Lillith Read online

  "Now, we better leave before someone else gets the stupid idea of trying to get their hands on the gold," I said and dug deep into my pocket. I counted twenty pieces of gold and put them in the captain’s hand. He tried to push back, but my grip was too strong. His eyes went wide, for several reasons, form what I could tell by the way his eyes darted between my hand, his own and the gold.

  "Thank you, patron. Please, come again,” he managed to say, after gathering himself. I winked and nodded.

  "All right then! We need to take care of Katya, and then you can eat all you want, you bottomless pit!”

  The madam’s girls were busy mopping the concrete floor as we arrived. I nodded politely and took out a gold piece for each of the four girls. Their sour faces quickly changed to something akin to happiness. I knew very well, however, that true happiness would remain out of reach for them, for a long while to come.

  “You can make a mess every day for such a handsome gift,” called one of them as she leaned in toward me, revealing most of her breasts through the low-cut dress she wore. “You can make me dirty as well, since you’re already in a good mood,” she whispered.

  “Hey! That’s enough!” Katya called out as she ran up to me, the madam only a few steps behind her.

  “Madam,” I nodded respectfully. Now, she was all business, dressed in a fine, knee-length red dress. Her rectangular glasses gave her a… unique look, one that most men underestimated when dealing with her. And it had cost them dearly. After all, this was one of three establishments protected by the guild.

  “Sir Kane. Please, have a seat,” the old woman said and pointed toward a large, wooden table next to the fence.

  “Very well,” I replied and sat. “Alpha, with me.” There was no need to speak out loud, but it was more for the women than anything else. They’d been on edge since we arrived and no amount of gold could take that away.

  “Thank you. I was about to ask you to have him… sit. Looks much less threatening that way. Enough of that, do you have the money?”

  I smiled and nodded, taking out the pouch I’d prepared before coming here and set it in front of the madam. She nodded appreciatively and eyed the pouch.

  “There are two hundred coins in that pouch. Can you count them so we may take our leave? I’ve had two attempts on my life today and I’d like to lay down with my… wife and rest.”

  Katya’s face betrayed nothing, though I could see from the way she shifted around and eyed Alpha, that she was in way over her head. I put my hand atop of hers and smiled. She almost jerked away, but not because ofwas me, that much I was sure of. All the killing from earlier and my talk of two attempts on my life… I wouldn’t look forward to it as well if I were her.

  “Katya,” I said with as much feeling as I could muster. “If you don’t wish to come with me, I won’t force you. If you do come with me, know that there isn't anyone in the world who can take me on, especially now that I have Alpha. I… love you, and I’ll protect you from anyone and anything.”

  I could feel her ease up slightly as she squeezed my hand, just enough for me to feel it. “I love you too,” she mouthed but didn’t say so in front of the madam.

  “All right. Let me count this quickly, and you two can go to hell for all I care,” the old crone interrupted. I sighed and sat back, waiting for her to finish.

  We walked down the street once the business was concluded. Alpha carried the heavy chest, while I held two bags full of clothing over my shoulder with my right hand, and held Katya with my left. The looks we got were exactly what I was after. If they saw a woman beside me and the big, bad wolf, word would travel rapidly. All of my enemies would most likely try to hurt me or run. I was fine with either.

  We stopped in front of my modest home. The bright orange color gave away it was a guild sponsored house and should be avoided. It had helped to an extent, but it’s not like I needed their help. It was two floors high, and much smaller than a good number of the neighboring homes, but I had no need for a grand house, not until now.

  “It sure looks much better from the inside,” Katya chuckled. I smirked and nodded.

  “I’m of the opinion that it's more important to live in luxury than show others I can afford it.”

  “Oh, speaking of luxury, I’ve got something for you,” she said and stepped up to the chest Alpha had dropped only moments ago. She fumbled with the lock and took out a pouch from within. “Here,” she said, offering me a sack of money. That much I could feel from holding it. “There’s about three hundred gold inside. It covers my debt and… we can invest the rest into something else.”

