Sacred Blood

by Alys B. Cohen

  He put his arm around her waist, helping her stand up. “From now on, always.”

  Outside room three, Juliette pulled Tristan's head down and gave him a quick kiss, and pretending her own action hadn't happened, she turned the knob and pushed the door open. Six heads spun her way.

  "I know we're checked in for a couple nights, but let us not waste time. Let's leave in the morning."

  "Juliette, no, you need rest!" Gabrielle protested.

  Jareth narrowed his eyes. "We? I thought she was leaving."

  "I'm staying now to annoy you, Jareth," Juliette said sarcastically. “You have no reason to hate me, so lay off.”

  "Come on, let's take a break," Emma quickly suggested, obviously hoping to head off an argument. "Two days and then we’ll go on."

  "You stay if you want. I'm leaving by nine. Nathaniel may know we are here because of me, but I have an idea where the coven might be. You can join me tomorrow, or we'll meet up later. I'm not losing more time than today. I need to go get some sleep now." She turned around, touched Tristan's cheek with a small smile, and left.

  For a moment nobody moved. Ash broke the silence. "What just happened?"

  "She's not a part of any 'we'!"

  "Shut up, Jareth."

  "No, you shut up, Will!"

  "She's over being mad already?"

  "So what do we do?

  Five voices tried talking over each other sometimes to no one. In mere seconds, a minor pandemonium broke out while Tristan and Gabrielle watched.

  Gabrielle walked into the middle and caught the fist Jareth was throwing at Ash. In an instant, the noise died. "Sit down now. Violence is not the answer." She waited until her order had been obeyed. "Tristan, what happened?"

  He crossed his arm and leaned against the wall. "Well, we sort of made up, I think. I didn’t know she had plans, but I’m going with her."

  "Oh my god," Emma said. "She forgave you already?"

  “Not exactly. We’re still friends though, so there’s a start.”

  "Pony up on the make-up details, Bro," William demanded.

  "Let that be between them, Will. Stay out of their business," Gabrielle ordered. "I'm also heading to bed. No more fighting. Anyone else who's leaving, be outside by quarter 'til nine."

  * * *

  Morning dawned overcast and cool. Juliette stood in the parking lot with the knapsacks and eight smaller bags of take-out breakfast. As each of the others joined her, she handed them out. Gabrielle silently added items to the canvas sacks. With minutes left until nine, one bag remained untouched.

  "Is Jareth coming?" Juliette shielded her eyes from the wind and stared at his closed door.

  "I don't know," Ash said with a sigh. "He wasn’t in any rush this morning."

  Tristan pulled out his pocket watch. "It's nine. I think we have our answer. So let's go."

  Juliette rubbed her hands together and glanced toward the forest. "This might be the day."

  As with weeks of previous mornings, she walked with each to the spot they would change and left, returning a short time later to retrieve their clothes. William padded toward her for the larger pack.

  As she started to mount Ash, Jareth ran through the trees. Six animals and a human stared in surprise.

  His pace slowed to a walk. "Hang on, let me change."

  "He did that on purpose, didn't he?" she asked the others waiting near her. "Preventing me from asking why he changed his mind."

  The giant bison appeared. Juliette gathered his clothing and put them in the knapsack next to what would have been his breakfast. He kneeled for her to clip it and her bow and quiver into his fur. "I'm glad you're here, Jareth. Everyone is." She patted his large head beside his eye.

  Unlike their days past, they stayed close together, keeping Juliette, the most vulnerable, in the middle. One by one, they located the markers the men in the diner promised would lead the way. Formations shaped crudely as human faces, their noses pointing the direction to the next, had been worn from centuries of weather and were easy to miss. With three kilometers between them and the statues, there was a lot of time to misdirect and get lost.

  Tristan purred softly and nipped at her foot. She smiled and carefully reached down to pat his head.

  Several hours passed and Juliette’s stomach rumbled. But the end of their journey was too near to stop. Forty-two of the forty-four markers were behind them. Crackles throughout the forest kept Juliette on edge. The occasional wind gust cooled her already chilly skin. Softly, hoping she wasn't being too loud, so as not to worry Tristan, she started to sing an aria of her own creation.

  She soon tired of singing and asked, "Are we on the right path? Ash, stop for a sec." Ash stopped to let her off. She pulled out her notebook.

  "Tristan, come over here with me." She walked to a secluded spot several yards away. "Please become human. I'm not going to peek."

  Within seconds, a warm hand took hers. "I wouldn't care if you did. But what do you need? Are you okay?"

  "I'm fine," she said, holding up the map. "We passed the last face-rock thing quite a while ago. Did we go off path?"

  "I thought we went the way the nose part pointed. I'm sort of surprised they exist. What did you ask those men to get this information?"

