"Connie, come on."

I sit up groggily and stretch, letting my eyes open just as my arms fall. And then I freak out because even though I know my arms are moving past my eyes, I don't see them. I wave my hands in front of my face but no cigar. "Oh my god, where am I?!"

Steven snorts and boops my nose. "You're made of stars, moonlight, and mana. You're not going to be visible during the nighttime. At night, you'll look like a cluster of stars until you manifest to feed."

Somehow I know where he is, and even though I can't see him, there's an indescribable difference in him. "You're even taller."

"You look like you could take over Earths modeling industry, and you've changed nothing significant about yourself." Hands run over my chest and I hum. "Alright, let's find our first targets. A fitting date for a future husband and wife, yeah?"

The sly tone makes me grin ruefully but hugely. "Now that I called you hubby that's all you're going to be thinking about, huh?"

"I plea the fifth. Let's go."

I try to flap my wings in beat with his, listening for when a slightly larger amount of air sounds on either side so I know when to turn. More than that I can feel him. He's raw energy and I am too, even if I feel patchy and discombobulated.

The world below us is distorted and now everything is growing dark. It feels like we've only been flying for a couple of minutes but as we near our destination, it's thick and inky black all around us. If night doesn't feel like freedom, then I don't know what does.

"You okay to search for us while I grab someone to eat first? I need a bit more to sustain."

I wanna laugh at the 'someone' part but I nod. "Of course. I'm a big girl." I fall back into a spiral, pushed harder by the force of his wings beating through the air as he takes off.

And then a pulsing that rocks me to my very core has me stopping mid flight and crooning. "Something near here feels delicious."

I follow my mind, the buzzing, the lust, until I'm circling above a yellow house. It's technically daytime, but still early enough for most humans to be asleep even if it's a work day. I'm actually pretty sure it's Saturday. 

'How do I get inside? I need that energy.' I decide to take a risk and land on top of the roof carefully, but end up slipping right through. I yelp and slam my hands over my mouth to muffle it. Can humans hear me like this? I'll have to ask Steven when he shows up.

I land on the foot of a mattress (because somehow I can fall through a roof and not that) to notice a man snoring soundly in his bed.

I can feel myself buzzing as my mind shuts off and my instincts take over. I crawl up his body smelling, tasting the fresh vibrant energy pouring out of his young body. He's not too young, maybe 30 or so, but he's putting off mana that makes me sit over his pelvic bone and hum.

He shifts a few times, or at least attempts to, but he can't do much more than twitch. His eyes are still shut but they flutter when he feels me.

"Don't worry, I won't tell your wife," I tease and grind down harder. "Seems like you've got quite the asset, let's see it then."

He moans softly when my claws graze his skin and I lean down to brush my lips just over his heart. The image of it pumping blood has me nearly shaking. All of that liquid heat sloshing around in this human has me hot and bothered to no end.

Oh, yes! His arousal bursts to life and I take it, I let it seep out of him and into me. It feels so good, I feel so alive and starving. I need more, so much more! I want it all.

Hard and trying to stand at attention through his pajama pants that I shove down, his cock is nearly purple with blood, begging me to take it inside of me. Every time I lift it leaks precum and more of that delicious mana festers from him. He strains and whimpers, half full of unadulterated fear and half of sheer bliss. I laugh at his ridiculous sounding praise, a cold chilly laugh that I know he'll be hearing for the rest of his life. He'll never forget me. No one will make him feel like this.

My self assurance and hunger makes me go a bit faster but he doesn't need any longer. I watch as his chest bounces slightly and he tenses with the intensity of his orgasm. 'I need more, I ᑎᗴᗴᗪ ᗰOᖇᗴ." My hips work faster and he starts convulsing under me. The delight I feel is like no other and I rake my nails down his chest, cackling as blood pours from the deep cuts and then doing it again as he releases another load.

The blood on my hands is glorious, the cum in my body is filling, the fear and lust of this man is my greatest source of joy in this moment. He's so pale, so weak and fearful as his eyes finally open to see me sitting there. He tries to scream but all it does is make me press my nails lightly against his throat. I'm so powerful, so awake and revitalized I could end his miserable life right now. His gurgling is so pathetic and I have so much power. I could do it, I might. I want to. It's tempting, too tempting.

