Bound by Corruption by BelovedStranger

Dark Magic

Prompt: ‘Beautiful women and wine are sweet venom.’

Instead of answering her question about how the spell worked, Sesshomaru said, “First we must return to the last location your sister was last seen.”

“The neighboring village from our own,” Kagome whispered, not liking to be reminded of all that she had lost.

“Then that is where we must go.”

“Um…” Kagome hesitated, uncertain.

Sesshomaru leveled her with a questioning gaze but remained silent.

“How are we getting there? Are we walking?”

She recalled how he had flown them through the sky when he had saved her from the villagers earlier that day, but she also recalled another day, another conversation with Sesshomaru. When he had insisted they walk to meet up with Onigumo’s forces instead of using his demonic speed and abilities, she had been petulant about his choice. Sesshomaru had obviously been in a hurry so that they would intercept the bandits, but had made no move to get there as quickly as possible. In answer, he had given her a firm set down, telling her it was not always wise to take the easy road.

If he insisted they make the return journey on foot, she wasn’t about to argue even though she dearly wanted to find Kikyo as fast as possible.

Instantly she saw comprehension in his golden hues, hearing the words she had not voiced.

“No, we will not be.”

She sighed in relief and offered him a small smile of gratitude. “So we’re flying? How do you do that anyway?”

Since she had been too numb to really enjoy the phenomenal experience of soaring through the air, she found that she was excited—if a little apprehensive—to fly again.

A strange gleam entered his eyes. “In a way, yes.”

Confused, she said, “I don’t understand.”

“You will,” he promised.

His cryptic reply only made her more nervous.

He took a step towards her, closing the distance between them.

She took a step back at the predator gleam in his eyes before she could stop herself. 

Then he walked around her.

She blinked in confusion, feeling the borrowed sleeve of her haori rustle as he glided past her—so close. Before she could follow him with her eyes, she felt him at her back. She stiffened. He didn’t touch her, but his warmth spread across her back.

His silken hair fell over her right shoulder, spilling across her breast, and her eyes were drawn to the silver strands.

His breath ghosted across her cheek. She could see him from the corner of her eye. She couldn’t move, struck immobile when his moist, hot breath moved down to her throat, and she heard him inhale, breathing in her scent.

“I smell your unease, aijin,” he murmured darkly, sensuously. “Do not be afraid.”

She shivered, unable to control her body’s response to his nearness.

“I’m not,” she said barely above a whisper.

She felt his lips, like a gently breeze, caress the side of her neck, over her pulse. He spoke while his mouth moved butterfly soft against her flesh, heating her blood.

“Your heart is pounding.”

She felt her eyelids lower at the low, rough timbre of his voice, reawakening the ache deep inside her body she knew to be her own arousal.

“Not from fear,” she couldn’t help but reveal under his sensual spell.

Why were they whispering? In fact, why was she panting, reacting so strongly to him when he had barely touched her?

He curled around her back, the side of his face pressed against the side of her head, one hand gently clasping her left hip, while his other arm wrapped snuggly around her waist, plastering her back against his chest.

“No, not from fear,” he agreed, chuckling darkly.

Then she felt energy, a strong surge of Sesshomaru’s youki surround them. His demonic aura didn’t harm her. Her reiki remained dormant, not threatened by the beast who held her so closely.

Sesshomaru surrounded them in a ball of pure, controlled, demonic energy before lifting off the floor and racing through the sky.

From the ground, if a human chanced to gaze up, all he would see of the two companions would be a light blur. Youkai, however, with some power at their disposal, would be able to see a sphere as it travelled through the air at impossible speeds, but none could see who travelled inside the ball of demonic energy.

However, the occupants inside the sphere could see clearly. At least Sesshomaru could. Though the wind didn’t buffer them, Kagome grew dizzy quickly when the world around them sped by, blurring before her eyes. She turned, eyes closed, and pressed the side her of her head against Sesshomaru’s chest.

Understanding her problem, Sesshomaru gently turned her in his embrace, allowing the girl to hide her face in his chest.

