The smell of human floating into my room was enough to wake me. I yawned, rubbing my eyes. What time is it? Too early. Though the sky was clouded and rain poured, I knew it was still day. Peeling myself off the concrete balcony floor, my muscles ached. How'd I end up here again?

Oh right.

Kanato hit me.

Shaking off the water droplets that had fallen onto my arm, I stood. My uniform still clung my body, slightly damp from the storm. Dragging myself to my closet, my choice of clothes was slim. Piles were in the floor, smoke rising from the ashes. Dammit Kanato! Of course he burned my clothes!

I jerked the only skirt in the closet out, a gray skater skirt, and tossed it onto the bed next to my off the shoulder black crop top and maroon knee-high leggings. Stripping out of my wet uniform, I sighed angrily. Maybe I'll just go burn some of his precious dolls he cares about so much. Dressed in the clothes and leaving the shoes behind, I teleported to the living room.

I sat on the railing up on the ledge that overlooked the room. The human girl sat on the couch, terrified. Reiji stared at her like he did everyone. So judgy. Kicking my legs back and forth, I giggled. Her fear is intoxicating. Excitement bubbled up in me as I thought about all the ways to make her fear grow stronger.

Two arms slid around my waist, and my back hit someone's chest. "Careful, Kotori. I just might have to do something about you looking so delicious," Laito whispered to me, running his tongue up my neck. Hugging me tightly, he turned his gaze to the human girl. "Well what do we have here? Could it be that a cute little human girl has decided to pay us a visit?" Laito asked, catching her attention.

Her absolute confusion made me laugh again. "Not a very bright one," I replied.

Laito released me and teleported down next to her, licking her face. Her reaction was even funnier, but a little jealously bubbled out. He should be doing that to me, not her. Kanato was the next to come in, scarring her with a lick, too. She did smell sweet…

"Hey, knock it off you guys. Have you forgotten that yours truly is the one who saw her first? Consequently, yours truly is going to be her first everything," Ayato said, watching Kanato and Laito with an angry stare.

I teleported down to the arm of the chair and fell back into his lap. "It's no fun when you're being so selfish, Ayato. Share with the rest of us," I said with a laugh. Ayato is so possessive sometimes. But, I liked that about him.

Ayato scooped me up and dropped me onto the floor with an "oops." I growled and bit his leg where his pants leg had been pulled up, and teleported out of reach quickly.

"Lame. I am so sick of hearing you call yourself yours truly," Subaru said.

Ayato stood up, losing interest in me. "The hell? Dammit, Subaru, I know that's you! Come out and show yourself!" The two of them were always fighting. It was good entertainment, though.

"I'm right here," Subaru said from right beside me. "I thought I detected the smell of mortal in here. Guess I was right. Who is this mortal who dare awaken me from my precious sleep?" Grouchy Subaru was not something I wanted to deal with. He was no fun most of the time anyways. He was mean to me, but sometimes he let me drink his blood.

"How did you enter the room so quietly?" The human asked.

Wrong question.

"You will answer my question first," Subaru snapped and hit the wall just above my head, cracking it deep.

Slightly terrified that he'd almost hit my face, I teleported to the safest of my brothers, Shu, who was taking up the whole couch. I sat on his lap, Indian style, leaning against the cushions. He cracked his eyes open, giving me a look. "Better watch how you're moving, little sister." No one else in the room heard him.

Out of all my brothers, Shu was the only one who could make me blush. My cheeks burned and I rocked my hips a little. "I'm not doing anything bad, am I?" I answered, faking innocence. We had the same blue eyes but my hair matched Reiji's. He'd always given me special attention since we were kids and my twisted love for him grew stronger with time.

Shu gripped my wrist tightly, making the bone creak with the threat to snap it. "Don't make me repeat myself, Kotori."

Behaving, I sat still, listening to Reiji again. "Do any of you know what's going on? I must find out why this young lady has come here to live with us." Reiji adjusted his glasses, slowly turning his gaze to each of us in the room, giving me a disapproved stare.

"Hey Shu, is she the one he called about?" I said loud enough to catch everyone's attention. I already knew she was. I'd been there when Shu had gotten the phone call from our dear father. Staying quiet any longer had become impossible.

