell the horrible doctor about my past love life.

"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. "One child isn't enough for me. I want at least five children, so we can have five new Bloods, all under my control. But it's all too obvious that you need to have real feelings for whoever you sleep with in order for your body to allow itself to be impregnated by them. I'm not so delusional as to believe you will ever have real feelings for me. Tahir's body is no longer here to help us get you pregnant again, so I need to come up with some new options."

"Please tell me what you have planned."

"After this baby is born, I'm going to invade Mareshead to capture the man you loved there."

"You are welcome to try. Too bad Parker Logan is nothing but ashes now. It will be very interesting to see how you plan to impregnate me using a pile of ashes."

"Jericho Logan is Parker's identical clone. All I have to do is execute him, dress up the body to make it look like Parker's, and we will be able to get you pregnant with my second baby."

"Can't say I have any complaint about that plan," I said. "And the third baby?"

"I'll go after Parker's other clone, Syd Logan. Kill him as well."

"If you can find him, you go right ahead."

"And that leaves two more. For the fourth baby, I'll hunt down and kill Maxim Petrov. And the last one will be your human friend Ahmad. I'm telling you all this because I know there's no way you can possibly alert them, being imprisoned here with me. It's not like we have postal service here or even carrier pigeons."

I looked at my "translator device" on the desk, and nodded. I knew I would never let Marutuk kill Maxim or Ahmad. Even if that meant telling Ahmad everything about what was really going on, it was worth keeping him out of danger.

MAY 16th

Two days later, it was afternoon time when Runihura knocked on Marutuk's door.

"Doctor, these kicks still haven't subsided," Marutuk said, waving him over to me on the bed.

Runihura came over to look at my stomach. Every few seconds, there was a visible push of skin. "How much pain are you in?"

"Quite a lot," I said.

"God Marutuk, has this happened continuously since yesterday?"

"Yes. Wait, hold on, almost continuously."

"When was the time it ceased?"

"Earlier this morning. It was just after sex."

"Was there something different about the sex that time than before?"

"Yes, actually. My cobra got so excited, it bit Jake on the inside as it shot it's Cobra-God-Seed into him, causing him to bleed."

"And then the kicking stopped? And the pain?"

"Yes."

Runihura smiled. "Well then, my doctors' orders are to replicate this same behavior, as it clearly is what your son is craving. The fetus needs a mixture of his mother's blood and his father's semen, running up through the mother's cervix."

"But I thought the umbilical cord to a fanged vampire already gave the fetus all the blood it needed from my body?" I asked.

"Usually, yes, but this is an entirely new Blood. Clearly, the umbilical cord is no longer sufficient. And I think he feeds off his mother's pain as well."

"But wasn't I supposed to not cause Jake to bleed during sex?"

"I never said that, God Marutuk. I said the fetus itself should not be bled. Jake can bleed as much as he can during your sex, that will only help the baby. Just as long as you are feeding Jake enough to make sure he doesn't die of blood loss, bleed away. If need be, I can always give him a transfusion."

"How frequently is this needed, doctor?"

"A couple times a day, I'd say, God Marutuk. You two happy parents enjoy yourselves."

He left, but did not take with him the look of sick longing that was on Marutuk's face. His snake- dick was already hard and stiff. "I guess we won't be needing this anymore," he said, tossing the lube in the trash. "I don't know about you, but I was just starting to feel like our restrained sex was starting to get stale. Making you bleed more than ever is just the kind of spark this affair needed."

I didn't know what was worse, me having to lie there while he started to screw me so fast and hard with his penis (this time having it keep its mouth open) that I seemed to bleed endlessly, or not being able to tell him just how much I hated him.

I had nothing to do but watch as more and more painful lines were drawn across my skin. Soon, I was totally unrecognizable.

MAY 17th

The next morning, Marutuk still had that sick grin on his face as he delivered me to Runihura's for the morning.

"It worked perfectly, doctor. Brilliant idea."

"God Marutuk, I live to please you. Which is why I have a proposal for you. Since you are always off for so many hours in the mornings, I'm concerned your son will not get the nutrients he needs in your absence."

"What are you suggesting?"

"Let me cut up Jake, get the blood inside him, and this time mix it with my own semen."

"You're asking if you can fuck him while I'm gone?"

"Exaclty. If you say it makes you uncomfortable, I'd never go through with it on my own."

"No. It doesn't make me uncomfortable. I trust you completely, and I want to reward that trust. It's not like it's possible for you to impregnate him. And this way, I can reward both you and the baby. Yes, doctor. Whenever you have Jake, please do this for me."

"Thank you, God Marutuk. Your wisdom, leadership, and generosity know no bounds."

Oh, how I wanted to interject at that one, but I had to keep my mouth shut.

Which is how my mouth remained as he took me up to his bathroom again, stripped naked, and had me shave his whole body again. That was getting more and more tedious everything I did it, especially since he had long ago stopped letting me get away with any slip-ups blamed on my ignorance.

It hurt so bad when he just picked me up from the bathtub and started to have violent sex with me. Not just physically, but even more so emotionally, as made me have sex with him in Tahir's bed, the very last place we had made love.

I felt such a betrayal to Tahir as I lay there naked, watching him getting hard, his fangs coming out.

"Have you ever had the pleasure of meeting an Egyptian khopesh?" he asked me, then covered my mouth when I started to respond. "That was a rhetorical question. I don't want to hear your idiotic, American answer. I'll tell you the next time you're allowed to speak. Until then, all I want to hear out of you is crying and yelling."

He grabbed the evil-looking Egyptian blade and brought it to my skin.

"Since I lack Marutuk's wonderful anatomy and am unable to do justice to his internal Cobra bite, I'm not going in a whole different direction. And this khopesh will help me make you bleed without the risk of numbing the pain that my own fangs would."

He cut into my back, sending pain through my body. I was trying my hardest not to make a sound, even though the pain was awful. He sucked up the blood from my back, moved his lips to my hole, and spit out all of it into me. Only then did he lick the wound shut.

"You know, your blood tastes just as good as advertised."

He stuck his large, clean-shaven dick inside me and started to thrust crazy hard. This would have hurt me even if I hadn't been bleeding still on inside from Marutuk's snake earlier that day, but again, I refused to cry out.

He picked up his khopesh, reached up and sliced each of my fingers until they were dripping with blood, and then forced me to stick all my fingers into my hole, at which point he screwed me harder than ever.

He came inside me, and I took pride in not making the slightest squeak of pain the whole time.

That night, after Marutuk was asleep, I grabbed my phone and noticed I had a message from Ahmad, asking me how Tahir and I were doing. I started to cry at the name.

Not wanting to go back to lying to Ahmad again, I told him that Tahir had died. Told him we were on a difficult, steep hike, and he lost his footing. I had him by the hand, but I couldn't save him, and he fell to his death right below me. That I was absolutely in horrible guilt and greif.

Ahmad, of course, responded immediately with condolences and wanted to come and be there with me wherever I was, but I told him that was very nice of him, but I needed to be on my own.

He told me I knew best, but he urged me to stop feeling guilty, as I was not to blame. I felt a little better reading his kind words.

MAY 18th

The morning of the date Helina was scheduled to be let free, I brought it up to Marutuk first thing in the morning, but he reminded me the contract said a week after conception, and I hadn't conceived until around sunset. And so, I had to go through another day of status quo that I wasn't emotionally prepared to handle, another day of suffering in silence as the Anti-Tahir made me have sex again in Tahir's bed, and Marutuk forcing me twice.

When it was sunset, I pulled the curtains open and showed Marutuk. "Time's up! Do I need to get the Vizier?"

"No. I'll pull her out."

He climbed the outside of the snake tank, and pulled her naked body into his arms.

"Will the doctor give her antivenom to wake her up like he did with Dr. Farhat?"

"It won't help. She's been under far too long at this point. Wherever she goes, she needs intensive care at the hospital with antivenom. It could be weeks before she actually regains consciousness, but she will, I promise, and she will recover fully. Her ugly dress is in your closet. I'll put it on her."

I didn't want him touching her naked body anymore than was absolutely necessary. "I'll do it," I said, grabbing her body from him, putting her on the bed, and getting her dress on as neatly as I could.

Marutuk had guards come in and take her away. It was odd how sad and lonely I felt seeing her being carried away, but it felt so good to be able to look at the glass-tank and see nothing but snakes inside for once.

I had Big Horn ready to pick her up in Badiya Ahmar, but I didn't want anyone to see Big Horn, so I had them dropping her off and leaving her in an alley. Big Horn would find her and teleport her home to Russia.

I had considered sending her to Fools Gold and putting her under the care of Della Logan, the doctor I trusted most to handle her. But I didn't want Helina to have to wake up a stranger in a strange land without me there, and I felt like sending her home was the only rational choice. I told Big Horn to deliver her to Sneg Dvorec, and give her to Maxim, and gave him the medical instructions.

I got a text from Maxim, and I knew all had gone according to plan: "How come it seems like every time you and Helina go on a Bestie night out, she ends up on the verge of death? FYI: yes, I still love you."

"Don't think just because Helina is gone that you can start misbehaving," said Marutuk later that night. "Because although she is now protected, there's thousands of innocent souls in this very city just waiting for me to kill should you ever even step out of line. And if you should ever run off or disappear, consider the whole city collateral damage. You understand me?"

His point was painfully obvious. "Yes."

MAY 19th

The next morning, I was in Tahir's bed, getting screwed by Runihura once again using that lovely, romantic lovemaking technique of slicing open my fingers and having me bleed into my own chute as lube, when something quite unexpected happened: Big Horn strolled into the room.

He looked at Runihura and I in bed, saw just that he was topping me from his angle. "See, Crazy Kid? I told you you were a bottom." And then he moved sides, and saw my bleeding fingers inside my hole. "Whoa, that is some serious bottoming. I never even conceived sex could be this kinky, but you are my friend, and I'll support you in all of your pursuits, just as long as you don't involve me."

"Excuse me, but the clinic is closed!" said Runihura. He must have thought Big Horn was just some walk in patient, probably an emotionally disturbed one.

"Big Horn, do you really think I'm doing this by choice? I'm being forced."

"A simple `Help,' could have worked!"

Big Horn charged over to the bed, grabbed Runihura, pulled him out of me, and carried him above his head.

"Stop that, you Logan oaf!"

I ran after them both as Big Horn carried Runihura out of his room, out of his apartment, and then back down to the clinic courtyard. He opened the portal opening that was there already, tossed the naked Runihura through, and then closed it.

"Goodbye. Do tell me how South Africa is."

"Could you please lick my finger cuts shut?"

"Sure." He licked my right hand first, his fangs popping out. "Oh, ancestors! That blood of yours."

"You like?"

He glared at me. "You are looking at my phallus respond to your blood underneath my loin cloth, aren't you? Well, if you want me to lick the other one, you'll look away while I do this."

"Alright, aright." I turned my head.

Big Horn finished licking my fingers shut.

"Thanks Big Horn, this is very chivalrous of you, but when Marutuk comes back here, which will be any second, he's going to flip out and possibly kill a bystander over it."

"No he isn't. I just kicked this Marutuk through the portal as well."

"You did? Oh my goodness, you didn't kill him, did you?"

"No, I sent him to South Africa too, so they'll be together now. You know I would never kill him."

"Because you know that killing him would kill the whole Shankar vampire line?"

"No, because I'm sworn not to kill. If I were to kill, my ancestors would take away my power."

"You don't know that for sure because you never killed anyone."

"True."

"It's conjecture, just like not letting anyone see your penis is. It seems pretty unlikely to me that they would actually interfere with your powers."

