Page 71 of Luna

Nix pouts playfully but doesn’t argue. He sinks his fangs into her neck, and I watch as the life drains from her eyes.

We move on, house after house falling to our insatiable hunger. Some try to fight, others to flee. It makes no difference. We are death incarnate, and none can escape us.

We are the most powerful beings in existence.

Our father told us so.

In the village square, we face a group of men armed with pitchforks and torches. It’s almost laughable how outmatched they are.

“Shall we play with them a bit?” Nix suggests, a cruel smile twisting his features.

I nod, matching his grin. “Why not? We have all night.”

What follows is a game of cat and mouse, toying with the villagers as they try desperately to defend their homes and families. We’re too fast, too strong. Their weapons are useless against us.

A burly man swings his pitchfork at me. I catch it easily, wrenching it from his grasp and impaling him on his own weapon. His shocked expression as he falls is oddly satisfying.

Nix, meanwhile, is toying with three younger men. He darts between them, slashing with his sharp fingernails, drawing out their pain and fear. “Come now,” he taunts, “surely you can do better than this?”

One of the men, braver or more foolish than the rest, charges at Nix with a torch. My brother sidesteps easily, grabbing the man’s arm and using his momentum to send him crashing into his companions. In the blink of an eye, Nix is on them, fangs tearing into flesh.

As the night wears on, our game becomes more elaborate, more cruel. We chase a group of survivors into the church, listening to their desperate prayers with amusement.

“Shall we show them how powerless their god is?” I suggest, eyeing the heavy wooden doors.

Nix’s eyes light up. “Oh yes, let’s. Father would so enjoy hearing about it.”

Together, we rip the doors from their hinges. The screams from inside reach a fevered pitch as we enter this supposed sanctuary.

“Your god can’t save you,” I announce, my voice echoing in the vaulted space. “We are your deities now.”

What follows is a massacre. Blood stains the stone floor, seeping into the cracks. We desecrate the altar, turning their place of worship into a tomb.

As dawn approaches, we stand amidst the carnage. The village is silent now, save for the crackling of fires and the occasional moan of a survivor we’ve left to suffer.

Nix claps me on the shoulder, his laughter echoing in the empty square. “Now that, brother, was a feast!”

I survey the destruction, feeling a sense of pride and power. This is what it means to be a vampire — to take what we want, to revel in our superiority over these fragile humans.

“Indeed it was,” I agree, wiping blood from my chin. “Though I fear we may have been a touch... overzealous.”

Nix raises an eyebrow. “Oh? Having regrets, Lucien?”

I shake my head. “Not regrets. But this level of destruction... it will be noticed. We’ll need to lay low for a while.”

My brother scoffs. “Let them come. We’ll give them the same treatment.”

As we leave the ruined village behind, I feel no remorse, no guilt. Only satisfaction and a hunger for more.

The world is ours for the taking, and we will paint it red with the blood of humans.

I glance at Nix, seeing my own bloodlust reflected in his eyes. “Where to next, brother?”

Chapter 27

Luna

Istand under the shower for a long time. Floating in Lucien’s swimming pool, and the way he carried me outside holding me close, feels like a distant memory already. And I can’t connect it to the way he looked at me when he told me to stay out of his business.