Blood Haven: Year Two: A Mayhem of Magic World Story

by Nicole Zoltack

  “Such a daredevil,” I tease her.

  Some of the light shining in her eyes dims a little. “I…”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  "No, you're fine. It's just… my father. I've been avoiding him as much as possible, and if he knew what I was planning to do, he would be rooting for the dragon to roast me. He wouldn't understand why I would want to give away a precious gem. He'd think I should keep it for myself or sell it for an exorbitant amount of money. Or maybe barter it for something even more valuable. He's always about trying to get his hands on as much as possible."

  “You’re nothing like him.”

  "Not at all." She shakes her shoulders a little. "Take this, for instance. He would never ever climb a mountain. He would rather have one of his underlings do that for him. It's terrible the way he uses them."

  “I can imagine.”

  "Can you? We have servants that are paid hardly anything. They're hardly a step up from slaves. His underlings are lesser demons and other beings who want to move on up in the dark underbelly of the world. They're trying to use him, but they don't see how much more he gets out of their… relationship for lack of a better word."

  “You want to save the world.”

  “I would love to take my father down, but I don’t know how to. Honestly, I don’t know enough about what his plans are.”

  “Isn’t that a good thing that you’ve distanced yourself from him, that you don’t know what he intends?”

  “Not really considering he has plans for me that involve Constantine.”

  I let out a growl.

  “To take down my father would require me to see him, to talk to him, to try to get in his good graces… It wouldn’t be easy, and maybe it won’t even be worthwhile. He’s so old and wise. He’ll never change his ways, and HEX Unite is ignoring him. They would step in if he was going to cross the line, wouldn’t they?”

  “Do you trust HEX Unite?”

  “I think so,” she says, but her tone is not inspiring.

  “For now, let’s not worry about your father or Constantine. Let’s pretend the vampires and werewolves are not at odds and hate each other. Let’s go and find the dragon’s hoard and leave the stone for him.”

  “We can only pretend the world is perfect for so long before the outside chaotic anarchy is going to make its way to us despite our best intentions.”

  “I realize that. I’m not naïve, but for one night…”

  She shakes her head. “It’s never just one night with you. It’s every night we’re together.”

  “Every night is perfect? Oh, no. That’s terrible. That’s so dreadful. Whatever are we going to do?”

  Romelia’s sigh turns into a giggle. “Are we going to do this or not?”

  “The dragon’s hoard. Yes, I think we can go and find it. Shall we, my fair lady?”

  I loop our arms together, laughing all the while with a grinning Romelia. We slowly climb the mountain, helping each other up.

  “Where do you think we can find the entrance?” Romelia asks. “The entrance has to be huge, right? Considering how large dragons are.”

  “One would imagine so,” I mutter, glancing around. “My wolf’s eyes might see better.”

  “You can shift,” she urges.

  My wolf is eager to come out. The first few times I shifted, the pain had been intense, the process long and drawn out, more of a curse than a blessing. Now, my body is so adjusted to growing, changing, moving, shifting that the transformation is done in no time at all and with minimal pain. If anything, unleashing my inner wolf is a pleasant experience. Werewolves have to shift into our wolves. If we go too long, if we try to suppress that part of ourselves, we risk shifting into our wolves unintentionally and potentially being stuck in wolf form for the rest of our lives. Some of those wolf-oppressors couldn't hold back their shifts forever, and when their wolf was unleashed, the wolf went crazy and killed people. Accepting our wolves is the only way to live.

  At Romelia's nod, I shift to my wolf. Not only is my vision heightened when I'm my wolf, but so is my sense of smell, and I eagerly start to sniff. A dragon would fly, of course, but that doesn't mean they don't smell.

  My nose picks up a slight odor. It's not foul smelling, more unique than anything? The dragon? Maybe. I've only seen the dragon from afar, and I haven't smelled many dragons in my lifetime.

  Romelia trails behind me even when I leap and bound to other areas of the mountain. We end up climbing all the way to the top. There’s a hole, a large one, and the drop goes straight down. I can’t see to the bottom.

  She peeks down and bites her lower lip. “I guess we shouldn’t climb in, should we?”

  I shake my head.

  “It is a steep drop. There might not be another exit, and we would be stuck. Unless…”

  Romelia’s eyes glitter with excitement as she takes a few steps back.

  She can’t be serious, right?

  Oh, she’s serious. She takes several steps forward, racing, and then jumps.

  My teeth catch her just before she plummets.

  Romelia shifts around to glare at me. “Do you trust me?”

  I whine.

  “Do you?”

  With a growling mutter, I step back and release her on the mountainside.

  “I’m jumping,” she insists.

  This time, I let her, but I then jump after her.

  The sense of falling… Everyone has dreams of falling, and then we jerk ourselves awake. I keep waiting to wake up, but this isn’t a dream.

  It's a rough landing. I'm a werewolf, not a cat, and I land more on my side than my feet, but nothing seems broken. Romelia rolled as she landed, and she appears just fine as she slides down a few feet.

  Because we landed not on stone or soil.

  Not gold coins.

  We’ve found the dragon’s hoard all right.

  And the dragon’s here, staring at us.