"Somehow your gut feeling just isn't reassuring to me considering my powers are what make me who I am."

"So, how long do we have before Marutuk and his side-kick figure out how to manage a plane to get back over here? A day? Two?"

"Why does it matter? Go get dressed, get your stuff, and let's get out of here for good. We'll take your doctor friend with us."

"Tahir's dead. Marutuk made us both play some horrible game, and I couldn't save him. And then Marutuk finally impregnated me with his child."

Big Horn crossed his arms. "So what? I'll take you to Della, she'll be able to help with the pregnancy."

"If I leave, he's just going to keep killing and killing until he finds me. I can't create that situation."

"Crazy Kid, don't you see? This people he kills are not your responsibility. You did not kill them. He did."

"Still, I can't just bail."

"But you were willing to leave Jericho to kill people in Mareshead without you there. What is the difference?"

"With Jericho, for much of the time, he wanted nothing more than to kill me. Staying there meant death, and death wouldn't help any of his future victims. And then he banished me totally from the Territory. Marutuk would never kill me. I just need to figure out how to use my close proximity to be of some good."

"I still feel this is not your responsibility. The world is filled with horrible men, Crazy Kid. Are you responsible for saving all the lives of the innocents they will kill? No. And I am much, much stronger than you are. I have half a mind to carry you out of here by force."

"But your other half of your mind wouldn't ever do that to me, and that's the part of you that's in control."

"Hmph," he said, somehow managing to make his arms even more crossed than ever.

"But since you are being so nice and offering to help me, there is something I can think of doing before they get back."

"As long as it doesn't involve me killing people or showing you my sacred phallus, I'm all in."

I ran up to Marutuk's room, showered, and got dressed. And then I returned to the clinic and had Big Horn teleport us to Pradhaan Desh.

While Big Horn waited outside, I headed into the Mahal Aranya. I told the guards who came at me as soon as I entered to go get Admiral Sajan Devar, and moments later, he appeared, smiling at me.

"I'm so happy to see you alive and well, Jake," he said, hugging me in a friendly greeting.

"I don't know so well about the latter adjective in that sentence, but I seem to have the former down."

"Ah yes, now I see. Last time I saw you, your face was covered in bruises. And now, there's something even worse there. I can only guess who did this to you. I'm so sorry you did not take my advice, Jake."

"I need to see Devanshi Shankar, and quickly."

Sajan disappeared for a few minutes. When he came back, he said, "Her Excellency will grant you an audience. I'm afraid you will have to make yourself ready, Jake."

"Oh, right." I walked over and washed my feet off in the streamwater.

"And I will have to inspect you. Are you sure that's still okay with you?"

"Yes, Sajan."

He led me back into the security room, and I took my clothes off. He took all of my items and confiscated them, while he inspected my clothes. He then used his fingers to inspect my mouth, penis, and hole. The person who once thought this was sort of sexy given how studly this guy was long dead, it seemed. This time, I got no pleasure in the process at all, even though nothing had changed.

He unshackled me, had me put my clothes back on but leave my other items, and then he led me into throne room with the massive statue of Shristi Shankar in the center of it. At the top of that statue, Devanshi Shankar entered, proceeded by her mother, Lady Chunni Menon. Sajan bowed deeply and presented me to them, and Salahakara Ogra came in as well on the ground level.

"Don't presume to tell us that you've killed the Shah, as we asked of you," said Lady Chunni Menon. "We know that you have not."

"No. Devanshi Shankar, Your Excellency, I ask for your advice."

"My daughter cannot hear you, I've told you this! I will have to translate for her."

"You may want to talk to me alone, Lady."

"Yes. Sajan, leave us."

"Yes, Lady." He left without the slightest sign of being upset.

"You too, Salahakara Ogra."

She left as well, looking a bit resentful.

"Lady Chunni Menon, do you know that if the Shah dies, all the other Shankar Blood vampires will die too, because he turned the first ones into vampires?"

"Don't presume to tell us that there will ever be a shred of knowledge that we don't already know. We know all. You, the human male, knows nothing. That does not change your orders."

"I believe that this claim of his is untrue. I believe only the Arabian vampires will die out. That the Indian Shankars will be safe. Am I correct?"

"No."

For the first time that day, I heard Devanshi Shankar speak timidly. "Mother, what about Tiam--"

"Shh! Don't say another syllable!" Menon cut her daughter off. "Human male, your task stands unchanged."

Before I could say another word, her mother scooted Devanshi out of the room, leaving me alone.

I left the statue room, said goodbye to Sajan, and left the building.

After Big Horn teleported us back to Badiya Ahmar, there was still one more thing I wanted to do before I let him go for the day. I climbed the ladder down into the snakepits. Big Horn offered to come down and help me, but I knew I was the only one who could go down there and not get attacked.

I found Tahir's bones, and put them reverently in a bag. I climbed out of there, grabbed a shovel, and had Big Horn teleport me to his island on the sea. Big Horn offered to stay and help me, but I asked him to leave me alone.

Once I was all alone in that paradise island, the tears started to pour out. I dug him a grave in the center of the island, placed his bones there carefully, and then placed his two dead mongooses beside him. I buried them together in sea-sand, and marked the grave with a beautiful sea-rock that served as a headstone.

I prayed to God to be kind to Tahir's soul and treat him well in Heaven. I apologized for not being able to save him, apologized for never keeping my promise about the two of us on a sailboat, and told him he would be happier entombed here than any other place in the world, I was sure of it.

I cried and cried until Big Horn's portal opened again, and he stepped through, this time from his camp, and I forced the tears away.

"Are you sure you don't just want to go to Fools Gold?"

"Yes, take me back to the palace, please."

He shifted his portal from his camp to the palace clinic courtyard, and I was absolutely in shock as, instead of seeing an empty clinic, Runihura, dressed again, was right in front of my face. Big Horn gasped too, clearly being just as surprised as I was.

Runihura grabbed me and pulled me through the portal and into the clinic. At the same time, Marutuk pounced through the portal onto the island and attacked Big Horn.

"How did you guys ever get back so quickly?" I asked. "Is Runihura a teleporter?"

Marutuk shook his head. "I'm so old and powerful, I can run extremely fast. I carried the doctor back here, and I'm not even the least bit winded. That and my special ability to always know precisely on the earth I am means I can always find home again when I'm lost."

Marutuk was punching Big Horn so fast, he just seemed to blur as he moved. Somehow, Big Horn was able to move around him and jump through the portal into the clinic.

"Do enjoy your island retreat. I'm dying to see just how fast you can swim back," he said before shutting the portal.

Runihura went to attack Big Horn, but Big Horn turned his fist to metal and punched his head. Runihura fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Sorry Doctor, but until you learn the meaning of the word consent, you'll be tasting nothing but the cement of the ground beneath you. And so, I'm going to give you the largest dose of Logan Blood knockout venom I'm capable of."

He bit into Runihura's throat, injecting the venom, and then pulling off.

"Oh great, Big Horn, now Marutuk is probably going to defile Tahir's grave. I thought you said you had an ability when opening portals to make sure no one was on the other side watching?"

"I do have that, but you never warned me that Marutuk would be so fast, there was even a small chance he would be back by that time."

"How was I supposed to know he could run that fast?"

"How long exactly have you been around him, observing his behavior?"

"Over a month."

"Right. Over a month. If I'd been sleeping with someone for over a month, you can bet I would know all of their abilities."

"So what now? How long do we have before he swims back?"

"I was just kidding about that, Crazy Kid. He's not Valmor Blood, is he? He cannot swim like they can, cannot hold his breath as long as they can. The rest of us vampires can swim faster than humans, but not that far. Even the oldest, fastest swimmer would still take at least two days to get there. And without any blood, that would mean being killed by the sun on the second day. He wouldn't risk it. He's trapped there."

"But there's no source of blood on that island. He's just going to die from the sun anyway."

"I'm obviously not planning anything that will kill him, Crazy Kid. We'll teleport him daily blood packets."

"How long before he waylays us again while you have the portal open, delivering his daily blood? The island is too small for us to keep him there for long."

"Crazy Kid, I can open portals as small as I want to. You've only seen me open large ones, because those are the most convenient, but it's actually easiest to open one that's only a couple feet wide. We have him trapped."

I suddenly felt so much pain in my stomach, it made me faint and I started to fall over. Big Horn swept in and kept me from falling.

"Crazy Kid, is it me, or have you never gone from standing to lying down so amazingly quickly before? I can't say it's a habit I'm fond of."

"It's not a habit of mine, Big Horn. The crazy baby is doing this to me. He's kicking again, causing me so much pain and weakness."

"Personally, I do not understand the appeal. Before the babies are born, they are kicking, causing illness, and draining the parent of life. Then, after they are born, they only get worse. Yelling and screaming when every one of their personal whims is not met, yet absolutely bringing nothing to the table themselves, not even able to do even the slightest bit of chores around camp. That's why, if it were me, I'd just say no to babies."

"Don't you think they are at all cute, Big Horn?"

"Cute? Are you accusing me of being one being some crazy kid-sexer? Because vampires are never attracted to children, that's only a sick human trait. No, I'm attracted to grown-ups, thank you very much. I suppose I find you cute, but I would never find your baby cute, even if it was a carbon copy of you."

"That's not the meaning of cute I was referring to. I meant cute as in adorable."

"Adorable as in, attractive. I know that. I'm not attracted to children."

"That's not what I mean, Big Horn. It's like that funny feeling inside you get when you see puppies playing. That's the feeling I'm talking about."

"Now you're accusing me of getting sexually aroused by animals? I told you, I do not get any funny feeling at all. Well, not unless, well, not unless I'm around you."

"So, aside from romantic or sexual feelings, you don't get any sort of other more cuddly feelings when you see children or animals?"

"No, I have no even concept of what you are referring to."

"Ack! This baby just keeps on pummeling me! The only thing that makes him stop is if I feed him my blood."

"Does it have to be your blood? We could give you mine."

"It's worth a shot, thanks for volunteering."

He set me down on the ground, but into the palm of his hand, and then put his hand to my mouth, filling it with blood.

"Big Horn, yuck!" I said, spitting the blood out. "Not in my mouth, that's absolutely repulsive and it won't do any good anyway."

"Well what exactly do you have in mind?"

I pulled my pants and underwear down, and flipped over onto my front, sticking my butt into the air. "It needs to feed on blood through here, Big Horn."

"Wait a second, you're asking me to stick my bleeding fingers inside your rear, and you were the one just complaining about my putting my blood just in your MOUTH as being repulsive?"

"I know it's weird, Big Horn. You don't need to go through with it if it's too gross."

"I am man enough to handle it. Just as long as you realize how ridiculous this is."

He actually used his fangs to cut long slices into his fingers, which caused me to have to look away. I felt his dripping fingers against my hole.

"Just push them in?"

"That's right."

I felt his warm, wet fingers push inside me, first just two, and then he worked in a third.

"Try to get them as far down as possible, as the blood needs to drip through the cervix."

"Umm, alright." He pushed his fingers as far back as he could, and rubbed them into me. "This better not be some lie invented in order to have me fulfill your bottom fantasies."

"I am not a bottom!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Big Horn, I hope you know me well enough to know I would never lie to you like that just to get sex from you."

"Yes, I do know that. Somehow, I trust you completely, Crazy Kid. Uh-oh, my fingers are all healed now. Should I switch hands?"

"No, this isn't doing any good, the baby is still kicking, the pain still crazy."

He pulled his fingers out. "What stopped the kicking before this point?"

"Honestly? They would cut my insides while screwing me, and then give the baby a mixture of my blood mixed with their semen."

