by Amber Lynn
Before Krinla could ask what he was talking about, he leaned down, nudging her face slightly with his nose so he could land his lips on hers. Krinla drew in a breath as her pulse started racing. She didn’t have a pulse, but her mind thought of it in those terms. The kiss was different than it was when Hunter was still human.
She let her guard down when the moisture from his lips touched her, making her knees almost buckle as an onslaught of feelings invaded her. Hunter had to wrap his arms around her to keep her upright. His lips transformed into a smile against hers just before he raised his head and kissed her nose.
“See how fun it can be if you don’t try to block me out?” Instead of stepping back and giving her a little space, Hunter wrapped his arms around her and stared down into her eyes.
Krinla didn’t know what to think. Her mind was trying to figure out all the feelings of love and hate she found intruding from the kiss. The love was all about her, but it was the hate she understood more. Hunter had various things he seemed to hate, but it was Hulin that was the focus of his aggression.
“This isn’t how it is between Draculs. I haven’t been allowed to observe a lot of relationships, but we don’t feel each other like this.”
Krinla mainly only had her parents to base her knowledge of marriage on, and of course the laws she’d read on the topic. Even with marriages often preordained, Krinla thought for sure people grew closer together. Of course, she’d basically vowed to kill her destined husband, but her situation with Hulin was different.
“You know as well as I do that we aren’t regular Draculs. I’m surprised you decided to even acknowledge that I am one.”
“You have fangs. I may still be trying to pass this off as nothing more than an odd dream, but it’s hard to explain those away.”
Hunter’s tongue made an appearance as he opened his mouth slightly and ran it along his newest teeth. They were bright white and longer than Krinla had expected. Even Krinton’s weren’t quite as deadly looking, and his were the longest she’d ever seen.
“You’d think they’d get in the way of kissing, but they don’t, do they?”
The conversation was getting a little away from the topic they were supposed to be focused on. The undeniable fact that if they both hadn’t died, they were indeed the duo sanguine. There was no other explanation for what was going on. Krinla knew that, she just didn’t want to admit it.
“Then let’s not talk about it,” Hunter said, breaking into her thoughts. “We have plenty of other things to figure out.”
Krinla hadn’t mentioned the other key change that went along with his fangs. The red eyes looking back at her were vastly different than the blue ones she’d grown used to. His skin was still darker than the pale skin of a normal Dracul and his hair wasn’t black, but the fangs and eyes were enough that one couldn’t question what he was.
“Are you able to read my mind now?”
Like with Rya, it wasn’t something that really needed to be asked. It was clear he could pick up what she was thinking.
“It’s going to make you teaching me how to fight fun, right?” There was a wicked twinkle in Hunter’s eyes that Krinla knew meant trouble. “And you’d know what that trouble was if you’d let your guard down like you did when we kissed.”
Krinla was too busy slowly taking everything in to drop her usual defenses. Hunter seemed to know everything and she was struggling to first see him in Dracul clothing, then the fangs and eyes. His whole world had changed, and yet he had no problem moving forward.
“Your world is changing just as much as mine. As much as Krinton wants to shield you from others, he’s not going to be able to anymore. They will feel our connection the second we go back there. Some will have trouble accepting it, but they will.”
“Not all of them will.”
Even if she could admit her attempt to turn Hunter into a Dracul was successful, she couldn’t move around the fact that it meant he’d have to fight Hulin for her. Whether they were the duo sanguine or not, Hulin wouldn’t take his claim being stripped away lying down.
Hunter lifted one of his hands and brushed black strands of hair from Krinla’s face. Instead of putting the hand back behind her back, he ran it down her face and wrapped his fingers around her neck. She could feel the sharpness of elongated fingernails prick her skin slightly.
Krinla inhaled at the bit of pain it caused. It wasn’t enough to worry about, but it was the first time pain excited her.
“Sorry about that. Even though you think I’m getting along fine with the changes, it does take some getting used to.” Hunter paused to close his eyes before he started back up. “We’re still sleeping, but I can hear the heartbeats of the goons outside our door echoing in my head. How do you get any rest with the world around you so alive?”
Hunter’s grip on her neck had lessened, but his hand remained in place. Krinton had been a somewhat affectionate father, especially when Krinla was smaller, so she wasn’t totally unused to being touched. It had been a long time since touch from someone else had made her feel happy and safe. Since they were in an unfamiliar place and time, Krinla should’ve felt anything other than safe.
“Do I even have to say anything? It seems like you can carry on the conversation pretty well without verbal input on my part.”
He’d requested help to figure out part of his new reality, but Krinla was stuck on what that reality meant for her. It was bad enough Rya dove into her thoughts. Since Krinla had experienced much of Hunter’s life as she drained the life out of him, it was hypocritical for her to be upset he could easily read her, but she wanted to keep some things to herself.
“And you will be able to once we get everything figured out. First, we should probably wake up and get to the training part of my change. I know I can pick up a lot from you, but the sooner you feel better about us going back, the better.”
