by J. N. Baker
At that Baldric did smile. “I knew full well what I was getting myself into with you,” he said, stepping into the room to join me. “I came to suggest you go take a walk.”
“What? Have another meeting you’re trying to keep me away from?”
He chuckled. “No, I just thought it was a nice morning for a walk. Unless you would rather train instead. I would be more than happy to have a rematch…”
“Nope,” I quickly said. If I had to choose between a walk with Lindsay with her pestering me about locking lips with her king or sparring with the power-hungry warlord I’d dropped on his ass, bring on the nagging. I was used to it with the many years I’d spent with Cindy. And that woman had been the Queen of Nag.
“A walk sounds great,” I told him. “Shall I fetch Lindsay to come along with me? Though I’m not sure she’ll be too happy about the prospect of another walk after my disappearing act yesterday.”
“No,” he said and I froze. Was he going to have Josh go with me? “I thought you might like to take a walk…alone. You had the opportunity to try to escape yesterday and you did not take it. Plus, you made the teleport look like a fool. I suppose a bit more trust is in order.”
More trust between Baldric and me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, or the fact that I was happy to have it. After all, trust meant freedom. And freedom meant time with the man I loved.
“Enjoy your walk,” Baldric said before adding, “and stay clear of the water. Not all of my beasts are as tame as the Sythen.” With that, he vanished, leaving me alone in the library once more.
As his words sank in, I could feel the chains that bound me loosening. I may have been a prisoner here, but I was a prisoner off leash.
Had to count my blessings, however few there may be.
As I stepped out of the castle gates without a guard, I couldn’t help but feel like this was some twisted trick. Like at any moment, Baldric would leap out of the darkness and drag me back to my beautiful prison
“Nobody’s stopping me,” I singsonged under my breath, moving farther from the castle. No one batted an eye as I inched closer to the cliffs, the sound of the waves crashing against the shore below calling to me like a siren song.
Stay clear of the water. Not all of my beasts are as tame as the Sythen.
What the hell could possibly be more untamed and monstrous than those damned serpent beasts? Maybe I didn’t want to know. Still, the ocean, Baldric’s beasties or not, was far more peaceful than the village had been. The tide didn’t want my head even if the creatures beneath the surface did.
I felt eyes on me before I saw them. But they weren’t coming from the rough, dark waters below, but back in the direction I’d just come. I glanced over my shoulder to see Josh watching me from the training area, his eyes burning my flesh even from a distance. The night before came rushing back to me and my blackened heart skipped a beat.
I couldn’t help but wonder what it would have been like if I hadn’t turned Josh down all those years ago in my tiny studio apartment—standing there in his boxer brief glory. It wasn’t the first time I’d pondered over that particular “what if.” Especially lately. If it hadn’t been for the markings and my newfound strength, I might have taken him up on it. All of me wished I had. Why couldn’t my power have been time travel? So much I would have changed. So much I would have done differently.
I’d never been able to make that leap into bed with Alec, though we’d come close a handful of times. And the one time I likely would have let him take things all the way—when my memories of Josh had been erased—we were blessedly interrupted by Baldric of all people. That vision of him kissing me likely saved me from making a horrible mistake.
But Josh…Josh I could see taking that step with. Hell, I wanted to. Heat pooled low in my stomach and my core ached at just the thought of what it would feel like—what he’d feel like.
Josh took a step toward me, giving in to the intense magnetic pull between us. He was going to come. I could see it on his face.
I couldn’t let him. Not yet. While Baldric may have briefly taken me off my leash, I had a feeling this was a test of my loyalty. There were likely eyes on me. Which meant there would be eyes on Josh too. We couldn’t risk being seen alone together the very first chance we got.
Allowing my feet to move forward, I closed the distance to Josh. He devoured me with his eyes; I could practically feel the clothes peeling off my skin. All over again, memories of the night before washed over me and I bit back my sigh.
“Please let the king know I’ll be back in time for dinner,” I told him with a stupid cordial bow that made my teeth ache from grinding together so hard. “I am going to walk the cliffs for a while.”
The mask Josh often wore around Baldric reappeared and he nodded. “Of course,” he said and then he turned and went back to the castle to deliver my message.
Just hang on a little longer, I wanted to tell him. We’d be together again. I’d make sure of it.
I was back in time for dinner, as promised, much to Baldric’s delight. My walk had been entirely uneventful. No evil looks or sideways glances. No one glaring at me as if their number one fantasy was to see my head on a stake. And, best of all, no one following me around like a common criminal. It was just me and the sea, just like the good ol’ days. You know, when there were still days. God, how I missed the sun.
“How was your walk?” Baldric asked as I took my seat beside him.
I searched for the right word. “Peaceful,” I finally said. And it was. I’d walked along the cliff’s edge, following the path we’d taken in when I’d first arrived in Baldric’s kingdom. Even in the darkness, it was breathtaking—much more so being able to see it outside of the cage I’d been brought here in.
At one point out there, I sat and let my feet dangle, listening to the waves crashing below. If I closed my eyes, I could almost pretend I was back in the States, sitting on the beach as the ocean sung to me. Almost.
