Hell's Consort

Chapter 252 - Pandora's Box

***********************************

The Vampire King Apollyon

************************************

She was a High Priestess who pledged her virginity to Hecate, and he? had no desire to anger the Goddess of Magic.

Apollyon only saw Lilith as a beautiful and kind 'sister' who had numerous men falling at her feet.

Unfortunately, he wasn't one of them. Still, he tolerated her eagerness to stick with him everywhere he went and talk to him with those sparkling eyes, catering to her needs for companionship out of kindness.

He never crossed the line and thought about anything more than a friendship.

Apollyon noticed that men had worshipped Lilith, and she obviously enjoyed the attention as they placed her in a pedestal.

She had the image of an innocent virgin who was untouchable--so out-of-their-league--because of her new status as the First High Priestess of the Vampire Realm.

Many men had this fetish to corrupt innocent girls from time to time, and Lilith had provided that innocent image of the men's enticing fantasy for her exquisite beauty.

That was why men were after her despite her status as the High Priestess—the forbidden fruit.

Apollyon figured out early that Lilith can drive a man crazy, but sometimes, he wondered if her innocence was a manipulative act to get what she wanted.

For some reason, Apollyon found his father, King Gwythyr, had a fondness with Lilith that was more than strange.

This was also why Apollyon had avoided being linked to the High Priestess.

He kept everything platonic.

Who knew how his father would react?

Before Lilith became the High Priestess, King Gwythyr had hinted in jest that he wanted Apollyon to marry Lilith so that she could be a part of the Royal Family as a princess.

Apollyon had politely refused, choosing to follow the tradition when he realized that political marriage wasn't in the cards for him anymore.

He had loathed political marriages as he had been a product of one.

Apollyon let the eunuchs pick the consortium's best concubines and chose his Empress from the line-up.

+++

Cederic had broken the news that King Gwythyr, his father, had engaged the Blood Beast in a battle, hoping that his son will recognize him and turn back to normal.

Apollyon could only conclude that the Archdemon of Gluttony had eaten the past Vampire King's soul and perished.

In contrast, his mother, Empress Ourania, had disappeared in the Vampire Realm like she had ceased to exist.

If King Gwythyr was bonded with his mother, Apollyon assumed that his mother was already dead.

Apollyon was hailed as the new Vampire King while everyone feared him because of the Blood Beast's curse.

He was left to deal with the aftermath along with Cederic, a strong and brave warrior who had turned into a boy, while Jon, a former Viscount, became the King's Right Hand.

Lilith was nowhere to be found along with Apollyon's concubines only to find them five years later, on the farthest corner of a basement without the knowledge of the Vampire Castle's inhabitants.

The women on the floor were lifeless, and their hair was scattered in multiple places.

Their body was slumped over as their arms remained attached to the chains.

Dried blood had stained the cold floor.

He found slashes across their gut, spilling out a nest of glistening grey snakes.

Multiple stab wounds on the upper body: neck, collarbone, chest.

Some of their skin was a fine meshwork of red threads while the others were devoid of it, pitted by burrowing insects.

When they broke down the basement's heavy metal door, it was clear that what happened in the basement was a ritual for the blood sacrifice.

Turning away to cover his nose, Apollyon's stomach heaved when the smell of rotting meat invaded his nostrils.

The concubines' once gorgeous-coloured irises were now without eyelids as they stared into the ceiling filled with cobwebs, their lipless mouth hanging open.

They were utterly still and slightly frozen.

The rest was history.

The Faerie Prince's voice rang in a lethal tone that it penetrated his thoughts, "The King had kept the Empress in isolation because your father didn't want her to return to her past lover."

Apollyon's eyebrows rose as he shuffled back a step.

His mother had a lover in the Faerie Realm before she married his father?

He brought a shaky hand to his forehead when he felt his vision spin.

"He couldn't keep his jealousy in a tight leash." Prince Aspen continued brutally, "Your father, the past Vampire King, had blamed the Seelie Court for his preposterous accusations. Perhaps, he was the one who had evil plans on taking over the Fae Realm."

Swallowing hard, he touched his temple while closing his eyes and counting his breaths.

Apollyon's triggers and suppressed emotions were switched on as the scenes of his childhood memories flashed in his mind.

It felt like talking about his mother and father had opened the Pandora's Box, and he couldn't make it stop unless he had to kill the Fae Prince in front of him.

He inhaled deeply before exhaling a sharp breath.

That shouldn't be an option while Apollyon still mourned for his Empress.

Apollyon desired to leave the past in the past, especially when it came to his messed-up family, but now those memories that had long been buried had resurfaced because of this conversation.

Why did Prince Aspen have to bring it up?

He clenched his jaw as he straightened his spine and placed his hands to the sides.

Apollyon needed to face his fears in the eye and tell them to go away and fuck themselves.

He couldn't refuse to talk about his family forever.

He wanted to recover from this until it wouldn't affect him anymore.

Apollyon couldn't show his weakness to the Faerie Prince, or else he would be in danger.

He had to deal with his problems once and for all.

"No, Aspen." Apollyon shook his head as he stared at Aspen with a rueful smile, "I wouldn't allow you to blame the Vampires for the unicorn incident just because it had been drained of blood."