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  Mikki gave a strangled cry, gripping a tight handful of Casimir's thick hair. "Fuck," he gasped, feet sliding noisily against the floor.

  Casimir could barely hear it. The hot rush was as sweet as an orgasm, and he wrapped his other arm around Mikki to hold him close, rocking him as he sucked harder at the vein. He knew by now the narcotic in his bite would turn the pain to something closer to pleasure; he felt Mikki switch the knife from hand to hand.

  Gasping, Mikki had a hand between his thighs, rubbing himself through his jeans. He started when Casimir fumbled for his zipper, grabbing at Casimir's wrist. "Don't finger me," Mikki grated. "I don't like anything in there."

  Forcing himself away from the bite, Casimir pulled Mikki's jeans open and worked a hand inside. He could feel the hard press of Mikki's clit, wet and aching against his fingers, longer and thicker than a woman would have felt. He rubbed a thumb against the head and was rewarded with a groan, so he drew a slow circle around it. All the while, he licked away the trickles of red, his mind finally feeling clear.

  Mikki's dark eyes closed. "Stop teasing and just jack me off," he demanded, turning his head to look at Casimir. Before he could receive a response, Mikki tentatively kissed him.

  Casimir was even more careful with mouth against mouth, mindful of his fangs, of Mikki's tongue as the kiss grew deeper. He could still taste copper between them, but he was more focused on the hardness under his fingers, on working them fast, faster, listening to Mikki's breathing rise.

  It was Mikki who did the biting when he came. His teeth sank into Casimir's lip, just enough to not draw more precious blood, as he bucked his hips against Casimir's hand. He pulled Casimir's hair, twining it around his fingers, before he collapsed, panting, in Casimir's arms.

  While Mikki caught his breath, Casimir licked the wound closed and stroked his dark hair. He was still hungry, but there wasn't enough blood in Mikki's body to fill him. What he'd taken would keep him alive for the moment, and he didn't want to bite Mikki again—the idea felt wrong after that kiss.

  Finally, Mikki pushed his hand away, doing up his jeans and getting to his feet. His knees wobbled. "Get enough?"

  "I'll need more very soon, but I'll survive for now. Thank you." Casimir forced himself to stand. "I'm going to need somewhere else to stay, too."

  "I'll see about that. You can go back there right now, can't you?"

  Casimir tongued one of his fangs thoughtfully. "I suppose I need to get my things, yes. Why do you ask?"

  "Because I heard some of that conversation with the other monsters—with those vampires, I mean. I wanna hear the story about Olivia," Mikki said with a pointed glare.

  "All right," Casimir said reluctantly. "Help me get there, and while I pack, I'll tell you what happened with her."

  Chapter Thirteen

  The centaur wasn't going to let Casimir back up to his room. He snorted and stamped, bellowing that he'd seen what had happened, and that he didn't want that trouble in his hotel. It was Mikki that convinced him by saying, "Don't be such a horse dick. He's just getting his shit and leaving."

  Apparently, that was reasonable enough, and the centaur stood aside. "You have one hour, or I'm coming after you."

  "Can horses climb stairs?" Mikki asked as they headed up to Casimir's room.

  "I'd really rather not find out," was his grunted response. His body was fraying. Casimir just wanted to drop onto the bed, but he knew if he did, if he wasn't thrown out and did manage to sleep, he would wake starving to the point of desperation. He sat on the end of the bed instead, trying to ignore the burning pain in his throat and shoulder. "I don't have much to pack. I just need to grab my bag and the clothes on the floor."

  Instead of picking up either, Mikki pulled himself up to the open window and sat on the sill. "So, Olivia," he prompted.

  Casimir closed his eyes. "Why are you so curious about her?"

  "Look, just because I let you play with my junk, it doesn't mean we're best friends." Mikki crossed his long legs. "I want to make sure you're the kind of guy I think you are."

  Sighing, Casimir lay back against the bed, letting his tired body rest for a moment. "Olivia was a human pet of Jared's, but she was more than that, really. I told you we were lovers, but I think he loved her more. He was planning on turning her as soon as she got a little older. She was only eighteen, the brain is still developing, all of that."

  Mikki pursed his lips but only nodded.