“You mentioned something about what’s going to happen next. Maybe you can fill me in on exactly what you think that is before we wake up.”
If Krinla didn’t like what he said, she figured she could pretend it was nothing more than a dream. The fact that Draculs didn’t dream was something easily overlooked.
“That’s another question you don’t need to ask. I know what he made you do now,” Hunter said as he let the hand around her neck travel down until it settled in the middle of her chest.
Krinla thought for a second she heard her own heartbeat, causing her to take an inhale of breath. His hand then moved down to her scarred wrist.
“As if that wasn’t enough, he marred your perfect skin. At this point, I don’t think I have to prove your claim on me trumps the one he thinks he has on you, but I’m hoping he challenges me anyway.”
“My claim on you?”
It didn’t sound any better coming out of Krinla’s mouth. Men claimed women in their culture. Even as the king’s daughter, Krinla didn’t have a right to pick who she spent the rest of her life with.
Hunter tilted his head to the side again and rotated it so Krinla could see what he’d more than likely been trying to show her since the first time he tilted it. Without him moving his neck, she wouldn’t have been able to see the two tiny circular marks on his neck.
“I don’t understand.”
The statement had many meanings. The duo sanguine thing and what seemed to come along with that was something she still needed to wrap her head around. There wasn’t a question about that, but there was a big question as far as how in the world Hunter knew about the marks when Krinla could barely see them.
“I know it’s hard to remember, but you did technically kill me. We don’t have time to go through exactly what death felt like for the brief moment I experienced it. I do understand what people mean by out of body experience, though.”
Hunter’s answer didn’t make any sense, and Krinla had to concede that was how things were going to be in her life for a while. There was too much going on for her to comprehend everything, but it would’ve been nic
e if she understood at least half of it.
“One of these days, I’m sure that will make sense.”
Krinla shook her head, realizing she’d used Hunter’s term for a cycle instead of what she’d called them all her life. She appreciated being able to understand him, but she hadn’t expected to immediately start talking like him.
“It’s kind of fun that the learning process for us has been simplified. When you didn’t know what a TV was earlier, I was sure we’d have to spend all our time just learning culture kind of stuff. Now we can jump right into what we need to do to get back to our time and start our life together.”
The hope in Hunter’s voice was hard to miss. Krinla wasn’t so sure their path to a life together was going to be as easy as he thought. Before they could go down that path, there was the whole issue of waking up to deal with. Krinla had tried a few times to wake herself, but had remained in their little dream world.
Laughter filled the cloudy area around them. “Fine, let’s wake up and see what your father has to say about the new developments.”
Chapter Twenty-four
It took Krinla a few more seconds, but arms squeezing around her brought her into consciousness fairly quickly. The whole idea of safety seemed to be even stronger when she could feel Hunter’s entire body around her. They’d moved while they were sleeping so that he was spooning her, another term she’d never heard of, but understood because of their connection.
“There was a time in my culture that if our parents found us in bed together, it meant we’d have to get married. I guess that doesn’t matter in our case since that way of thinking hasn’t been popular for a while, but waking up with you made me think of it.”
“You say some of the weirdest things,” Rya said from across the room.
Krinla was thinking the same thing, but hearing the intrusion on what she thought should’ve been a private moment caused her to scurry to sit up in bed. At some point a blanket had found its way on top of them, so she pulled that up with her, like she was protecting her modesty or something.
Her clothes hadn’t disappeared during her nap, so there was nothing to cover. It just felt wrong to have other people around. Hunter didn’t seem to have the same problem as he slowly moved up to sit next to her, pretending to wipe the sleep from his eyes as he did.
“Good morning, Rya and Krinton. I guess it’s not really morning, but you get the idea.”
“I’d say it’s the dawn of the new day,” Krinton responded to Hunter. “As soon as you were both out, we thought it best if we monitor things to make sure nothing went wrong. From what I can tell, you seem to be in fine shape.”
Krinla looked over at the man sharing the bed with her. Since he hadn’t pulled the blanket up, she could see the shirt he’d been wearing hadn’t transformed into a Dracul dress. Not everything about the dream was true, but the red eyes and fangs hadn’t changed.
Sitting forward, she moved his face to the side and looked at his neck. If they would’ve remained in the position they’d fallen asleep in, she wouldn’t need to crane her neck. It only took her a second to verify the marks she saw in the dream were still there. In the dream, they seemed to almost glow, which wasn’t far from what Krinla saw. The pale skin where her teeth had once been starkly contrasted with his golden skin.
“I’m in fine shape. Krinla could probably use some food, but she isn’t about to admit that.”
Krinla let go of his head and narrowed her eyes as she glared at him. “Can you hear everyone, or just me?”
She hadn’t been thinking about food, but he’d proven, at the very least in dreams, he could pick up her thoughts. Krinla didn’t want to be in anyone’s head, and if there was a chance she’d be able to pick up everyone’s thoughts, she was going to fight what was going on even more than she already was.