"My semen?" He shook his head and crossed his arms again. "No way, not going to happen, not ever. I can't even let you see my sacred phallus, let alone top you with it. My ancestors would never forgive me. No. If that's really what you need, I'll bite the doctor to get his penis hard and then you can rape him for a fun reversal of roles."

"I really don't think I need the semen. I think that was just the two of them wanting to feel like them raping me was necessary for the health of the baby. I think just my blood should work. You want to help me get it in there without cutting me painfully on the inside? That's all I ask of you, I'd never ask you to top me, Big Horn."

"Sure. You just tell me if any of this hurts you. And shut your eyes!"

"Why so I need to shut them?"

"Because I don't want you seeing me getting excited from this!"

I shut my eyes, but not before getting a good eye roll in.

I felt him licking my throat, and then I felt his fangs piercing me. I heard him moan, perhaps subconsciously, and then I felt his venom hit me, sending me numb pleasure, that again felt just a bit distinct from any other vampire's bite. He took my blood into his mouth before licking my wound shut and leaving my throat alone. I felt his lips at my hole, pushing the warm blood into me.

"Yes, that's working, thanks."

"Get off my Cobra-God-Son's mother, you Logan Blood trash!"

I opened my eyes, startled to hear that horrible voice again so soon and Marutuk knocked Big Horn so hard he went flying across the room, landing on the ground.

"How?" asked Big Horn.

"I run so fast, I can run on water. No swimming needed, moron."

Marutuk picked me off the ground and held me in his arms, making sure I was okay.

Big Horn looked like he was going to try and save me. Instead, I gave him a look that said, get out of here.

He listened. He opened his portal to his camp and jumped through.

Marutuk turned back to look at him and saw this. "Oh no you don't. You are dying here and now."

Still holding me, he charged towards the portal.

Big Horn shut the portal and we ended up just rushing into the air of the clinic.

"I hate your friend!"

"He is no friend of mine," I said. "I had no idea he would come and do these things today. He doesn't even call me by my name; he only calls me by a derogatory nickname."

Marutuk set me down and I pulled my pants up as he inspected Runihura. He seemed to think he did not need medical attention, just time to wake up, so he put him on a bed.

"Come, I hunger to go to bed with you and make my Cobra slash your chute bloody again before falling asleep."

While I was undressing in our bedroom, I grabbed my phone, put it on a table and turned it towards the bed, turning the camera on. I thanked myself for never telling Marutuk about the true powers of the "translation device." Unlike Syd would have done, I wasn't using the camera to record the sex but everything but.

After both of us were naked in bed, I said, "You know, there's something I want to come clean about, Marutuk."

"Yes?"

"Well, I may have not asked that teleporter to come today, but once he was here, I did ask him to teleport me to Pradhaan Desh. I had quite a conversation with the Shankars about you."

"Did you?"

"They told me all about Tiamat, Marutuk. About your little secret they were keeping."

It was easy enough to look up the half of a name I had heard on the internet to figure out exactly who they had been talking about. Another Babylonian god, this one a female.

His face went dark. "They swore never to say a word! Swore it!"

"When they told me, of course, it was from their perspective, and made you come off pretty badly, Marutuk."

"Those evil women. I've always despised them. I am so much stronger than they will ever be. They should be the ones serving me."

I had to rein him back in. "Marutuk, I'm giving you the chance to tell me about this incident from your own mouth. From the beginning."

"I already told you the beginning. I was in love with my little brother, the One, who promised me we would have children together. But then he betrayed me by having five children with her instead, Tiamat." He could barely get out the name, he hated it so much.

"Yes, your twin-sister, Tiamat," I said, realizing for the first time that was her name.

"Yes. My brother refused me not because he was in love with her, but because he felt she was always the stronger of the two of us, the true vampire. When all of her children ended up being so powerful, they each started their own Blood, that was just a slap to my face, a validation of his beliefs."

"And then that's when it happened?"

"Not till much later. My anger festered inside me for many, many years. And then it just burst. I found Tiamat bathing in a lake, naked. I held her down in the water, calling her a whore, until she died. She tried to fight me back, but she just barely wasn't strong enough. I laughed, knowing this proved that I was the stronger twin after all."

I felt horrified for his poor sister.

"The Shankar witch was watching the whole thing. She saw me do it, and it's the one reason why her line has always had all the power here."

I put two and two together, and acted like I already knew. "Because it proved the first of their species, like you, can die and still everyone they turned or made will live on."

"Right."

"Which is the exact opposite of what you tell everyone else. And that story about the satyr brother who died, killing off all the world's satyrs, that wasn't true, right?"

"There never was a satyr brother. And actually, my werebeast brother DID die, and sadly, none of his offspring went with him. But make no mistake."

He started to force his snake-penis inside me, starting the rape.

"I am still every much a God as these people believe me to be. I am the strongest vampire that will ever live, and I deserve all the worship they give me and more. And tomorrow, tomorrow we start purging the world of all my sister left behind."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"I'm going to destroy all non-Shankar Blood fanged vampire in the world. Starting with the Petrovs, because Russia is closest to me. And then when I've exterminated them, I'll go next to the African Blood, since it is the next closest, and kill all of them. And then the Chinese Blood. And then we'll set off into the New World to destroy the other two."

Later on, after Marutuk was sleeping, I separated from him with the excuse that I needed to piss, which I did do. But then as he slept, I checked my phone. The video had worked just like I had anticipated, and I messaged Big Horn, who I had already made me promise, though reluctantly, to keep the phone nearby and answer me.

"Big Horn?"

"Yes?"

"Do you have a portal to the Matsoua Blood in Africa?"

"Yes." Clearly one word answers was all I was going to get out of him.

"I need you to go there for me. I have a plan. Tell them about Marutuk. By the way, he has been lying this whole time about his Blood all perishing if he dies. Nothing happens if he dies, that's why they sent me there to kill him. Tell the Matsoua Blood that they are second on his kill list, and he is planning on slaughtering all of them. He is so strong, the only way to keep him from destroying them is if I destroy him first. Can you do that?"

"Yes."

"Tell them I'd like a sample of live Ebola virus. I'll put it in myself, and give it to them sexually. Tell them no one will be using it but me, and I'll dispose of the sample carefully. And I can't get sick. Marutuk can, but he has a special ability that keeps him from ever passing on a virus to anyone else, so there's no risk of exposure. If they don't have Ebola, tell them to get me something similar. And I'll need you to be on short notice to pick this up from them and deliver it safely to me in the next couple of days. Is that okay?"

"I guess. But that's all I'm doing. I don't want any part in his actual death. You know I am sworn not to kill." The fact that he wrote so many words then clearly meant that the words carried a lot of weight for him.

"That's fine Big Horn, I will do the actual killing all on my own."

MAY 21st

"Get dressed," Marutuk told me.

"Really? That's an unusual and refreshing request you have for me."

"Today, we are leaving the desert heat behind for the first time."

I put my normal clothes on, and Marutuk filled up a bag with specific, small snakes and his Babylonian-style dagger. He gave me the bag to carry.

"Put this on or you probably won't be able to breathe," he said, tossing me a mask that covered my whole face, including built in goggles, and seemed to have some oxygen line built into the mouth piece.

He lifted me into his arms, holding me against his chest. He walked us out of the palace.

And then he really took off running, building up speed so quickly that the scenery rushing by around us seemed to blur. We must have been moving faster than the speed of sound, and I was amazed at just how strong the wind was that was hitting us as we went. If I hadn't been dressed, I wondered if my skin would just peel off. Even more amazing was that Marutuk showed no sign of any discomfort, and like usual he was barely dressed. It was so disorienting to try and watch the scenery that I just shut my eyes.

We slowed to stop, and I opened my eyes again and pulled off my mask. We were at the top of a grassy hill. Over the summit of the hill, I could see there was a handsome town beneath us, classic European looking,

"Where are we?" I asked as he sat me down on my feet.

"The village in the Carstvo that is the closest to us. Right now, the Petrov Blood vampires call it Olesya. But soon enough, it will just be a ghost town." He grabbed his bag from me. "You stay here where I can see you."

He ran down to the first dwelling, tossed his bag down, pulled out his dagger, and then threw the door off of its hinges, entering.

A panicked proletariat couple came bursting from the house's other door, trying to run away.

Marutuk quickly followed them out and captured them. He cut his hand with his dagger and placed his bloody palm against their mouths, trying to figure out if they were fanged vampires, I realized. When neither responded, he knew they were human.

He let the man go, but he wasn't done with the woman. He stripped her clothes off, leaving her naked and crying. When the man started to attack him, Marutuk knocked him out cold. He grabbed one of the snakes from his bag and forced it inside her vagina as she screamed and cried. I wanted so badly to run down then and help her, but knew if I did anything to intervene, he would just kill more and more innocents.

The snake crawled up into her. After a few moments, he smiled and pulled the snake out, throwing her aside. She started to put her clothes back on and help the man. I realized he was using the snakes to check if she was pregnant, and if so, if it was a fanged-vampire baby. Having found out she wasn't pregnant made her live.

After Marutuk cleared out three more houses, three vampire police noticed him and came after him. He easily slaughtered them so violently I had to look away.

I grabbed my phone and started to call Maxim, then thought better of it. I knew that having a phone conversation would be too conspicuous, since Marutuk was keeping an eye on me. I decided I would be able to message him without it being obvious, so I did it that way.

"Maxim?"

"My solnyshko!"

"It's actually scary how quickly you responded just then."

"I won't terrify you by telling you just how quickly a certain part of me you used to once be blissfully so familiar with pulsed to full life, after so long of standing at half-mast even on the best of days. One single word from you after all this eternity of nothing, and suddenly I feel like I'm on top of the world. Where are you?"

"Close to you. In a town called Olesya. Do you know it?"

"Know it? It's practically my doorstep. Does that mean you're finally returning to me, my solnyshko? Did you finally realize just how in love with you I am? Just come back to me, and I'll change, I promise you. I'll be exactly the man you need me to be. The man you deserve me to be. Just tell me where I can meet you and I'll be there as soon as I can."

"I'm sorry, but after today, I'm sure my messages will bring you nothing but pain. I am not here on a remotely happy occasion. I was brought here by force by Marutuk, the leader of the Raajya West. He's the first vampire, the oldest and strongest around."

"You're in trouble? I'll be there as quickly as I can. You've learned first-hand what a positive effect my inferno-dragon can have on your troubles."

"NO! You will not come here. It's too dangerous! What part of he's the strongest vampire around went over your head?"

"I don't care if I'm fighting the sun itself, or the moon. It would be my honor to die for you."

"No. I'm actually probably the safest one in this whole town. He won't hurt me. It's your people I'm worried about. What he is doing to them is just wrong. You need to contact whatever police or military forces here and get them to protect their people. He is on the south-western side edge of town."

"How will they know what he looks like?"

"He's the pretty much naked guy with a cobra for a penis."

"Is that some metaphor? Wait a second, how come you gave his penis a nick name and not mine, when mine was oh so ferocious? And is it too late to get you to correct that oversight?"

"No, sadly, it's quite literal. Tell them to hurry, and kill him if they can. He is a monster who deserves a thousand deaths."

"You don't have to tell me twice to give a kill order to a guy holding you hostage."

By the time I was done messaging, Marutuk had boiled it down to a science down there. Anyone he deemed safe to keep existing, he bit and left paralyzed so they wouldn't attack. He kept on violating the women, only leaving pre-pubescent girls and elderly women alone.

When I saw him assault his first pregnant woman, I got tense, but after the snake violated her, he let her go.

The second pregnant woman wasn't as lucky, not that the first pregnant woman could ever be described with that word. This woman was so early, I couldn't tell at all that she was pregnant. He stuck one of his snakes inside her.