  "Same as the others. I'm a student studying lore, and they were interested."

  "I was skeptical about that ruse working. I'm glad you were right." He gave her an apologetic half smile.

  "Give me more credit next time. I think we should go back to the last face-rock and make sure we didn't wander off course. Could you find it?"

  "As a panther I can smell our path. So have them follow me."

  "Okay. Tristan?" She smiled.

  "Yes?"

  She answered by kissing him, letting a hand run down his hard chest. She kissed him passionately, tasting him, smelling him, feeling him. His arms wrapped around her, pulling her against him. Her fingers tugged at his hair, separating their mouths enough to trail feather-light kisses toward his jaw. "I like you like this, Tristan," she breathed, moving slightly to graze his ear lobe with her teeth. He gasped with a shiver. Juliette pushed away and batted her lashes.

  "You tease," he whispered, his eyes still unfocused. Tristan leaned against a tree, his legs shaking.

  "Aren't you regretting your rule now? Just think of England." Without giving him the chance to reply, she darted through the trees back to their waiting party. Juliette's hand covered her mouth to stifle her laugh. William’s bear head bumped her hip and he raised his eyebrows. Her shoulders lifted in a shrug.

  A beautiful golden eagle soared toward her and landed on one of Ash's antlers. She hopped up and down.

  Juliette stopped laughing. "Em? Spread both wings if you need to be human and talk to me."

  The eagle’s wings stretched to her sides.

  "Okay, let's go."

  Juliette picked the path to the private location she had been in moments before. The bird set down behind her and became human. “Geez, Em, that always looks painful.”

  "It’s not. Anyway, we're onto something! I can't believe it, but we are!"

  "What do you mean? Did you see?"

  "About a mile north, a bit to the east, three men carried bows, and they--"

  "Em, should the others change back?"

  "I think so. Yes! Can I have my clothes first? I’m cold."

  Juliette grinned broadly and ran to grab the knapsack. "Get ready to walk on two legs!" she ordered, digging for Emma's outfit. One by one, she led them to shielded areas.

  As they finished, they gathered around Juliette and Emma.

  "What's going on?" Gabrielle asked anxiously.

  Emma rubbed her arms. "Okay, I was telling Juliette how a mile or so north and a bit east--"

  "Like I thought, we were a little off, Tristan."

  "--I saw a few men. They weren't dressed anything like us, more like they are a part of the woods. But the weird thing is, they walked together toward a large open area and dis
appeared."

  "What?" Jareth asked. "That doesn't make sense."

  Juliette giggled. “Says the man who can magically turn into a bison.”

  "Check and mate, Mate," Sunil added.

  "Attention on me, please?" Emma insisted. "There's something weirder. I tried to fly to where they went, but I couldn't. Every time I flew, I’d curve around. I changed back to human and walked toward the spot, but it was the same. My feet walked to the left or right. I had no control. The area was huge. I had to go far over the treetops to make a pass over it."

  "Could you find the way back?" Sunil asked.

  "Yes. It's like a big open meadow with only a few trees. Their branches and the ones around them reached toward each other so the meadow doesn't get any sun. The massive canopy they made lets in absolutely no rays of light."

  Clearing her throat, Juliette stepped forward. "The men did say the myth includes the area turning people away, like an invisible wall."

  Tristan heaved a knapsack over his shoulder. "Will, carry the other bag. We'll figure out how to get in when we find it."

  Juliette slung her quiver across her back and carried her bow in her left hand. Tristan squeezed her other hand .

  "Are you ready?" Gabrielle asked. "Here we go."

  Emma led the way. A single-file line followed behind.

  Juliette ran her fingers over a mossy patch on a gigantic tree, more aware of the scent of the forest around her, a combination of sap and dirt. It was clean and refreshed her lungs. Several times, she stepped into holes covered with fallen leaves, but she caught herself before crashing to the spongy ground.

  Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw something large and furry. Instinctively she pulled an arrow from her quiver, nocked, and aimed it, her eyes widening to take in as much as possible. Her heart raced and her breathing slowed.

  "Juliette, what is it?" Tristan asked behind her.

  The line's progression stopped.

  She kept staring in the direction of the phantom animal.

  "Nothing’s out there, Jules," William said, scanning the woods.

  "Yes, there is."

  Ash patted her shoulder. "You’re just on edge."

  "And if something is," Tristan said, "all of us can change in seconds, just like we already talked about."

  "Juliette? The spot is through the trees right up ahead," Emma soothed. "Come over here with me and shoot at it."

  Something was there! I saw it!"

  "Not anymore, Juliette," Jareth said angrily. "Can we keep going, or are you planning to hold us up all day?"

  Juliette pursed her lips. "Think I could shoot an apple off your head?"

