Elias could smell it since he had become a monster.
All his strength had heightened, not just the raw, electric power thrumming under his skin, but his 'senses'.
He could perceive warm fresh blood.
A human.
The scent hit him like a sledgehammer. It coiled in his nostrils, slid down the back of his throat, and pooled hot and heavy behind his teeth.
His mouth watered. His tongue pressed to the roof of his mouth, tasting the phantom flavour of her pulse.
He wanted to 'rush' towards wherever it was coming from. To tear through the crumbling doorway, sink claws into soft flesh, rip out the warmth and 'drink'.
His fingers twitched... claws flexing, knuckles popping.
'Fuck.'
The monster inside him growled low and deep, a subsonic rumble that vibrated in his chest cavity. It demanded.
'Feed.'
'Claim.'
'Take.'
Elias closed his eyes as he took a shaky breath that tasted of dust and old wax. He fought the primal hunger clawing at the rotten meat of his brain.
"Get a grip," he muttered, jaw clenched so tight the scar on his throat pulled. "I'm not one of them. Not yet."
The footsteps grew louder and closer.
Elias turned toward the splintered doorway as the monster snarled again, louder.
He bared his teeth in a grim, feral smile.
If he was going to survive this nightmare...
He'd have to 'master' it first.
Or die trying.
The door creaked open on rusted hinges, a slow, mournful groan that echoed through the nave.
And the air 'snapped' tight.
She approached.
Her simple white robe... once a nun's habit, now shredded at the hem. Clung to her curves like wet parchment. Dirt streaked the fabric; blood crusted the sleeve. Her hands gripped a rusted crowbar like a crucifix, knuckles white, ready to strike down a demon.
"You..." She stopped ten feet away, biting her lower lip until it blanched. Eyes wide... hazel shot through with gold... locked on him. "You are not... normal."
"No shit," Elias smirked. His voice dripped casual mockery, but inside, his instincts screamed. The sweet scent of her blood, her heat, her life... it called to him harder than any hunger he'd ever known.
She stood frozen, shocked to see a zombie who could speak. Who looked... no different from a man.
Elias shifted where he was seated, trying to adjust the uncomfortable tightness straining against the denim. The seam dug into his thigh like a threat.
"I should kill you," she whispered, grip tightening until the crowbar's rust flaked onto her fingers. "I must..."
"Yeah, maybe you should," Elias said lazily, leaning back on his elbows. The stone was cold against his spine; the pose stretched his torso, every muscle carved in sharp relief. "But you won't."
Ivy swallowed hard.
Her gaze slid... unwillingly... down his chest. Over the deep grooves of muscle, the shadowed valleys between abs linger way too long on the V-cut disappearing beneath his waistband.
She forced her eyes up. Cheeks burning.
''Goddamn, she's checking me out,'' Elias thought, amused.
Even in the apocalypse.
Even in the body of a monster.
He was still desired.
He stood slowly... unfolding to his full height. 6'5" of predator shadow loomed over her. The air between them crackled.
Her hands tightened on the crowbar, but she didn't swing.
Not yet.
"I saved your life," he said simply, voice low. "Maybe that means something."
"Maybe it doesn't," she snapped, but her voice cracked... thin, brittle. "I could've handled those 'creepy things' on my own."
Their eyes locked.
The tension snapped tight... an invisible thread pulling taut between them. For a moment, the ruined church, the dead city, the rot of the world... all of it 'vanished'.
The air changed.
Like in the movies... when the male lead and female lead meet for the first time, petals drifting in slow motion, violins swelling, the world holding its breath.
It was crazily familiar.
Except there were no flowers.
No violins.
Just dust and blood and the distant howl of the undead.
All that existed was 'heat'.
System Notification:
[Temptation Aura Activated]
[Target: Ivy Ferre | Lust Level: 8% | Loyalty Level: 3%]
[Warning: Corruption +0.5%]
A small smirk tugged at the corner of Elias's mouth.
''Lust level? 8%? I guess that's something. After all, the system wants 'that' from me.''
He turned his gaze to her, arrogant smirk firmly in place.
"You're staring," he said, low and teasing, voice curling like smoke.
"I hate you already," she whispered, cheeks burning scarlet.
But she didn't step back. Neither did she lift the crowbar or run.
Elias tilted his head, red eyes glinting.
"You should hate me 'harder', sweetheart. I can take it."
Something inside her snapped.
With a choked sound... half snarl, half sob.. Ivy lunged. But it wasn't to strike. She stretched her hand to shove.
Her small hands slammed into his chest.. palms flat against burning muscle.
Elias didn't budge. Not an inch.
Her fingers splayed over his pecs, trembling.
She froze.
'Hard.'
'Hot.'
'Alive.'
She'd never touched a man's bare chest before.
Not like this.
Not a zombie.
Her lower lip caught between her teeth.
A helpless little moan slipped out... soft, broken, 'needy'.
"F-Fuck," she gasped, voice cracking.
The tension 'exploded'.
Ivy's body pressed against his... soft curves colliding with unyielding stone. Elias grunted, hands snapping to her hips on instinct.
Fingers dug into the thin robe, feeling the lush shape of her ass beneath.
'Soft.'
'So fucking soft.'
His cock throbbed... 'hard'...against the denim, a thick, insistent ache. His mind buzzed with two instincts:
''Claim her.''
''Protect her.''
He forced himself to pull back... just an inch... struggling to breathe through the raw hunger surging in his veins.
"Fuck... I can't," he muttered, more to himself than her.
He couldn't just 'slam' into a woman he'd met five minutes ago.
He blamed the system.
He blamed the body.
He blamed the 'monster'.
Ivy's breath hitched.
She looked up at him... face flushed, pupils blown wide, lips parted.
"You're not... going to 'eat' me?" she whispered.
Elias chuckled... rough, low, filthy.
"Eat you? Well... I was going to eat you. But not the way you think, Sister."
She shivered... full-body... legs wobbling like a newborn foal.
System Notification:
[Target: Ivy Ferre | Lust Level: 16% | Loyalty Level: 8%]
[Warning: Corruption +1% | Current: 2.5%]
[System Recommendation: Engaging with humans reduces Berserk Risk.]
Elias let go... gently... stepping back.
He ran a hand through his wild hair, jaw clenched, heart hammering.
"You're lucky I'm still half-human in here," he muttered, turning away.
"Otherwise, I'd fuck you against that altar without asking."
The dirty thought nearly dragged a groan from his throat.
But he bit it down.
"Rest," he said roughly, voice like gravel. "You'll need it. We're moving at dawn."
"What makes you think I'd 'follow' you?" She raised a brow, defiant even as her knees shook.
"From the moment I saved your ass, you became 'mine'." He grinned, all teeth and sin. "Don't worry. I won't eat you."
"And if I don't 'trust' you?" Ivy asked, voice trembling.
He flashed a crooked smile over his shoulder... red eyes glowing in the dark.
"You'll have to trust that I don't bite... 'unless you beg me to.' Get some rest and stop talking!"
He walked away... boots crunching over broken glass... leaving her standing in the nave, legs wobbling.
A soft thud behind him.
He didn't look back.
He knew she was on the floor... relieved, terrified, alive.
As he found a shadowed alcove to rest his pale, monstrous body, the moans of the undead howled through the broken windows.
He stared at his palm which was still warm from her skin. He remembered what he'd almost done.
He was supposed to save humans.
Protect them.
Not devour them.
Not claim them.
''Shit,'' he thought, flexing his fingers. '' This hunger is going to get harder to resist as time goes on.''