  "Anyway, there was a group of hunters in the area, and they ambushed us. I got away—I mean, of course I did—and managed to crawl back. I was bleeding out almost to the point of being empty, out of my mind from it. Olivia told me to feed from her." He closed his eyes. "She was always nice. So I took her up on it, and the next thing I knew… she was dead in my arms."

  He exhaled heavily. "I tried to explain what happened to her, and apologized, but he didn't listen. He accused me of being jealous, of doing it deliberately. Maybe I was a little jealous, but like I said, it was an accident. She was sweet. I never would have hurt her. He told me to leave or he'd kill me. And I did, but other vampires have been turning up wherever I go. I have to kill them, or they'll kill me."

  "So, what? You came here to wipe them all out?" Mikki asked.

  "No, nothing like that. I don't think I could even if I wanted to. They weren't here the last time I came through, but the last one that jumped me said that Jared wanted to talk to me. When he sent his mate after me, though, I knew he didn't have anything good to say. Lilin is the muscle behind his group. So I decided to just leave, but Jared isn't going to let me."

  Mikki pushed away from the window and walked over by the bed. "What are you going to do now?"

  Casimir rubbed his forehead. "I don't know. At this point, I'm thinking that I might need to kill Jared. I don't want to, but it doesn't look like he's ever going to stop."

  "Yeah, I see that." Mikki crossed his arms. "I haven't been too happy with them since one of 'em almost killed my brother. I'll help."

  "Thank you. It would be you, me, and the fox demon—"

  As if summoned, a three-tailed black fox jumped in through the window, landing directly on the bed. She ignored Mikki, who had pulled his knife, and instead trotted over until she could sit directly on Casimir's chest. Do you have my food?

  Casimir, grunting under her weight, lifted a hand to point to the small, ancient fridge in the corner of the room. "I was going to bring it to you."

  I know, but I needed to tell you something anyway. As Inaho jumped down to the floor, she changed from fox to fox-woman, her tails swishing as she opened the fridge. Her ball was wrapped tightly in one of the tails. Do you remember the boy in the red robe that was at the whorehouse? The one that you stopped feeding off of when he got upset?

  As Mikki started, Casimir replied, "Yes, Garnet. He—Wait, how did you know about that?"

  She picked the fish he'd kept for her up by the tail and bit down into its head, tearing it away. Oh, I was bored, so I watched. Anyway, the vampires you don't like brought him over earlier. I think they're waiting for you to notice he's gone then go charging in to rescue him. She pulled the fish's eye out, looked at it, and popped it back into her mouth, chewing with obvious enjoyment.

  "Fuck yeah, we are," Mikki growled. "Just let me load up on Molotovs."

  Casimir lifted a hand. "Wait. We're going to go help him, but we can't just barrel through the door. They'll be expecting us." With difficulty, he sat up. "Inaho, are you ready to cause some trouble?"

  Inaho was already halfway through eating the fish. She paused, the tail end hanging out of her mouth. Oh, yes! I'm always ready to cause trouble! But I want to finish my fish before we do.

  "That's fine," Casimir chuckled. "I really need more blood before I go. Do you think that Adeline would allow me to feed on her boys and girls if I told her it was to go save Garnet?"

  "Maybe. Probably," Mikki replied, half-mumbled from chewing on his lip as he spoke. "Let's meet there."

  No, I'l
l meet you at the lake. I need to hide my ball so no one can take it, Inaho said. I'll find you, so don't worry about looking for me. With the fish still in her mouth, she turned back into a black fox and leaped out of the window.

  "Weirdo," Mikki muttered, finally putting his knife away. "I'm going to go with you to the Jewel Box first so Adeline knows you're telling the truth. Maybe she'll let me borrow her shotgun. I dunno. Do you need it?"

  "I have guns, but I don't have a lot of ammunition." This wasn't what Casimir had been hoping for when he came into town. He was tired of killing vampires, and tired of running from the ones that were after him.

  One way or another, that was going to stop tonight.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Adeline really did care about her boys and girls. Mikki had barely gotten the story out before she shoved her shotgun into his hands and told Casimir to pick a room.

