Chapter 13: Wild Ride

Jasper

Jasper had nothing staring down the small, mighty woman. Nieema was an undeniable force. Her words were honest; Jasper tasted not a single lie. The confession simultaneously scared and comforted her. This person, these strangers, both Buck and Nieema stood in her corner. Without question or hesitation.
“I don’t know what to say,” Jasper whispered, touching and pinching her chains.
“You don’t have to say anything.”
Jasper may have been taller, but Nieema was the protector here.
“Okay.”
The vampiress gave a curt nod and said, “You’re safe with me, deary.”
Nieema patted the hand at her throat. “No need to be anxious, now. I ain’t gon’ bite.”
The air shifted, from tense to flirtatious, and Jasper was thankful.
“I do.”
“Tuhuh!” Nieema pursed her lips and spun on her boot heels, heading their journey once more. “With fangs like yours, you had better.”
Jasper dared not blush, though her cheeks heated all the same. Lucky for her, Nieema didn’t catch it. Sure, she was a succubus and had years, decades, a century of courting under her belt, but this… a vampire? She’d never crossed a line with one, and their intensity was a great reason not to.
Jasper burned hot on her own; she didn’t need another passionate soul in her bed. And what were vampires if not the embodiment of passion?
“Where are you off to?”
“I already told you.”
Following Nieema around the corner, she caught up with her in three skips. At five-two-ish, the woman’s tiny legs didn’t take her too far.
“Okay, buuuuut why are we walking away from your truck?”
“We ain’t taking my truck.”
“Theennn—“
“You see that?” Nieema motioned toward a cluster of grazing horses. “That’s our ride.”
Jasper squealed and clapped. “Horses?! We’re gonna ride? Oh my under gods! It’s been years since I saddled up.”
Nieema scoffed and said, “You being a rider don’t surprise me none.”
“You’re terrible.”
“You been warned.”
They shared a silent, fleeting moment and smiled. Jasper tucked hands into her skirt pockets and set her sights on the pasture. It was better than ogling or touching the woman without permission. Her fingers twitched and palms itched with an odd desire to stroke Nieema’s full cheek.
“Why don’t you have a stable?” Jasper asked.
“No need, these are my wildlings.”
“Your, what?”
Nieema whistled high, and it carried. The resonant peal was more of a serenade, a calling. The herds response was immediate. They galloped and trotted toward them with alarming speed. The ground rumbled with their swift approach. Jasper stepped back, preparing to run if needed. She wasn’t in the mood to be trampled, squashed, or bedridden for the next week.
Granted, demons healed quicker than most, but she’d never fractured her spine or skull.
A sharp, short whistle from Nieema stopped every last horse. Jasper was astounded by their width and height. The snorting and wild group shone in shades of red, brown, and evergreen.
Majestic and beautiful, gold, silver, and red petted their wavy manes.
“What breed?”
“Murkwood. They are large enough to carry an orc and their wares.”
“Magnificent,” Jasper muttered, assessing a fine speckled horse with blue irises and horns. They snorted and nudged her. “Hello, beautiful.”
“That’s Pots, she likes you.”
“And I like her. Haaay Pots.”
The animal gave another snuffle, and Jasper laughed, patting Pot’s snout. “You are a lovely girl.”
“She is, but we ain’t riding her. She’ll throw your ass off and laugh about it. Chester!”
The bulky red horse pranced, circling them.
“You not cute! Why you showing out in front of company? Get over here, you diva.”
Chester was happy to greet Nieema, and she him. They were adorable, and Chester was intelligent. His searching eyes and telling dance spoke of his effervesant personality.
“Now, you wanna get on up?” Nieema asked.
Jasper quirked a brow and gestured. “How? Chester is taller than me! I don’t see stirrups, a saddle, or reins.“
“They’re too smart for all that shit, trust me. They know where to go, when to stop, and when to move ass.”
Jasper knew horses; undervell didn’t have cars. They had the railway and carriages, pulled by a demon-bred horse. She’d been taught to ride at the age of four. So yeah, she understood these creatures, but never had she seen them perform on their own without direction. Even human-bred mares and stallions needed instruction.
