by Amber Lynn
With his hand still on her face, Krinton moved his thumb to push Krinla’s chin up. She tried to keep her eyes on the floor, but let his will won out. Brushing some strands of hair off her forehead, Krinton leaned in and kissed the spot he cleared.
“I’ve known since the moment you were born that you were special. Everyone knows it, which is why I’ve tried so hard to protect you over the years.”
“What are you talking about?”
Krinla knew her life had been somewhat sheltered, or at least as sheltered as she allowed. She thought that was because of who her father was and the fact he wanted to keep her away from creeps like Hulin.
“It’s hard to explain to someone who can’t feel it. There’s a reason why I’ve never introduced you to any of the other factions and why I try to limit your interactions with other Draculs.”
“You mean other than the fact that you’re an overprotective father,” Krinla interrupted.
She’d never been extremely friendly with others, so she’d always assumed that was why her interactions were limited. Even after she met Gyla, Krinla preferred being alone. Her mother and father always seemed to be somewhat solitary, so Krinla had grown up thinking that was how things were.
“I am that, but there’s a reason for it. You’ve never felt like just another Dracul, and if I could have, I would’ve kept you away from everyone else until I figured out what made you different. Your mother didn’t share my concern and decided you should have at least one friend.”
Krinton moved his hand away and turned away from Krinla. “I was right to be concerned. It wasn’t long after Gyla and you were introduced that Hulin started showing interest. As far as I know, he’d never seen you, but he asked whether you were spoken for when you were six. I know that isn’t too unusual in the grand scheme of things, but I didn’t want you committed to anyone.”
It was quiet in the room other than a deep sigh from Krinton. Krinla didn’t have anything to add to what was being said and she wasn’t sure how it related to the subject of the duo sanguine. It was stuff she’d never heard, but telling her how disturbing Hulin was didn’t make her want to go back and let her father fight him.
Krinton turned around and studied Krinla before he continued. She wished she could feel what he was talking about as far as her feeling different. It was hard to believe over the years that no one had thought it was a good idea to tell her about that.
“As I already told you, he eventually backed me into a corner. I wish I could’ve told you that I didn’t want the wedding to happen. I’ve been waiting twelve years for that man to attack me so I can finally kill him and nothing I’ve done to provoke him has worked. If I wasn’t afraid that killing him without provocation would cause a revolt or I thought he would’ve attacked me for just telling him no, I would’ve tried a different route.”
Krinton let out a troubled groan. “I have it on good authority that telling him no would’ve only fed the revolt and eventually they’d overthrow me or steal you away. I’m a strong Dracul, Krinla, but it gets tiring living by the laws and looking over your shoulder.”
“I don’t understand what any of this has to do with anything.”
Krinla wanted to stop whatever road they were going down, even though they were already well on the path. It sounded like they were getting into more things that she didn’t know, but yet Rya probably did. Krinla didn’t want any reminders that a little girl knew more about the things going on in her life than she did.
“I’m trying to explain to you why we have to go back and why Hunter is coming with us. It’s his right to fight for the claim Hulin has on you. You don’t have to believe you’re the duo sanguine to understand that.”
Krinla’s right hand reached up to massage her forehead. Draculs didn’t get headaches, but all the chaos going on in her head was making her manifest one. Nothing being said made any sense.
“Hunter can’t fight Hulin. You saw what I did to that guard of theirs. I broke ribs with just a little tap.”
Krinla refused to remove the hand that was covering her eyes. She hoped not seeing any expectant or eager looks on Krinton’s face would somehow make things easier.
With her eyes closed, she pictured scenes of how a fight between Hunter and Hulin would go down, and each outcome she came up with was even more gruesome than the last. Krinla didn’t know what skills Hunter had in combat, but in her mind, it didn’t matter. A human versus a Dracul wouldn’t make it out of a fight alive.
“I already told you the humanity issue is temporary. I’m not saying we zip back there now and go in half prepared. You and Hunter need to finish the bond you’ve started, and honestly I don’t know how long that takes. Once he’s a Dracul, I can train him for the fight. With the duo sanguine bond in place, there shouldn’t have to be a fight, but I know Hulin won’t back down that easily.”
There were a lot of assumptions in her father’s way of thinking. Hunter seemed like he was ready for a fight, but she didn’t know if he knew what he was fighting for. If things played out like her father seemed to want, Hunter wouldn’t have a choice as far as marrying her. He seemed affectionate, but a lifetime commitment could change that. Add in the fact that he would have to somehow mysteriously transform into a Dracul during the process, and Krinla wasn’t sure he’d be as adamant about wanting to play along.
“I feel I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but Draculs are born the way we are.”
Krinton moved quickly across the room to grab the hand from Krinla’s face and pull it down to her side. She didn’t bother fighting. It wasn’t like it made her head feel any better.
“There was a time when that wasn’t the case. Not all Draculs had the ability, but a chosen few were blessed with the ability to increase our species without having to wait the years it takes naturally. The woman in the stories of the duo sanguine was supposed to be one of those Draculs.”
