Depravity's Daughter

"Would you like a hug, Sebastian?" Mira was kind when she asked it, gentle even, and her smile was understanding, forgiving.

In answer, the other vampire hesitated and then nestled into her arms. She grinned up at me and yawned before she curled on the ground. Well, then... It struck me as an odd place for a nap, when I could have just materialized us anywhere, but then there was the matter of cleanup and what to do with the place without Mira as an enslaved Queen in its center. Maybe they both had the right idea, after I considered it. I curled up behind her and wrapped her in my arm, while she stroked Sebastian and held him close to soothe him. When she fell asleep, I tilted my head at the sound that left her lips, and had to grin when I realized what it was.

She was purring in her sleep, like a cat or a demon. With her magic still calmly draining from her to fuel the sex in that room, the feeling of it made her purr in contentment. I nuzzled her lovingly.

————

Lucius

She had taken his hand, she had become like they are. Come on baby, don't fear the reaper.

With my life finally quiet and free, I could do whatever I wanted. It was delightful to be so safe and left alone. Well, I was mostly left alone. With Sebastian getting a taste of Violation's punishment every so often, it turned out he had been telling me the truth. Ruling vampires bored him. He had relinquished his title to... Well, go on and take a guess. I'll give you a clue. It's the last fucking vampire who wanted it.

But he had made sure I would get it when he called me to the Court and then bowed at my feet like my pet dog, his face calm with serene respect. "I swear myself to your clan."

Which had been a political bitch to put me in, really. It left me with the choices of adopting him and all his clan as my own, or forcing them all to be my thralls. Honestly, having his entire clan as family seemed easier than having a lot of slaves that I had to keep in continual check. So I had adopted them, but only as I commanded Sebastian to take care of his family as he had always done. I had seen something of the structure he kept in his Citadel and I didn't want anything to do with all that delicate balance. So I left them all to it and left him ruling it.

He had nodded obediently with my command. "Yes, Master."

And he did do a wonderful job at following that order. He was so good at his reign that most of the time he didn't even have to be present for his Citadel to keep up its sinful joys. It turned out that he had thralls for everything in that place, and they made sure that all was taken care of. And Mira's slaves were so affected by their brief run-in with her magic that they worshiped her from afar, waiting for her to come and feed them demonic energy when she so wished.

Of course, all of this meant something for my immediate household. "Good evening, Master." Mira looked up at me where she sat at my feet, curled up with a book, but the voice that spoke wasn't hers.

"Good evening, Sebastian." I relaxed in my chair and it had been weeks since our little foray, as I thought of it. At first, I had thought Sebastian was only staying so near me because he was wary of breaking his pact, frightened of how his life would be. But as the time started to draw on, I was forced to confront the thought that this might not be the case. There started to be more than a few little clues to this fact, besides the sheer length of time he had been living with me.

He waited for my greeting like he always did before he approached me. I smiled in encouragement for him when he stroked a hand along my collarbone. "Are you thirsty?" He asked the question in offering, lifting his wrist to my lips.

Things like that were starting to clue me in. I had yet to take him up on his offer, but it really was starting to be a while since I had last fed and I had Mira to care for as well. I had been intending on going hunting, but the thought of feeding from a powerfully old vampire instead? Irresistible, that. I bit into his offered wrist and sipped at it, closing my eyes with pleasure at the feeling of such powerful food. He had taken to offering every night he stayed with me, which was most of them now.

I heard Mira giggle and then felt Sebastian stiffen with the pleasure she fed into him, addicting him to the feeling of giving me sustenance. The thought of corrupting him with her pleasure every time I fed of him made me smile to think about and I licked my teeth in satisfaction when I lifted from his wrist, having lazily taken my fill without having to so much as move from my chair. "Thank you, Sebastian."

"Anything," he replied softly. And I paused at the fervent heart in that one word.

His hands were gentle when he rubbed my shoulders and I leaned back, closing my eyes. Mira giggled again and massaged my ankles happily. "You look so godlike, Master."

Dear Hades below. I was going to be a terribly unbearable vampire some day, what with a natural atrocity bowing to me and an ancient king serving my needs. Even so, I did enjoy the thought of feeding from Sebastian's fount for every drink. Having it brought to me so eagerly and with such manners made me really delighted, too. "Sebastian, if you're planning on living with me, perhaps we should talk about either giving you a real room here or having all of us relocate to the Citadel."

Mira kissed my knee and I opened my eyes to see her rest her head against me. "It is rather rude of you to make him sleep in a guest room all the time."

I grimaced and Sebastian wrapped his arms around my shoulders. "I don't mind." His voice was strange when it was subdued, which was most of the time now. Much like Depravity, so long as I kept him fed with the punishment he needed, he didn't get overly riled up and he stayed rather well behaved. Poetically, both sides of the immortal punishment coins had similarly addictive behaviors. All things in moderation was a good creed to live by for both parties. So many bloody creatures couldn't learn that and ended up intolerable twats, like Sebastian had been. "You both have rooms readied for you at the Citadel, if you wish to try it."