  I was left speechless. There were a hundred questions I wanted to ask, but I restrained myself. This was basically all of the money I’d paid her over the last year, and it was quite a fortune. She could have paid for a small home with that amount of gold.

  “I’m… sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t realize… you weren’t spending any of it. Fuck, this isn’t right. I’ve been paying you for blowjobs for a year now, and here you are giving it all back. This isn’t right!”

  “I did it because I love you as well. Besides, I would have sucked your cock regardless. You’ve been very good and generous toward me, and that only made my resolve firmer. I wanted to give back to you… to us,” Katya whispered as she pressed her face into my neck.

  “I’ll make it worth your while. I’ll give you the world, I promise,” I whispered back and put my arms around her waist. Our breaths intermingled as we kissed long and hard, not moving.

  “Take me… us out tonight,” Katya said as she turned toward Alpha. “I don’t think the wolf would ever harm me from how he looks at me.”

  “Oh, that much you can be sure of,” I laughed in reply. “Very well, we can take a bath really quickly and still make it to dinner… at the finest establishment in all of Homitage. What say you, my lady?”

  Katya was undressed before I could even register what she’d said. It turned out that she hadn’t replied at all, and just got naked, as she squealed. Her hands slid down my waist and legs, undressing me. Before long, I stood naked beside her, with my cock in her hand as she led me toward the tub.

  6

  A scarlet, skin-tight dress clung to Katya’s body like a second skin. Her breasts were mostly covered to hide the scars, however, it was deliciously short. It came down to a few inches above the knees, with a high slit showing most of her right leg. A fur stole was draped around her shoulders, accentuating the wealthy look. I loved every inch and second of it. The woman was a dream come true in every way imaginable.

  My black suited form was nothing in comparison to my lovely counterpart, but I wasn’t that hideous, either, judging from how the women looked at me. Then again, it might have been Alpha who was drawing all the attention.

  The ‘’Promenade’’ was chock-full as always. A waiting line stretched down the street, as people chatted lightly, awaiting their turn to eat at the establishment. The food was excellent, but nothing that different from the other high quality restaurants.

  “We’ll fall asleep before we even get the chance to peek inside,” Katya whispered. Her weak, disheartened voice tugged at my heart in a way I seldom experienced.

  “Al, clear the line, please,” I said, just loud enough for her to hear. A low growl filled the quiet evening air as the massive wolf strode toward the Promenade. The waiting line shifted before our eyes, and people hurriedly moved to the side to let us through.

  A nasty looking doorman drew his sword and stepped toward Alpha, his face a mask of rage. He had to earn his pay in times like these, but this was a battle he couldn’t win.

  “Don’t do that, if you value your life,” I called toward the short, stocky man. He looked at us and paused, obviously recognizing me.

  “I can’t let this slide, not without a fight. If you want me to lose my job, you better kill me. I got kids to feed.” His voice was cold as steel but respectful. I appreciated the courtesy.

  “How much do you earn a
s a doorman? Just out of curiosity,” I said and stopped right in front of him, Katya on my left and Alpha on my right. I could see he was having second thoughts, but the fact remained. If he backed off so easily, no one would hire him anymore.

  “A gold a week,” he hissed through clenched teeth.

  “I’ll give you five gold, then Alpha here will slam into you or something, and help you save face. That way you can tell them you tried, and you’ll be able to put a little more on the table this month.”

  His eyes narrowed at me, but before he could even reply, Alpha slammed his right paw into the man’s legs and then pressed it against his throat as he fell on his back. For added effect, the wolf traced a thin line of blood across the man’s chest before he howled madly.

  What had remained of the people waiting in line turned into a mad scramble in all directions. Katya looked on incredulously before scolding me.

  “I don’t want to be known as the madman’s woman!”

