by Amber Lynn
“I enjoy the fact that you haven’t opted for the easy way out, but you really would save us both a lot of time and energy if you just believe for a few moments that you and Hunter are the duo sanguine. That’s simple enough to do, isn’t it?”
“I have accepted that as a reality already.”
It was hard to deny there was a reason her and Hunter were drawn to each other and the Beasts were in possession of a book that basically described how they met. The stuff about the leader of the factions was a little harder to swallow, but she’d believed in the idea of the duo sanguine when she’d turned Hunter into a Dracul.
“You’re lying to yourself if you think that’s the truth. If you truly believed you were the duo sanguine, you wouldn’t hesitate to finish the connection between the two of you.”
Krinla sighed in defeat. She felt like things kept spinning around in circles, and she was tired of it. The idea of just running away and keeping two steps in front of Hulin sounded better and better all the time.
“You said I didn’t have to allow him in to fight Hulin. There’s a reason I’d like a little time before we’re connected more than we already are.”
“And why is that, Krinla?”
Like everything else, the analyzing of everything she did and said was getting old. There hadn’t been many direct questions like the one posed, but the looks were enough to let her know there were presumptions being made.
At first, Krinla was sure Rose was another mind reader, but it didn’t seem she had direct access to Krinla’s thoughts like Rya and Hunter did. It was a small comfort, maybe the only one she actually had during their fun training session.
“Because I just turned eighteen and realized that I have never really lived a day in my life. There were so many things going on around me that I had no clue about, but should have. I’d like some time to be able to think for myself and figure out what all of this means without someone else providing constant input.”
“You don’t have to connect in the way you think to accept that you’re the duo sanguine. What you want is possible for as long as you want, but you have to accept that he is your other half.”
Krinla lifted her arms up in the air and tilted her head to the side, trying to indicate she was ready for more information on the subject. Rose seemed to have a habit of saying something and abruptly stopping when the key part of it should’ve been said. It was like she expected Krinla to interrupt and was giving her a chance, but all Krinla wanted was the key parts of the conversation that kept being forgotten.
“What’s the first word you think of when you think of Hunter?”
The question got the eye roll it warranted before Krinla answered. “Warmth.” She could have easily come up with four or five words, but warmth was always the word she initially associated with hearing Hunter’s name.
“Really?” For the first time it seemed Krinla had actually shocked Rose. “Why’s that?”
“Because he makes me feel warm. Isn’t that obvious?”
“I guess when he was a human he felt like fire to you, so that makes sense.”
It was odd that Rose was trying to rationalize the simple answer. It clearly wasn’t what she expected.
“I suppose, but he makes me feel warm even now that his skin is generally the same temperature as mine. It’s not a feeling on the outside. It’s something in here.”
Krinla lifted her right hand up and put it on her chest. There was no magic beating of her heart, but since being with Hunter, she felt like she actually had one.
“You love him?”
It was hard to tell whether the words were meant as a statement or a question. Krinla heard enough inflection that she thought Rose was asking rather than telling.
“I told you I accepted the fact that we’re the duo sanguine. It’s not like I could admit I was part of the only love story I’ve ever read if I didn’t think I was in love.”
“Does Hunter know this?”
For as observant as Rose seemed to want people to think she was, it was clear she didn’t pick up a lot if she had to ask that question. Krinla waited to respond to see if she’d figure it out on or own or announce she was kidding. Instead of either of those two options, she remained staring at Krinla with an expectant look on her face.
“He can read my mind, so I’m pretty sure he’s well aware of my feelings when it comes to him.”
Krinla wasn’t exactly happy about that, but it was easier than trying to vocalize the feelings she didn’t understand. Rose reached out and grabbed Krinla’s arm forcefully and started heading in the direction of the door. Krinla wasn’t prepared for the move and felt a little of the pent up frustration she’d been feeling start a fire that raced up her arm to try to burn the offending hand away. Rose didn’t seem to care as she flung her free hand in the air to command the locked door to spring open.
“As proud as I am that you finally learned to do more than burn your dress, we have bigger fish to fry.”
Chapter Thirty-five
Krinla knew where they were going without being told. It wasn’t like there were a lot of places Rose could have in mind. The woman had a singular focus and hadn’t bothered to try to extinguish the flames still tickling her arm. Krinla decided since she didn’t like how she was being dragged around, she wasn’t going to try to put out the fire.
“Are you okay?” Hunter asked the question before he even got a look at whose arm was suffering the most from the flames.
The fire didn’t hurt Krinla, and she suspected Rose wasn’t bothered by it either. It wasn’t really hot or cold and there was no stench of burning flesh weaving its way behind them.
“Why are you blocking her?” Rose asked without allowing Krinla to answer the question directed at her.
“The fire’s mine, so it doesn’t even tickle.”
Rose and Krinla had stopped in the doorway of the room where Hunter had been allowed to hang out by himself. It was nothing more than four stone walls with a brown couch to sit on, but it was a place for him to get away from the stares. Krinla wasn’t exactly sure how she knew that information. She supposed it was just something she inferred finding him by himself in a room.