The next thing I knew, I was shocked and had to look away as he stabbed his dagger through her abdomen, driving it straight into her uterus. She lay there, dying on the ground by herself after, with him making her stop screaming only by biting her paralyzed. I realized he must have learned she was pregnant with a fanged vampire baby, and killed the fetus as a result, not caring that it would likely kill her too.

Finally, the Petrov military showed up from the other side of the town, several dozen strapping vampire men in their period uniforms, their rifles at the ready. They all gathered in the town's center and prepared to fire at Marutuk, who I could see was moving towards them but gave no sign he knew they were there.

As soon as he came into view on the other side of the square, they fired, and I hoped that would be enough to bring him down.

Instead, he started to run around so erratically, the bullets missed him entirely. Was he faster than the bullets? Was that really possible?

No. I could see him moving, even if he moved at a blur, and I could not see the bullets. He was just moving around so fast, it was impossible for them to aim at him, and so they just were shooting randomly.

And then I noticed he had randomly been hit with a couple bullets, but he was so strong, they barely even cut his body, and he threw them off of him as if they were nothing but annoying wasps stinging him.

Marutuk danced towards the soldiers, and they dropped their guns as soon as he was in fire- breathing range. He stopped cold when the fire of all the soldiers covered his skin. I could see him turning black, singeing and burning. Yes, that was the right move.

But then I noticed that he was only burning to a certain point. The fire would not burn completely through his skin. He seemed to realize this as well, and he charged, his dagger outstretched.

When he got close enough, a few of them tried to bite him with their fangs. Amazingly, their fangs bounced off his skin like they were biting into stone. Did that mean he was so strong no vampire could bite him? I thought of all the evil vampire abilities that required them to bite someone first. If that meant his thick skin made him immune to all of those tricks, he was looking more and more deadly.

He got to the first soldier and decapitated him with the dagger. There was so much blood, I had to look away to keep myself from fainting.

When I gathered my composure and looked back, I was shocked to see every single one of those soldiers was as headless as the first one. An entire squadron, all dead. Was I responsible for that?

Marutuk's skin burnt skin had almost healed entirely by that point, and he pulled the last bullet out of his chest and threw it aside. With the minor annoyance of having to kill the entire army gone, he resumed breaking into people's homes, looking for fanged folks.

I felt a buzzing in my pocket. "Please tell me, thanks to my soldiers, the world is blissfully has one less literal snake penis in it."

"He slaughtered them all, Maxim. He is too strong to be stropped, so fast he can move at a blur. He is trying to kill every non-Shankar Blood fanged vampire in the world, starting with the Petrov Blood. He clearly knows every Blood's abilities, because he knew the fire-breathing wouldn't be enough to kill him."

"Oh, he thinks he knows and is prepared for all of us Petrov Blood's abilities, huh? Well, I can't wait to introduce him to my fun little ability. You think he's prepared to smell the lovely scent of his own snake penis burning off his body as my flames slowly turn his body into ash? Because that's exactly what he'll get to know as soon as I arrive. I'm on my way."

"No, I told you, I don't want you out here! He'll just kill you!"

"I don't care. I'm coming."

"Maxim, NO!"

"I'm coming. Nothing you can say to change that."

"Fine, but the guy has a dagger and no long ranged weapons. He needs to get in close to be deadly, so try to keep as far away as you can."

"Noted."

"And of course, you can't act like you know me, because if he knows I had anything to do with hurting him, he'll kill a bunch of civilians as payback."

"Does that ruin my planned intended form of greeting you that included kissing you with all my love and hugging you so tightly my hands can't be stopped from gripping your sweet spot?"

"Maxim, not kidding about this!"

"I'll somehow manage to resist seeing you without showing my true emotions. And no, that was not sarcastic, I haven't spent the time you've been away taking over my sister's patented line of humor. It really could be harder for me to keep myself at bay than it would be to kill him with my powers."

"If you're strong enough to kill him, of course do it. But if not, I need you to hurt me. Burn me with your fire."

"Hurt you? No way. I'd never hurt you."

"Maxim, listen. Me getting hurt will be the only way he leaves. He'll need to take me back to help me with my wounds. He is very protective of me, long story."

"He cannot possibly be one iota as protective of you as I am. I am completely in love with you. I could never hurt you."

"I'm not suggesting you kill me. Just injure me enough to make him flee."

"You can suggest it to me a thousand times, and I will never change my mind about hurting you. It won't happen."

"Fine. You've proven to me that you have total control over your fire creations. Will you agree to make the fire that touches him as hot as you can, but make the flames that hit me only look impressive, but really aren't enough to burn me? Is that okay?"

"I suppose so."

"Good. I'll just try and sell him on the lie by screaming in agony and acting like I'm burning. Please, no matter what you do, don't stop the fire. I'm really not hurting."

"Good thing you told me that upfront. You know how it pains me to see you in pain."

"Oh, and one more thing. He knows your name and our history, but not what you look like. It could make things worse for you down the line if he learns that now."

"I do believe you are perhaps getting your exes confused. Politely introducing oneself to someone you are about to try and execute sounds like it's part of the Parker Logan behavior textbook, not the Maxim Petrov one."

"Just made sure not to be wearing anything that gives away your identity."

"Like what? Not wearing a nametag that says `my name is Maxim?' Not wearing my crown into battle? I'll be dressed just as any other soldier."

"Even so, you have this swagger to you that seems like it could never belong to just some soldier."

"I can't stop my swagger, Jake. You know how terrible I am at misleading people."

"Just try to dampen it the best you can."

My pain at seeing Marutuk totally eviscerate that town was far worse than any physical pain could ever be. He pulled out person after person from their homes, slaughtering all fanged vampires as well as anyone who tried to put up a fight.

In much too short a time, there was no one left. The whole town, hundreds of people, was lying in heaps on the ground, either dead or paralyzed. I couldn't keep my tears from falling, witnessing this tragedy.

Marutuk looked like he had just accomplished something great with the last couple hours instead of committing genocide as he waved me down. "No Petrov Blood infidels left down here to hurt you, come on down."

I grabbed my mask and trotted down the hill until I was at his level.

"Get that mask on. It's time we start on the next town over."

I fastened my mask back on. He handed me back the bag.

Behind him, above the roofs across town, I could see Maxim's fire dragon flying its way towards us, angry and huge. I tried not to smile as I saw the dragon breathed flame and the breath turn into giant fire letters that said "This Dragon of Fire Still Loves You." As soon as I had read it, the message disappeared.

Marutuk picked me up and put me into his arms. I realized we were going to miss Maxim's fire entirely.

I dropped the bag of snakes on the ground.

"You fool," he scolded.

"Sorry, let me down and I'll get it."

He tsk-tsked me, and then let me down. I bent down to pick up the bag.

I heard Marutuk gasp as the fire-dragon finally over took him, engulfing him in its fire breath, and soon, its fiery form itself.

I heard the blissful sound of Marutuk screaming, and I knew he wasn't just screaming in surprise, he was screaming in horrible pain as well. Maxim was perhaps the only Petrov Blood vampire whose flame was hot enough to actually do him real damage.

"No, this can't be happening! Where are you hiding, special! Come out, come out!"

The dragon continued to burn him.

"I'll destroy every building in this town if you don't show yourself!"

He went into the first brick building and, even without the Logan Blood steel fist ability, totally destroyed the house just with his muscular arms alone.

He moved to the second home and did the same.

As he continued to destroy the brick shops and dwellings, I was frustrated that Maxim hadn't held up our bargain and burnt me. I found a poor tree that had been unlucky enough to be in the dragon's path and was burning, and decided to take matters into my own hands. I ran over to the tree and used it to light my clothes on fire.

Almost immediately, the fire on my clothes went out. Frustrated that my clothes seemed more fire proof than I had expected, I walked back the burning tree and this time just stood right in that fire, trying to burn myself.

Almost immediately, the whole tree extinguished. Either God had answered the tree's prayers and sent a miracle, or Maxim had done it to keep me from getting hurt. I wanted to yell at him, but knew Marutuk was listening.

"There you are, I found you, hiding in a basement just like the little rat you are!"

My heart hurt as I saw Marutuk pull Maxim out of one of the buildings and into the street, with Maxim's fire still attacking Marutuk. It was my fault he was even here.

"This snake is going to eat the rat."

"Wait, no, I'm not a special, it's not me, I'm just a normal vampire!"

My curiosity tingled. The fire was obstructing me from getting a clear view, but the man on the ground was definitely bearded. Was that Maxim's voice?

"You're lying to me, and soon you'll be dead. Jake, hand me my dagger!"

I had to choice but to fish out his dagger and hand it to him.

"I'm not lying, I swear it!"

Hearing his voice made me know for sure. That wasn't Maxim.

"One way to know for sure."

Marutuk bit into the Petrov Blood, bearded vampire.

"He's not lying," said the vampire, and I realized it was Marutuk who had used the Shankar Blood ability to take control of someone. "The fire is still burning me. But you know what? I just realized our attacker isn't hiding in one of the houses. He's been looking at us this whole time. Which means he's somewhere with a good vantage point. All I need to do is to find out which of these hilltops surrounding us that he's hiding on with this vampire's excellent vision, and I'll run over to him and kill him."

The fire dragon continued to attack Marutuk, his skin slowly burning off, while the Petrov vampire looked around at every hill around us.

I knew as soon as Marutuk found him, it was over. I also knew if I tried to set myself on fire outside, where he could see me, Maxim would again not let me do it.

I ran into the one building Marutuk hadn't destroyed entirely, the house he had dragged the vampire from. Once inside, I searched for something burning. I found there was a throw rug on fire.

Outside, I could hear Marutuk say, "I found you! Here I come! Get ready to have your annoying special life severed for good!"

I walked over, stepped into the fire, my clothes catching right away that time. And then I ran out of the building.

Marutuk was already running down the street, his dagger in his arm.

"Wait, Marutuk, I'm on fire! He set me on fire, I'm burning!"

"Fuck!" Marutuk turned around, ran back towards me. "I can't have you dying here."

By the time Maxim had seen me, I felt the fire on me burn painlessly cool.

"You need to take me back, Marutuk."

"Alright, I'm doing it. Next time, you won't be so lucky, you hear me, you rat?"

He held me against his arms and started to run away with me. As soon as we started to move, I felt the fire leave my body completely and go to Marutuk, clearly Maxim's doing. And then, as the speed kicked in the world started to blur, the fire went out completely.

It was almost ridiculous how fast it was before I was in Badiya Ahmar again, back in the palace medical clinic, getting treated by the doctor.

Runihura licked away my burns while Marutuk looked on. Those that were too serious for that, he cut himself and used his blood to heal them. "That's it, he's healed."

"Tell me my child is okay, Doctor. That's all I want to hear." For once, Marutuk looked physically worse that I was, his skin looking like it pretty much burned away. He was disgusting to look at, frankly.

Runihura gave me a quick ultrasound. "Everything looks fine, God Marutuk. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"I am a God. Give me a couple hours in my room, and I'll be completely healed."

"Yes, God Marutuk."

Marutuk grabbed me and carried me into his room, tossing me into his bed.

"I know what I need to help me feel better right now. And luckily, it's just what my Cobra-God- Son needs as well."

Marutuk started to screw me with his cobra-penis, biting into my insides once more, and I watched closely at just how weak this guy was. Not only weak, but his skin was still half burnt off, meaning for once I was having sex with a literal monster from head to toe, not just in terms of personality, like before.

I realized something. Maxim's fire was probably the only fire strong enough in the world to kill Marutuk, but I knew with enough time, that's what it would do. The challenge was keeping Marutuk from killing Maxim before his fire had the time to finish the job.

