New Chapter for the Highest Tier (June 2021)
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Vampire King Apollyon
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"Wife." He knelt beside the mattress as he shook her shoulders, so strong her head lolled from side to side. "You have to wake up."
Eyes still closed, Luna stretched her arms lazily in the bed, and it almost hit Apollyon in the forehead if he hadn't ducked.
It seemed like his wife was still oblivious to the chaos not far from them.
Shaking his head from side to side, Apollyon rubbed a palm over his face as he had a love-hate notion from the sight of his beloved struggling to keep her eyes open.
She blinked rapidly to lighten her heavy-lidded eyes.
"Hmmm." Moaning, Luna squinted at him to focus on his face as if making sure that he wasn't a part of a dream.
She still hadn't made any move yet as she stared at him, still lying languidly on the mattress like an innocent seductress absently waiting for his next command, dazed and confused.
Maybe, she didn't hear him the first time.
"Wife." Apollyon said gruffly.
Cupping her face with a hand, Apollyon caressed her rosy cheeks with his thumb.
No matter how much he tried, Luna was still lethargic that he felt like a monster for disturbing her from her beautiful sleep. "You have to get up."
It was clear that getting out of bed to escape wasn't one of her options.
Loud thuds and thumps rented through the air.
Frown lines marred his forehead.
Apollyon looked at his wife's countenance closely if she could hear the bronze metal parts of Hephaestus' dragon shattering, ripped apart to tiny pieces by Hecate's arrow.
The sounds of dull, heavy objects falling were followed by high-pitched explosions that were too sharp for a vampire's ears, echoing terribly as if it was an anguished howl of a hurt leviathan.
But there was no change in her reaction.
'Don't tell me that you can't hear them, Luna?' Apollyon mused gently so that he wouldn't overwhelm her as he spoke through Luna's mind.
Silence only answered him.
Even if she was wide awake, his beloved was so out of reality as she faced him without responding.
Maybe, she was too exhausted that she had thrown her mind somewhere.
He sighed.
It would be a shame to move his sleepy wife around.
He better make it quick.
"Luna." Apollyon snapped a finger in her blank face, and she lost her eye contact with him only to shift her attention to his hand.
He noticed that her clouded eyes became clearer with every snap.
"Can you clear your sleepy head and focus on what I am about to tell you, beloved?" He urged her as he laced it with hypnosis to get Luna to obey her without question.
Would this magic work with a vulnerable Arhdemon?
It felt like he was talking to a baby—a baby in an adult's body that was put in a trance.
"Wife." Apollyon called her again, scooting at the edge of the bed, and brought himself closer to her languorous body.
The jasmine scent emanating from her hair and skin infiltrated his nostrils, and he almost lost his concentration.
How can a vampire mate's sweat smell so good, especially during sleep?
Apollyon cursed.
These damned pheromones bothering him at the wrong moment!
This time, Apollyon increased the doses of his power as he brought his lips closer to her ear, "We have to get out of here, beloved."
Green eyes almost bleeding into pure black, her pupils dilate as if she finally understood what was going on.
As if by reflex, Luna leaned her elbows on the mattress and lifted herself.
Glancing up at Apollyon, Luna was all eyes and all ears as she pressed her lips in concentration.
Her silver hair was curled and messed up from the pillow as it hung loosely around her shoulders.
She looked so out of it.
He would have whispered how adorable she was if it wasn't for the loud explosions in the background of Hecate dismantling the bronze dragon with another set of her magic arrows coated with eternal ice.
"Why?" Luna covered her mouth as she yawned and stretched her arms heavenward.
Inclining her head at him, she asked groggily as she settled her hands on her lap, "What is happening, husband?"
"I'm sorry to disturb your sleep, beauty, but we must go." Getting up from the floor, Apollyon climbed to the bed and wrapped one arm around her back while the other slid underneath her legs.
Luna's eyes widened as she noted Apollyon's haste to remove her from the bed.
"Is there a war?" She scanned around the observatory in panic. "Was the Summer Courts after us and blamed us for your the failure your mother's engagement party?"
"This will be quick." But then, Apollyon deadpanned as he carried her in his arms, "You don't have to do anything."
"Is this a jest, Apollyon?!"
"Shh." Apollyon looked down at her and replied, "We are returning to the Vinca Inn."
"Why what is—" Luna couldn't finish her words when the Mark of the Triple Moon Goddess turned bright red just below her collarbone.
It emitted a bright red light in the dark but not strong enough to alert the others of their presence. "My c-chest seemed to b-burn, Apollyon. It hurts."
She shut her eyes tightly as she clutched her chest. "What is happening to me?"
"You have to calm down and relax." Apollyon told her gently and kissed her forehead. "Breathe in. Breathe out."
He kept his features smooth and emotionless so that Luna wouldn't suspect that the Goddess of the Underworld showed up in the same Realm as them.
"Can't you hear it, wife?"
"What sounds?" She said in a whisper-shout.
Apollyon's brows raised a little when he noticed that everything turned quiet all of a sudden.
Luna looked at her like he had grown two heads.
The sounds had betrayed him, making him appear like he was the crazy one!
Did the battle between Hephaestus and Hecate end?
"Don't mind it." Apollyon shrugged. "We will disappear and remove ourselves away from this madness."
Apollyon and Luna landed on their king-sized bedroom at their luxury suite in Vinca Inn.