Chapter 285: Hunger and Half Gods
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When Sekhmet stepped back into the Void Land, the first thing he felt was not the red sphere.
It was hunger.
Not the ordinary awareness of an empty stomach. Not the mortal sort of need that could be delayed with discipline and ignored through duty. This was the sharper thing that lived beneath his skin now.
Blood hunger.
Deepened by creation. Stirred by transformation. Aggravated by the amount he had given, the amount he had taken, and the sheer strain of holding his body and mind in order while too many impossible things happened around him in too little time.
The hunger hit him cleanly the moment the Void Land air closed around him again.
His mouth tasted faintly of old iron. His pulse thickened. His attention sharpened at the edges in a way he had learned to distrust.
He stopped where he was for half a heartbeat and let himself identify it properly before it could grow teeth and start pretending it was only fatigue.
Bad timing.
Of course he was hungry. Because he gave a glass full of blood to Lily. He barely drank from her. The hunger came because of that.
The blood-red sphere containing Lily still floated ahead in the open dark, pulsing softly like a hidden heart. Auri sat nearby now, not too close, but close enough to fulfill her promise. Bat Bat, after a long and dramatic argument with the spirit leaf, had apparently settled into play near the little patches of green, muttering to herself and occasionally glancing over as if hoping the sphere would hatch just because she was watching.
Vera and Vela remained farther off, keeping watch over Sofia and Natasha and the holding ground beyond. Their silhouettes were visible in the half-dark, steady and alert.
Everything was in place.
Everything was quiet.
And inside that quiet, hunger moved through him again, harder.
The system answered before he had to ask.
[Ding! SYSTEM Notification: The host blood reserves and active hunger threshold are declining.
Recommendation: drink as soon as possible.]
Sekhmet’s jaw tightened.
"I know."
He looked instinctively toward the holding grounds where the fifty captured Iron House men remained under control. That would be easy. Practical. A direct answer. He had already taken from them before, through others or by design. They were there. They were low value except as resources. No emotional cost. No strategic loss.
"I should drink from the fifty men," he thought. "Take what I need from them and be done with it."
The system responded at once.
[Ding! SYSTEM Notification: Suboptimal choice.]
Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed slightly.
"Why?"
[Ding! SYSTEM Notification: Found a better option.
Recommendation revised: drink from Sofia and Natasha.
Higher quality blood.
Higher rank bloodline.
Improved recovery.
Improved growth potential.
Improved blood proficiency yield.]
That answer made him pause. His gaze shifted toward the prisoners.
Sofia and Natasha.
Two sealed half-god true vampires. Dangerous, even weakened. Useful, even hateful. The idea was not pleasant.
That was not the issue. The issue was cost.
If he used them too freely, he risked damaging them as resources. Not merely captives. Assets. Food for his bloodline dependents if necessary. Food for the twins. For the ghouls. For the summoned bats when he needed stronger bloodlines to shape them. Even Bat Bat, should he ever decide to risk that disaster. And yes, he had the fifty captured men too, but half-god vampire blood was not easily replaced by a line of mortal criminals.
His thoughts moved quickly.
"If I take too much, they become weaker. If I keep taking, they may die. If they die, I lose two rare sources and two possible wells of future information."
The system, annoyingly, remained calm inside his mind.
[Ding! SYSTEM Notification: Controlled feeding is advised.
Do not drain. Yield remains worthwhile.]
Sekhmet considered that.
Controlled feeding. It is possible.
And the system was right about one thing he disliked admitting.
Their blood was better.
Much better.
He could feel it even from here in the vague, predatory way his blood awareness had been developing. The fifty men over there were blood. Sofia and Natasha were power.
He made up his mind.
He looked toward Vera and Vela and sent a call through the bond.
The twins came almost at once.
They crossed the dark ground with that synchronized grace that still carried echoes of their turning. Vera arrived first by half a step. Vela came beside her, quiet and sharp-eyed. Both looked from his face to the sphere and back again, immediately reading that Lily remained unchanged.
"Master," Vera said.
Sekhmet kept his voice low. "I need to feed."
Neither woman reacted badly to that. Good. They knew him too well by now. Knew the look of hunger in him when it was held by control rather than exploding through it.
Vela glanced briefly toward the holding ground. "The men?"
"That was my first thought."
Vera’s brow shifted slightly. "But."
"But my blood instinct recommended Sofia and Natasha instead."
That changed both their expressions.
Not alarm.
Calculation.
Vera spoke first. "Their blood is stronger."
"Yes."
Vela’s eyes moved toward the prisoners. "And more dangerous."
"Yes."
Sekhmet looked at them both. "While I feed on them, the two of you take from the men. Controlled. Enough to satisfy. Not enough to collapse the line. Then return."
The twins absorbed that immediately.
Vera nodded once. "We can do that."
Vela tilted her head slightly. "And if the sealed pair resists while you are feeding."
Sekhmet’s mouth moved faintly. "Then they remember the ring exists."
That answer pleased something dark in both twins.
He continued, "Do not leave the prisoners entirely unwatched. Stay near enough that you can cross back quickly."
"We will keep them inside our range," Vera said.
"And if they try to use words while we are gone," Vela added, "you can bite them harder."
That almost made him smile.
Almost.
Instead he said, "Go. Feed. Then return."
The bond in them tightened warmly for one moment at the order. They liked being useful. They liked carrying out his will, especially when it involved violence structured into obedience.
Both women bowed their heads.
"Yes, Master."