"Tomorrow, we will continue just where we left off. We will kill that special, and keep cleaning the Carstvo of their Blood."

"Please don't take me to another battle, Marutuk. I barely survived the last one. Why put your baby at risk like that? The doctor can look after me."

"I suppose you're right. I'll go on my own. And this time, I'm not coming back unless I'm at death's door."

Later that night, as Marutuk fell asleep in his bed, I went to the bathroom. On my way back, I went to my phone.

I saw there was a message from Maxim: "Please tell me you're okay." It had come almost as soon as we had parted, and then he had annoyingly resent the message dozens of times since.

"Yes, I'm just fine, thanks."

Almost immediately, he replied, "Thank god! You don't know how long I've been holding my breath, waiting for you to respond. My face has gone blue. I saw what he did to your face. I'm going to rip his heart out and make him watch while I barbeque it for that one. How could he hurt you like that?"

"Those marks are all over my body. And there's no sign they'll ever go away."

"I want you to know, while seeing you hurt makes me so angry, it doesn't make me love you one bit less. I don't care what you look like on the outside if you're still my solnyshko on the inside. I couldn't help but notice a fairly large bump on your stomach, my solnyshko. Is there something you need to tell me?"

"How could you have possibly have seen that from all the way across town?"

"I've warned you before about my nefarious, peeping Tom abilities. I must admit, I never saw much purpose in those abilities until your handsome form entered my life. What happened to you? I thought you didn't want to start a family until much later in life?"

"I don't! Truthfully, Marutuk knows a lot about my One abilities. He had me perform a spell that gives me the same female reproductive parts that a male vampire has. And then he raped me and impregnated me. I've seen the baby. He's going to start a whole new Blood, that's what Marutuk was counting on when he did this."

"Now I understand why he's so possessive of you. It was so strange to see him regard you with such hatred and loathing and yet have him be as almost as protective of you as I am. How could someone love something inside a person and not the whole person as well? After this guy is out of the picture, I want you to come back to me, my solnyshko. We'll raise your baby together. Since he won't belong to any existing Blood, it will mean he won't have to answer to any other Blood leader."

"You would be willing to invite into your home the son of the monster who is trying to single- handedly kill all fanged vampires in your Blood? The same creature who kept your sister naked in a snake cage for an eternity, pleasuring himself sexually while watching the snakes bite into her naked parts? The same man who forced me to kill the one person I had here who really meant something to me? Would you really let the offspring of that creature into your home?"

"The monster will be long dead, and the only thing I'll be letting inside is you and your baby. Soon enough, the boy will be ours, because we will have raised him. I'll adopt him as my own. I always wanted your child to be my heir, and now it will be. I think you'll find I'm Europe's best father, bar none. I adore kids almost as much as I adore you. It would be my honor to have you bless me with your child."

"I'll think about it when I have to, Maxim. Right now all I am thinking about is how I can take him down."

"You certainly do know how to attract the amorous attention of some particularly deadly foes, don't you? My father, the strongest of the werebeasts, and now the evil, oldest vampire around. Couldn't it be a puny enemy that I need to help you with, just once?"

"All of those I take care of on my own, Maxim."

"Of course. But even though all three of those creatures are loathsome monsters, I still relate on some level to them. Because, like them, I understand perfectly just how much someone can desire you. I personally feel like you are the rare person that is worth starting wars over. How can I not sympathize with anyone who wants you as much as I do? But you have to know, none of those men know you inside and out, both literally and figuratively, as I do. None of them love you endlessly like I do."

"Why do you always do that every time we talk?"

"What? Bare my soul to you?"

"Profess your love for me endlessly, or carry on romantic banter as if we are still together, instead of talking to me like a friend? I don't need your burning hot love any longer, Maxim. I just need your friendship and your muscle. Listen, I have a plan to kill Marutuk. But it requires your help. He's going to attack you again tomorrow, but this time the next town in, I'm sure. And this time, he won't have me along, so he'll have no reason to hold back. I want you to keep him from getting close to you. Do you think you could set up a very secure steel room with tiny windows to see through, but not large enough to throw projectiles in at you? I need you safe, Maxim. Please don't endanger yourself."

"If you won't be physically present, I won't have any need to sacrifice myself to save you. I'll build myself a cage, just like you ask. I'll go and start it right now."

"I need him not to come back for many hours, Maxim. And when he comes back, I need him just as burnt as he was today. Can you handle that?"

"Of course, my solnyshko."

"I have to go now, Maxim. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, my solnyshko. Would you chastise me later if I kept on sending you love notes all night, with no expectation that you will reply?"

"Yes, I will. I don't want my phone waking up Marutuk. Please just wait until I text you again. Because of your bravery today, I give you my permission to make one of your fire clones of me to keep you company."

"Thank you, my solnyshko, that is just what I need."

MAY 22nd

By the morning, Marutuk looked completely healed.

Soon, I was being handed over naked to Runihura as Marutuk ran off for the day. "Come upstairs with me," Runihura said as soon as it was just the two of us.

"Do you need me to shave you again?" I asked.

He turned towards me and slapped me. "For the last time, you stupid beast, I do not want to hear your voice. You don't need words to follow my orders. Unless you are sucking my Egyptian piece, I don't want to see those lips of your open."

I nodded my head and did the lip locking gesture with my hands.

He led me into the Tahir's bathroom again, and ordered me to remove his clothes. I did as he asked and he stepped into the bathtub naked.

I picked up the razor and cream and began shaving his whole body again, this time not bothering with botching the job. When I was done, I washed him off in the tub and dried him before cleaning off the razor.

"Time for the baby to get his morning dose of pain," Runihura said, ordering me onto Tahir's bed.

He once again cut my back, collected my blood into his mouth before closing the wound, and then spitting all of it into my hole. And then he cut my fingers with the khopesh and inserted them into hole before he started to screw me.

Like always, I was on my stomach, and my hands were totally occupied. I had my head cocked as far as it could to the right, looking back at the muscled Egyptian carefully as he screwed me. I watched and I waited.

I waited for opportunity to strike, and as he made an inward thrust into me, I finally saw his balls move right against me.

I opened my mouth, bit hard into the razor I'd been hiding in there the whole time we were having sex, and I used my teeth to plunge the razor as hard as I could into his eye. The act made me ill to do, but since I was lying down, it kept me from fainting.

He screamed in agony, and even better, he stopped ramming me, pulling out completely.

I pulled the razor out of his left eye, turned my body around, and moved the razor straight towards his right one.

This time, he blocked the razor with his hand and yanked it from me and took it for himself. He grabbed his khopesh and put it to my throat. "You traitorous little trash, I'm going to rip your throat out!"

"You can't kill me, Runihura. Not unless you want to be killed by Marutuk the second he gets home."

"No, I can't kill you." He dropped the khopesh to the side of the bed. "But I intend to take what you took from me. An eye for an eye. He won't mind if you have one less of those."

"But your eye will heal soon!"

"I don't care that you can't heal, I'm giving you the same behavior you just gave me."

He held me in place with his whole body. No matter how hard I fought back, I couldn't free myself from his muscles.

He lowered his razor straight for my right eye. I shut my eyelid, but he forced it open.

Right before he made contact with my eye, I heard him screaming in pain again, and he pulled back, in surprise.

We both looked down to see his dick, always so hairless, was suddenly sprouting fur. It took me a moment to realize just what it was I was looking at.

Blackbeard the mongoose had chomped down around Runihura's cut dickhead, holding onto it with his jaws. He must have been hiding under the bed that whole time.

"I'll kill you, you stupid rodent!"

"He's done just as you ask. He's kept his lips shut until he is sucking on your Egyptian piece."

I reached for the khopesh at the side of the bed, and with one quick whack, I cut into his scrotum, causing him to scream in agony.

"All these times you forced me to keep my mouth shut and take your dick, do you know what I've been deducing? Just how after the last doctor impregnated me, Marutuk would never risk that happening again. I knew he would get a doctor who wasn't old or strong enough to reproduce. Not just at the moment, for also for a long time out. And so, I realized, in spite of what you'd been trying to convince me, you are a young, weak vampire. And that's exactly why I can do THIS so easily."

I used the khopesh to slit his throat, blood gushing out as he collapsed on the bed, still alive.

As soon as it happened the horror of what I'd just done hit me, and I passed out.

"Crazy Kid?"

I opened my eyes. I was in Big Horn's arms. "You're just in time. Could you please bite Runihura and knock him out for now with your Logan venom? I don't want him waking up."

Big Horn set me down and did as I asked.

"And one more time, can you lick away my hand wounds?"

"Only if you close your eyes."

I closed them, and I felt him licking my hands until the pain was gone.

I opened my eyes again. "Now, can you give me a hand, so to speak, and stick your fingers inside me so you can heal those wounds as well?"

"Are you joking?"

"Do I sound like I'm joking?"

"That is another activity that will most certainly require you to close your eyes."

I shut them. "Go ahead."

Moments later, I felt his bloody fingers inside me, healing me.

"And now, can you use that blood to heal the cuts on Runihura's head and genitals? He needs to be totally healed. Should I keep my eyes shut for this part too?"

"If you think touching Runihura's naked parts will ever turn me on sexually, you are sorely misguided."

I opened my eyes again as he finished healing Runihura before his wounds healed on their own.

I grabbed Blackbeard. "Thank you so much for attacking our Anti-Tahir for me, Blackbeard. Now, I know this is ridiculous of me, since you are just an animal who can't talk, but I need you to do something for me. This room, and the whole clinic. We need it all snake proof, because if any snakes witnessed what happened to the doctor or Big Horn coming in through his portal, they might end up giving that info to Marutuk, ruining our plans. So, I'm asking you to do what you always do and kill every snake you can." I patted the animal and let him go, and he ran off, hopefully getting my request and going hunting, but he could have been trying to find some sunshine to bask in, for all I knew.

Big Horn had the liquid Ebola sample, so I put it in the Clinic Lab fridge.

I had Big Horn wait in the clinic while I walked naked to Marutuk's bedroom. I grabbed my clothes, but didn't put them on in the room, I knew the bedroom was one of the most important places not to let the snakes see anything was awry by my behavior, and getting dressed was such an unusual activity for me. I grabbed my phone and left as quickly as I could.

On my way back to the clinic, I found a maid cleaning and asked him to summon Mr, Tawfeek, the human head of the palace guard, as well as Butler Ajam and Vizier Bazzi into the clinic as quickly as possible. I got dressed in the clinic, where it was safe, and the three Palace leaders came remarkably quickly, probably figuring it was Runihura who was summoning them, and knowing just how much Runihura had become the teacher's pet.

"Where is the Doctor?" asked Mr. Tawfeek. "And just who is this? And how did he get in here without my guards telling me a word?"

"He's a teleporter, Mr. Tawfeek. And Runihura is unconscious in his apartment, though he is no doctor after the things he has done to me."

"What is the meaning of this?" asked the butler.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. "Has anyone seen one of these before?"

"That's a cell phone," said Mr.Tawfeek. "I recently bought the guards each one, with the hope of making security better and more coordinated. I've been waiting for a while for God Marutuk to permit me to suggest their implementation, but he's been so busy, they've just been in boxes this whole time."

"Well, we are lucky you never talked to him, because he never guessed that I could use one to record him. And that's exactly what I did recently. Here's the video."

I played the clip of the two of us in bed, talking. The longer the clip went on, the redder their three faces turned. I turned it off when I knew all that was left was the rape.

"Now that you all know killing him will not harm anyone but him, I am telling you, I am going to kill him later today. Which of the three of you is willing to help?"

"I am," said Butler Ajam. "And I know all of the staff here will do the same."