Ever since she had been returned to him, Sesshomaru couldn’t stop himself from touching her, feeling a strong desire to have her near. He couldn’t explain it, didn’t understand why, but he silently dared anyone to take her from him again.

Next time, he would stop whoever tried before she could possibly leave his sight.

She was like a drug, an addiction he couldn’t get enough of. If he allowed himself to think too heavily on the reason behind his obsession, he would never come to a conclusion that would make sense to him, so instead he focused on enjoying having her near.

He didn’t yet realize, like all addictions, no matter how sweet and satisfying it was, it could also be poisonous, deadly.

Their journey was relatively short. What should have taken them nearly an entire day, took less than an hour.

When Sesshomaru set them safely on their feet, Kagome leaned back, blinked a few times, before tilting her head back to look up at him in awe at his abilities.

“That was…” Kagome began, halting, not sure what to call that strange ride. Thrilling? Intriguing? Frightening?

Sesshomaru gifted her with a small, cocky grin, the point of one fang flashing.

Realizing she was still plastered against his chest, she tried not to blush and pushed against him, testing to see if he would release her. He did, readily. Why did that disappoint her?

She took a couple steps back and looked around her. What she saw brought sadness to her heart.

“Is this the village?” she asked him, though she already knew.

“Yes.”

All around them were the charred remains that once housed the villagers, long gone or dead. Birds of prey slunk around, on the ground or flying in the sky, investigating the rotten and decayed carcasses, picking at them with their deadly beaks, eating what once had been life.

“How awful.”  

The dead had not been buried, but left to rot in the sun and eaten by carnivores.

Sesshomaru made no comment to her words, gazing around him with unfeeling eyes.

Kagome tensed, something evil slithering across her senses.

Before she could voice her worries to her companion, Sesshomaru’s youki flared, sending out strong waves of pulsing energy throughout the village. A warning of his presence.

Kagome heard horrendous shrieks, the sounds making her jump in surprised shock and fear. Small level youkai emerged from the village’s remains, fleeing, running from the powerful presence that had warned them off, demanded they leave or perish.

Kagome watched Sesshomaru from the corner of her eye. Just how powerful is he?

“It is time.”

Kagome jumped at the sound of his voice, amber eyes turning to meet her stare.

“Uh, right.”

Excitement thrummed through her body at the thought that they were about to find her sister.

“What do we have to do?”

“The spell is a type of conjuring,” began Sesshomaru. “I will summon the image of your sister, manipulating time through an illusion. By calling the past, we will be able to see what occurred. When we find the image of your sister, we follow her trail.”

Kagome had never heard of such a spell, but it sounded powerful, impossible to accomplish, however, she didn’t say as much, not wanting to voice her doubts and anger Sesshomaru. If he thought this was the only way to locate her sister, then she wasn’t about to discredit him.

“How long ago was she here?” Sesshomaru asked her.

“A week ago.”

Sesshomaru nodded once.

“How does the spell work? What do we need to do?”

“The best way to find the one you seek, you must have a drop of their essence, blood, a strand of hair, or something personal, such as a comb, a weapon. However, in this case, we have neither. The next best thing is the blood of a close relative, the closer the family ties the better.”

Kagome blanched. “You need to use my blood?”

Sesshomaru raised his brow, silently asking her if she had a problem with that.

“How much?”

Though Kagome wasn’t at all sure she liked the requirements necessary for the spells activation—for blood should never be used lightly in magic, especially dark magic one knew nothing about—she would trust Sesshomaru and allow him to do whatever he thought necessary to locate Kikyo for her.

“Coming from the person directly, not much, but since you are not she, more will be required.”

Seeing the hesitancy in her eyes, guessing correctly at the worry she hid, he said, “You have nothing to fear, aijin. This spell will have no lasting, harmful effects on you, despite the blood requirement.”

She believed him even though she had many reasons not to.

She nodded her head. “Alright. Let’s do this. What do I have to do?”