“So that part of the story is true?”
Every eye in the room turned towards Krinton. Krinla didn’t bother getting rid of the glare, because the words deserved it just as much as anything Hunter had said.
“What do you mean that part of the story is true? You never told me anything about the duo sanguine being able to read each other’s minds.”
If Krinla would’ve known about that fact, she would’ve waited to get to know Hunter a little better without the threat of knowing everything he was thinking at the moment. The only stories she knew growing up were about two or three little adventures the duo sanguine went on.
They were silly tales of the couple interacting with the other factions and uncovering species of animals others didn’t know still existed. Finding a bear out in the forest was nothing like saying they could read minds.
“And to make sure your question doesn’t go unanswered, your connection is limited to you two, so don’t worry about the headaches that come with having to listen to everyone moan and groan about every little thing,” Rya said.
She rolled her eyes to emphasize how annoying she thought the ability was. At least she and Krinla could agree on something.
No one seemed to jump on the issue of what Krinton knew about the duo sanguine that hadn’t been shared. Krinla figured everyone else in the room knew more about the subject than she did, so she let her eyes drift to the other three people to see who would be the first to fill her in.
She doubted there was a way for her to undo what had been done, so it didn’t make sense they all just sat or stood around smiling at her. Rya’s smile instilled the most fear. Krinla didn’t think it was possible for a person, or maybe just a Dracul, to smile widely enough that it literally went from ear to ear, but the little girl was doing her best to creep Krinla out.
Looking at Hunter, Krinla didn’t think he was the ultimate source of duo sanguine knowledge. He knew more than her because he was already using the whole mind-reading thing, but if he couldn’t read Krinton’s mind, there was a limitation to his knowledge. That left Krinla with her eyes settling on her father.
His smile was difficult to read. It widened when her focus was totally on him, but he was slow to fill her in on what she wanted to know. Even when he attempted to, it wasn’t in a way that was helpful.
“Stories about the duo sanguine have never been told.”
When Krinla opened her mouth to correct him, Krinton held out his hand to keep her quiet. She thought about defying the silent command, but decided it was best to hear him out before she called him out on the claim.
“Don’t get me wrong. Every Dracul is told stories about the couple when they’re children, but those stories are made up.” There was a slight apologetic lift of his shoulders and tilt of his head. “My father started sharing the stories long before I was born. He was always vague about where he heard about them when I asked, but before he died, he told me the truth. The couple would one day exist, but they hadn’t during his lifetime.”
“How in the world would he know that?” Krinla asked, surprised everyone else in the room wasn’t asking the same question.
As far as she knew, her grandfather couldn’t see the future. Unlike the hearing other people’s thoughts, that wasn’t even an ability rumored to exist in Draculs.
“My dad’s going to tell him, isn’t he?”
There was a hint of excitement in Hunter’s voice that drew Krinla’s eyes in his direction. His response to her scrutiny was a wink. Krinla shook her head and looked back to Krinton for confirmation.
Krinton nodded. “That’s why I know your father’s name. I never knew it was Krinla involved, but I did know it was someone from the future who traveled back. When I heard how she reacted to you and that you were in our time, I knew exactly what was going on.”
The sentiment was one that had partially been shared, so Krinla focused on something else. It was clear to her that it would be a long time before any confusion was worked out.
“Why would anyone make up stories about the duo sanguine? If they didn’t exist, why bother talking about them?”
“It was the only way to introduce the concept
of love to people who didn’t believe in it. Even in this time, Draculs don’t believe two people can actually care about each other. There’s occasionally someone like Gyla who idealistically believes in the concept, but they don’t understand what love really is.”
The tinge of sadness that tried to work its way into Krinton’s eyes told Krinla that he wasn’t unaware of what love actually meant. He had mentioned he cared for her mother, but Krinla had to wonder how deep that caring really was.
“I’ve already told you everything you need to know about that subject. There’s more I could say to prove it, but that’s one train of thought I’m not willing to share.”
It didn’t seem Rya meant to tease, but that didn’t stop Krinla from wanting to know what the girl knew. With how mouthy Rya was, it was hard to believe there was something she wouldn’t talk about. She’d had no problem sharing the scattered thoughts going through Krinla’s head.
Krinton sighed. “Are we talking about your mother again?”
He was staring at Krinla, but the question could be directed to either of the females in the room. That made it funny to hear Hunter answer the question.
“There are a lot of questions surrounding what exactly happened with your wife, but I’m of the opinion that they can wait until we get back to our time and take care of the problems running through the Dracul populace. From what I’ve seen, Hulin is just as bad as the virus killing humans in this time.”
As far as Krinla knew, no one had died, but she figured that wasn’t exactly what Hunter was getting at. She did agree that her questions about her mother could wait until things made sense.
“What’s going to happen when we try to walk out of this room and the guards get a look at you?”
Krinla wanted to be the voice of reason as they started making plans. It felt odd to leave the various strings of conversation they had unfinished, but nothing was getting solved as they sat around.