  It was safer to take a little from several people instead of a lot from a few, and Adeline impatiently obliged him. Opal, Citrine, Jade, Onyx, Lapis... The gemstones started to blur together, but in the end, he was full, and while his throat and shoulder still ached, he felt as though he could function.

  As he walked outside, he saw Mikki walking up, expression grim, with a backpack on one shoulder. "Are you ready?" Casimir asked.

  "Yeah," Mikki said, fingers tightening around the barrel. He immediately began walking but looked back to make sure that Casimir was still coming.

  He was, and caught up in a few steps. "I'll do my best to save your brother, I promise you," he said, looking at Mikki. Bright pink neon flashed across his face.

  "Yeah, I know." It didn't seem like Mikki felt much like talking; he raised his shoulders high and adjusted his pack. Casimir could hear glass quietly clanking together.

  When they drew near the lake, Casimir saw Inaho's glowing eyes before he saw the rest of her. "Is Garnet still alive?" he whispered in a voice too soft for a human to hear, but he assumed her ears would pick up the words.

  I think so, but they're eating him. Drinking him? They're drinking his blood out of glasses. She yawned, and her pink tongue lolled out. I'll go in first. Let me have a knife.

  Casimir took his Bowie knife from his bag and placed the hilt gently between her teeth. "What are you going to do?"

  Oh, you'll see. Don't worry. Just make sure you go and greet the yuki-onna, all right? Before Casimir could respond, she darted away, through the long grass, until she neared the house and jumped into an open window.

  "All right," Casimir said, more to himself than to Mikki. "I don't know what she's doing in there—" he paused then, hearing yells of surprise, "—but let's try to take advantage of whatever chaos she's making. Stay outside."

  "Are you out of your fucking—?!"

  "Listen," Casimir interrupted. "I need you to watch my back. I'm going to send your brother out as soon as I can. If any of the vampires get out, I need you to take care of them with that gun."

  "What the hell am I supposed to do if they kill you?" was Mikki's tense response.

  "... If your brother's dead, then burn the whole thing down. If he's alive, get him out, then burn it down. They'll come after you and the Jewel Box. Take care of yourself, and of Garnet." Casimir turned away but stopped when Mikki touched his shoulder.

  "Hey," he said, hesitating before continuing with, "be careful, okay? I'm gonna want to see you again."

  Casimir smiled. "I'll try," he said and moved slowly towards the house. The screams had stopped, and at the nearest window, he could see one of the men that had dragged him was dead on the floor. Jared was looking around frantically, the chain keeping Garnet attached to the table wrapped around his fist. He was still alive.

  When Jared looked away, Casimir climbed into the window, landing as quietly as he could on the floor. He could see his knife under the snow maiden's cage, and he crawled for it, trying to keep low to the floor so Jared wouldn't see him.

  He had forgotten about Lilin—up until the instant she stomped on his injured shoulder. He cried out and tried to roll away, but a foot to the side stopped him. Casimir let her drag him to his feet, then he drove a fist into her throat with enough force to collapse a human windpipe.

  Gasping, Lilin staggered back. Casimir dropped to the floor, fumbling with the gun in his pocket. This time, he was able to get four shots off before she fell on him, dripping blood. She slammed his head against the glass prison, cracks spidering out from around his head before she pounced on him, pouring blood. She had her hands around his throat and squeezed, pulling up as if she could pull his skull from his neck.

  Groping blindly, Casimir felt the knife cut into him when he closed his hand around it. He threw up an arm to block the next punch, despite it shattering bone and making him drop his gun, and brought the other up to slash Lilin's face.

  She was panting now, entire body streaked in red. Lilin was weakening with loss of blood, but she would still be able to overpower him easily. He only had one chance; when she dropped on him again, knees landing on his chest, Casimir brought the knife up. It cracked through her ribs and buried into her heart.

  Lilin cried out and fell back, pawing at the knife. Her hand fell limp, and her body followed, eyes rolling back in her head.

  Wheezing, Casimir used his uninjured arm to pull himself up. He heard a cracking sounds seconds before pain ripped through his chest, making him fall back against the cage. He coughed, tasting copper, and saw movement; Jared was walking towards him with a gun in his hand.

