As much as Eli was strong-willed, there was no chance he was resisting an invitation like that. She pulled him deeper into the crowd, and in moments she was pressed against him. Their bodies moved in sync to the music, and he quickly found himself surrounded on the other side by Vespera. She kissed his neck softly as the 3 of them gyrated – all while Drekka watched from nearby, the grin never leaving her face. When Eli moved to object to Vespera’s kisses she whispered softly in his ear.

“I promise not to take this too far. I’ve been talking to Lilly and I really want you, but I also want to be on good terms with your family…our family. So for now, just relax and let me dance with you.”

At some point the electronic music began to die down and a band of female elves took the stage. They were an odd mix – a wood elf drummer, a pair of high elven guitarists, and a desert elven singer. As the band tuned their instruments the singer took the microphone and began to speak.

“Good evening Dragon’s Ball! We are Silvan Harmony, and we’ll be playing human rock music all night. We’ve got a few surprise guests that we know you’re going to love! Before we get started though, we heard a rumor that there’s an actual human in the crowd with us tonight!”

Zee and Vespera turned to look at Eli with glee as he groaned out loud, rolling his head backwards. The singer continued. “Not only that, but we heard he’s an actual musician! We’d be honored if the Royal Blood – Eli Grayson – would join us on stage for a song.”

He turned towards the bar, his eyes searching for the dark elven vixen. Finding her, he saw her smirk and raise a glass of red wine to him before sipping it and wiggling her eyebrows. Based on the look on her face the whole situation was quite amusing to her, and she was enjoying herself.

Drekka began shouting and pointing, causing the bright stage lights to focus on him. Resisting the urge to roll his eyes in front of the crowd he waved sheepishly while a path to the stage cleared through the crowd for him. Drekka took him by the arm and hauled him towards it.

“Chieftain! I’ve never heard you play human music for us! I want to hear!” She said, grinning from ear to ear.

When he reached the stage he climbed up, shielding his eyes for a moment so he could scan the crowd. He found Aratessa by the bar, who was quickly joined by Zee and Vespera. Drekka stood watch by the side of the stage, and he couldn’t help but notice that more people were filing down the stairs and into the tightly packed crowd.

I am going to kill Aratessa for this. Eli thought to himself, plastering on a smile and shaking hands with each of the elves.

“I’m a bit out of practice, I haven’t done a show in awhile.” Eli admitted.

“That’s fine! Tell us what you want to sing, and we’ll figure it out?”

“Give me your set list! I’ll see what I know.”

She handed him a sheet of paper and Eli scanned it quickly, furrowing his brow as he grabbed a proffered guitar. He had a cursory knowledge of most of the songs, but wasn’t completely confident he could play them for the first time in front of this crowd – especially while singing. The theme of the songs was pretty apparent to him though.

“These are all sex songs!” He said to the desert elven singer.

She arched one eyebrow then glanced around at the sex rooms. “Yeah. Isn’t that kind of the theme of this party?”

A bad idea began to form in Eli’s mind. It was a terrible, very bad idea that caused him to grin. Shaking his head, he caught the drummer’s eye.

“Gimme a bit of a heavy 4-4 beat. Something with the hi-hat on the 2 and 4 and the snare on the 1 and 3. Not too fast.”

Shrugging, the drummer complied. Eli turned to the bassist and the guitarist. “There’s only 2 chords to this song – C minor 7 and F. It’s in the key of C minor, so feel free to play around with that.”

“What do you need me to do?” The singer asked.

“Uh…the lyrics to this one are dirty, but simple. I’ll signal you for the chorus, you can jump in the second time around. Got it?”

“Got it.” She nodded.

Moving closer to the mic Eli began to strum a complex pattern between the two chords until the guitarist and the bassist picked up the rhythm and started to run with it. Finally, he leaned into the mic and started to sing.

“You let me violate you,
You let me desecrate you,
You let me complicate you,
You let me penetrate you”

The crowd started to sway and undulate in front of him, moving to the beat. He couldn’t help but grin savagely as they did, watching the couples, threesomes, and orgies developing in the doors to the open sex rooms. He continued to sing, adding some gravel to his voice.