“Does this have something to do with magic?”
Nieema’s slow smile was to die for. The show of fang wasn’t bad either.
“Nowww ya getting it. You want my help?”
“Sure, yeah, okay. Give me a boos—whoa!”
Nieema had clutched Jasper by the waist and hoisted her high. “Mind that skirt, girl.”
On the horse, Jasper giggled and patted their flank. She peered down, into Nieema’s prodding gaze. “You and Mr Sunside think y’all are slick. You’re not. But you are the first woman to pick me up. I’m feeling a way about that.”
“Good, I hope you do.”
Nieema jumped and mounted with ease, only a gravity-defying goddess possessed. She settled in front of Jasper and tapped her calf.
“You gon’ wanna hold on to me, Chester don’t know how to do nothing slow.”
“If this is your way of getting me to touch you—“
A terse whistle put Chester in motion. Jasper yelped as she was almost thrown from the steed.
“Hollly shit!” She wrapped arms around Nieem’s plush waist and tucked her face into the woman’s hair.
“I told you.”
Jasper laughed as Chester galloped towards the mountainside. As if Nieema cracked a whip, his speed ratcheted until scenery blurred and Jasper’s ribs rattled. Wind rushed between her horns and set her free. Jasper had never been one for flying; she hated it, naturally. Most demons preferred both or all four hooves on the ground.
“Is he going to stop?!” Jasper shouted, heart beating somewhere in her ass. She had never been in a wreck, even when learning how to drive a motorized vehicle. The thought of a head-on collision terrified her, and what about the horse?
“There’s a gate! He should stop! Chester! He has a death wish!”
The speed demon stopped on a dime, mere feet from towering iron gates. Nieema erupted in shrieking laughter and dismounted in a single fluid motion.
“It’s not funny,” Jasper snapped.
“Yeah, it was, you were scared as a spring chicken with a fox on its tail. Come.” At the ready, Nieema outstretched her arms and smiled. “Don’t worry, I’ll catch ya.”
Right into her trap.
Jasper groaned and shook her head, but slid down into Nieema’s embrace. She was small but strong. It was no surprise with her being a vampire and all, but it still caught Jasper off guard. Not too many lifted a woman of her size. Standing at six-feet-tall, before heels, with a good three hundred pounds on her, most weren’t physically equipped to handle Jasper. Let alone someone a full foot shorter than her.
On her own two feet, Jasper cleared her throat and removed her hands from Nieema’s shoulders. “Thank you.”
“You are most welcome.” Nieema snapped her cuffs and righted the knot at her throat. “Now… where is that—“
“Seven!”
A voice echoed from behind a shack with one window and two empty chairs.
“You summa bitch! That ain’t them trick dice, is they?”
“Hell nah. I’d never cheat you, Leroy.”
“You a ghat damn lie!”
“Just roll, and hurry up.”
Jasper snickered at their back and forth. It was playful, familiar, and entertaining. At least until Nieema cocked a brow and knocked on the box.
“Who in the—we expecting somebody?” A slim man dressed in a dapper waistcoat, trousers, and a pocket chain slid from behind the shack. “Tomorrowwwww. shit! Get up, Roy. Get—“ The fellow snatched the other, his identical twin, to his feet. “Majesty.”
“What in hell are y’all supposed to be doin’?” Nieema asked, scarlet stare bouncing between the two.
There wasn’t much difference in their dark complexion or their features, aside from the hair; it’d be hard to tell them apart if Jasper weren’t a Succubus.
The brother with short, rainbow locs bowed at the waist, smelling like gun smoke and lilac.

“Majesty, we do so apologize. Yes, we are on guard duty. But Leroy and I were taking much-needed respite.”
Nieema crossed her arms and sucked her teeth. “Really? And just how long was this break?”
Leroy cleared his throat and fixed the bat pin on his cravat. “Thirty—thirty minutes, madam.”
Compared to his brother, Leroy was airy, like fresh linen and the first day of spring. He was lighter and not the one with a pistol on his hip.
