Chaos and Amber by John Gregory Betancourt & Roger Zelazny

Author:John Gregory Betancourt & Roger Zelazny
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Fantasy, General, Fiction
ISBN: 9780743474948
Publisher: I Books
Published: 2003-09-01T14:00:00+00:00

SEVENTEEN

"Wait!" I cried, leaping in front of him. "What do you think you're doing?"

Rèalla screamed. I knew Aber meant to kill her, and I couldn't allow that. What had she done to provoke him? Why this half crazed, half desperate response?

He skidded to a stop. Rèalla gave another ear-piercing shriek and threw herself behind the bed, trying to hide in the bedclothes.

"Stand aside!" Aber said. He tried to dance around me.

I blocked his way. With a feint, then a quick punch to his stomach, I took the air and the fight out of him. He doubled over, and I took the opportunity to pry my sword from his fingers.

"Have you gone you insane?" I demanded. Crossing to the desk, I returned my blade to its scabbard.

"She's -" he gasped.

"She's mine," I said fiercely.

"She's-a-succubus!"

"A what?" I demanded.

"A female demon." He glared at her. "They feed on the blood of their lovers. Look at yourself, Oberon!" His finger stabbed at my chest. "You're marked! She's been feeding on you!"

Involuntarily, my hand rose to touch my chest. The welt I'd discovered yesterday was still there, though smaller. But now I felt a second one next to it.

A chill swept through me. Rèalla had been drinking my blood? No wonder I had twice awakened to find her in my bed. No wonder she wanted to be with me. I could not believe what a fool I had been.

"Rèalla," I said, voice very calm. I wouldn't let her see how unnerved I had become. "I don't believe you've met my brother. This is Aber."

"No, Oberon," she said, peeking out at us. "I have not had that pleasure."

"Come here," I told her.

Silently she rose and came around, covering herself with the sheet. I put my arm around her shoulders in a protective gesture.

"How can you keep that thing in your bed?" Aber demanded, staring from me to Rèalla and back again. "Kill it! Kill it and be done, before it kills you!"

"Rèalla is a good woman. I enjoy her company." I turned and gazed down at her, allowing myself a wistful smile. That much at least was true. And she was startlingly beautiful, which didn't hurt.

"Not as much as she enjoys yours." He jerked his chin toward my chest. "You are nothing to her but food!"

"No!" Rèalla cried. "Those are love bites! I would not hurt him-"

"Shh," I told her. I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "You don't need to explain yourself to him. Or to me. If you need blood, you may take as much of mine as you need to live, but no more."

Aber howled, " Oberon! You don't know what you're saying! You don't know what you're offering! She'll drink you dry!"

"Never!" Rèalla vowed fiercely. "I will take only what I need, no more!"

"I believe her," I said.

"Her kind has a barbed tongue," Aber went on, glaring up at us. "They drink the blood of men who take them to bed. She will feed on you every night until you are too weak to resist, then she will reveal her true form.

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