The concept was news to Krinla. There weren’t even stories that hinted it might be possible.
“And you think I have that ability? Of course you do, since you think I’m that woman for some reason. What if I don’t, and whatever process you think I’m supposed to go through kills him?”
Krinla didn’t wait for an answer to her first question before she shared her newest fear. Krinton hadn’t done enough to convince her his idea was right. It was way too easy to poke holes in the notion she and Hunter were somehow destined to be connected.
“I guess it’s a good thing the decision is up to him too. Think about it, though. You’ve already pointed out how weak humans are. If you drain the blood out of him and replace it with blood that’s run through your system, his body would transform.”
Krinla’s mouth dropped open as she glared at her father. “Two things.” She held up one finger as her body started to tremble. “Draining all of his blood out of him would kill him.” The second finger went up and Krinla thought she could’ve easily added four or five more points to make, but the two would be good enough. “You said only certain Draculs could perform the thing you just described, but any Dracul could drain someone’s blood and replace it.”
There was no way Krinla would go through with the exchange. Krinla wanted to somehow hurt Krinton for even suggesting such a thing. She’d made it clear that she liked Hunter, and yet her father just told her to kill him.
“Not every Dracul has the right enzymes to make it work. As you said, just draining the blood would kill a human. You, my dear, have the ability to bring them back to life as one of us.”
It was an insane idea, and Krinla had had enough of listening to her father relay children stories and farfetched ideas. She turned around, opened the door and walked out of the room, hopeful that the people they’d left in the other room hadn’t decided to join her father in lunacy.
Chapter Sixteen
When Krinla got back to the room they were first in, she verified Hunter was okay and made her way to Rya, who had taken a seat at one of the desks and was spinning around
in a chair. Hunter looked like he was in a deep discussion with his father. Krinla hoped the elder man was talking his son out of doing anything stupid.
“What do you think he told me?” Krinla asked Rya as she put both of her palms on the desk between the two of them.
Rya stopped spinning and looked behind Krinla as she smiled sweetly. “That you and Hunter are the duo sanguine and you’re able to turn him into a Dracul. I’m sure there were other things said, but I think that’s what you’re looking for.”
The response wasn’t said quietly, so it wasn’t surprising Hunter was quick to join the conversation. Krinla would’ve preferred he not get involved, but like everything else, she wasn’t about to get her way.
“What?”
It wasn’t clear whether the emotion behind the one word was shock or excitement. It for sure didn’t feel like it had the right amount of horror mixed in.
“How do you know that, Rya?” Hunter needed to be filled in on what they were talking about, but Krinla’s question was more important.
“I know you think that’s an important question, but the only thing you need to be considering is when you’re going to do it. The sooner he’s a Dracul and has some training, the sooner we can get home and take care of business.”
“How do you know that, Rya?” Krinla repeated.
The little girl hadn’t lost her smile or a shimmer that seemed to be changing the red in her eyes between lighter and darker colors. Krinla hoped her own eyes were burning like fire to make sure her irritation wasn’t missed.
“I prefer not to say with the humans around. There is such a thing as too much information where they’re concerned.”
“Can you read minds?” Krinla tried to project the question with her thoughts as a test.
It was the only thing Krinla could come up with to explain how Rya knew some of the things she did. It wasn’t unheard of, but Krinla hadn’t ever met someone who could do it. At least she hoped that was the case.
Rya’s smile widened even more as she nodded her head slightly. The reply shouldn’t have comforted Krinla as much as it did, but it made her feel better about Rya knowing more than she did.
“Do you believe what he said?”
Krinla wasn’t sure how much Rya’s opinion meant, but she was curious how much she bought into the craziness. The girl had already said Krinla needed to hurry up and change Hunter, so clearly she thought it was possible.
“That’s a question I like. Since I’m sure Hunter doesn’t know what we’re talking about, maybe we should fill him in on what the duo sanguine is.”
“I’d like to know what you’re talking about.”
Hunter had moved closer to where Krinla was talking to Rya and ended up directly behind Krinla. Judging by the heat radiating from him, there was less than a hand of space between them.
Krinla spun around so she could face him, moving a little too quickly for the human she planned on talking to. He reached out and grabbed her shoulders to steady himself. She was the one who’d moved, but he was the one swaying from it.
“First, I’d like to know how old you are. You thought I was a child when we met, and I’m trying to figure out if it’s normal for adults to kiss children in your culture.”
The question came out of nowhere. Yes, Krinla was curious about his age, but it didn’t matter. At least not to Krinla. The way Hunter looked down, slightly embarrassed, told her that it could make a different to him.
“I know I acted like I was a lot older than you, but if you were serious about being almost eighteen, I’m only a couple years older than you.”
The skin around his cheeks turned pink. For the first time in her life, Krinla saw someone flush.
“To add to what he just said, we have very strict laws about how old children have to be before adults can kiss them. I assumed since your father didn’t attack him, you were of consenting age.”
Krinla looked towards Noah, who was standing around the same spot he’d been talking with Hunter privately. She didn’t understand some of what he said, so she tilted her head to try to figure out why he was smiling.
