Free Starblood (The Starblood Trilogy) by Carmilla Voiez Page B

Water hisses into the sink, beating a frantic rhythm on the aluminium. She turns it off again and looks around the room, but her mind wanders upstairs. A smile makes her lips tremble then it grows into laughter. The man looks at her. His lips twitch in a silent prayer or chant. Is he afraid now? Good. She steps towards him, and he takes a step back then recovers himself.
    ‘I want to help you,’ he says. ‘We share the same dream: a world full of demons and magic, hedonism and despair.’
    ‘You will help me,’ she tells him. She pats the flat edge of the knife against her thigh. The movement attracts his attention, and his jaw drops.
    ‘I’m more valuable alive.’ He looks as though he wants to say more, but his words fail him.
    Another step closer, she can hear his heart beating fast, the rhythm flawed; a beat skips and another echoes.
    ‘No! Please!’ he cries. ‘Satori, help me!’
    His words are silenced by her fist. She smashes open his jaw with her punch. Terrified, he stares at her, his mouth hanging open. Tearing open her blouse, she reveals the swell of her left breast and pulls his gaping maw to her nipple.
    ‘Worship the terrible mother,’ she whispers in his ear. ‘For she gives you life and binds you to death.’
    He coughs blood on her skin and she smears it onto his face.
    ‘That’s good,’ she tells him. ‘Drink up. You want to grow up big and strong, don’t you?’
    He gurgles an unintelligible response.
    ‘Shh, it’s okay. Mummy’s here.’ She cradles his shoulders with her knife-free hand and lets him fall gently to the floor. His mouth flaps silently. His eyes scream for mercy. She smiles. ‘There, that’s better. You forgot your manners for a while, but it’s okay now, isn’t it? You’ll be a good boy for mother.’
    His robe has fallen open from the waist and his genitals are exposed. With her thumb and forefinger she pinches the head of his cock. His body struggles to move away, but she holds him tight.
    ‘You won’t be needing this.’ She presses the point of the blade into the base of his penis. A thread of blood pushes through the hole. Looking at his face again, she drinks in his horror, feeling herself grow wet with the pleasure. ‘I’ll tell you what. If you make yourself hard for me, you can keep it.’ She lets go of him.
    His hand grasps his dick and he frantically moves his fist back and forth along its flaccid length. The blood gives the skin a pink bloom, then a deeper red. He moves faster, but he is still soft. His eyes dart from his unresponsive member, to Lilith and then back again.
    ‘Oh well,’ she says. ‘You tried.’
    He struggles again. Pushing with his feet, inching across the floor, he tries desperately to get away.
    ‘If you keep moving about, it will hurt.’ Her stern face crumples into laughter. She laughs quietly so only the two of them can hear her. Then, lifting his balls, she slices through the loose skin with the knife. Three arcs of the blade and they are detached. She cuts through the base of his penis. His breath is ragged, and his heart strains to keep beating. Blood soaks her skin and the floor. Then, as she makes the final cut, he passes out.

Chapter 12
    I walk through the park. Your park. No-one will attack me. I am under her protection. Freya wears her sister’s clothes. Not the ones Tanya wore that night. Her mother burned those long along. The long purple velvet skirt makes her feel beautiful. She takes off her boots and walks barefoot, the soft material brushing her ankles a contrast to the rough path. She wears the darkness like a cloak and hopes it will hide her when she returns home. Lilith calls her here. This place was in her dreams last night and the soles of her feet have itched all day. What will I find?
    She passes the place her sister fell, behind the swings, next to the outer wall. The air feels colder here. She walks across and touches the floor. The blood is long gone. Freya never saw the stain. She was never