“I know the fire’s yours. I’m worried about the fact that there’s been times I’ve been afraid you’d crumble this castle to the ground with all your frustration.”
“Why. Are. You. Blocking. Her?” Rose asked again, spacing every word out so they were perfectly enunciated.
“Krinla, why don’t you come over here and let that fire die down?” Hunter waved his right hand to beckon Krinla over to him.
He seemed set on ignoring Rose, which was fine by Krinla. The woman’s voice was the only thing Krinla had to concentrate on for two cycles, and she was happy to speak with someone she actually liked.
“I said, why are you blocking her?” As Rose yelled, she let go of Krinla’s arm and thrust her arms in front of her, sending Hunter out of his seat on the couch and up against the wall.
“Stop that,” Krinla didn’t know what to do, so she physically reached out and threw Rose against the wall opposite them.
The force was more than what Rose had used on Hunter, because the wall shuddered and chunks of stone fell to the floor. Krinla could care less about the other woman as she rushed over to make sure Hunter was okay. He’d straightened himself up and was dusting off his pants as he shook his head.
“Are you okay?” Krinla asked, making sure to convey her concern in her eyes.
“I think I already asked you that.” Hunter ran his hand across the side of her head and pushed her long black hair behind her right ear.
“I wasn’t just assaulted. I didn’t hear anything break, but maybe we should go get you some blood to make sure there’s no bruising.”
Krinla reached out and started running her fingers through his hair. She wasn’t sure why she had that exact reaction, knowing that Hunter couldn’t be hurt from the toss against the wall. It felt right to try to comfort him and his mem
ories told her that was the way to do it.
Hunter reached up and grabbed her right hand to stop her semi-frantic gesture. She’d glared at Rose so many times that the look was practically frozen on her face, but she did her best not to look at Hunter like he was about to lose his hand for stopping her.
“But you did just try to catch someone on fire and flung them across the room hard enough to shatter the wall without even touching them.”
Krinla shook her head. “I touched her.”
“I know I was a little surprised by my own unexpected flight, but I saw things pretty clearly, and you were at least an inch from touching her.”
“I’m currently not feeling all that agreeable when it comes to Hunter, but he’s right. You didn’t touch me. You saw what I did and replicated it with a little more punch.”
Krinla didn’t bother looking over her shoulder to where Rose had righted herself and was walking closer to the couple. If Krinla had thrown the woman without touching her, it was a good idea for her to keep a safe distance away.
“So, does that mean you’re ready to go fight Hulin? I plan to ask if he’ll let me fight in your place, but I would really like to get things over with.”
Hunter’s words echoed Krinla’s own feelings, at least as far as getting things over with. As far as the offer to fight for her, it wasn’t unexpected, but judging by how she’d reacted to him getting pushed around, it was best she fight the battle.
“She could’ve been ready days ago if you weren’t blocking her. It took me flinging you out of the way for her to let her power unleash.” The harshness in Rose’s voice wasn’t going anywhere as long as she kept bringing up the topic of blocking.
It seemed like a topic Hunter still wanted to ignore, but it wasn’t likely going anywhere. Krinla didn’t want to see what she’d do if Rose tried to hurt Hunter again, so she decided they may as well get it out of the way.
“What’s she talking about?”
Hunter smiled and leaned forward to kiss Krinla’s forehead. “Something that’s none of her business.”
“It is my business if I just spent two days trying to train someone who didn’t need the basic training I thought she did. You two have already bloody connected and you’re blocking her from knowing about it.”
Krinla knew it wasn’t a moment to laugh about, but she couldn’t help feel chuckles bubbling up because of how mad Rose was. She was surprised her father and Rya hadn’t shown up to make sure she wasn’t in danger.
“It’s not funny. We just wasted two days when all he had to do was quit being a pansy about letting you know your bond is well and truly in place. I’m hoping that’s the reason he’s been an idiot about how important this connection is and there isn’t some devious plot going on behind those red eyes of his.”
It was difficult not to lash out again at Rose. Either she didn’t know how thin the line she was straddling was or she just didn’t care. Whichever it was, Krinla thought it was pretty clear she was the one being an idiot.
“I thought you wrote all sorts of prophecies about us. How in the world is he doing something you don’t already know about?”
The subject of whatever Hunter was supposedly hiding from her needed to be discussed, but Krinla was more concerned about Rose’s supreme overreaction. The woman had already lashed out once. Krinla wouldn’t let it happen again on her watch.
“It’s clear you haven’t read most of the stories, because they are limited in details. Knowing that you guys connected before you came back wasn’t something anyone foresaw. He’s got it blocked so well that I didn’t feel the power I knew you’d eventually have until the second you pushed me.”
Krinla studied Hunter’s face, curious to see if it would change at all during the allegations. He still had his hand cradling the back of her head and looked like he was just waiting for her reaction.
“I don’t understand the whole connection thing. I know it happened for you immediately, because of your ventures into my thoughts, but I don’t remember anything changing after we woke up from that dream.”
