Free Web NovelIris brought one of her fingers to her mouth and lightly broke the tip with one of her fangs, letting a drop of blood appear on her pale skin.
A drop that did not fall.
It stayed there, shining under the moonlight, as if even gravity thought twice before bothering a vampire princess.
Matt crossed his arms, floating a few yards away from her.
He was still hungry.
Still thirsty.
Still tired.
And still wearing that maid café uniform, now so torn that at this point it barely even looked like clothing.
It looked like evidence from a crime scene.
Iris raised her hand and traced a line through the air, stretching it across the empty space, forming a floating line that began to vibrate softly.
Vmmm!
The air in front of them rippled.
Then a crack opened.
At first, it was small.
Barely a dark line.
Then it slowly widened, as if someone were tearing invisible fabric from the other side.
Matt watched in silence.
Inside the crack, a completely different place could be seen.
No dark mountains.
No forest.
No open sky.
There was black stone.
Reddish light.
And a low mist that moved as if it were alive.
Matt felt an unpleasant weight in his stomach.
'So we really are back.'
While Iris kept opening the portal, Matt slipped a hand into one of the pockets of his uniform.
Luckily, the dress had pockets. Small, useless ones probably designed by someone who thought carrying napkins was more important than carrying dignity.
But pockets, at least.
Matt pulled out his phone.
The screen turned on with difficulty.
11%.
No signal.
The battery icon seemed to stare at him with the same desperation he felt.
Matt frowned and swiped his finger across the screen.
Or tried to.
The touchscreen responded late.
Very late.
The screen froze for a second, then suddenly moved all at once.
Matt looked at it with an empty expression.
'Great. Even my phone wants to die.'
Matt tried checking his messages.
Nothing.
He tried opening the map.
Nothing.
The signal was completely dead.
And not only that.
The phone was acting weird, as if something in the air were interfering with it.
Matt looked around.
Mountains.
Forests.
No roads.
No utility poles.
No antennas.
Nothing human.
Then he remembered what the queen had explained to him once.
Not because he wanted to remember it.
But because that woman’s voice had the unpleasant habit of getting stuck in his memory.
Portals didn’t open just anywhere.
Well, they could.
But they shouldn’t.
If a portal was opened in a human city, on a highway, or in a place with low mana density, the route left residue behind.
Small magical traces that someone skilled enough could follow.
But in areas like this, deserted and loaded with natural mana, the portal blended into the surroundings.
Once closed, no clear route remained.
Matt looked at his phone with no signal.
'So that old hag wasn’t lying.'
That was the annoying part.
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The queen lied a lot.
But not always.
And when she told the truth, it was almost always because the truth was worse.
Iris finished widening the crack.
The portal remained open, but not by much.
It was an irregular red-and-black opening, just large enough for Iris to pass through comfortably.
Matt looked at it.
Then at the portal.
Then back at her.
He yawned.
"It’s too small."
Iris turned her head toward him.
"The crack?"
"No, your common sense."
Iris smiled.
"It’s not my fault you’re so tall."
Matt carefully put the phone back in his pocket.
"I thought your magic control would’ve improved in the time we hadn’t seen each other."
Iris’s smile tightened a little.
"Excuse me?"
"But I can see it’s still awful."
Iris narrowed her eyes.
"If you’re going to complain about everything, you could have made the portal yourself."
Matt looked at her with a tired expression.
"I carried you for hours so we’d get here faster."
"And you dropped me from the sky."
"Details."
"That is not a detail."
"At the very least, I expected you to do something useful once we arrived."
Iris watched him in silence.
Matt pointed at the crack.
"But apparently, you can’t even do that."
The air grew colder.
Iris smiled.
Not a happy smile.
A dangerous one.
Matt stared at her without backing away.
He didn’t have the energy to retreat.
Or the desire.
Iris raised one hand toward the portal.
"Cross."
Matt raised an eyebrow.
"Ladies first."
"No."
"How rude."
"I have to stay alert in case you try to escape."
Matt let out a dry laugh.
"Escape? All your vampire women will be here very soon."
Iris looked at him as if he had said something stupid.
"Do you think I’m dumb?"
Matt opened his mouth.
Iris pointed at him.
"Don’t answer."
Matt closed it.
Iris continued:
"You left them far behind. Even Selene will take a while to catch up. The others, much longer."
"So you are aware they were slow."
"Compared to you in that state, yes."
Matt frowned.
"That state?"
Iris smiled.
"When you get like that, you fly like you’re insane."
Matt looked at her in silence.
That sentence bothered him. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
Not because it was a jab.
Because it sounded too close to something true.
So he did the most reasonable thing.
He ignored her.
Before Iris could finish saying anything else, Matt leaned slightly forward and crossed through the portal.
"Matt!"
Iris’s voice was left behind him.
The world warped.
For an instant, Matt felt his body being stretched in several directions.
It didn’t hurt.
But it was unpleasant.
Like sticking your head under cold water while someone whispered in a language that didn’t exist.
Then his feet touched stone.
Matt opened his eyes.
He was somewhere else.
The night was still there, though the horizon was beginning to turn a pale gray.
Dawn was close.
But it wasn’t the same sky.
It wasn’t the same air.
In front of him rose an enormous wall of black stone, so tall that Matt had to lift his head to see all of it.
