Hell's Consort

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Vampire King Apollyon

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As Apollyon moved quickly behind Cederic for a sneak attack, he was ready to kill his own military general.

"I will kill you." As he pulled one last iron bolt from his quiver, Apollyon cocked the weapon, aimed it at his shoulder, and released the trigger.

It's a shame it wasn't a wooden arrow because it appeared the man had a death wish.

The military general crumpled to the ground and as he laid on his stomach--similar to the tortured captive at the Whispering Forest.

Cederic had a forged iron embedded on his left shoulder.

The bastard had deserved it.

Well, that was what he got for strangling Luna and holding her upwards by the neck, then dropping her like a ragdoll afterward.

"Luna." Apollyon bellowed as he moved around the fallen Cederic.

He cradled Luna's upper body and checked if her injuries had quickly healed as a vampire should.

The faint bruises on his general's fingertips had completely faded, but the claws digging into her skin took almost half a minute to heal.

"Are you alright, wife?" Apollyon's hands were trembling as he stroked her hair away from her face.

"It-thought I w-was g-going to d-ie, A-pollyon." Luna's cheeks were swollen as a river of tears streamed down her face.

She sniffed a few short breaths. "It r-really h-hurts t-to s-swallow."

Choking down a sob, Luna swallowed hard as she caressed her throat.

"You aren't a good actress at all." Cederic groaned as he lifted his head to look at them. "You must have forgotten you are in a vampire's body."

Apollyon thought that Cederic would be unconscious for a long time.

Forged iron did not affect vampires.

He had no time to search for a wooden arrow, either.

As long as no one would pull the iron bolt out of his shoulder, Cederic's wound wouldn't heal.

"You have recovered from your injuries." Cederic gritted his teeth as he clawed on dirt, summoning the strength to pull at the iron bolt himself. "What are you blabbering on about?"

Apollyon's rage returned as he glowered at him who was on the ground. "Are you telling me that it would be alright to strangle my wife because she was a vampire, and she could heal anyway?"

"When she had disobeyed you at the Marriage Auction, and you stabbed your wife twice as a punishment. You had your wicked way with her in that Ivory Tower, afterward—"Cederic paused.

His left arm reached behind his back, got hold of the iron bolt, and pulled it himself.

He didn't scream as his vampire blood spilled unto the grass, but Apollyon could see the mist forming near his open mouth as he panted heavily, his deep wound sealing shut.

Cederic groaned when he rolled over so that he would lie on his back this time. "Do you think it was alright to stab her just because she would heal as a vampire?"

"I didn't like what you did to her that night, you're Highness, but I was just glad that Luna had forgiven you." Cederic sighed as he stared at the canopy of leaves above him.

As he took a couple of calming breaths, Apollyon saw no reason to annihilate his military general without explanation.

Cederic had a point, but he wasn't going to admit he was wrong, and neither would he insist that he was right, either.

He still had visual flashbacks of what happened at the Ivory Tower, where he had 'punished' her.

It never failed to bring chills running down his spine because Apollyon somehow knew it was his fault that Luna was caught by the Archdemons that it took her two weeks to return.

"Now, will you forgive me for strangling that lady pretending to be your wife?"

'That lady?' Apollyon's ears perked up at the deliberate insult.

He promised to listen to what Cederic had to say, but if he continued these jabs at his wife, Apollyon should go back to Lilac Manor and fetch some wooden arrows and make Cederic's heart his second target practice.

Nevertheless, Cederic became his military general for a reason, and he wouldn't do something like this if he didn't find Luna a threat to him and the Vampire Realm.

Why would he Cederic do something like this?

He still decided to listen to him with patience and judge afterward.

Luna murmured, "Cederic—"

The Military General had spat the name like it was a curse. "Lilith."

"Lilith?" Apollyon's eyes widened with shock. "That forged iron bolt on your body can't make someone blind, Cederic."

"Can't you see this is Luna in front of us?" He stopped caressing Luna's face as he fixed his gaze on Cederic.  "This isn't the first High Priestess of the Vampire Realm."

"Are all of us seeing the same person?" He asked calmly, returning his gaze to Luna.

"This can't be glamour." The whole thing was just ridiculous. "Why would you mistake her for someone else?"

You know the only bitch who cursed me. You're Highness." As Cederic clenched his fists at the iron bolt in his hand, he glowered at Luna with malice, but he thought better not to attack, "I have tried so hard to get the curse off me for centuries that I have completely given up."

"I w-would b-be g-glad if y-you k-kill that bastard for m-me, husband." Luna raised a hand to rest on where she could feel the beat of Apollyon's heart. "H-how dare h-he choke t-the E-mpress?"

Cederic rolled his eyes and ignored his wife's outburst, "I was watching over the Empress while she was asleep as usual, but the moment this lady opened her eyes, I turned back to my original form."

"So, you or the High Priest hadn't called a Witch Doctor to get Luna back?"

"You know Faerie Witch Doctors can't do anything about Archdemon Magic, cousin."  Prince Aspen interrupted, and it caught the three of them off-guard because it took him a while to speak again. "I know you have tried everything in the Vampire Realm."

Prince Aspen was just there with them with his legs planted wide and his arms crossed, listening to the conversation that Apollyon had forgotten he was there in the first place.  "You are getting your hopes up because of what my Queen Mother had told you about our best Witch Doctors."

"I was just hoping they could." Apollyon replied, "We don't know what would work and what wouldn't because we are dealing with magic we aren't familiar with."

"You are just thinking that way because your ego would not accept that we had failed our mission at the Whispering Forest."

"What is the Whispering Forest?" Luna asked softly.

Before Apollyon could tell her about the faerie captive who was a member of the demonic cult, Prince Aspen's query had caught his attention. "Don't you think something is fishy that she had suddenly woken up out-of-the-blue in the Faerie Realm?"

"Mayhap, it was a coincidence."Apollyon insisted with a scowl.

"There is no coincidence in this world." This must be Prince Aspen's favorite line.

"Please, Apollyon." Luna's eyes watered again as she gave him a pained stare while also giving Cederic a sideways glance,  "You must behead the general for his insolence."

"Lilith. You had never changed.  In the past, you have always wanted me dead, but you chose to give me a curse worse than death itself—turning me into an eternal child so that you could shatter my pride as the Vampire Realm's Military General." Cederic said as he bared his teeth in anger, "You aimed to destroy me from the start, and I managed to survive this long."

"Lilith is dead, Cederic. Why are you blaming Luna for your past grudges?" Apollyon was proud. His voice sounded normal as he clenched his fists. "She hadn't done anything wrong with you."

"Couldn't you just appreciate that the High Priestess' curse was lifted so that you could finally live the life you should have lived in your adult body?" These accusations about Luna being Lilith were already getting on his nerves, and he just wanted Cederic to stop. "In my opinion, you should be grateful for this."

"Not at the cost of your real wife's safety, Apollyon." Cederic's lips curled into a grimace. "I hate to say this, but as your military general, Luna had a special place in my heart, and I have found her first."

Apollyon released Luna as he stood up from the tree ring, looking down at Cederic, "Are you telling me you wanted my wife from the moment you had picked her up to become a part of my Consortium?"

"Don't come near that bitch. You're Highness." Cederic warned. "I'm telling you. That's not your wife."

"You have no proof." Apollyon was tempted to crush Cederic's skull with his foot.

"I am the living proof. You're Highness." Cederic jutted his chin. "Don't let that woman drink your blood, and neither should you drink hers. Next thing you know is you might be blood bonded to an Archdemon."