All Chapters of A Queen Among Blood: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

I love our gym. It’s the size of a stadium with everything we could possibly need. We may have superior senses, but it’s never wise to sit on your laurels. Setia is an example of that. Very few know what the weaknesses of an irshiust are, and so Setia never once assumed Zixin would, but he did and because of that he was easily able to take her down. This is why training is important, it keeps us vigilant and allows us to do our job to the best of our abilities. Stepping into the gym I take in every scent that permeates the room. From the smell of the equipment to the smell of residual sweat and even blood. My sisters and I never hold back in training, so blood has been drawn on more than one occasion. I make my way to the far end of the gym, to work on some target practice. Tonight I’m in the mood for archery. I grab a bow off the rack on the wall and a quiver full of arrows. When we train with weapons, we are always sure to train with all the variations of the weapons we possess. Fo

I’m probably a bad person for hoping whoever has been dealing with the sanguidaes all these years doesn’t make an appearance. It’s incredibly selfish, and I’ll never admit to it out loud. I just fear if I stay here dwelling over my mystery animai I will truly go insane. “Yildiz?” I hear Beste call, pulling me from my thoughts. “Hmm?” I ask, standing and turning towards her, her stunning coquelicot aura with its gold glittering hue shining around her. “You seem a little distracted,” she observes. “I have a few things on my mind, but it won’t interfere with the mission, I promise,” I say sincerely. “That’s good.” I can hear the smile in her voice as she wraps her arm around me, her delightful scent of warm sugar and fresh rain enveloping me, “Let’s go get dressed and then grab our toys,” she says with excitement. I chuckle, “Still calling weapons ‘toys’ huh?” “They are to me,” she says with a grin in her voice. We each go our separate ways, with me returning to my room to shower

I take off, continuing to follow the trail and it’s not long before the scents begin to get stronger. As the scents get stronger I begin to pick up the sound of people conversing. I slow down my approach as their words become clearer, and it becomes obvious I’ve found the people I’m looking for. I sniff around, assessing my surroundings; smelling the trees around me. I click my tongue to discern how far away they are and walk over to what sounds like the nearest tree. It feels large and sturdy. I make quick work climbing up high into the tree top calculating how high I am as I climb so I can calculate how far the drop will be, then perch myself on a branch. From here I can easily spot the group of sanguidae I’m after. They’re a short distance away, all six of them. Each one illuminated by their different coloured auras, but each aura is outlined by a hue of blood red – common in the auras of sanguidaes. They’re laughing and enjoying themselves despite the fact they just murdered innoce

An animai. A fucking animai. Has Zarseti lost her fucking mind?! How is that even remotely possible? This was meant to be a simple retrieval; how did this all happen? I had sensed the newly made sanguidae as soon as they turned. As the first, I am connected to each and every one, so I can feel when another comes into being. A fact that shames and disgusts me to my core. They had someone guiding them, so I didn’t interfere right away, but once I knew their supposed leader was as dumb as a doornail with the traits of a serial killer, I knew I had to step in. For thousands of years, I’ve managed to get to them before the Delegation could, but for once they beat me to it, but I never could have expected things to turn out this way. The moment I appeared; her scent overtook me. It nearly threw thousands of years of self-control out the window. Her scent was the most glorious thing I’ve ever smelt in my entire existence. She smelled of warm vanilla and orchids fresh on the vine at the pea

After Beste and I returned to the Kartheca we debriefed our sisters on what had happened regarding the venator and sanguidae. I was sure to explain to my sisters about meeting the very first sanguidae and how he has been the one behind the disappearances all these years. That definitely got them all hyped up. I left out the part about him being my animai though. Omitting the truth is as close as we can get to lying and I am giving it my all these days. As soon as the formalities of the job are out of the way, I excuse myself and return my weapons to the armoury, being sure to clean them before putting them away. Except for the katana which is now just a handle with the remnants of a broken blade protruding from the handle. I then rush to my room, close the door, and take in a deep breath. “MOTHER! Mother, please. I need to speak to you. I don’t wish to question the gift you’ve given me, but I need to understand what’s going on. I need your help,” I beg as I sit down on my bed. I los