  He opens his mouth, the scent of fire and ozone permeating the air, but Romelia doesn't seem worried. She merely holds up the fire opal and then tosses it to the dragon.

  The massive dragon watches as the gemstone lands near his claws. He snatches it and eyes us, his mouth slowly closing.

  “For you,” Romelia says cheerfully. “That’s all. I found it, thought of you… Okay, actually, my friend here told me that you lived here, and I wanted to give you a gift.”

  The dragon solemnly blinks his large, faintly glowing yellow eyes and tilts his head to the side.

  “No, it’s not a request for a favor. You don’t need to do anything in return. Ah, unless there is no other exit.”

  The body of the dragon trembles and shakes. His tail wraps around his body, and then the dragon stands before us as… Whoops. The dragon’s a girl. A dragon shifter rather than a dragon.

  "A vampire and a werewolf make for strange friends, but for someone to give a gemstone, even a raw one, wanting nothing in return…" The dragon shifter raises her eyebrows. Her hair is so long it almost reaches to her knees, the color of spun gold. "That I find hard to believe, especially because you're one of those living vampires."

  Romelia shrugs. She hasn’t stopped smiling since we dropped down into the cave. Her heart isn’t racing. My brave vampire isn’t the least bit afraid.

  “Well, I don’t want to be charred,” Romelia says with a laugh. “If there’s a cave that’ll lead us back outside the mountain, if you can point us in that direction… That’s all we need.”

  “You expect me to believe that you want nothing, that you’re doing this out of the goodness of your heart?” The dragon shifter cannot sound more skeptical.

  Romelia nods. “Yes, that’s exactly what I expect because it’s the truth.”

  “What did you get out of all this?” the dragon shifter asks suspiciously.

  “A chance to do what I want,” Romelia murmurs. “To not have to bow down to what others want or expect of me.”

  The dragon shifter grin
s. “You aren’t like other vampires, are you? Of course not. You have a werewolf for a friend.” She shifts and points to the left. “That path will take you straight out of the cave. There’s a rock barring the exit, but you should be able to move it without issue. Move it back. That’s all I ask.”

  “Of course. You have a wonderful hoard.”

  “Don’t think about coming back to steal any,” the dragon shifter says, but her tone is now light, playful. “A vampire with a werewolf for a friend.” She shakes her head and chuckles to herself as she reassumes her dragon form.

  Grinning, Romelia waves, and we’re off. The path is just as the dragon shifter says, and Romelia easily moves the boulder for us to return to the night air and then shifts the massive rock back into place.

  When she brushes the rock dust from her hands, I shift back to myself.

  “‘My friend here,’ is that really what you said?” I demand, hands on hip. “I’m just a friend to you?”

  Romelia giggles and sways closer to me, her hands finding their way to my hips. “You are my friend, but you’re also so much more. You’re my light, my salvation. My love.”

  With a growl, I give her a kiss to claim her, to possess her, and while she gives, she also takes, claiming and possessing me in return.

  Chapter 17

  Romelia

  It's never easy to tear myself away from Julian. I meant what I said. He's my light. In comparison, the world is so very dark that I often fear what the future will hold… for us… for our children…

  If we have any children.

  Maybe we shouldn’t even try to have kids. If we’re too afraid to show the world that we found love in each other, how can we expect the world to be ready to embrace our children?

  I need to talk to Julian about what our future will hold, especially after we’re married. The idea of having to attend schooling for another year after makes me want to rip out my hair, but I also don’t know where we should live, what our married life will look like. What my profession will be, what his will be… These are serious questions, and honestly, we have to face the terrible truth that sometimes, love isn’t always enough. It’s a frightening thought and not one I relish, but we can’t be naïve or foolish. We need to have our eyes wide open if we’re going to move forward with the wedding and living our lives together.

  We can find a way to make things work. Of that I'm certain, but will that mean we have to remain in exile? Will we have to live our lives in the shadows, hiding away from the rest of the world? What about the need for us to spend time with our friends? And Julian with his family… I don't want to deprive him of his parents and his siblings. Just because I don't care to have a relationship with my parents doesn't mean he should be isolated from his. I want to meet his family. They're the main reason I hope that the future might be a better place than today. For his parents to have raised him, for him to be able to see me for who I am beyond the thirst and the fangs, they have to be special. Maybe they'll accept me too.

  Then again, I fell in love with a werewolf despite my parents.

  The moon is starting to descend, though, and I really should be going.

  Julian laughs. “What are you thinking about?”

  “Why are you laughing?”

  “Because.” He taps between my eyes. “Right here always crinkles when you’re thinking hard.”

  “Is that right?” I ask, amused.

  “Yes. It’s adorable.” He tilts his head to the side, staring at me with his piercing eyes. “What’s on your mind?”

  I hesitate. I can ask about the future. I can see if Julian has thought about it, and maybe we can start to plan for whatever comes next.

  But what if we make our plans and they don't come true? What if we can't find a way to live together, to be a married couple? What if hatred of those on the outside mar and destroy our love? Which is stronger—love or hatred? As much as I want to believe that love will always win the day, I've seen how terrible and destructive hatred can be, chaotic and devastating. Hatred can bind people just as much as love can. Its roots come from fear, but as much love as I have, I also have fear.

