We followed, setting into our respective positions. Eyes in every shade of red stared back at me, waiting expectantly for me to begin. I glanced at Jaku, who obediently dropped to his knees beside me. The stone set into the hilt of his dagger caught the light.

Stepping forward, I raised my own knife in one hand while I braced the other in preparation to slice into the tender skin of my palm.

“We feed the earth our blood as an offering to the Fates.”

After nearly three weeks of doing this, I didn’t even wince when the sharp blade met Vagach’s skin. Blood bloomed along the cut immediately, and I turned my hand to the ground, letting droplets splatter.

“Weaver, who spins the threads of our fates, lay down the path for us to tread, unyielding and unbroken. We walk at your command, our feet bound by the threads you have woven. Guide us to glory as we march beneath the banner of war. For the Kral, for the Halálhívó, we bleed. Bind our fates to theirs, that we may rise victorious.”

“We bleed for the Fates, the Kral, and the Halálhívó,” the males said, mimicking my offering.

“Giver, bless us with abundant wells of magic so we wield in your name during battle. Let the blood we spill slake your thirst, and let us slaughter those who defy your design. Gift us with the power we need to bring majesty to your name. By our blood, we honor you.”

Sinking to my knees, I prepared to prostrate myself. “Reaper, whose curse falls upon those who stray from the path, let us not taste your wrath. We offer this blood as a pledge of our loyalty. Let your eye wander elsewhere and damn those who question your mighty power. Should we sin, may your curse be swift and unrelenting.”

The group laid our souls bare for the three to judge and deem our worthiness. “Let the Halálhívó’s victory be swift and the Kral’s reign eternal. Our lives, our magic, our essence, are theirs to command.”

“We are theirs to command.” The vehemence in the response, like every day we marched toward the capital, grew until their fervent belief was nearly a palpable thing.

Straightening, I surveyed the group. Gazes were hard and eyes glittered with excitement. The depth of their devotion to the Fates and the Demon’s cause was no mere passing fancy. They truly believed that the Fates had chosen Kral Xannirin and the Halálhívó to bring us glory.

But did I?

Osijek buzzed with activity when we rolled through its cobbled streets. With our now over two thousand-strong group, we managed to fill most of guesthouses and inns in the city, the owners’ eyes alighting when they learned that Kral Xannirin would reimburse them for all costs incurred if they simply sent a raven with Százados Jaku’s seal attached to the message.

At least the Kral took care of those dying for him.

Jaku was extremely pleased when Gnim and Grex announced how many they’d conscripted from their respective regions, and the other Vezető and I left the three of them to catch up while we checked on our soldiers.

Strolling through one of the downstairs taverns, I stopped at the tables of those under my command to ensure they wanted for nothing. Ale flowed freely, bellies were filled with better food than we’d had in weeks, and generally, the air was jovial. Dromak, Izgath, and Uzadaan ambushed me as I spilled onto the street with the intention of returning to my accommodation next door.

“So we’re going to the fallen house a few streets over, want to join us?” Dromak offered me a mischievous grin, while Uzadaan rolled his eyes. I remembered then that Dromak had mentioned an Angel showing him an illusion of a fallen female from this city.

“What about what Jaku said? And your mate?” I turned to the ruby-eyed Demon.

Uzadaan shook his head. “No, I don’t couple with them. I only watch. Someone has to keep these two under control.”

Izgath shrugged as if he couldn’t help the sensuality that oozed out of his every pore. “I’m an Incubus. What can I say?”

“You don’t have to say anything. You have the perfect excuse,” Dromak laughed, slapping him on the ass. “Now move it before Jaku finds us.”

“But shouldn’t we set an example?” I protested, steered against my will down a side street.

“Please, I wouldn’t stop any of the males underneath me if they wanted to get off before getting killed. The Kral and Halálhívó might want us to stay celibate to increase our fighting prowess, but we’re nowhere near a battlefield currently. What’s the harm?” Dromak swaggered ahead of me, looking like he was ready to cause trouble wherever we went.

Unfortunately for me, I wasn’t sure if I could get an erection in this form. Maybe I could make one with my powers?

For the hundredth time since setting out from Stryi, I cursed myself for smothering this rare gift instead of nurturing it to bloom.

“Besides, Vagach, you’ve been trimming up since we’ve been working you out and you deserve to show that off,” Dromak added, a twinkle in his cherry eyes.

Oh, no.

“But my wife–” I protested.

“Isn’t here,” he finished for me. “You want to ensure your line continues, right?”

I looked between Izgath and Uzadaan, hoping one of them would save me. Uzadaan merely raised his hands as if to say ‘it’s your problem, not mine,’ while Izgath lifted a singular brow as if he were waiting for me to figure out how to save myself. He knew who I truly was, how could he think I was okay with entering a place for fallen females who were undeserving of a husband?

If I had killed any male but a Kormánzó I might have ended up in one myself. These females, based on the threatening stories Priestess Anara told us, were to birth as many Demon babies as they could, regardless of parentage. They were merely kept in these houses for the pleasure of the males, and their children were taken and given to intact families to raise as their own.

We didn’t have establishments like these as far south as Stryi, given our small population, but I remembered one female a few years older than me crying at the priestess’s feet after she coupled with another male outside of her marriage. Her father had sold her to Stryi’s herb merchant the moment she came of age, though he was nearly a millennia older and drank even more than Vagach did. Her husband was so furious that rather than confine her to their home, he wanted her to become one of the fallen instead. After he broke their vows in front of the Fates, Priestess Anara branded her wrists with an F and sent her along with the first traveling merchant returning north.

“Yes, but with my wife,” I tried to protest again, but it was even weaker than my last attempt.

We turned a corner, spilling onto another thoroughfare. This one was dirtier, seedier, and reeked of stale bodies and ale. Above us, windows stood open, and I glanced up, finding a pair of breasts bouncing out of them. The sound of slapping skin spilled out, along with her moans. I nearly tripped over my own feet trying to tear my attention away.

Dromak smirked, catching on to my horror, then elbowed Izgath. “You’d think a Kormánzó would have visited streets like this before.”

Fuck, Vagach probably had, and I’m giving myself away.

“Of course I’ve been,” I snorted, trying to weave derision into my voice as I locked my spine and puffed up my chest.

Dromak threw his arm over my shoulder. “Good, then we’ll have so much fun.”

I threw one last pleading look at Izgath before Dromak steered me toward a doorway where a topless female waited. “Four of you?” she purred, batting long lashes over carmine eyes. A veil didn’t hide the color or the sharpness of her cheekbones.

“Aye,” Izgath replied, depositing several coins into her upturned palm.

She offered him a slow, sultry smile. “Right this way.” With a swish of her hips, she spun, the thin fabric woven with chains tinkling as she strode deeper into the establishment. My eyes landed on the small of her back, where the skirt was tied with the barest of strips. Her legs and hips flashed with each step she took, and I swallowed down my rising nervousness.