Its towers were decorated with dark banners marked with red symbols.
At the top, several figures patrolled in silence.
Matt swallowed.
'The outer city of the castle.'
The crack opened behind him again.
Iris crossed the portal with an annoyed expression.
"You could wait."
"I didn’t want to."
"That was obvious."
Iris raised a hand and closed the portal.
The crack shrank until it disappeared.
Vmmm!
"Follow me."
Matt looked at her and followed.
Not because he wanted to.
But because at that point, he either walked with Iris or stood there in front of a vampiric wall dressed like a destroyed maid café waitress.
And somehow, both options were horrible.
When they reached the entrance, two guards moved immediately.
They were men, tall and armed, wearing dark armor and holding long spears against the ground.
When they saw Iris, both knelt.
"Princess Iris."
Their voices sounded at the same time.
Iris barely inclined her head.
"Continue with your work."
"Yes, Princess."
The guards stood up.
One of them looked at Matt.
Then he looked at him again.
His expression changed.
It wasn’t exactly surprise.
It was more like confusion mixed with judgment.
Matt already knew that look.
He had received it many times since leaving the café.
And he was starting to hate it almost as much as the word princess.
The guard pointed at his clothes.
"Why is he dressed like that?"
Matt went still.
Iris barely turned her head.
The guard continued, frowning.
"That outfit is ridiculous. Why isn’t he wearing armor?"
Matt looked at him in silence.
Slowly, very slowly, his hand closed into a fist.
'Breathe.'
He couldn’t punch a guard as soon as he entered.
Well, he could.
But that would probably count as causing trouble before breakfast.
And he still hadn’t had breakfast.
Before Matt could say anything, Iris stepped forward.
"He is with me."
The guard tensed.
Only then did he seem to understand that he had spoken too close to the wrong person.
He immediately lowered his head.
"My apologies, Princess."
Iris looked at him for a few seconds. Then she smiled calmly.
"Be more careful."
"Yes, Princess."
Matt watched the scene.
Then he looked at Iris.
"Did you defend me?"
"No."
"That sounded like defending me."
"I only stopped you from doing something annoying."
"Then you do know me."
"Unfortunately."
Matt clicked his tongue and kept walking beside her.
The gates of the wall slowly opened.
Grrrrr!
The heavy sound of stone and metal echoed in the cold air.
On the other side was the city.
Matt saw it.
And immediately remembered why he hated it.
It was enormous.
Much larger than any hidden city should be.
Dark stone streets stretched in several directions, lit by reddish lamps that didn’t seem to use normal fire. The buildings were tall, elegant, and ancient, with narrow balconies, pointed roofs, and windows that reflected the dawn light like open eyes.
There were people.
Lots of people.
Children running through alleyways.
Armed men walking in groups.
Vampire women advancing with calm steps, almost all of them with a sword at their waist.
But the difference was clear.
Too clear.
The women were watched with respect.
The girls were cared for.
Protected.
Accompanied.
Some women were training young vampire girls with wooden swords in open courtyards, correcting their posture with patience.
By contrast, the boys ran around almost unsupervised.
Some carried boxes.
Others swept entrances.
Others were simply ignored.
The adult men carried weapons, yes.
But not with the same pride as the women.
Not with the same authority.
They looked like guards.
Servants.
Tools.
Matt walked in silence.
Iris moved beside him as if all of this were normal.
Because for her, it was.
For everyone there, it was.
Matt felt several gazes fall on him.
Some women looked at him with contempt.
Some men too.
That annoyed him more.
'You too?'
Then he remembered how that city worked.
And he hated it all over again.
In that place, men were at the very bottom.
Not because they lacked physical strength.
Not exactly.
Male vampires existed.
They had regeneration.
They could survive wounds that would kill a human.
They could handle weapons, serve in the guard, and fight against lesser enemies.
But they couldn’t fly.
They couldn’t use blood with the same purity.
They couldn’t resist certain spells.
They couldn’t fully withstand the burden of purer vampiric blood.
They were weaker.
More limited.
More disposable.
That was what everyone said.
What everyone accepted.
What everyone breathed in as truth from the moment they were born.
Matt clenched his jaw.
'What a garbage city.'
The only exception was royal vampires.
The queen.
Her blood.
Her lineage.
They could break that rule.
They could take a man and turn him into something more.
Refine his blood.
Force his body.
Alter it.
Change it.
Transform him into a girl capable of withstanding royal power.
Just as the queen had done to him.
Matt felt a chill.
Not from the cold.
From the memory.
The pain.
The fever.
The feeling of his body coming apart and being rebuilt into a form he had never asked for.
The queen’s voice calling him daughter.
Iris’s presence growing inside his mind.
The days when he didn’t know which thoughts were his and which weren’t.
Matt tightened his fingers until his nails almost dug into his skin.
Not everyone survived that.
Many men died during the process.
Others didn’t die, but ended up worse.
Monsters.
Deformed bodies.
Creatures incapable of reason.
Mistakes hidden in areas of the castle no one mentioned during dinner.
Matt swallowed while Iris glanced at him from the corner of her eye.
"You’re quiet."
Matt didn’t look at her.
"I’m remembering why I hate this place."
Iris smiled softly.
"How nostalgic."
"Don’t use that word."
"Why?"
"Because you say it like this is a family visit."
"For me, it is."
