When We Were Still Human by Vaughn Foster (best ereader for textbooks .txt) 📕

been told so by more lovers than the years you’ve been alive. And you are a beautiful woman.” He glided through the shadows and leaned in, his mouth just above her ear.

“I can barely contain myself,” he breathed. “And you, my dear, have three very available—”

“What the hell?! No! What’s wrong with you!” Val shoved him away and stomped off, leaving him alone on the sidewalk. She had gone at least a block before turning around. No one was there. She began to think that maybe he had taken the hint to leave her alone. However, looking down, she saw her shadow flutter until a fanged smile formed where her head was.

“Come on, Val! What’s so wrong about two messed up people, ya know...”

“Vlad! It’s just wrong, okay?” She crossed the street and left his shadow lying in place. Before she reached the corner, the dark shape was cutting her off. It pulled itself out of the sidewalk.

“I, um... apologize?” He stared at his feet and sheepishly ran a hand through his locks. “Women always complain that men aren’t forward. And of course, I’m me, so—”

“You thought I’d want to screw you?” Val crossed her arms and slit her eyes into a venomous stare. Vladimir shrugged and the familiar, casual indifference returned.

“Just trying to be helpful,” he said coolly. “Two people helping each other to take a load off. Hell, we both could use it. Besides.” He leaned in closer than she expected him to risk. His lips were inches from hers, but instead of retreating, she held her ground and glared back. He tilted his head as if searching for something, then smiled. “I don’t believe the woman who ate a lovely elderly couple alive has any right to take the moral high ground.”

Val wanted nothing more than to slash his face open.

But she didn’t.

It would have been futile. Not just because he’d heal instantly, but because she knew he was right. She was a monster. If not for the spell burned into her chest, she wouldn’t even be able to stand out in the open. Chances were, she’d get caught again. But next time, they’d chain her away in some interdimensional black hole.

“That… wasn’t me...” she said, her voice hoarse.

“Of course it was. You simply acted upon your base desire. Why bother fighting what you are? Saying you’re not a ghoul— that you’re not Gluttony incarnate— would be like saying you’re not an incredibly determined, brilliant, loving person. There’s no reason to be ashamed of what you are.”

Val had never seen this side of Vladimir before. His words flowed gently as his hand cupped her cheek. She didn’t realize they had moved, but in that brief second, he had transported them onto the roof of a nearby apartment building. He stepped away and sat on the ledge, legs dangling over the city.

“I didn’t say that to make you feel bad,” he said after a minute. “I was telling you so you’d understand. My Mark suppresses the blood lust, but the other kind… I didn’t mean to pressure you. But I’m sure you know the feeling.” He gave a dry laugh. “A day probably doesn’t go by that you don’t wanna just bite into somebody, even though you don’t need to do it.”

“Vladimir…” Val wasn’t sure what to think. He really did seem like a decent person, albeit a bit strange and probably with his fair share of sexual harassment reports. Perhaps he wasn’t a complete—

“But I do still want to sleep with you.”

And the moment was gone.

He laughed bitterly, then wiped his nose. “I’ve slept with so many women that it’s starting to get boring, if you can believe it. Every hair color and body type, almost every race, human or otherwise…” He turned his head to look into her eyes. “I have yet the luxury to say that I’ve had one of the Seven Deadly Sins under my sheets.”

“You really have no shame, do you?”

“None at all.”

Val fumed. His nonchalant smirk, his womanizing... Even the constant flipping of hair out of his eyes was antagonizing. How could anyone be this calm? He seemed to have no shame, or even disappointment from the rejection. Just ignorant bliss. Was this really the legendary Prince of Darkness, one of the four rulers of Earth’s supernatural realm? She tried to resurrect the image of him in the buried city. Instead, the picture that won out was of a perverted ass who lacked the power to keep it in his pants.

Val sighed and sat beside him on the ledge. She’d give herself a migraine if she paid him attention. He was like a child: either too self-absorbed to see how he affected others, or he simply didn’t care. “If you’re that desperate, why not ask Avia? Just show up at her door and she’ll be all over you.”

He shook his head. “Michael’s father, Reign, had this way of explaining the aether. There is a natural way in which life and power flow. Its most basic state will bring prosperity, joy, and peace. To go against this natural order, such as the sons of Daemon, leads only to destruction, pain, and madness. Only a visage of reason will remain.”

Val shifted uncomfortably on the ledge, waiting for him to finish. Seconds went by and he finally lifted his head.

 “Wrath’s the way she is because she was dealt a bad hand from day one. Given her position as one of Michael’s chosen, I can’t risk breaking her any further.” He sighed again and turned away. “Everyone’s had shit happen in their lives, Val. Just be thankful your life didn’t fall apart before you were cursed.”

Val chewed her lip and stared into the city lights. She was dumbfounded. Vladimir actually seemed concerned for someone other than himself. The person she met outside the church was gone, replaced by someone who