Just as they start to puncture the skin I hear a muffled shout and I'm tackled off of him. I fall through to the floor under and a body lands on top of mine almost immediately. I lash out and hiss, scrambling back to my feet so I can resume my meal. I can't see it until it's too late, but something slams into the side of my head and I black out.

'A daughter of Lilith indeed, wild and powerful.'

"Connie!"

I scream and sit up, slamming my head into Stevens nose so hard he grunts. "Oh, I'm so sorry I'm so so..."

The way he's looking at me is new. He looks...

"Ni, what did you do?" He cups my cheeks and then pulls me into a hug, his chest shuttering with almost sobs even though his eyes are dry.

I don't remember, everything is so fuzzy and distant but I can feel it in my heart of hearts... I did something really bad. "Steven, what–?"

"Shhhh..." He rocks me and liters kisses all over the top of my head. "You're okay, Berry."

I push away from his chest and look up at him. "Steven what happened?" I need to know. I can't stand this, I have to know why I feel so warm and vibrant and sick to my stomach.

"I... I was too late." His eyes widen and he holds me at shoulder length, gazing above my head. "By the time I got there... It was too late."

My stomach drops. "Too late to what, Steven?" I grab his face and force him to look me in the eye. "What did I do?"

"You killed him, Ni. With your bare hands." His lip starts to tremble and he looks down. "It's called Bloodlust."

I can't hear him, at least not really. I grab at my chest and stumble away from him. This isn't happening. That's not what happened. I did what I was supposed to do, I'm supposed to fix all of the problems not create more! I was merely on the spirit realm, I couldn't have killed him. I laugh, grabbing at my head as my legs give out and my butt slams onto the rocks and gravel. "Oh my mom... Oh my stars..." I don't know what to say. I don't know what to do. All I can do is sit here.

Steven looks scared of me. He looks so afraid, those wide brown eyes and ashen face, his arms in the same position they were in when I moved. It makes my chest burn, and I cry out. I feel alive and invigorated but now it feels wrong. I shouldn't be enjoying this, I took a life!

Steven snaps out of it and surges to me to pull my limp body into his arms. "Hey... it happens. You're not alone, okay?" He pulls back to force me to look at him through my frantic crying and for the first time I notice he's crying too. Somehow, I don't recall ever seeing him cry sad tears. "It's... it's equivalent to a dominant gene. It was almost guaranteed if you don't have guidance." He presses his forehead to mine and sniffles. "We aren't the bad guys, we just have to do bad things sometimes so good things will happen."

"But I killed someone..." I grip onto his hands and squeeze. "I did it... I think I did it on purpose."

He breathes in slowly. "Me too. But I didn't have you around to hold me when it happened. Or save them."

Oh my stars.

I pull away to look up at him and see how tortured and twisted up his face looks. Now I know for certain what happened to the Crystal Hybrids. Now I know why there was so much energy for him to give in the first place. "Oh, Steven..." I move his hands from my face so I can cradle his. "Look at me. It's okay. It wasn't your fault."

He crushes me into a bear hug and wails, "I wasn't even sorry until I saw you doing it! I didn't... I didn't know. That's not what they told me would happen." His grip tightens and he whimpers into my hair. "I'm so afraid you'll be afraid of me now."

"I could never be afraid of you." I grit. "You stop that silly shit right now, you hear me? I'm not going anywhere, Steven Lucifer De Mayo." I breathe in his smell and almost want to smile. He smells like he always does, like some kind of ridiculously expensive cologne mixed with a bonfire that makes me salivate above and then below. We must both always smell like fire, I conclude to myself. Maybe that's what differentiates us as kin of the underworld.

"I should've come with you. It was reckless to let you go by yourself. I just thought I–,"

"Well, well, well. Looks like we've come at a bad time! Should we give you two a minute to... wrap it up?" A stubby spider-like gem creature wraps a silken strand around my foot and drags me out of a stunned Stevens arms.

You've gotta be fucking kidding me.