Mira grimaced. "Yes, that's nice, but I don't want to sleep in a goddamned sex swing, thank you, so-"

Sebastian cut her off. "There's a bed now, little flower. A nice, cozy one with a lacy canopy. If you like, you can let your slaves sleep in the room so you can feed them and listen to their fun for your sweetest dreams."

Mira blinked up at him and then at me. "Master, I think we should hear him out. Maybe we should just, you know, try it for a few months and see if the cold is as nice and pleasant as before. See if the snow still feels delightful to run on after a few months' time. A little bit of this trial and a little bit of that trial, that kind of thing."

I looked up at Sebastian, narrowing my eyes. "Really? She's already so spoiled that I can't make her hunt. You're giving her a room full of 16 bloody slaves to make her bedroom smell like sex all the time, too? This is bullshit. You and D are both assholes, I'll have you know." But there was something else as well, something that made me hesitate. "You realize that if I take residence there, as your Master..."

"The head of household and invitational rights redirect towards you, Your Grace. Yes, I know. Don't you even want to see your own room before you decide? Also, you're worse than either Depravity or I, when it comes to your little succubus."

I pet Mira's hair gently, looking down at her and she smiled back, unaware of the pain Sebastian's words gave me. It was true that I was worse than either of them. Recently, I had become a lot worse. I had made Mira a promise to help her get her memories back and after our little adventure, I had left to find her father, to speak with him and tell him what his daughter was. I had been intent on bracing him so that he could talk with her because he, as the person who had gifted her to me, was also the person who could help her get all those memories back. Being in her old home would have made her happy, very happy, I was sure. I still remembered the night on the balcony, when an innocent little creature had walked into my embrace and all this mess had taken hold.

But when I got there, I found only sorrow left in the wake of a fulfilled demon pact. Like all pacts, the results were powerful. Her father hadn't survived it. I didn't know what killed him in the end and it was a sad thing. Or it would have been a sad thing, if I had let it. I had gone back to Mira and looked into her eyes with the force of Compulsion. I commanded her to forget that voice that had once been in her head. There were no memories. She had always been mine and she hadn't had a life before that. Evil of me? Yes. Terrible? Most certainly.

But there was no sadness to her. "Yes, Master." She said it easily and delightedly curled into my arms. And since then, it was true that I made sure Mira didn't want for anything. I had taken her human life and left nothing but a corrupted travesty in its place, a horrific trespass against natural order. What might have become of that girl who had been dressed for her party in such splendor on the balcony that night?

The world wouldn't get to find out and that's why you don't make pacts with demons. They don't end happily and, for demons like me, we don't regret it when we take. Even partial demons can't feel much in the way of pity with what is rightfully given to us by unholy law. Even Sebastian hadn't been able to escape the effects of breaking and participating in so much demonic creed. A human couldn't be expected to hold up to being involved in it. Depravity didn't even have a response to Lott's death, didn't care enough to have one. The man had been a surrogate and his part in our life was over.

But there was the vampire part of me that did feel. It was the same part of me that freed me from Astarte, out of desperation, and it was the same part that could logic out how to dominate Sebastian. That part was incapable of denying Mira a single thing. "Alright. If you're both so hellishly bent on it, I'll at least see my own rooms, and maybe we'll stay a few months."

Mira grinned and took my hand when I held it out for her while Sebastian threaded his fingers with my own. I willed us to the Citadel entryway and, this time, I wasn't immediately assaulted with sin and temptation. Oh, those things were certainly still there and there was certainly a heartbeat rhythm from where I knew Mira's room to be, but Sebastian guided us a different way to show us what he had set up for me. He already knew that Mira would likely be sleeping in my room with me, despite his offers. She skipped along at my side delightedly, enjoying the rhythm of lust that rocked the place now that she wasn't being forced to fuel it. Of course, during Sebastian's punishments, Violation was more than delighted to force her into the sex swing and use it to remind Sebastian of his sins, of how bad he had been... We had discovered a joyous torture for him in a cat of nine tails, with glass at the ends of it, and we had fun with it lately, but I was finding my moments as Violation to be full of creative potential. It was more fun than I cared to admit.

Demons have lots of fun, if you'd give us a chance. Depravity purred in my blood and he was even happier than he'd ever been. He had taken to lovingly spanking Mira for moments on end, when he thought she needed to feel him. And then there were moments when he merely wanted to play with her hair, have her call him daddy while he fixed her with braids and a tiara. I was honestly just getting used to all the weird fetishes. They for damn sure weren't going anywhere and my life would spiral to hell if they weren't fulfilled.

"Oh." And they came with benefits, like the room that Sebastian opened up for us. "Oh!" I turned in an amazed circle to look around me at what Sebastian had made for me.