“Good. I am glad,” he said with a smile that reached his eyes. Eyes that remained as black as the heart in his chest. Maybe I’d imagined the change in color.
“I heard your village trip wasn’t so peaceful yesterday,” Philip chimed in, smirking. Clearly Lindsay had told him about our little adventure. “Didn’t make many friends, I take it?”
“No one did anything,” Lindsay jumped in to say, her eyes darting to Baldric. She had said something about people knowing better than to go against me.
Baldric took a bite of his fish. “What happened?” he asked calmly. Perhaps too calmly.
“Nothing,” I told him. “Honestly.” It was nothing I hadn’t expected.
Olive set her fork down. “There are still many of our people in mourning. They are looking for someone to blame. The damage that has been done cannot be undone overnight. It will take time. They will eventually come around.”
“Good thing I’ve got forever,” I grumbled.
I wasn’t sure why I cared so much about what Baldric’s people thought of me. If the roles were reversed, I’d think they were all power-hungry, traitorous bastards who were behind the deaths of nearly eight hundred of my people. Then again, I was told many of Baldric’s people were there against their will—lied to and controlled by the “king” himself. From what I’d seen thus far, that wasn’t the case at all. His people were clearly very loyal to him and his cause. I just wasn’t sure why.
But I found I didn’t want them hating me quite as much as some of them did. Maybe it was because I was stuck here. And if I had to be stuck here, it would be nice to not be constantly viewed as the enemy.
“Why don’t you tell them all how she mopped the floor with the teleport yesterday?” Philip said with a Cheshire grin. “That would win some of them over.”
“Perhaps,” Baldric mused.
“Baldy!” a small voice squealed and a familiar mop of short blond hair bobbed into the dining hall, heading straight for us.
Scarlett launched herself into Baldric�
�s lap and he settled her over his knee as a woman raced into the room. “I’m sorry, Your Highness,” the woman—who I assumed was one of Scarlett’s nannies—said, panting. “I tried to catch her but she’s a slippery thing.”
“I believe it is time for you to go to bed,” the giant monster beside me told the tiny child. Her response was to jut out her bottom lip in the world’s cutest pout. Apparently, it worked, because Baldric sighed and dismissed the woman. I mean, I’d have trouble denying that face too.
The little girl’s bright blue eyes landed on me, looking me over in that judgmental way children tended to do. She tightened her hold on Baldric and half buried her face in his chest, one eye still peeking out at me with innocent curiosity.
“Scarlett,” he said, forcing her to sit up, “this is Lady Zoe. She is my new friend. She did not mean to scare you before.”
I did not want to be known as Baldric’s friend. But I guess everyone was a friend to a toddler. And I had no desire to continue scaring an innocent child. “Zoe,” I corrected. Not that I thought a child as young as Scarlett was going to start using titles when addressing me.
“Zoo!” the girl squealed and Josh, Lindsay, and Philip all choked on their laughs.
“Yep,” I told the girl with a genuine smile, ignoring the three snickering hyenas across the table. “Zoo works.”
And, apparently, that was all it took to make us new best friends, if the way she jumped into my arms was any indicator. She twisted around on my lap so that she was using me as a chair, batting her hands on the edge of the table as she grinned at the others sitting around us.
“See,” Philip said, “people will warm up to you eventually. Just like Scar here.”
Contrary to what he believed, I didn’t think it was going to be that simple. Children were hardwired to love easily. Adults, not so much.
I ran a hand over Scarlett’s blond hair and a sound came out of the small child that could only be defined as a purr. I glanced down and did a double take at the whiskers sprouting from her naturally pink cheeks.
“Um…”
Lindsay leaned across the table. “Scar, sweetie, put your animal away, please. You know you aren’t supposed to play with your animals when you haven’t been asked to.”
My eyebrows climbed into my hairline. “I thought shifts weren’t supposed to be able to shift until they turned eighteen or hit puberty or some shi—crap—like that.” At least, that’s what Cody had told me.
“That’s true,” Philip answered around a mouth full of food, making a face at Scarlett that had her squealing as her whiskers sank back into her round face. “Scarlett is a special little girl, aren’t you?”
“Her parents were extremely strong shifts,” Baldric said from beside me. “We think it might have something to do with their age when they conceived her. I have not known another shift able to make the change before adulthood. We try to minimize the amount of shifting she does, seeing as shifts do not age while in shifted form—on top of already aging more slowly once they’ve gone through the change.”
“Yeah,” Olive started, “none of us want to deal with the terrible twos for five years. She already bites.”
Philip snorted. “So do you.”
The vampire shot him a look. “That’s different. And you weren’t complaining about my biting last night.”
I choked on my fish and Lindsay rolled her eyes. “Charming,” Lindsay said under her breath. Sounded like Philip really was a beefier version of Cody.
“You’re just jealous that I get to be the hybrid’s shift,” Philip countered, clearly hearing her. “And that I get laid more than you.”
“Those are called pity fucks, you idiot,” Lindsay sneered. “And I am not jealous,” she added, sounding just a little jealous. “You know I’m not a fighter anyway.”