  "I know that's not enough to kill you, but you're not going to enjoy this." He let go of the chain and walked forward. "You killed my mate. You killed my pet. Anyone else you want to take from me?"

  Casimir spit blood on the floor. "I never wanted this."

  "Neither did I, but you just had to start this, didn't you?"

  He was beginning to slump, broken and bleeding torso too painful to support his rigid posture. Casimir felt something pressing against his back, and he let his head loll back to see the snow maiden with her hands against the glass. It was fragmented, but not broken yet. The snow maiden. Inaho had told him to greet her.

  "I'm going to kill this whore and your little bitch outside," Jared said, yanking Garnet's head back; he hissed in pain. "Then you'll know how I felt. After that, I'll kill you."

  While Jared talked, Casimir's mind worked frantically. If he could get the snow maiden free…. He slammed his elbow into the glass once, twice, and then it broke, shards driving into his back.

  Pushing him aside, the snow maiden stepped out of the cage, icy fog billowing around her feet. Jared fired at her, panicked, but the bullets passed through her as though she was made of air. He quickly brought the barrel of the gun to Garnet's head, but she had reached him then.

  She took Jared's face in her hands, and he yelped, gun dropping from his fingers. Casimir could see his skin frosting over, and as he struggled in the snow maiden's grasp, she pulled him in and kissed him.

  Jared's body went stiff. While Casimir watched, head swimming with pain, Jared turned stark white, ice covering his skin, hanging from the ends of his fingers in spikes. With an audible sigh, she released him, letting him drop.

  The last thing that Casimir saw before he blacked out was Jared's body shattering into thousands of shards against the stone floor.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The taste of blood brought Casimir back around. He could feel a warm wrist pressed to his mouth, and he grasped it, sucking greedily before gaining enough control of himself to push it away and open his eyes.

  Mikki was kneeling beside him, letting out a puff of air. "There you are. Good. You gonna make it?"

  "Maybe," he groaned. Speaking made his broken ribs shift and grate together. "Is Garnet—?"

  "I'm okay," Garnet said, kneeling down next to Mikki. Now that they were so close, it was obvious to Casimir that they were brothers; Garnet was paler, probably due to bloodloss, but they had the same face shape and the same nose. Not to mention the same dark
hair.

  A nod, and Casimir let himself lie back against the floor. Over the brothers' heads, he could see the snow maiden, standing in the doorway to the house. He couldn't bow like this, so he lifted a hand to acknowledge her.

  "Maido ookini," she said, her voice as quiet as a winter breeze, and bowed her head.

  Casimir couldn't understand her, but he could guess what she meant, and he sat up just enough to bow his head in return before lying flat again. "There's one more—"

  "I got him," Mikki interrupted. "He ran outside after that fox. And yeah, she's okay too. She told me to tell you thanks for the fun,and to bring her more fish sometime."

  Casimir resisted laughing, knowing how much it would hurt. "Good."

  "All right, let's get your broken ass out of here," Mikki said, and with Garnet taking his other side, Casimir was pulled to his feet, an arm over either of them.

  "He can rest in my room at the Jewel Box," Garnet said.

  "Cool," Mikki replied, glancing over and giving him a cautious look.

  After a long pause, Garnet said, "… So, you came to help me, right? Thanks, Mich—Mikki. I'd be fucked if it wasn't for you two."

  "Yeah," Mikki said, but his tone was softer. "You're my little brother. I'm always gonna protect you if I can."

  Casimir smiled faintly. This wasn't how he thought he might get them to talk, but he would take it.

  "So, what are you gonna do now, Cas?" Mikki asked, clearly changing the subject.

  "After I recover? I don't know. It's been a while since I wasn't being chased." Casimir licked his lips, still faintly tasting blood. "I'm not sure what I'm going to do for money, either. I'll go back to raid Jared's home, but that won't sustain me forever."

  "You gonna wander around again?" Mikki asked, glancing at him.

  "I'll figure something out, but I'm going to need time and blood to heal." His legs were shaking; without Garnet and Mikki holding him up, he would've had to crawl back into town.

  "Me too." Garnet's head dropped, and he lifted a hand to push his hair out of his face. There were bite wounds on his wrist, none of them from Casimir.