"It occurred to me that I give your demons a lot of attention and not enough to the vampire who holds them." I grinned at his words because he'd given me the room with the Phlegathon murals painted on the walls. Images of boiling blood surrounded me and depictions of wrath danced around me. But even over those were Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin posters and I had to grin at those happily. I could still smell faint bits of old blood and I knew it was on purpose. Sebastian opened a door to the side. "And then there's this room for... darker nights." I went in eagerly after seeing the sprawling bedroom he'd given me and grinned in playful delight. It was one hell of a vampire's dream dungeon. There were all sorts of structures and chains and crosses to tie my vampire playmate down, in as many ways as I wanted to have him for his punishments. And then there were softer toys for when Mira craved to feel Depravity holding her still and lightly spanking her. She had followed us into that room, too, I realized and she squealed happily when she jumped on the big bondage bed.

"Ugh. Fine. We'll bloody stay."

Mira cheered with a laugh and Sebastian smiled. "I can promise that it's even more well protected than your own home is," he said softly.

"I already trusted that you wouldn't suggest something where anything might happen to Mira or I."

Sebastian flinched at the very idea. "Never." A shudder went through him like it still did sometimes. He was still growing accustomed to his new undeath, but I thought he was taking it rather well. It was a bit of a shock for him to find himself beholden so completely to another creature. The worst part was that he ensured his own enslavement to me because he didn't want to be free. The only thing worse than being mine was the thought of not having my punishment anymore.

"Just breathe and accept it, Sebastian. It's alright. One day you'll forget to shudder like that at all." I leaned against the wall, watching him, relaxed in the same way he had once been relaxed while taunting me.

Mira curled up on the bed. "Now that we're here and you've enticed Master, will you come and tell me a story, Sebastian?" She flooded him with magic so suddenly that he staggered with a soft whine. "And I'll soothe you in return for being a good vampire."

His eyes fluttered closed and his voice was breathy when he replied. "Yes, Mira. What story would you like?" We had also discovered that he loved to be lightly dominated by my succubus, loved to be made to submit to her.

I played the game with great pleasure, already thinking that we should play within a fortnight together. "Address her properly, Sebastian."

He moaned and met her eyes, desperate for punishment. "Forgive me, Mistress."

"Give me a kiss and I'll forgive you for now." Sebastian was by her side in a second, his motion graceful and quick with his species' endowments. He bent forward over her to meet her lips while I watched, wickedly grinning. After feeling Violation in my blood, I had gone through some other changes. One of those was the fact that I liked playing now. I liked it an awful lot.

I wrapped my arms around Sebastian and purred in his ear. "There are so many places on her body to kiss that it was rather forward of you to presume her meaning, don't you think?" In answer, he groaned against Mira's lips and she nipped him playfully.

"Forgive me, Mistress." He managed to say it again, his voice breathless with desire.

She cuddled him close and I released him to her arms. Oh, I wanted to keep playing, especially in this room, but Mira had asked him for a story and she wouldn't get that in this room if I kept going. A pity. Later. The next day, maybe. Sebastian curled over her in the bed and I crawled up to nestle between both of them, deliberately being awkward about it so that Mira laughed and slapped my shoulder happily. It made me grin, made me delighted to hear it.

Such a good newborn we made. I smiled at Depravity's sedate voice in my head and wrapped an arm around both of my wards, even while they seemed all too content to curl close to me. D was right. We really had made something spectacular. We had been assholes about taking her and turning her and it was wrong, but it was good for us. A few weeks ago, I had gotten the interesting experience of running into an angel with Mira by my side.

The angel had taken one glance at her and broken into tears, which told me all I needed to know about the creature I had stolen away from castles in the sky. She ruled in different castles now, though, and she ensured I had more than enough power to maintain the crown that Sebastian had placed upon my head.

I never wanted to rule, and in no step of our strange journey had I acted with so much as a single intent on ruling. Vampires were irritating little children to try to keep in line. And yet, it seemed like my life had been shooting down a path like an arrow since I touched Mira and made her. She made me into a wonderful king, regardless of the immorality of my having her. I lay back, content, while Sebastian started one of the stories of his early years. The old vampire had so much knowledge, and I was now privy to it at my every whim, that it alone was probably enough to maintain rule, honestly.

Wait a second. I had a vampire with all kinds of knowledge at my fingertips! "Sebastian," I interrupted his story, internally flinching at how rude that made me, but he merely looked up at me curiously when he heard the excitement in my voice. "You must have a lot of resources at your use, right?"

"Of course," he answered, stroking one hand down my stomach. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"If I give you some identifying information on a specific set of tarot cards, could you get them for me?"

He shrugged. "Within a week. Two, at most. Unless, of course, the cards are destroyed or impossible to get to by some other block, but I could let you know if that was the case."

I had to work to contain my excitement, had to settle back down and stroke his shoulder. "Thank you. Forgive me for my interruption. Continue, please, and I'll ask later."

Sebastian obeyed and Depravity rolled his eyes at me in my head. It only took a few extra decades, give or take, but I was going to get those bloody cards one way or another.