  “You won’t. I’ll never let you leave my side. Who would dare approach and call you that, then?” I replied with a grin.

  “What is going on… here,” said a man as the Promenade’s door opened.

  “Oh, right on time. I need your best table, plenty of food and drink for my lovely bride here, as well as all the raw meat you have for this guy on my right.”

  “Sir! This is a respectable establishment! Not a tavern!”

  “Al,” I thought and nodded at the man.

  “Actually dead, or pissed himself but not dead?”

  “The latter,” I replied with a smile. I hated these snobs. Just because they were rich, they thought themselves entitled to respect and obedience. Not in my presence, never again. Alpha lunged at the finely dressed man, his mouth wide open as he went straight for the throat.

  “No!” the man cried as he held his hands up. But Alpha never bit down. He passed straight through him and disappeared, before coming up beside me. A streak of piss became visible down the owner’s leg, an expression of mortal terror plain on his face. I sighed and approached him.

  “Get inside and change your clothes, then meet us once you’re decent,” I whispered and walked past the man. Katya scurried after me as Alpha took up the rear.

  Inside, most of the tables were laden with food and drink, but the patrons weren’t indulging in either. Every single one of them stared first at me, then Katya and then the wolf.

  “Please, return to your meals. There’s nothing to see here,” I said loud enough for everyone to hear me. I looked around the building and saw the perfect spot for us, in the far corner, sectioned off by a privacy screen.

  “Will it always be like this?” Katya asked, her face red with embarrassment.

  I shrugged.

  “Who knows,” I replied and took her hand. “Please, won’t you sit with me, my lady?”

  The establishment was richly decorated with intricately carved furniture, masterfully done paintings and glassware of all colors. It was the first time I’d come here as just the price to visit was a gold per group, or ten silver per person. I doubted it was worth it for the general populace, but for those that had the money it was no big deal.

  “So, care to tell me about our little friend here?” Katya asked after a while. We’d been lost in general chatter and comments about the place. Her large eyes pleaded with me to be honest, and It wouldn’t do if we started off our life together with a lie. With a sigh and a shake of my head, I began to recount the tale.

  “And that’s what happened. At least what the two of us could remember and figure out,” I said, after telling her the story so far.

  “I see,” she whispered and slowly nodded. “I’ll be honest with you as well. I’ve been having horrific nightmares… as in the end of the world horrific. And more than once, I’ve seen you standing there, alone, fighting who knows what. So when I saw you the first time-”

  “It’s all right. I’ve been getting a strange feeling from you as well, ever since we met. It couldn’t have just been love,” I murmured and drank my Raki.

  “I--I’m sorry. All of the things I did to you,” she stopped for a moment and gulped. “Most of it was because I liked you, and some of it because I wanted… to be close to you if the world really did go to shit.”

  I frowned and crossed my arms.

  “Why are we even having this conversation? I mean, it’s not like either of us tricked the other into something they didn’t want, no?”

  She sighed and held her glass of Raki, staring intently at it.

  “What now?”

  The question caught me more off guard than I’d like to admit. What now? I had no idea. I’d been working toward getting her, beyond that I had no idea.

  “What… would you like to come next? I mean, there’s nothing keeping us from doing whatever we like. We could settle here, or maybe travel, move to the forest or seaside. Open up a shop here or something. I don’t care, as long as you’re happy and the two of us are together.”

  Katya took a long sip of her Raki and looked up again.

  “I want to have children one day,” she said, weakly.

  I coughed violently, almost choking on my drink as she mentioned kids. I was barely in my mid-twenties, and she wanted kids?

  “Shit, you almost killed me!” I hissed. “Children? In such a dangerous world?”

  “Why not? If you’re worried I’d stop sucking your cock, or not let you… ride me, no worries. I’m all yours. And it’s not like I don’t enjoy… being with you.”

  My face turned beet red. How did she manage to talk about that kind of stuff with such a straight face and bored tone, while I was so flustered by it?