  Fear that our love will not be enough.

  Fear that our future will be cut short.

  Fear that I may have to give up Julian so that we both might have a future at all or risk death.

  In the end, I decide not to potentially ruin the night by speaking of the future and opt to talk merely about the present as I simply say, “I don’t want to leave you.”

  “I don’t want you to leave either, but I can walk with you a good portion of the way.”

  “Delay the inevitable.”

  “Better to delay than to speed up the farewell.”

  “Yes.”

  Hand in hand, taking our time, we head back toward Blood Haven Academy, sticking to the shadows. The nearer we draw, the quieter we become until a silence, a comfortable yet solemn one, descends.

  The wind dies down, the trees and bushes no longer rustling, and the hushed quiet becomes deafening. No insects make their nightly music, no birds call... There's nothing at all.

  It’s eerie, and it’s just plain wrong.

  “Something isn’t right,” I murmur, my lips hardly moving.

  “It’s not right that we should have to part,” Julian agrees.

  “No, no, that’s not…” I shrug, trying to listen for something, anything.

  Julian winks, but his eyes grow solemn, his expression serious. “I know. I sense it too. In fact…” He sniffs, and his light green eyes widen. “I smell blood.”

  “Which way? Toward Blood Haven?” I ask, my heart pounding.

  He shakes his head and sniffs again and again, turning about in a circle. “No, this way.”

  We follow the invisible trail, the stench of blood, and then, abruptly, Julian halts, and I almost plow into him.

  “What is it?” I look around him to see teenagers huddled together, some bleeding, and in the shadows are glowing eyes, mostly amber.

  Werewolves.

  Wounded werewolves.

  I start forward, but Julian holds out his arm to block me.

  “I can help,” I murmur to him.

  “Now isn’t the time.”

  “If not now, then when?” I challenge. “What better time is there for me to—”

  “We don’t know how they became injured,” he whispers. “Go before they notice you.”

  But the werewolves have seen me. They aren’t making a move to approach or attack, but they still see me, and I hesitate, torn between knowing that Julian is right and still wanting to help.

  “You can help by leaving,” he says.

  I grimace and then close my eyes, pained. The realization that we can't even kiss goodbye now makes me wish that we parted ways earlier. Julian sending me away hurts, and maybe if we spoke about the future on our walk over, he might be willing to let me aid and assist, but for now, I will do as he wishes.

  Every step away from him shoots pain in my chest. My vampiric speed makes the trek over quicker, but the pain lingers, a constant companion. I hope vampires hadn’t been the ones to wound the werewolves, but if there had been a battle, vampires might need aid as well. If I can't help Julian's people, I will help my own.

  Chapter 18

  Julian

  The sight of the wounded werewolves makes my claws want to come out, and my wolf is ready to break forth. It’s not a good sign at all that the werewolves spied Romelia and didn’t make a move to come over, and as I approach them, they whine and whimper.

  Some of them can’t move, their legs broken or maimed. I have to suppress my gag reflex in order to not vomit at the sight of one werewolf who has been bitten savagely on the side. The stench of blood overwhelmed me from afar, but up close, I can smell death.

  Why does this keep happening?

  Pablo Starfell limps over. The mop of dark curly hair on his head is drenched with sweat, not blood, but the same can’t be said about his side. His hands press
against the spot.

  I rush over to help him sit down. “What happened?” I demand. “Forget that. What do you need?”

  “We need the vampires to stop attacking us.”

  My stomach churns. “The vampires…”

  "They ambushed us. The vampires somehow knew that we were planning on being here. All we wanted was a chance to run around, be free, have a picnic, eat, drink some berry juice… We didn't even bring any alcohol, nothing like that. Completely above board."

  “Aside from leaving campus when we’re under lockdown,” I spit out.

  “Don’t be angry with me,” Pablo says, narrowing his eyes to dark slits. “You’re out too. You’ve no room to judge.”

  I swallow hard. He has a point.

  I run a hand through my hair. “We need to get you all back on campus.”

  Pablo shakes his head. The smell of blood grows, and he groans. His normally dark complexion is so pale right now. He’s never looked this color before.

  “You need to come back,” I say desperately.

  “You don’t understand,” he mumbles.

  “I don’t need to understand. You’re hurt. You all are. Why aren’t you already making your way back to Moonstone?” I step away from Pablo, straightening from having crouched at his side when he started to look worse.

  The others won’t meet my gaze, and my stomach churns. I’m missing something.

  “This is our second offense,” Pablo mutters. “We’re all marked. If we go back, we’ll just be expelled.”

  “If you don’t go back to the infirmary, you’ll die. Is that really better?” I demand, not caring that my tone is that much louder and harsher even. “You broke the rules. Face the consequences, but live!”

  The others glance at each other. My question should’ve been rhetorical, but they’re actually considering it.

  “If I have to drag you all back, I will,” I growl. My eyes have to be amber right now. I’m that frustrated and ready to unleash my wolf so I can make good on my threat.

  I don’t make threats lightly. I make them and deliver.