“Help me, I’ve broke apart my insides,
Help me, I’ve got no soul to sell,
Help me, the only thing that works for me,
Help me get away from myself”

As he was starting the last line a second voice joined him from the side of the stage. It was a female voice, powerful and sensual. To Eli’s surprise the other singer knew the words, and he turned expecting to see the desert elven singer only for his eyes to widen at the sight of a lock of ginger hair and a telltale smirk.

At her cocked eyebrow, he realized that he’d stopped playing just before the chorus. The world seemed to stop for a moment as several things clicked together at once – the fact that Isla was here in Serapenthra, the fact that she was in danger, and the fact that she was joining in singing a deeply sexual song with him – thereby completing one of her dragon mating rituals.

He drank in the sight of her for a moment. Gone was her white toga, replaced by a pair of tight black leather pants and a cutoff grey t-shirt with a band Eli didn’t recognize on the front. She wore black mascara and a leather collar around her neck, as well as a pair of clunky black combat boots that she strutted around in far more comfortably than Eli would have expected.
Deciding that stopping now would be more suspicious than continuing, he launched into the chorus with her.

“I wanna fuck you like an animal,
I wanna feel you from the inside,
I wanna fuck you like an animal,
My whole existence is flawed,
You get me closer to god”

If Eli didn’t know that there were spell disrupters active all around them, he would have sworn their words cast some sort of spell of lust over the audience. Many seemed to lose all inhibitions, grabbing partners and beginning to kiss while running their hands all over each other. In the back of the room, Eli could see that the orgies in the sex alcoves kicked into high gear, with more partners joining in on the fun.

With the grace of a practiced performer Isla surprised Eli by tossing her microphone across the stage to the elven singer before moving close to him and singing into his. They shared in the chorus together, their chemistry obvious to anyone who was watching. The increasing sounds of the crowd faded away around him as he looked into her eyes and sang the deeply sexual song to the dragoness.

As the guitarist kicked in with a guitar solo, the spotlights shifted to her. He couldn’t help but shake his head at her improvisational skills – while it wasn’t the actual solo from the song, she did a good job of coming up with something on the spot. When she was done the crowd roared with approval, demanding more.

Not wanting to push his luck Eli took a bow with Isla before leading her off the stage. Once they were backstage Eli grabbed her by her shoulders and stared into her eyes for a moment.
“What?” She asked over the roar of the music.

A range of emotions washed over Eli – anger at her not returning his calls, relief that she was okay, and concern for her. He wrapped her in a tight embrace for a moment before pulling back. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Exactly what you told me to do!” She replied angrily. “I’m making friends with honey!”

“What?” Eli shook his head with bewilderment.

Suddenly, a quartet of dark elves emerged from the shadows around them, grinning menacingly. Eli immediately assumed a fighting stance, but Isla put her hand on his shoulder. “See? I made friends! They’ve been introducing me. This is Morvanya, Lirael, Vindra, and Xyraethra.”

Something still felt off to him, and he didn’t relax. “Isla, which house are they from?”

“Snake. Why?”

“Fuck.” Eli replied as he pulled her behind him, putting himself between her and the slowly advancing dark elves. “Can you fight in that form without your magic?”

“No, why would I?” Isla replied, tension filling her voice.

“Fuck. Alright, stay behind me.” He tapped his earpiece once. “I’ve got friends coming, so we just need to last for a few-”

Whatever he was about to say was cut off as almost 2 dozen more dark elves emerged from the darkness behind the original 4. Unlike the first ones, they moved with purpose – quickly locking them into strangleholds and pinning them to the ground. Eli kept his hands up in front of him as he watched the scene unfold, unwilling to trust the new strangers.

“Eli what’s happening?!” Naz demanded over the radio. “We’re trying to push through the crowd now.”

A dark elven woman strode between the groups of wrestling elves, grinning as she did. Her black dress appeared to be made entirely of feathers, and it had sections strategically cut out to reveal her lithe form. Given the aura of power and relaxation around her, she was obviously in charge of whatever group had just entered. She casually tossed her stark white hair behind her back and smiled, her ruby red lips reflecting in the light.

“Someone just came in. Dark elven woman, black dress made of feathers.”

“Black feathers?” Aratessa asked. “You’re sure?”

“Yeah.” Eli replied.

“Shit. Eli, you’re in danger.”

Eli’s eyes went wide as she approached and held out her hand for him to shake. “Eli Grayson, and The Scarlett Claw. We have much to discuss.”

