Free Vampiris Sancti: The Elf by Katri Cardew

sold her to him because her innocuous question
revealed she already knew.
    “Some here and
there.”
    It only took a
few minutes for him to look worse for wear from conversing with a
being that could break his heart as easily as he would snap a twig.
The demon didn’t survive the world of espionage without learning a
few basic truths of the universe. The foremost of those being that
a friendly magical being could only mean disaster for the recipient
of the interest.
    “What you
want?”
    The direct
question was as pointless as unfriendly since he knew she was after
the type of information that he should never divulge. To cross a
Martyc once was dangerous, more than once meant hiding in worlds so
obscure they were off the map. The not so silent murmuring in the
background alerted the Elf that her time there was limited because
by now someone had told Dhaigre of her presence. The humans had
strange talky devices that allowed them to overcome their inability
to read the atmosphere and speak to each other from considerable
distances. Demons were uncommonly fond of technology and used human
ones to great advantage. She didn’t have a plan, or even a
direction, but somehow she was certain knowing more about the world
meant keeping out of Martyc way.
    “Tell me of
those who serve.” Her voice was soft upon the air.
    “Tis not worth
my life.” He pleaded.
    If he hoped she
would take pity upon his dilemma he was mistaken. Zyre was no fool,
she knew how pitiless he would be and how he would sell one to
their death if it meant a profit.
    No restraints
bound him there—no threats were made to terrify. He faced nothing
but a pair of luscious ruby lips curved upwards, yet it was enough
to keep him imprisoned by her side. Once certain of a captive
audience she leaned forward and his skin rippled with both pleasure
and apprehension. The blue and green of her eyes merged into a deep
teal inundating him with the impulse to flee, because such beauty
didn’t voluntarily enter the life of a Poqir. As she spoke her
breath caressed the side of his face and the flush across his skin
told her of the heady desire infusing his blood. This was her
power—the desire for a life no demon could approach and it would
leave him dizzy with foreign longing. Her words stayed suspended in
the air between them awaiting his comprehension and his sand eyes
widened as he struggled to regain his senses.
    “A Fairy came
to see me.” Her voice, soft and sweet, belied the threat about to
dance from her lips.
    “The only way
the Elders be knowing of me was if someone sold me. Dhaigre knows
of your double-dealing for you be Poqir. But does he know how you
keep me safe from his notice?”
    “I never,” he
protested weakly.
    Zyre continued
without mercy as her voice embraced him, it stroked across his
soul, a smooth mesmerising silk.
    “Who would he
believe? A Poqir that double dips or the one he be searching
for?”
    While some
might revel in the thought of power over a Martyc this unavoidable
reality had Zyre quake with dismay. The last thing she needed was
an obsessed demon chasing her about when all she wanted was to have
some fun bothering Vampires.
    The demon
gulped as he realised he was a heartbeat away from betraying the
most powerful being in the multiverse.
    “There are
three Varkja units he can call upon, and the Verkja the Vampires
are using. He has a Druqe, Gargoyles, and possibly the Aegai that
serve the mutants. There are the human Oric, but they are no match
for anyone.”
    A hopeful demon
approached their table offering drinks only to make a hasty retreat
when a storm of teal flashed at him. Everyone knew when the
kaleidoscope eyes of an Elf burned teal this was a bothered and
potentially violent being. Demons might be superior in strength to
many creatures, but none—not even a Martyc—could vanquish an
Elf.
    “The
Vampires?”
    She was fairly
sure she knew enough about them, but asked just in case they also
were in league with the