Without answering, he stepped close to her and gently took her wrist in his large, clawed hand. Raising her slim arm, he bent his head until his lips brushed across the pulse at her wrist.

Finally he answered. “You must bleed.”

Without waiting for her reply, he struck, sinking his sharp canines into her fragile flesh.

She gasped in pain, her whole body gone tense from the white, hot agony of his none too gentle bite.

Sesshomaru almost groaned when the taste of her life giving blood coated his tongue. He wanted nothing more than to suck, to draw her essence inside his body, almost did just that, but now was not the time to sample her, no matter how he craved it.

His bite lasted no more than a few seconds before he retracted his fangs.

He continued to hold her wrist even as her blood welled and spilled over, dripping onto the ground to be soaked up by the greedy soil.

She met his gaze when she finally realized he had yet to release her.

That was what he had been waiting for.

Sesshomaru licked his blood stained lips, making her watch him taste her essence.

Kagome should have been repulsed, would have been had the blood been from any other source. Instead, watching him enjoy her blood heated her body, aroused her instantly. She was shocked, dismayed by her reaction, but it was undeniable.

His nostrils flared and she knew he could smell her interest. She blushed.

Right before she was about to yank her arm back, he kissed her wrist, right below the wound. Her fingers curled in pleasure even while her wound throbbed with pain.

“Do not move,” Sesshomaru instructed her as he continued to hold her wrist, allowing her blood to drip to the ground.

Kagome nodded silently, never taking her gaze from him, curiosity overcoming her embarrassment. What was he about to do?

Again she felt his youki swell, pulsing around them in a demonic display of power.

“Speak your sister’s full name while I recite the incantation, aijin.”

Kagome did as instructed when she heard Sesshomaru speak in a strong, commanding voice in a language she could not name. It sounded dark, hypnotizing.

Again, though his demonic aura shivered across her skin, her spiritual powers did not rise to strike out at the evil force as if knowing he meant her no harm.

Unnatural clouds formed around them, light at first, barely there, but the haze thickened, blinding them to their surroundings. Green, jagged strikes of lightning arched around them, so close, Kagome could have reached out and touch them, but she dared not. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as grumbling thunder echoed around them.

All the while Kagome continued to say Kikyo’s name while Sesshomaru continued speaking in that strange, unnerving language.

When his voice rose louder, more commanding, she unconsciously raised her voice as well. Their voices spoke above the unnatural storm that slithered around them, making a strange eerie sound as if their words bounced back to them.

Then when Sesshomaru spoke Kikyo’s name loudly, Kagome somehow knew she should stop chanting.

Kagome didn’t know what to expect when the lightning dissolved, the thunder quietened, and the clouds faded.

Looking around her, her wrist still bleeding, sluggishly now, but nothing had changed. She still saw the destroyed village. There was no sign of Kikyo anywhere.

Did it not work?

Kagome glanced at Sesshomaru, wanting to ask him if something had gone wrong with the magic, but she didn’t want to seem rude or question his ability to perform the conjuring.

She saw him look around with a small frown on his face before his eyes lowered, meeting her own.

Before she could voice the question she was compelled to ask, he spoke.

“She was not here, aijin.”

Her eyes widened. “That’s impossible. She had to be here! She came to this village to help a pregnant woman give birth.”

“The magic does not lie.”

“Are you sure you didn’t do something wrong?” she asked before thinking, then clammed up when he scowled at her.

“I’m sure.

A thought sprung to her mind and she gasped, fearful for her sister. “What if she was caught on the road coming here? Anything could have happened to her!”

Sesshomaru leveled her with a strange look. “Perhaps.”

“What? What is it?”

“It is possible this village wasn’t her destination.”

“You mean…she lied about where she was going?” questioned Kagome in disbelief.

That was impossible. Kikyo would never lie to her and their obaasan!

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Finally, Kagome thinks she will find her sister, but instead, she learns that Kikyo was not where she had claimed to be. If not helping a preganant woman, then where was she? Where had she gone? Find out soon :3