“You already have a shift?” I asked Josh even though I already knew the answer.
“Of course he does,” Baldric said. “All the best Chosen do.”
“Do you?”
The room quieted and Baldric shifted in his chair, gaze falling to the little girl on my lap. “I did,” he finally said, “but they died in battle.”
“Which battle?” I asked before I could think better of it.
“Both of them.”
The next morning when I opened the door, my gaggle of guards was blessedly gone. But that also meant there was no sign of Josh.
I strode out of my chambers and headed down the narrow corridor. As I stepped into the main room, a voice said from behind me, “You are up rather early.”
I turned to find Baldric sitting in one of the large wingback chairs by the even larger fireplace. He didn’t get up when I entered the room. Instead he leaned farther into the chair, crossing one ankle leisurely over a knee as he watched me, ever the predator.
“How can you tell?” I asked. “It’s always night now.” Thanks to you, I wanted to add but thought better of it.
He shrugged, rising with the same grace William often used. “I suppose it is a vampire thing. We have a bit of an internal clock.”
Baldric stopped a few feet away from me, giving me my space, for which I was grateful. “As for the night,” he continued, “I suppose you blame that on me as well.”
It wasn’t a question. He was getting accustomed to me villainizing him at this point. Probably because I did. He was, after all, the goddamned villain. Or so I’d been told. I had a hard time believing anything else.
His black eyes searched my face, softening only slightly. “So many lies in that beautiful head of yours,” he mused.
“So you’ve said,” I replied. “I don’t see you trying to show me the truth. Or your version of it,” I added, turning away from him to stare at the roaring flames.
“I fear you are not ready to accept the truth just yet,” Baldric finally said.
“Try me.”
He was silent a moment. “When you are ready, I will tell you.”
How very William of him.
It was too damn early to argue so I decided to change the subject. “I’d like to go on a hunt,” I told the flames. “I need to feel useful.”
“Very well. I will talk with Olive about having you go along—”
“No,” I interrupted. “I’d like to go alone.”
He stepped beside me, the light from the fire reflecting on his pale flesh. “I do not think that is such a good idea.”
“Because you worry I’ll run away?” I accused, turning away from the flames to face him head on. “We had a deal. Have I not proven that I intend to uphold my end of that bargain?”
“On the contrary,” he said, “I do not believe you would willingly leave. You love your people far too much to do that. But if you are out there alone, I will not be able to protect you if someone comes for you again.”
“I can protect myself,” I said through clenched teeth. I was getting a little sick of all these men thinking I needed their protection. I was my own damn protection. I was Chosen. I’d ascended. I could shoot lightning from my hands. Alec could try to take me back and I’d take his head and charbroil him while doing so.
“I’m pretty sure I’ve proven that as well,” I told him. “Besides, I’m sure by now Alec has told William all about my treachery and betrayal. William will view me as the enemy.”
“Perhaps,” Baldric mused, brushing back the hair from my shoulder. “Though I doubt that will stop William. He will want your power no matter where he believes your loyalty lies.”
“If you’re so worried about it, then send a guard with me. But I’d like to go out and hunt. You want me to feel like I belong here; well, to do that I need to truly be part of this place. I need to bring something to the table. The people within the castle have been nothing but kind to me. Let me do something for them in the only way I can—by killing.”
Baldric rubbed his chin with his one hand, considering my words. Just when I thought he’d say no, he surprised me by nodding. “Very well. You may go…with a guard. Josh
will accompany you. I want someone strong enough to assist if William or the teleport are foolish enough to make a move to take you. Plus,” he added darkly, “we both know how protective he is of you.”
One of the two reasons Baldric often made Josh stick close to me. Even when his memory was wiped, he felt the deep desire to protect me. The other reason being to taunt me with what I couldn’t have. At least, that was what I’d assumed. It was pretty obvious. Only Josh had his memories back. And I could—and would—have him.
“I will have him meet you at the castle gates,” he continued. “Will a bow suffice?”
I nodded. It wasn’t my weapon of choice, but it would do for hunting. “Yes, thank you.”
He reached out, lightly running his index finger along my jaw. “Be careful out there. And please come back to me.”
“Of course,” I whispered and hated that I meant it. And then Baldric was gone.
Josh was waiting for me in the exact place Baldric had said, a longsword strapped to his hip and two bows and quivers slung over his muscular shoulder. There was no emotion on his face. If I hadn’t known better, I’d assume his memory of me had been erased all over again. But I did know better.
He nodded formally, holding out one of the bows. “Are you ready?”
I took the weapon and slung it over my own shoulder. “Yeah. Let’s go,” I said, turning on my heel and heading out of the castle, not bothering to wait for him. “And don’t slow me down,” I called over my shoulder.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” I heard him mumble under his breath and I fought to keep the smile from my face.
Josh trailed after me, keeping a few paces back as we left the castle behind us and quickly made our way out of the kingdom and to the surrounding fields. As we passed the last of Baldric’s many torches, the night blanketed us in absolute darkness. If it weren’t for our advanced eyes, we would have been rendered totally blind. I pitied those humans who’d managed to survive the apocalypse. Their world was now pitch black.