"Kotori, you knew about this?" Ayato asked.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe. Who knows."

"Don't give us this maybe crap. I think we'd all appreciate an explanation," Kanato spoke up next. He peered at me with a hateful look.

"Screw you." I snapped back, still mad about our fight.

"Kotori," Reiji cut off any potential fighting for now. His stern tone made me tense up. Reiji is too strict on me. He makes me do all kinds of ridiculous things for him.

Dropping my head down to thoroughly examine Shu's sweater, which was really, really interesting, no words came to mind. Thankfully, Shu sighed, and said, "He contacted us a few days ago. He told us that we'd have a guest arriving from the church, and we should treat her with respect."

"What? Are you telling me that pancake here is the sacrificial bride?" Ayato asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Let's be honest, she's more of a sacrifice than a bride, really," Laito said from the couch, tilting his head back to watch me.

He gave a wink when I raised my eyes to see what was happening. "Oh, he explicitly said that we're not supposed to kill her," I added. The tension that had been pointed at me fell back on the girl again. Relaxing, I stared at Shu. "Can I go now?"

Shu shook his head once.

"It appears there has been no misunderstanding at all," Reiji said. He would already be calculating what needed to be done to prepare for this girl's stay here, which means I need to make myself scarce if I want to avoid doing any real work. "So, allow us to introduce ourselves. That is the eldest son, Shu. My name is Reiji and I am the second son. Next are the triplets, Ayato—"

Ayato grinned. "I won't let you get away from me next time."

"Kanato—"

"I hope to taste you again very soon," Kanato said sweetly, hugging his teddy.

"And Laito."

"It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance little bitch," Laito responded, giving her a seductive wink.

Reiji turned his attention to me. "That is the only daughter and second youngest, Kotori. And the last son is Subaru."

Subaru scoffed. "What a waste of time."

I nodded in silent agreement. There are so many other things I could be doing. Talking Shu into letting me buy new clothes. Making Laito play a game with me. Annoying Subaru. Getting revenge on Kanato for burning my clothes. So many choices…

Yui looked around. "I still think… this has to be some kind of mistake. Nobody said anything about me being someone's bride, and besides, the seven you, you're all kind of… Weird."

I teleported next to her, hands on my hips and leaning forward. "That's rude!" She jumped back, startled by my sudden presence next to her. I held my stomach, laughing from her reaction. "Hey do that again! You're kind of entertaining."

She stepped back, like she actually had somewhere she could go to escape us. "I think… I need to contact my father." She gasped, seeing Ayato with her cell phone. "That's my cellphone. You give that back to me now!"

"Do you really think I should?" He asked, holding it out of her reach when she rushed towards him.

Ayato seems awfully playful today… maybe I'll see if he'll play with me today. It didn't surprise me when Subaru took the phone and broke it to bits. He's been itching to break something since he came into the room. I'm lucky it wasn't me he wanted to hurt this time. Laito and Kanato harassed her some more, making her fear grow stronger. As she tried to run away, she tripped and fell, scraping her knee on the floor.

All of us smelled the fresh blood, and the instincts within us awoke. Mmm… I need a taste of that… Unable to stop myself, I teleported next to her. "Just one little bite… I promise it won't hurt much…" I said, leaning down closer to her. It smells delicious. Give me a taste… I held my nose after she thrust her holy cross in my face and hit me with a good amount of force. "Ouch!" Shit that hurt!

Ayato grabbed me before I could attack her, pulling her down into the seat with him. With his arms securely around my waist, he nuzzled his face into my neck, licking my exposed skin. "You owe me for that bite earlier, Kotori. You're my captive now." He laughed, but the danger in his voice sent a shiver down my spine.

A sudden sleepiness fell over me. He must have drugged me! That asshole! I couldn't resist. My whole body felt light and my mind blurred into nothingness. Tonight, marks the start of a new sacrificial bride process, and Ayato would be in a foul mood for a while, especially since laying claim to this new girl first. My attempts to drink her blood wouldn't go unpunished. If my heart could beat, it would pound in anticipation of what would come next. The game starts now.