  “I see. That’s good to know,” I muttered.

  “I’m still hungry,” Alpha interrupted.

  “I don’t care. Shut it. You’ve eaten a fortune today.”

  “I can’t help it. I’m still growing, you know?”

  A commotion from outside drew my attention. I raised my hand for Alpha to shut up, which he did and got up on all fours as the door burst wide open. An elderly man fell face first against the hard wooden floor. I turned toward him and saw the owner rushing over. If I hadn’t known better, I might have hoped he’d try to help him, but that wasn’t the case with this man. He was a snob, living life on a high horse.

  “Don’t,” I called toward the owner as I walked up to the elderly man. He was dressed in nothing but tattered cloth, and bled from multiple lacerations. How he was still able to stand was beyond me.

  I bent down, picked the man up and carried him to an empty table, lowering him gently onto the hardwood. Alpha and Katya walked up to me. The giant wolf turned with his back toward me, as if daring anyone to approach.

  "What happened to you? Who did this?" I asked and poured some water down his throat. He gulped it down greedily, and was rewarded with a bad coughing fit. The man started crying, and tearing at his hair as he sobbed and cursed the world. I grabbed his hands and pulled them away from his face, in order to protect him from himself.

  "They have them!" he yelled. "They have our women and daughters! They killed the ones they didn’t want! Our women and children!"

  The man became hysterical as he tried to free both hands by pulling and pushing with what little strength he had left.

  "Who did what to your women, and where?" I asked, trying to calm him down.

  "Ithice. They burned it down to rubble and killed all the men and older folk outright, then they raped and pillaged what they could. My dear girl, they have her. Someone has to go help her! I beg of you!" the man pleaded, barely holding on to life and consciousness.

  Most of the patrons present looked away from the man, either ashamed of or disgusted by what was going on, a good number leaving the restaurant. Good, they should be ashamed of themselves. But it was clear as day that no one was going to help him. Then, as if it were a different man, the restaurant’s owner stepped up to me and bowed slightly.

  "Mister Kane, we all know of your cour
age, strength and fierceness. Is there any way you could help this man? Maybe… do something about what happened to him and his people?”All the people that had remained in the restaurant stared at me intently.

  “What do you think?” I asked Katya as our eyes met. She seemed to be uncertain, but held her head high nonetheless. My lady sure knew how to present herself in front of others.

  “Someone has to, and since no one here or in Homitage will even bat an eye unless the enemy is at our very walls, it might as well be us,” she said, her voice strong and unwavering. My heart swelled with love as I looked at her.

  "They’re trying to get you to leave, so they can deal with him, most likely. I doubt the owner had a one-eighty over the last hour," Alpha commented.

  I looked at him and nodded, certain he was right. Then, I had an idea.

  "Take care of this man. Clean, nurse and feed him. We leave in the morning to see what happened in Ithice. Expect us back in a few days. When I’m back with this man’s daughter, he better be in good shape."

  "Yes, sir!" the owner replied. I hadn’t caught him off guard, but being suspicious of people was in my nature. I nodded appreciatively and turned back to the wounded man.

  "What do you want me to do with the bandits?" I asked in a whisper. The elderly man looked back in bewilderment. It was as if I’d offered him the world on a platter.

  "Kill them all," he whispered back. I nodded and squeezed the man’s shoulder gently.

  "Consider it done."

  Without another word, I put down three gold pieces for what we’d eaten and walked out into the cold night air. I looked up at the starry sky and sighed. "What has this world come to? Killing children and the elderly? And they say the Gods are just in their ways. Yeah, right."

  "We’ll give them their justice. It just depends on how brutal you want it to be," Alpha cackled. "So, how do we proceed? I have a feeling that this Ithice he spoke of is quite far from here."

  "Yes it is. About twenty miles to the west. It’s a small hamlet in between here and other larger towns. To be honest, I’ve been there quite a few times, so this is partially personal."