Eli did his best not to show his surprise at the fact that this woman just confirmed Isla’s true name. Isla was less successful, sputtering a response. “I…what…who are you?”

“I am known by many names. You may call me ‘Your Majesty’, or ‘Your Highness’.”

“You’re going to have to do a bit better than that.” Eli shook his head and crossed his arms.

“Ah, the arrogance of a Royal Blood.” She replied with a smile. “I like you. Very well – I am the Raven Queen of Shadowhome, Zephyra.”

“Shit!” Aratessa swore over the radio, clearly having heard the conversation. “It’s not just her agent? She’s here?!”

Eli glanced around then tentatively shook her hand. Releasing it, he nodded to the dark elves under her command that had successfully subdued the members of the House of the Snake. “Why are you helping us?”

“I am helping myself.” She replied with a grin. “Helping you is merely a byproduct. I have a room at the back – we have much to discuss.”

“And if I say no?” Eli questioned.

“Then I leave, and I take with me the opportunity to remove your enemy from the playing field. The choice is yours, but make it quickly. That little show of hers no doubt drew some prying eyes who are considering their next move now.”

Eli paused for a moment, narrowing his eyes while he considered his options. Finally, he nodded. “Fine. But my harem comes with me. And if you harm a hair on any of their heads, the deal’s off.”

“Oh I would expect nothing less.” She replied.

“Let’s go then.” Eli said with a nod.

They moved deeper backstage, emerging through a back exit into the club where they met the rest of Eli’s harem as well as Aratessa, Vespera, and Drekka. They were quickly surrounded by a buffer of Zephyra’s dark elves and Eli’s orcs who started to escort them through the crowd towards one of the larger alcoves. As they walked Eli handed Isla a spare earpiece from Drekka, and the second she put it in he was questioning her. “Isla, what the fuck were you thinking coming here with the House of the Snake?”

She seemed physically hurt by his words, but he was angry enough to hold his nerve. “I… what are you talking about Eli? What’s going on?”

“Didn’t you see my texts? Didn’t you receive my calls?”

She pulled out her phone, bewildered. She examined it for a moment then handed it to him. “What texts?”

He looked through it quickly to see that she hadn’t received any of his many phone calls or messages. When he turned it over in his hand he saw that there was a small scratch at the back around the casing for the battery and the SIM card. When he popped it open he saw that there was a strange device on top of the SIM card.

“Shit. Isla, this has been tampered with.” Eli said, shaking his head.

Isla’s eyes went wide when he showed it to her. “I gave it to them whenever I transformed.”

A dark elven guard opened the door to the alcove in front of them and began waving them in. Turning back to Isla, Eli locked eyes with her. “You were tricked. They’re seriously bad guys, and the fact that you’re here puts you in a lot of danger. I’ll explain after we deal with this, but… just stay close okay?”

She nodded and the two of them entered the alcove, followed by the rest of Eli’s harem. As they did, Eli was shocked to see Ziran and Sira bound and gagged on the floor when they entered. Without hesitation he rushed to their sides, undoing their restraints and freeing them. Each of them had precise bruises on their heads and necks from being struck from behind. When he saw that their tongues were lolling out and they were swaying slightly from side-to-side, Eli turned back to face Zephyra furiously. “What did you do to them?”

Her guards leapt forward to stop him, blocking his path. In response, both Naz and Zee flanked Eli, cracking their necks and getting set for the seemingly inevitable fight. It fizzled when Zephyra waved her hand at the guards, causing them to back off. “We’ve been watching you since you arrived. My guards caught them and they refused to cooperate. I’ve given each of them naga venom – enough to relax them, but not so much as to harm them. They will be fine come morning.”

Eli narrowed his eyes at her. “I said not to hurt anyone in my harem.”

“Yes, but they’re not in your harem, are they? You failed to specify the terms of the deal.” She countered.

“You’re playing a dangerous game Zephyra. I’m not kind to those who hurt people I care about.”

“You are also playing a dangerous game Eli Grayson. The only difference between us is that you are playing it blindfolded. You’re fumbling through, not understanding what game you are truly playing.”

“Fine.” Eli said, standing and handing care of his retainers off to Lilly. “Tell me what game I’m playing.”