"Same goes for me and my guards," said Mr. Tawfeek.

"Vizier?"

"I'm sorry, but I cannot be a part of this. You see, there's a royal advisor like myself for each Blood leader, or two in the case of the Shankar Blood."

"I already met Cornelius and Vasos," I said.

"Right, they are my brothers in my order. We are there to provide support and intelligence to each of our leaders, and it's our job to make sure each one is abiding by their respective Vampire Legal Codes. We aren't ever allowed to become Blood leaders ourselves, and we have sworn not to do harm to those leaders. As such, I cannot be a part of this."

"Does that mean you're going to ruin our plan, Vizier?" I asked, worried.

"No. I won't say anything to him about any of this, and frankly, I hope you succeed. But I have to recuse myself from this at once. Good luck."

He walked out.

"It's okay, we'll make do without him," I said. "First part of this plan is to get everyone on staff in the palace, including the guards, and bringing them here. But don't tell them why, as we don't want any snakes to get suspicious out there in the palace proper. This clinic is the only place we believe to be snake free."

"Believe me, we understand plenty well about the snakes here," said Ajam. "We won't set them off."

Both of them left, setting out to bring the entire staff back into the clinic.

Forty-two. That's how large the staff was. Forty-two people sitting in the clinic, watching us. I showed them the video, and some of them started to cry, they were so disgusted.

"Ajam, Mr. Tawfeek, and I are working together to try and take him out once and for all today. Are all of you on board?"

No one dissented. Everyone nodded enthusiastically.

"But all of us here are at risk. All of us are putting our lives on the line."

"What about our families in town?"

"My plan is to save them before any of this goes down. So if Marutuk lashes out, there will just be us for him to kill. Not any innocent civilians in town."

"All of us are in then."

"Yes, we're in!"

"Here's my plan. Marutuk is out fighting the Petrovs today, and I've got a friend inside who is keeping him in Russia as long as he can, and when he comes back, he'll be injured. I've got a sample of a deadly virus called Ebola that can be transmitted sexually. I cannot get sick, but I can put it inside me, and infect him when he's already weak and injured. And so, when he gets back from Russia, everything in the palace needs to be as he expects it to be, all of you need to be working as you would normally."

"Won't he spread the virus around to us?" asked one of the guards.

"No. Part of his special ability makes him still able to get viruses like any other vampire, but not actually transmit them to others. So there's no risk. But, as he's dying, he could potentially lash out and kill any of us here. Once you all see that he's sick, feel free to try and make a run for it. Is everyone okay with this plan?"

They all nodded.

"Now, is there any fanged vampire here who thinks they could use their Shankar mind control ability to imitate the accent and personality of Runihura? That guy most certainly would not have been on board, so I had to knock him unconscious."

Two of the vampire guards raised their hands. "We are both Egyptian, both from his village," said one of them.

"Yes, good. The rest of you are dismissed."

Everyone left except for the two guards, the Butler, and Tawfeek.

I looked at the shirtless guards who volunteered, and I realized they both looked different from the other guards, both their faces and clothes looking much more Egyptian. "Given you are from the same village, are you sure you are willing to betray this man like this?" I asked them.

"Are you kidding?" asked one of them. "We despise the guy."

"We spent our entire childhoods being tortured and ridiculed by him for not being of pharaoh's blood, for not being smart enough to be doctors."

"And worst of all, for not being worthy enough to remove all the hairs from our bodies."

"He deserves to die," the first one said. "Not for being a bully, but because he's killed dozens of innocent victims while he feeds. We've seen it."

"All that we ask is that you either kill him yourself after all of this is over, or let us do it for you."

"You have my permission to kill him yourselves," I said. "Just try not to torture him. Make it quick and clean."

"Of course."

"Now, since there's two of you, can you take turns controlling him?"

"That will work."

"If the doctor is down here, in the clinic, could we put you both in one of the clinic bedrooms that you could lock yourselves into? Would that be out of range of your control?"

"That would be fine."

"Anything I'm neglecting to think about?" I asked.

"Well, we can fool Marutuk into believing the Doctor is acting normally, but we there's some things the Shankar ability of mind control cannot do. For instance, we cannot force someone to become a vampire or make someone one. Nothing as important as that."

"Oh darn, and I was so dead set on having Runihura, who I just adore, turn me into a vampire today. I don't think that will be an issue. Wait a second, what about killing someone? Could we theoretically have the person you are mind controlling kill someone else?"

"Of course."

"Oh right, because forcing someone to kill someone isn't nearly as an important as turning someone into a vampire."

"No, not in the least." He had no clue I was being sarcastic.

"We just need to have you make him give me to Marutuk. That's it."

"Should be golden."

While they pulled Runihura downstairs, I talked to the rest of them.

"Now, we just need to get the rest of the city to leave, before he finds out we tried to kill him and potentially lash out at innocents. We need a place large and dark enough so I can show everyone in the town. But it can't be actually in the palace, because that would arouse suspicion."

"The Great Cobra Temple would work perfectly," said the Butler. "It's the largest public space in the city. Everyone should be able to fit inside."

"Good. Big Horn, were you able to get the projection equipment and speakers?"

"Jennie Logan helped me get it. It's ready to go."

"Tell everyone that Marutuk is ordering them all to a very important meeting right away in the Great Temple."

Soon enough, I was standing in the Great Temple, a giant screen behind me and a mic in my hand, the place absolutely packed with standing people. The place was a massive Arabian mosque, but again without any traces of being Islamic. Instead, the dark interior was totally devoted to Marutuk, including a statue in the center of his naked body. But the place was both dark because there were so few windows and relatively cool, so it was perfect for our purposes.

"Before I start this, I forgot there would be children here. This video is anything but child friendly. Please, parents, cover your kids eyes."

I watched to make sure the kids couldn't see.

"This is a recent recording of Marutuk. He had no idea he was being filmed."

I played the video, surprisingly not the least bit embarrassed about having the whole town see me naked, just seething with anger.

When it was reached the point where the talking stopped, I paused it. "The video speaks for itself."

"How do we know this is real?" asked one woman. "It could be a technological trick. Fake!"

"It's totally real, I assure you," yelled Mr. Tawfeek, not needing the mic.

"I can confirm that," said the butler. "Vizier Bazzi authenticated it as well."

"Can't you see?" continued the same woman. "The technology may be real, but this is all a trick by Marutuk. Creating this video, having his partner show all of us in his temple. It's all a rouse to weed out those who would show the least bit of disloyalty."

"This is not a rouse, I promise you. These people can tell you Marutuk never learned the new technology."

"He's right," said Mr. Tawfeek. "He never was briefed on any of it. Would never even fathom something could record him like that."

"And I am not on Marutuk's side," I pleaded. "Not in the least."

"That's sure not how it looked when we all came to deliver gifts to the two of you," yelled the same annoying woman. "You sure looked like you were nothing but the happy couple!"

"Only an act forced upon me in order to keep him from killing my captive friend."

I kept on playing the video. "Look at this part. Does this look like the kind of sex that anyone who cared about that person would ever perform? Look at my face. Do you see anything but anguish and hatred for the man forcing it on me? He submits me to this humiliation several times a day."

"I can attest to that," said the Butler. "If there's one thing you can believe in, it's how much Jake hates Marutuk."

"Okay, I believe you now," said the woman.

"Good. Because we need all of you tonight. Tonight, I'm going to be lying in wait with an STD inside me so deadly, it will kill him right away. Once infected, my worry is that he'll come out here with his crazy speed and kill as many of you as he can. That's why, Big Horn here behind me, is key. He's going to teleport all of you to The Raajya East right now, where you'll be safe."

"Why are we letting this outsider destroy our traditions and ways of lives?" A vampire male jumped out of the crowd and onto the stage beside me. I hadn't seen him before, but he looked like he was dressed like a shopkeeper or something. Something about him made me think he was the Tucker of Badiya Ahmar. Not because he was Asian, but because, even though he was speaking in an Arabic accent just like everyone else, he had the sound and the looks of a hick. Added to that impression was that the man was clearly intoxicated. "Show us your hands. In this city, we measure tragedy by how many fingers we have left. Look at my hands, look at what Marutuk took in his anger from me. I can't even hold my dick properly enough to jack off with. And look at you, with so many more fingers than me, I bet you just sit at home all day fingering yourself."

"Oh yes, you got me, that's exactly what I do all day. Look, I may not be missing any fingers, but let me tell you, I'd rather have all my fingers chopped off than lose the loved ones I've lost. Big Horn, you can confirm just how much I've suffered and lost."

Big Horn nodded. "He's right. If you try to play the who suffered more game with this one, you will lose. I advise a different strategy, and fast."

My phone was buzzing. I looked at it.

"I'm sorry, but your fire dragon failed you," messaged Maxim. "Marutuk is anything but dead, and he's on his way back so much sooner than I would have hoped. At least I was able to get his flesh served to you way past well-done, just as you seem like it. Now, I'm begging you, send Big Horn to pick me up and take me back to you, so I can protect you from him."

I didn't respond. Instead, I said to the people there, "We don't have time to debate this. Marutuk is already on his way back."

There were gasps from the audience.

"Are all of you just going to let this outside shit all over our traditions and listen to him?" asked the drunk vampire. "I say we kill the traitor and hand him over! Think of how pleased Marutuk will be at us!"

"So pleased he'll make you snake-food. I'm pregnant with his baby, remember? He'll kill anyone who does me harm."

"Well then, I say we knock him out cold and deliver him to Marutuk tied up. I bet Marutuk will be so pleased with us, he'll stop hurting us. Who's with me?"

"I am!" said a voice from the crowd.

"Me too!"

"And us!"

There were so many people waving their hands in the air in support of this guy, that I was sure they outnumbered any of the ones who might have supported me. My thoughts that this would be an easy sell got crumpled up and thrown out the window. What was wrong with these people?

"Let's kill anyone who stands in our way!" the drunk vampire said, throwing his Arabian sword up above his head in a salute.

The room erupted in violence. People were attacking each other in the crowd, ruthlessly. I stared at all of it completely awestruck. How could this even happen?

A vampire jumped up from the crowd, shouting, and started swinging his weapon at Big Horn.

"What? Are you serious? I'm not even the ringleader of this plan, why are you attacking me?"

The man did not answer with words; instead he tried to slice Big Horn's stomach off, which I suppose was answer enough.

Big Horn evaded the man, turned his fist into steel, and knocked him so hard in the head, he fell, unconscious to the ground. "Goodnight, sleep well."

All of the sudden, I saw the shop-keep's sword's business end coming straight at my head, totally shocking me.

"But you can't kill me!"

"I don't care anymore!"

He thrust his sword towards my neck, and there was nothing I could do to stop him.

But that clearly was not true for Butler Ajam, who thrust her own sword at him from behind, a sword I had no idea how she obtained, and cut the vampire's head clean off, JUST before his blade would have entered my throat.

"Thanks!" I said to her, looking away from the violence. I grabbed the mic again. "Your leader is dead. Please, throw down your weapons and go along with our plans!"

I could see most of the renegades lose hope and stop fighting in the crowd.

"We'll kill whoever keeps fighting against us!" yelled a woman.

"No, I don't want you to kill them," I pleaded. "Just knock them out and get their weapons off of them. You can carry them through the portal by force. Hopefully they will have a change of heart when they wake up."

It wasn't long before the remaining fighters were contained.

"Before we go we should destroy this statue!" shouted that same woman, kicking at the central statue of Marutuk.

"Butler, how old is that statue?"

"Oh, just a few centuries."