“I don’t know what consenting age is, but my father thinks we’re a couple that Draculs tell stories about in our time, so he wouldn’t stop Hunter from doing whatever he wants to me.”
The statement could’ve been exaggerated, but Krinla was fairly certain Krinton had a lot of leeway when it came to Hunter. He’d already shared that he saw them bonded in a very intimate and dangerous way, so the kissing was light in the grand scheme of things.
“Really?”
Hunter’s question brought Krinla’s eyes back to him. His father had looked at her peculiar, but Hunter didn’t seem as bothered by what she’d said.
“I’m sure he’d make everyone leave the room if you started taking my clothes off, but he wouldn’t stop you.”
Hunter shook his head. “I wasn’t asking about that, although I do find that a little disturbing. Your people actually tell stories about us?”
Krinla felt her forehead scrunch up. It was confusing to her what he was focused on.
“Krinla doesn’t believe you’re the couple, but I do, and yes, we have stories about you.”
Krinton didn’t hesitate to fill the silence while Krinla tried to figure out why Hunter was excited. Krinla needed to find an ally, but it seemed like it was going to be difficult. Instead of finding someone to back her up, she focused on disproving the idea.
“It’s impossible for it to be us if there are stories written about the couple before I was even born.”
Krinla didn’t understand why her father couldn’t see the obvious problems with his idea. Someone in the room had to be logical. Krinla just had to wait for them to step up and help prove her point.
“Why does that make it impossible?”
Hunter was ready to believe the story, even if it made no sense. Krinla hoped she could make him see sense before they got to the part about making him a Dracul.
“The stories I’ve heard all happened long before I was born. I don’t have to explain how it’s impossible I was involved, right?”
Krinla felt she was repeating herself. Hunter seemed like he should be smart enough to understand how crazy the idea was, but the look on his face that said he was waiting for something more told her he was caught up in the idea.
“How far before you were born are we talking? We’re currently standing over three centuries before you were born, so I’m not sure what the problem is.”
Hunter’s words took a second to sink in. As Krinla thought about them, she looked over to her father.
“He wants me to kill you. Can you rationalize that?”
Krinla had been counting on the timing issue being enough to deter the crazy talk. She hadn’t thought there’d be a convenient way to get around it. The whole time travel thing was still something she was trying to get used to.
“Is that how you make me a Dracul?”
The realization that Hunter was a tad unstable started to dawn on Krinla. Thankfully his father seemed to have a little more sense.
“I’m not fond of how we leaped from a cute little fairy tale potentially about you two, to you killing my son. So, how about we take a few steps back and do some more explaining.”
Noah walked across the room and moved Hunter out of Krinla’s reach. It was the move of an intelligent man. Krinla didn’t have any ideas about killing his son, but she didn’t trust that Hunter wouldn’t do something stupid.
She’d enjoyed the way it made her feel to hear him enraged when he saw her hurt and the fire he tried to push into her when they kissed. That didn’t mean she liked that she saw his interest in a new light. A very confusing light.
Hearing about Gyla and the man she was going to marry made Krinla think it was possible for a man and woman to love each other. She had assumed the way she felt was the beginnings of that kind of relationship. Actually stopping to think about it made her realize how foolish that was.
K
rinla wanted to think about something else, so she waited for someone else to do the explaining Noah asked for. She didn’t have anything to say about the subject, unless she could figure out more ways to disprove what her father assumed. If things were up to her, Krinton, Rya and she would take a one-way trip back to their time. Hunter had already said they didn’t have to go back to where Hulin was, so they could avoid the conflict and settle somewhere safe.
Surprisingly, it wasn’t Krinton who started up the conversation. Rya decided she had some things to say.
“I’ve been able to observe people, at least Draculs, when they aren’t putting on fronts or pretending to be other people. I find there’s often a stark difference between how people act if they’re being watched and when they’re with people, and I like to think it’s given me a little insight into what people are thinking.”
Krinla scoffed, bringing the eyes that had focused on Rya over to her momentarily. Knowing that Rya could read minds it was funny to hear her try to come up with a way to explain her great observation skills without coming out and saying she was a telepath.
Rya cleared her throat to get the attention back on her, scowling slightly in Krinla’s direction as she did.
“No matter how they act around others, Draculs do not feel intense emotions you would classify as love with one another. There can be passion and fondness, but we’re a breed that looks out for ourselves over everything else. Krinla has always been different as far as that’s concerned.”
The story wasn’t going the direction Krinla had expected, and she found she didn’t like how Rya decided to explain things.
“Let’s just skip over whatever you think you need to say here.”
There was only a slight smile on Rya’s face that indicated she got the message. That didn’t mean she was going to follow the advice.
“She evokes strong emotions in everyone she meets, which is why she hasn’t been allowed to meet many people, even amongst our kind. At the center of whatever emotion she sets off in a person, there is a deep need to protect her. How someone displays that need is different from person to person, but I’ve never seen the reaction as strong as the one I saw when Hunter found us in the woods.”