It wasn’t hard to quickly flip through the catalog of events Krinla had in her mind from the moment she met Hunter. Just thinking about all their little moments brought a smile to her face. The sound of skin slapping against skin finally took Krinla’s eyes away from Hunter. Rose had her eyes covered with her left hand.
“It makes sense, but it also means he’s stronger than we expected.”
Krinla’s forehead scrunched as she tried to figure out what she was missing. She turned back to see Hunter smiling in a way she thought meant he wasn’t sure he should be.
“I’m not as strong as she is. She can do whatever she wants at any time, as you experienced for yourself a few minutes ago.” Hunter winked at Krinla before he continued. “She’s just made it clear she doesn’t want to deal with me in her head along with everything else going on, so I make it so she doesn’t have to.”
“But you’re strangling her power,” Rose said before Krinla could comment.
Hunter shrugged and took the hand from her head so he could reach down and hold her hand. He squeezed gently as he prepared to speak.
“As far as I’m concerned, what Krinla wants, Krinla gets. I know she told you earlier about her desire to feel in control of her life. That desire was strong when she drained my body of blood and as my world rebooted and things started to make sense, I found a way to make sure she didn’t have to feel me crawling around in her head and wouldn’t feel forced into making decisions based on what I was thinking.”
“You’re saying you can hijack her powers.” Rose sounded like she was in disbelief.
Hunter didn’t bother answering her as he watched Krinla for the reaction to what he had to say. Krinla didn’t know what was going on, so her face remained as neutral as possible.
“Obviously if you ever wanted or needed anything, you would’ve had immediate access to anything you wanted.”
“And you didn’t think to let those reins go even once while I was in there trying to get her to create fire? It’s because of you she has scorch marks all over her clothes.”
It was hard to tell if Rose was mad about what Hunter did or her failure to get anything done over the two cycles. There really wasn’t any reason to fault Hunter. Rose had gone on and on about how whatever training she had planned would make it so Krinla didn’t need to worry about the connection she was avoiding. Krinla wasn’t sure if that was possible, since Rose had gone off about Hunter’s interference.
“When she wanted the power, she had it. It’s not our fault you didn’t pick up on things. For someone with as much power as you think you have, you would’ve thought it’d be easy for you.” With his connection to her thoughts, Hunter was quick to put her ramblings into words.
“Listen here, you little upstart. I’ve spent most of my life waiting to serve the only person capable of bringing the factions back together so we can live as one instead of all these little groups. I’m trying to teach her ways to get through the first hurdle she faces. You have no idea what’s in store for you.”
The ominous prediction sounded like Rose was trying to get back at them for her wasted time. It seemed childish to immediately turn to some vague threat about the future.
“I can’t help all the years it sounds like you sat around doing nothing, but I’m not keeping you from helping Krinla. I already told you that if she wanted to do the little tasks you’re trying to get her to do, she’d do them. Maybe it’s time you learn to be an adaptive teacher and try something a little more challenging.”
Krinla wasn’t sure how much she appreciated the challenge thrown down in her corner. She felt he had a point about the fire in the palm of her hand being a little weak, but for someone who had no experience with magic aside from her diary, fire did seem like a pretty big step.
“If that’s how you want to play it, let’s have a little fun.” It was clear from Rose’s voice that she had a particular revenge plan ready to go.<
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Chapter Thirty-six
“What did you do with him?” Krinla screamed at Rose as she pinned her against a wall with her forearm pushed into the woman’s throat.
Right after Rose threatened some kind of game, Hunter disappeared from the room and Krinla’s radar in general. For cycles, the Dracul had been able to feel the man who somehow completed her, so the sudden lack of even his smell infuriated her. The woman causing that anger was getting a firsthand feel of the anger looking for a way to escape Krinla’s body.
The smile on Rose’s face didn’t portray the real danger the woman was in. She may have made it through the five hundred years she claimed without a real threat of death, but Krinla was planning exactly where to start when she tore her body apart. Her arms seemed like the logical place to start since she seemed to wave them around anytime she wanted to use her magic.
“I would never hurt the man you love, Krinla. He’s the one who said you needed a bigger challenge.”
It was difficult for Rose to talk with the arm in her throat, but she managed to rasp out the words. Hearing what she had to say only made Krinla push harder on her windpipe and growl in the woman’s face.
“Bring him back, right now!”
Krinla was in a state of mind that would’ve made it easy for her to imagine things, which was exactly what she thought she was doing when she felt the walls around them shake from the timbre of her voice. When she’d thought about ripping Rose apart, she had originally thought about doing it with her arms, but the desire to sink her fangs into her and tear her flesh away was an idea growing on her.
“No,” Rose said defiantly.
Her eyes were slightly spooky as they retained the gold shimmers that Krinla had only seen specks of here and there. With the added pressure on her throat, Rose shouldn’t have been able to speak, but her lips moved and words somehow came out.
“We’ve played around long enough. It seems it’s only when he’s threatened that you call on the powers he’s keeping from you, so use them to find him.”