"A few centuries?! Listen, I know all of you want to destroy his statue, and I can understand why. But this is ancient, precious art. Please don't destroy any of this. Just because it still stands doesn't mean you'll ever have to worship it again, and that's what's important. In fact, leaving all this intact will just be a reminder to future generations the horrors you once had to suffer through."

That quelled all of their anger.

I felt a special pride as Big Horn opened a portal, and they started to clap and cheer. Soon, they were all gone, and Big Horn teleported the four of us back to the palace clinic.

As Butler Ajam and Tawfeek rushed out of the clinic, I stripped my clothes off and stuck the disgusting sample inside of my chute with a medical instrument, disposing of all the items involved with extreme care.

"He's on the grounds now!" warned one of the Egyptian guards, who locked themselves in the room, meaning it was just Big Horn, Runihura, and I left in the clinic.

"I'm leaving." Big Horn opened up his portal.

"Oh crap, Blackbeard is still over here!"

I ran as fast as I could to the mongoose, picked him up, and threw him through Big Horn's portal. The portal disappeared just before we heard Marutuk knocking on the clinic door.

"Yes, God Marutuk," said Runihura, his accent and tone of voice being totally nailed.

Runihura unlocked and opened the gate and bowed to Marutuk. I looked him over. Maxim had been right, the guy looked like an absolute mess, his skin and flesh charred and falling off.

"Doctor, Jake to me." It was interesting that his burn wounds were even making it hard for him to talk properly.

"Yes," he said, picking me up and placing me in Marutuk's strong arms.

Marutuk carried me into his bedroom, and threw me on the bed.

"Ow! Marutuk, the baby is kicking again."

"Time for your feeding, my Cobra-God-Son."

Without any preliminaries, he stuck his penis inside me. It wasn't totally firm at first, but as soon it was inside me, it used its fangs to rip my chute open, and I felt it go totally hard. He started to rape my hole.

I had to stifle the smile that wanted to hit my lips. I knew it was just a matter of time.

But as the rape went on and on and on, with him showing no sign of illness.

Finally, finally, he started to groan and his body looked like he was in pain.

"Is something the matter?" I asked.

"Only that I'm about to totally fill you up with Cobra-God-Making-Seed."

I realized he was only reacting to his orgasm as he bit into me and started to drink. The snake- head inside me started to spit out a torrent of goo.

He pulled out of me and closed my wound. "I need to take a leak," he said, jumping off the bed and walking into the bathroom.

I watched him walk away from me. Below his muscled butt hung his snake-penis, which was covered with slime and looking very tired, like it always did after sex. I looked at those brown scales, and I wondered: did they protect Marutuk from getting an STD like normal? I mean, it wasn't like a snake was going to be susceptible to Ebola, right? I realized that my strategy may have been off all along. I had to think of another approach, and fast.

"Wait, hold on there," I said.

"Hmm?"

"I can feel all these cuts inside me. I know you often like to lick me there and taste it. Why don't you try some right now?"

"I would have already if my tongue hadn't been so charred, I can't taste anything at the moment. No thanks."

That was it. That was all I could think of. Watching him walk away from me, I fought back tears as I realized all of this had been for nothing.

And then he shocked me by falling suddenly to the ground. One second he was walking to the bathroom, and the next, he was on the ground, his face up.

"Are you okay?"

No response.

I jumped up excitedly off the bed and looked at him. He was still breathing, but he was clearly affected. My mood quickly did a 180.

I threw open the apartment door and found the guard there. "He's out. Get me my things in the Clinic, please."

The guard nodded and ran off.

I had been careful to just have sex with him on top of the upper blanket on the bed only, and I knew the rest of the bed hadn't been touched. I grabbed the blanket, stuck it in the fireplace, and I lit it, burning it away.

By that time, the guard had brought my things, and I thanked him. I texted Big Horn.

Very careful not to let Marutuk's penis touch anything but his own body, I dragged him into the bathroom shower. From my pile of things that I asked for, I grabbed a cleaner from the clinic that contained a known agent that was a superb virus killer, but one gentle enough to be used inside my body. I stood in the hot water and totally doused my insides with the liquid, cleaning myself out extremely thoroughly. The hot water and the cleaner stung my cuts, but pain was no price to pay when I felt as elated as I did.

Once it was all out of me, I used a much stronger, virus-killing cleaner on the outside of my body, as well as scrubbing down his penis and the rest of his body with the stuff. Something that I had anticipated started to occur: snakes that were in the bathroom started to attack me, clearly coming to Marutuk's aid. I brought an Arabian sword just for this purpose. I grabbed the thing and started to hack all the snakes in the bathroom in two.

"Crazy Kid? Is it over?"

I came out of the bathroom and put my clothes back on, feeling weird being naked in front of Big Horn. "He's out, but he's still alive. He's in the shower. After he's dead, it's not going to be safe for me to sleep here tonight. The snakes I'm sure will be trying to take their revenge. Can you open up a portal to your camp for now and I'll toss my stuff over there?"

"Sure."

He opened a portal in the bedroom, and I set my backpack through and set it in his camp before coming back through and having the portal close.

"There's one other thing. Big Horn, I need you to bite him and hit him with as much Logan Blood knock-out venom as you possibly can."

He folded his arms. "No. I told you, I can't have any part in the killing. I'm leaving."

"You aren't going to kill him, Big Horn. I'm going to do it with my gun. But I'd like to know right now that he'll be totally unconscious and won't try to fight me off as I kill him. I even made sure he was burned like this just to guarantee that you would be able to bite through his tough skin."

He looked very pissed off, and said nothing.

"I promise, just this one little bite, and you go back to your camp."

"Oh, alright, Crazy Kid."

He disappeared into the bathroom.

Moments later, he came out of the bathroom, looking at me. "Come here, Crazy Kid."

"Yeah?"

He walked over to me, grabbed me, and kissed me.

I broke the kiss. "Whoa! What was that for?" I asked him.

"I always wanted to do that."

He kissed me again, wrapping his arms around me and putting his tongue into it. He tasted great.

"I've always wanted you so badly, and now I'm going to take what I want. Feel me."

He kept kissing me, and I pulled away from his kisses.

"Listen, I've always found you attractive too, Big Horn. But this is not the time to act on those feelings. I have a man to kill."

"No, you don't."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I already killed him. Just decided to cut his head clean off in the bathroom. He's dead."

"You did that?"

"I did it for you, Crazy Kid. And now there's nothing stopping us from celebrating."

He pulled aside his loincloth and showed me, for the first time, his dick, and the sight of it took my breath away. A colossal, hanging appendage of uncut, brown flesh framed by two perfect balls and a sprout of black pubes at the top. He shook his dick at me, and watching it move back and forth was mesmerizing.

"I know you want this," he said to me.

He kissed me again and pushed me onto the bed, covering me with his muscles.

Soon enough, Big Horn's mammoth's trunk had gone hard, and he was pushing it against me. I felt him pull the seat of my pants down, leaving my rear exposed, and he lined up his dickhead against it.

"Big Horn, you can't do that. I might still have some of that virus inside me."

"I'm not going to get sick."

"You can't know that for sure."

"I'll risk it."

"I know you think I'm a bottom, but this is going to hurt me, Big Horn. This is not what I want right now."

"As soon as I'm inside you, you'll change your mind."

I felt him force his way into my hole, and the pain was just as big as his penis, and I cried out. He pushed all he way inside me and started to pump me.

I tried to tell him to stop, but his kisses were keeping me from being able to speak.

I bit into his lips, making him pull back.

"You are not Big Horn," I said.

"No," he said, smiling. "No, I am not." And that time, the Sumerian accent returned.

"You surprised him with a bite in the bathtub?"

"That's right."

"And now you're trying to infect him, aren't you?"

"Of course."

"Well, might as well give up the attempt. I'm sure you didn't see me because you were so out of it in that shower, but I totally sanitized my insides, killing the virus. He's not going to catch it this way."

"Still, I'm just having too much fun to stop," he said, screwing away at me.

"You're imminently dying of Ebola, Marutuk. There must be some better way for you to spend your last few moments than in bed with me."

"Actually, I cannot think of a better way to spend my last few minutes that to rape your rear. But that's a moot point."

"What do you mean?"

"Look behind me," Big Horn moved his head so I could look.

There, standing next to the bed was Marutuk himself. He waved to me. "How's this for imminent death?"

My heart jumped in my throat. "How?"

"I'm the Cobra-God, Jake. I'm the oldest, strongest vampire there will ever be. Viruses may have been lethal in the past, but I've gotten so many over the years that I've built up a tolerance. Now, they may make me weak for a short time, but they cannot kill me."

I felt like my world had been destroyed. That was the only way I ever really would have to kill him, now proven ineffective. I had nothing else to do. I was lost.

While Big Horn continued to pound me, Marutuk jumped on my upper body, sitting on my chest and straddling my sides. He used his snake-penis to start to strangle me.

"You truly are the worst mate imaginable, betraying me at every moment and setting in motion an elaborate plan to kill me. You idiot. I'm the only one who could ever teach you how to use your spells. Kill me, and all hope you have of ever getting stronger dies with me. And I haven't even told you yet about my father, the being who fathered every supernatural being there ever was. Kill me, and you'll never out any more about him. I hate looking at your face. If I the rest of your body and your womb could survive without your head, I'd slice it off and have the doctor preserve it chemically just to I could fuck it whenever I got the urge. But, alas, I cannot follow what my mind wishes, so I am forced to keep it attached to you. But that doesn't mean I can't hit you over and over again until I your face is unrecognizable to me, and therefore so, infinitely improved."

He hit me over and over again in the face, until by nose was bleeding, my whole face was puffy and dark, and scrapes covered me. At the same time, Big Horn came inside me and pulled himself out.

"There, much better," Marutuk said, leering down at me. He pointed at Big Horn. "I've been trying to figure out how to teleport. Show me how he does it. Show me!"

I rolled my eyes. "He says the power is in his penis. He uses it to carve the portals he makes."

And then began a long show of foolishness, as he futilely tried to engage his power. He first tried grabbing his long dick and swinging it around with his hands, but then moved onto actually jumping into the air, doing cartwheels. He looked so ridiculous, I would have laughed if I was in any mood for humor.

"Why isn't this working?!"

"Honestly? He always claimed his power would no longer work if anyone saw his dick besides himself. Both of us are staring at it right now. I guess that was truer than I guessed."

"Stop playing games with me."

"I'm not playing games."

"You are. But you want to play games with me, Jake? I'll show you games. I love games."

I shook my head violently. "I don't want to play any games."

"You may say that, but your actions tell me otherwise."

He lifted me up and carried me out of the bedroom, with Big Horn following along, still under his control.

"We are going to put the two of you through the Sandtrials. Only instead of starting with the first trial, which I am positive you would survive again, we'll skip right ahead to the good part."

He went up the stairs and soon we were out on the roof again, looking down at the top of the dome. Seeing this place made me nervous and terrified, made me relive those horrible last moments with Tahir. Only this time, it was nighttime, and the dome was lit up by torches, lanterns, and the moon.

"This could kill me, Marutuk," I said.

"That's why we are doing a late game rule change. This time, I'm going to bite you myself."

"That's not fair, you have way more venom than the Vizier gave us."

"That's true, but lucky for you, I'm weak right now, and the potency of my venom is so weak, this will be a fair game."

"The doctor told you not to paralyze me, because of the baby."

"I'm pretty sure the baby can survive one tiny little bite. I'm going to let the both of you go at the same time. Only this time, I won't let you fall, no matter how much time has passed. But I won't save Big Horn. Either you will save him, he will save himself, or he will die. Let the games begin."

