A lease

Sirius yawned, his eyes flickering with obvious disinterest as he stared at the half-naked women dancing sensually under the bright lights of the room.

With wine and blood at their feet, the vampires were observing the dancing ladies with ravenous eyes. To them, it was a wonderful party hosted by their powerful vampire prince.

"I am bored, Kieran." He got up, frowning at the continuous laughter that was audible over the music.

"Surprising." Kieran looked up at his brother with a blank stare. "Did something happen between you and your human?"

Sirius' eyes narrowed sharply. "She has a name."

"So many names." Kieran teased, taking a sip of blood from his golden goblet.

Sirius curled his lips and directed his gaze to one of the dancing women. His eyes dulled. He titled his head. "Why are we having this absurd gathering?"

"It is called bait." Kieran answered right away and got to his feet.

"The demons are foolish, but not foolish enough to fall for your bait." Sirius sat back in his chair, his gaze slightly intensified on the female. "Especially when it's..."

"Do not finish that sentence." Kieran cut in quickly, his face stern. His gaze was also drawn to the dancing female Sirius was looking at.

"Do not interrupt me." Sirius growled with intense resentment.

"I know you are upset about my rage, which led to the death of your human's family." Kieran said dully. "You should be patient with me, brother."

Sirius gave him a cold stare. "Patient with you?"

Kieran could feel his rage, but he made no effort to look away from the dancing woman. Who happened to be a human. The dancers were all human.

"I planned to accomplish my goal of having every human royal princess from every human kingdom without any problems. I also complied with you by not attempting to incorporate your human into my schemes." As Kieran leant back in his chair, Sirius stood up and grimaced, which triggered a small smile onto Kieran's lips.

"You are aware of my hatred for her. How much I despise her for bringing you down. How much I hate her for making you into my dog, my weapon, incapable of defying me. She caused the demise of her family by challenging me. Not you nor I." He carried on, staring at Sirius' back. eagerly awaiting a response.

But Sirius's expression stayed blank. Yet, there was a gleam in his blood-red eyes. A faint twinkle of relief that matched with a startling smile that puckered his lips.

"I have absolutely no regrets." He said.

A deep frown etched Kieran's face. Despite the rage that consumed him, he chose to remain silent.

Knowing this, Sirius sat back in his chair, laughing. "The Ice Stone."

Suddenly, a necklace with a translucent silver stone appeared around the human's neck.

Kieran nodded, returning his attention to the human. "Now?"

Sirius nibbled on his bottom lip. He did not respond. Time was not right.

While he waited, naturally, his mind drifted to his depressed Sunshine. The fear, anger, and terror in those mesmerizing eyes of hers.

"Breathtaking." He purred, biting the tip of his tongue with pleasure.

"Eh?" A puzzled Kieran glanced at his brother.

"Now." Sirius vanished out of sight.

Suddenly, a group of men in black cloaks stormed into the celebration and started murdering every vampire, including the women from the human race.

Their eyes were completely black, and their elongated, frightening claws matched.

Though the room was filled with panic, this only served to smoothen the demons' ability to eliminate everyone—aside from the human, whose neck was in the grip of one of them, and the vampire, who was seated with unwavering tenacity.

Without giving it a second thought, his guards who had positioned themselves in front of him to keep him safe were wiped out, but he did not waver.

The human let out a horrified cry, but the demon's attention was solely fixed on the stone around her neck.

"This is not the ice stone." The demon hissed with avarice, snapping the human's neck with ease.

She dropped dead, and the demons shifted their focus to the vampire prince.

"Where is the ice stone?!" The demon bellowed at Kieran.

"What does your king plan to do with the ice stone?" Kieran asked, cocking his brow.

The demon scoffed with annoyance. "Just because you hold death in your hands does not imply that you will receive answers from us. The cruelest thing you could do to us is take our lives, and we will die honorably for our king."

Kieran quirked his lips, clearly impressed. "What a shame."

"What a shame indeed." Sirius materialized in the room behind the group, yawning lazily.

A powerful dark energy was emanating from him so effortlessly that the entire room felt heavy with it. To the point where the demons' souls were instantly filled with panic.

With horrified looks in their eyes, they jerkily turned to face him.

A dangerously eerie smile stretched across Sirius's lips, his brilliant blood red eyes darkening with murder intent. "It is a blessing that I enjoy both taking worthless souls and making deviants bleed."

Save for the demon who spoke of honor, every one of the other demons dropped lifelessly before they could fully react to those words.

Sirius chuckled. A deep, ominous sound that reverberated through the room filled with corpses.

And he materialized with his arm draped over the shoulder of the frozen demon.

"You should thank your king and your vain honor." He whispered into his ear.

A flicker of fear shot through the demon's eyes. Fear that Sirius could sniff. Unfortunately, it was not thrilling enough. It failed to arouse him.

Frowning, he reached into his pocket and took out a translucent silver stone. The original ice stone. And hurled it towards Kieran, who grasped it without any hesitation.

Dully, Kieran studied the stone. "You will be returning to the front lines soon."

Sirius released the demon and approached his brother. "When is soon?"

"Seven days." Kieran replied.

Sirius's expression turned glum. "I would prefer not to."

"Who said you have a choice here?" Kieran raised an eyebrow.

Sirius's mouth widened, a mad smile lighting up his features. "You truly have me on a lease, brother." Then he leaned in, his eyes darkening with foreboding animosity. "Never forget that it is the only thing keeping me from devouring your soul, Kieran. Nothing more."

Kieran kept his expression blank. Nonetheless, he avoided Sirius' gaze so perfectly.

Sirius stood upright, turned away, and left the room. It was almost time to visit his Sunshine!

He smirked as the desire to cheer her up overcame him.