“I see.” Nieema hummed. “Do I need to give some constructive feedback? Mose?”
“No, madam.” Mose flicked his swirling maroon gaze over and assessed. Jasper stared, knowing what lay behind his quick read. “Shall we ring?“
“No.”
Mose elbowed Leroy. The vampire hurried into their tiny hut. With the press of a button, gates creaked and parted, just enough for their entry. An impenetrable void stood before them. It was a flat, matte darkness she’d never seen a day in her life. And for someone born in Undervell, that was rare. She’d been exposed to every shade and shape of darkness imaginable.
This was a magical abyss, she was certain.
Jasper had never breached a mountainside nor a cave and was a little nervous about it. She inched closer to Nieema and followed her brisk step.
“Your brother lives in a mountain?”
“Mostly.”
As they crossed into bleak nothingness, Jasper screwed her eyes shut. She didn’t know what to expect and wasn’t fond of underground tunnels and such. She’d hated the idea of getting stuck, rendered immobile by rock and dirt. It freaked her the hell out.
“Jasper?”
“Yes?”
“You alright down here?”
“You sure?”
“Absolutely.”
Reluctant as ever, Jasper cracked one lid then the other. “This isn’t at all like a cave.”
“Not anymore it ain’t,” Nieema said, her voice echoing in a grand vestibule.
It was art. Every inch carved and sculpted to perfection. Murals, foliage, and sweeping statues surrounded them. The finer things didn’t sway Jasper much anymore, growing up with an obsidian spoon in her mouth. But she was obsessed with palace living. It wasn’t the privilege or free shit, but the artwork. From the daintiest jewel to the tallest column, everything was grandiose. Not a detail left untouched.
She knew royalty, and this was it. Within the heart of Keyhold Mountain was a castle.
A palace fit for a queen.
Cool, botanical-scented air circulated in the enormous atrium. It made for an inviting atmosphere.
“This is magnificent,” Jasper said, eying Nieema. “I can only imagine what awaits beyond them giant doors. Why don’t you live here?”
“Too drafty and stuffy if you ask me.”
“What? You’ve gotta be shitting me.”
“Wish I was.”
Nieema set her sights above them and the glowing chandelier, where a camera blinked in the corner. It was enough to open sturdy, stone doors. They were thick and no doubt heavy, but separated as if made of rice paper.
“Yup, a palace,” Jasper said, as the bustling main floor told her everything she needed to know.
“Another man’s trash and all that…”
“Nieema?“
“It’s pretty, but it ain’t a home.”
Jasper had a rebuttal at the ready, but thought better of it. Nieema didn’t look pleased to be here, and in a sense, they had such things in common. Back in Undervell, Jasper hated their mansion. It was akin to a prison rather than a home. She spent two-three cycles there at max. They didn’t have enough family to fill even half of the estate, but it was… stuffy.
This subterranean fortress was carved from the very stone of Keyhold. An iridescence sheen of purple and green winked around every corner. It was an elegant feat, one Jasper wanted to learn more about. There was history and culture here. In ignorance, she thought vampires unrefined, coarse creatures.
Her father’s library needed curating.
“How long did it take to build this?” Jasper asked as the wave of busy bodies parted for them.
People nodded or bowed. Nieema smiled at some and ignored others. Their journey was quick and silent for a while. Jasper was fine with admiring paintings and unfamiliar dark bouquets. The underground castle was unique and Gothic, but lacked dreariness. It was welcoming and warm, with soft crystal lighting. She adored the large, animated stained glass windows and giggled at the show of magic.
“Generations.”
“Amazing.”
After a decent trek, high gloss stone gave way to a crushed velvet runner. Entering a quieter wing of the castle, Jasper was curious about who and what was behind a bronze set of doors.
Nieema didn’t knock or wait for an invitation. She barged right in and paused in an office doubling as a library. Jasper followed close behind and sucked in a breath tainted with lust. She swayed as the potent dose nearly dropped her ass. Clutching Nieema’s shoulder for support, she scoffed at the view of someone crawling from under the desk.