He bit into Big Horn, paralyzing him. I tried to squirm and fight him, but he bit into me as well, until I had that familiar, disgusting feeling of being completely out of control. I had my left hand in my pants pocket when he bit me, and that's exactly how I froze.

Marutuk placed our bodies together and let go of us, and we started to slide gently down the slope, the same sinking feeling now being all too familiar.

Big Horn's eyes were wide with terror, and I knew full well I was seeing the real Big Horn's eyes, that he had woken up from Marutuk's influence the moment he had been paralyzed. He must have been so confused how we got here and what was happening to him, so confused about the paralysis. I knew again his life lay in my hands, as he had no experience fighting that venom at all. That was not a weight I ever wanted on my shoulders again.

As our descent picked up more speed, I focused everything on breaking the paralysis, starting with my right hand.

Marutuk walked with us, an excited look on his face the whole time as he studied us. "I don't have my watch this first time, but in a change of pace, the first twitch goes to Jake. Big Horn just isn't pulling his own weight, is he?"

I blocked out the doom I was feeling and the hatred I had for Marutuk and focused just on my hand. I had to make those fingers work.

"Finally, FINALLY, the first twitch on Big Horn's body. But is it a fluke or does it mean he might actually be able to save himself?"

I squeezed my right fingers together, again just as we picked up speed. I needed more, needed more from my hand.

I got enough control of my right hand that I was able to move it slightly, hitting Big Horn's meaty hand. His eyes looked suddenly a bit more hopeful as I tried to squeeze his hand.

"And once again, Jake has his hand. I predict this going just like last time, with Big Horn impaling on all my wonderful spikes, ending up snake food."

And that edge of the dome was coming faster and faster. I focused on my left hand.

This time, clearly because he had to stop me from falling, Marutuk walked the left of us and jumped off the edge of the dome, holding onto a handhold that would clearly allow him to grab onto me after I had fallen.

I kept working on that left hand, and I did get it to twitch, but I could not get enough control over my left arm muscles to actually pull it out of my pocket so I could make use of it. Why had I stupidly put my hand in my pocket right before I had gotten bitten?

I deemed my left hand useless, and that made this job so much harder the second time around than it had the first, and I had failed that one too.

I focused on my right foot instead, and got it to twitch, but not well enough to get it to keep us from falling towards the very edge of the dome.

I took in a sharp breath as we moved to the very edge of the dome, and the view of the ground below us came into view. I knew I was going to lose Big Horn.

We slid off the edge of the dome entirely, his eyes looking at me with desperation.

But then my right foot passed by the very last handhold on the side of the dome, and I was able to use my shoe to grab onto it.

I felt my body go taut and straight, but my foot held on, and I thanked myself that I had worked to get my foot un-paralyzed.

I focused on my right hand, and squeezed onto his hand. As if it was in slow motion, I could see Big Horn's body still moving down away from me, but about to snap taut, and it would be the first time I had to hold onto his weight. Big Horn was taller and heavier than Tahir had been, so I didn't think I would be able to hold onto him at all.

His body went taut, slamming all his weight against my hand, making my fingers open, him slipping out.

But I was somehow able to regain more control over my hand and keep him from falling. His eyes turned grateful, staring up at me.

"And here we are, in almost the exact same position we ended last time. But the question is, can Jake keep his friend from slipping through his fingers?"

It was like Marutuk's words were a curse: I started to lose my grip on his hand. It didn't help that my palm was soaking in sweating, making it so much harder to keep him in my fingers. Beneath him, I could see that horrible view of the open snakepit, with all the waiting spikes far, far below, and I knew exactly what that fate meant.

I tried so hard to keep my hand strong, but the harder I tried, the more I felt him slipping away. I could see his eyes showing panic as he too realized he was starting to fall.

And then something occurred to me. I had long ago stuffed a shot of Parker's anti-paralysis- venom in my wallet just in case I needed it. And my wallet was, blessedly, in my left pants pocket. I must have put my hand in there on instinct alone.

But my left hand wasn't working enough to do the deed. I focused hard on getting it under control.

I was able to open the wallet and pull the needle out.

It took my more time to get the cap off the needle.

I got the needle into my hand finally, and felt the paralysis slowly breaking from my entire body.

But it was too late; I felt Big Horn had slipped totally away from my hand and was falling to the ground.

"And, he loses a second friend!"

No, no, no!

I somehow was able to extend the length of my body and move it down just in time to grab onto his hand. This time, my normal hand strength had returned, and I was able to hold on.

I pulled my second hand out of my pants and added that one to his, not letting him get away from me again.

I saw his face start to return to normal. "Crazy Kid."

"Big Horn."

"Can you swing me so I don't fall into the snakepit? Because this fall won't kill me if you do."

"I think so."

I swung my body hard, pushing him away from the snakepit, and let him go. I knew I had done a good job as soon as I saw him fall.

He landed safely on the ground, and even landed with a roll. Clearly the paralysis had left him entirely

"Oh, oh, oh, not fun at all, no."

Marutuk pulled me back up to a place where I could stand safely on top of the dome.

"I'll just have to make the ending much more fun. Say goodbye to your friend, Jake."

"No, you can't hurt him! I played your game and I won!"

"This time, I never guaranteed his life. He is going to die today, there's no around that. All I did was give you a chance to make his death not caused by you."

Marutuk jumped off the edge of the dome, and rolled as he landed even more gracefully than Big Horn had. I stood and watched them, hating myself for not being able to help, stuck all the way up there.

The two of them started to fight. Since neither one of them were armed, it meant they were close up, and this was a fight of strength. They both were barely dressed, tall, and filled with muscles. One had had tan skin while the other was copper, but as their bodies started to blend together as they hit and punched.

If Marutuk hadn't been both suffering from burns and Ebola, Big Horn would have been outmatched. But as it was, they seemed much more even.

I saw Marutuk start to give, falling on the ground and opening his mouth, looking totally stunned as Big Horn continued to pummel him.

I saw Marutuk's fangs pop out just as Big Horn's hand went to hit him in his open mouth.

"Watch out, it's a rouse! Don't let him bite you!"

But my words came too late, as I saw Marutuk's fangs sing into Big Horn's fist, looking like he had won. And I knew he had, as Big Horn would be paralyzed again.

But then I saw Marutuk pull his bite back painfully, and I realized that Big Horn had turned his fist to steel, keeping it fang-proof.

"Don't worry, I'm not making the mistake of letting him bite me again," he said, clearly referring to getting surprised in the shower.

Big Horn hit him harder and harder with his steel, genuinely stunning him. "Time to knock him out." I saw Big Horn's fangs come out.

"Don't go near his face! He'll bite you!"

"I'm not stupid, I assure you."

He sank his fangs into Marutuk's foot.

But instead of moving through the skin, the fangs just bounced off his skin.

"Oh no! His burns must have healed enough to make him immune to the biting again!"

So, he gave up on the biting and just kept hitting him over and over in the head with his steel fists. I could actually see his skull crack open, and he pulled back.

"What are you doing?! You could have killed him right then!"

"That's why I stopped. I'm not going to kill him."

"You're not going to knock him out, he's too strong for that. One of you is going to die in this fight. Please, don't let it be you."

"I'd rather die than break my sworn vow to my ancestors."

His steel punch wore off, Marutuk's skull healed, and he started throwing punch after punch right at Big Horn's head. Soon, Big Horn was the one struggling on the ground.

"Foolish, stubborn man," I said as I watched my friend slowly being pummeled out of existence, starting to cry.

I walked to the edge of the dome and yelled, "Marutuk, look at me!"

He glanced up at me.

"If you kill him, I'm jumping down. I'm ending it all."

"You're bluffing."

"No, I'm not! I'll do it!"

"Go ahead. I'll just catch you. And then I'll finish killing your friend."

That wasn't working at all, so I pulled out something that I had put in my back-pocket just in case this situation came up. It was a tool I had found in the clinic that was about the size and shape of a knitting needle, only much longer.

I lined the edge of the point against my torso. "Marutuk, I've got this needle pointing right against my left ovary. Please, please don't make me push it through."

"You're bluffing," he said again, still hitting Big Horn on the ground.

"Oh, really?"

I pushed hard into myself, taking out the ovary, as blood gushed all over me. The pain was phenomenal, and I didn't know how I still was standing up on my feet.

"You stupid creature," Marutuk said to me. "You only need one of those to procreate." He kept hitting Big Horn harder and harder.

"That's right," I said, pulling out the needle and lining it up with my right ovary. "If you don't let him go right now, I'm going to slice right through it."

"Oh, come on. Do that and you'll never, ever be able to breed again. You won't do that."

"I thought we already covered that I was not going to bluff. So, I'm giving you one last chance to let him go before I kill your entire hope of having four more children and restarting all of the existing Bloods. Such a sacrifice you'll make, and all I have to do is make one little push."

"Go right ahead, you fuck." He kept on slamming into Big Horn.

I screamed as I sent the needle into my last ovary, pain excruciating my body.

"You stupid creature, I already knew that I'd never be able to stand you being around me any longer han the current pregnancy. I was already planning on killing you after my baby was cut out of you."

I lowered the needle to the lump in my stomach. "Speaking of cutting the baby out of me, why wait for all those months? I'll do you a favor and cut it out right now. If you don't let Big Horn go, I'm going to bring a whole new meaning to giving the baby his daily allotment of my blood."

"You're not going to kill your own baby."

He turned and kept on hitting Big Horn, and I saw there was no more life left in Big Horn's body anymore, and I knew he was dead, and tears started running down my cheeks.

"This is not MY baby, and it never was. This is YOUR baby."

I stabbed that needle into my uterus, blood pouring everywhere.

"No, no!" Only then did he let Big Horn go.

"Now you'd better come and get me before I finish the job!"

He rushed towards the entrance of the palace, and I knew he was coming for me.

I ran up to the top of the dome. While he came out, I stabbed the needle over and over again into myself, cutting the lumpy parasite, all blood and flesh away from my body.

Marutuk was crying as he attacked me, and I laughed at him. "Yes, it's your turn to cry now."

He wrestled me to the ground of that dome roof.

I stabbed him in his neck with my needle, making him shout in pain, which was so pleasurable to hear.

But he pulled out the needle and threw it off the roof.

He grabbed his snake-penis, and pushed it against my throat, strangling me with it.

"Now, little brother, after all those infinite betrayals you've inflicted on me over these millennia, I finally get to kill you just how I always wanted to, watching your face lose all its life as your favorite part of mine kills it."

I tried to fight him, but it was no good.

He smiled down at me as he watched me watch him choke me, and the world started to go black. I knew he had won. I shut my eyes and let it happen.

But then I opened them again, and when I did, I saw Marutuk, but instead of the black, starry sky above him, there was a sunny desert canyon. Was I hallucinating as I slipped away?

Big Horn came into my field of vision, and my first thought was he was greeting me from Heaven and leading me there.

And then I saw the canyon scene behind us had a bright circle carved around it, and I knew it was one of Big Horn's portals behind us, and I knew he was still alive.

He grabbed a surprised Marutuk by his shoulders and pushed him back towards the portal opening. At the same time, I used everything I had left in me to push/kick him backwards.

Marutuk fell right through the portal, and I took a deep inhale of breath.

"No, he'll just come back, and this time, he'll kill us all."

Big Horn shook his head. "This isn't a portal I've used in over a hundred years. That's because it used to be on a cliff of a very large canyon that fell away in an earthquake, leaving me a portal opening that is a death trap with a fall that's thousands of feet long."

"He's going to die."

"Yes, as soon as he lands."

He changed his portal to his camp and pulled me through it, and closed the portal behind him.

"You killed. You killed to save me life."

"Yes."

The bleeding all over my stomach hit me finally, and I passed out.