The Midnight Feast

Chapter 3: The Crimson Feverd Episode

The shower in Camilla’s safehouse had been running for forty minutes, but the water wasn’t hot enough to wash away the memory of his touch.

She leaned her forehead against the cold bathroom tiles, her breath coming in ragged, uneven exhales. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw his pitch-black gaze. She felt the heavy, unyielding grip of his cold hands on her waist, pinning her against the wall. Her body had betrayed her completely. The Order had taught her that vampires were mindless, bloodthirsty parasites. They hadn’t warned her about the fever.

Julian’s venom was still actively circulating in her bloodstream. It didn’t kill her; instead, it acted like a wicked, liquid fire that pooled directly between her thighs. The ache was constant, sharp, and deeply embarrassing. She wanted him. The huntress desperately wanted her target back inside her bed.

"Camilla? Are you decent?"

A sharp, heavy knock on the bathroom door made her jump. It was Marcus, her squad leader.

"Yeah, just wrapping up!" she called out, her voice shaking slightly as she turned off the faucet.

She quickly threw on a bathrobe, drying her damp skin, and stepped out into the humid bedroom. Marcus was sitting at the wooden desk, meticulously cleaning his silver-plated crossbow. He didn't look up immediately, but his sharp eyes were trained to notice the slightest shift in his hunters.

"The trackers lost the energy signature of the ancient vampire near Beyoğlu last night," Marcus said, his voice laced with a dangerous edge of suspicion. "You were patrolling that exact sector. Did you see anything unusual?"

Camilla’s heart gave a violent thud against her ribs. She instinctively pulled the collar of her robe higher to cover her neck. Beneath the fabric, the two small, swollen punctures were throbbing, acting as a direct physical link to Julian.

"No," she lied, the word tasting like bitter ash on her tongue. "The streets were crowded. If he was there, he masked his scent perfectly before I could lock onto him."

Marcus paused, his fingers freezing on the crossbow mechanism. He looked up slowly, his cold blue eyes narrowing as he scanned her face. "You look flushed, Camilla. And your pulse is racing. Are you sure you didn't run into any trouble out there?"

"Just a long night of walking," she forced a tight, convincing smile, grabbing a towel to aggressively dry her dark hair. "I'm just completely exhausted."

Marcus stared at her for a long, agonizing moment before nodding slowly, though the suspicion didn't entirely leave his eyes. "Get some rest. The Order wants us to sweep the old Byzantine catacombs beneath the city tonight. If that leech is hiding down there, we end him once and for all."

The moment Marcus left the room and the door clicked shut, Camilla collapsed onto the edge of her bed. Her hands were trembling uncontrollably. She couldn't do this. If she went with the squad tonight, Julian would either kill them all, or they would kill him—and the mere thought of Julian dying caused a sickening wave of panic to shoot through her chest. The vampire bond had already rewritten her sense of loyalty.

By midnight, the crimson fever became completely unbearable. Her skin was burning, her mind filled with vivid, intensely erotic hallucinations of Julian’s fangs grazing her bare skin. She knew there was only one cure to stop this madness.

Silently, while the rest of her squad was busy preparing their weapons in the armory downstairs, Camilla slipped out of the safehouse window and vanished into the rainy Istanbul night. She didn't think about the consequences of her treason. She didn't care about her sacred oath anymore. She only cared about the cold marble skin that could extinguish her internal fire.

Ten minutes later, she was standing back at the old hotel. The heavy oak door to Julian’s penthouse suite wasn't locked. It clicked open smoothly, as if he had been expecting her all along.

The room was pitch-black, save for the pale moonlight filtering through the heavy curtains. Julian was sitting in the exact same armchair, a dark, imposing silhouette against the window. He didn't move an inch, but the low, amused rumble of his voice vibrated through the silent room, sending a shiver straight down her spine.

"I told you that you would return to me, huntress," he murmured, his eyes glowing a faint, dangerous red in the dark. "But I didn't expect you to break your precious rules quite so quickly."

Camilla closed the door behind her, locking it with a trembling hand. She dropped her wet coat to the carpet, standing before him in nothing but a tight black top and short denim shorts. Her chest heaved violently with every breath she took.

"Fix it," she whispered, her voice cracking with pure desperation as she took a slow step toward him. "Your poison... it's driving me insane. Make it stop, Julian."

Julian stood up slowly, his towering figure instantly closing the distance between them with terrifying grace. He didn't touch her immediately. Instead, he circled her like a wolf inspecting its caught prey, deeply inhaling the scent of her rain-drenched hair and the delicious, frantic heat radiating from her flushed skin.

"It’s not just the venom, Camilla," Julian whispered, stopping right behind her back. He leaned down, his cold breath brushing the sensitive skin of her neck, making her gasp. "It's the bond. Your soul recognizes its true master. You belong in my bed, not with those fools who carry silver."

He suddenly slid his large, ice-cold hands under her top, his fingers gripping her bare ribs firmly, pulling her backward against his hard, frozen chest. The contrast was absolutely explosive. Camilla let out a broken, shattered moan, her head falling back against his shoulder as his hands moved up to cup her breasts, squeezing them tightly until her n*****s hardened against his palms.

"Please..." she whispered, genuinely unsure if she was begging him to stop or to break her completely.

"Ask for it properly," Julian growled softly, his sharp teeth grazing the sensitive skin of her earlobe. "Tell me exactly what you want from your monster, huntress."