  "Probably not," he taunted.

  "Stop, you two," Tristan chastised.

  Juliette sighed and joined Emma with a backward glance toward where an animal had been. Tristan was close behind, staring at the open field.

  "That is strange," he said, pointing to the broad canopy supported by impossibly long branches.

  "Shoot into the middle, Jules," Emma commanded.

  Bow at the ready, Juliette took aim. She released the string, and the arrow glided to the meadow but changed its course, ricocheting against nothing.

  "See? I told you! That’s what happened when I got close too," Emma whispered

  "How did that happen?" Ash marveled.

  From behind Juliette came a loud creaking sound. Expecting one of her friends, she turned around.

  "Oh!" she gasped. A silver-tipped arrow was pointed at her head held by one of many who had silently surrounded them.

  20. Revelation

  "Take her bow," one ghostly pale man said to another. "Who are you?" he demanded of the small group.

  Juliette's heart raced as she glanced around, realizing they were outnumbered. She raised both hands. "I'm, um, I'm Juliette S-St…Claire."

  "Are you a human?" His hunter-green eyes pierced hers.

  She nodded. "Yes."

  The man sneered, baring two rows of bright white teeth with slightly elongated canines. He opened his mouth, and chomped on air, running his tongue along them. “I’m going to eat you up.”

  "Tristan?" she whimpered, her voice raising an octave.

  Tristan glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, then back at who he doubted was human. "Who are you?" he asked with faux bravery.

  "Shut up, Tristan!" Emma hissed from somewhere down the line.

  "Calvin, collect yourself. Tyr has forbidden this." The tallest one used Juliette’s bow as a barrier. "Let us take them to him. He will decide what to do with her."

  "Only she is human," another added. "The rest are our kin."

  Blindly, Juliette reached for Tristan's hand, holding it so tight her knuckles ached.

  Calvin poked her chest with the tip of his arrow. "She is a small, bony human. She wouldn't be missed."

  "I would miss her!" Tristan yanked Juliette away.

  "Another word and I will kill her!"

  The contrast of Nathaniel’s words to her on so many occasions, so similar to Calvin's, and Tristan's attempt to protect her made peace wash over her. She turned her whole head to Tristan, rewarding him with a beaming smile despite their precarious situation.

  "We take them back."

  Calvin sneered and hissed, "Get up! One step out of line, just one…" He pulled the string farther, keeping it aimed between Juliette’s serene eyes. "Follow Majesty."

  One of the strangers started walking and the others followed. Calvin released the tension on his bow, fingers still on the string.

  Juliette reached behind her, trying to find Tristan's hand. He grabbed hers and held on, shaking, but she had a feeling there was not much to fear. Am I right? Or am I still so used to threats that this is normal? She laughed silently.

  Their captors led them to the clearing, but at a certain point, rather than footsteps landing on the empty forestland, they began to walk on a stone path. Small cottages appeared and formed a double semicircle with a larger whitewashed building draped with vines at the center. Though the morning mist burned away and sunlight illuminated the village, no ray of light broke through the glowing green canopy. Hundreds of laughing voices quieted as strangers entered their world. Bodies parted to allow the newcomers passage. Whispers began, quiet at first, but growing louder with excitement. Juliette heard "human" muttered several times.

  The pace quickened and the broad doors of the small stone castle opened. They followed though the doorway and into a large hall. Crystal windows decorated the walls on two sides, an unexpected sight compared to the almost solid front. Some were brilliant stained glass of abstract images. Wrought iron formed swirled patterns in each of them.

  They continued through, into a smaller room with a massive oak throne. On it sat a man who appeared to be a human of about 60 years. He wore a silver silk tunic. A grey wolf fur cloak hung from his shoulder. With his heavy brows and long white hair, he was an intimidating vision.

  Juliette looked at her companions, each visibly shaken. She alone was composed. Her unexpected demeanor did not escape notice.

  "Who are you?" the frightening one asked her.

  With a steady gaze, she replied, "I am Juliette St. Claire, sir."

  "Are you not frightened?" The man tilted his head to the side. "You are a human and have the greatest to fear. Most vampires would like you as a snack."

  "Vampires? We were searching for upiórs. If I should be frightened, then I suppose I don't know enough to realize it."

  The man stared hard at Juliette. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they were trained on someone to Tristan's left.

  "Who are you?"

  "I am Gabrielle Caldecott, head of my family." Gabrielle's voice trembled.

  “And you?”

  The warm hand in Juliette’s pulled her behind him. “Tristan Larocque.”

  "Miss St. Claire is not at all frightened, and yet you, a vampire like me, are barely concealing your fear. Why are you afraid?"

  He took
several calming breaths. "We aren’t vampires. We were searching for a coven of upiórs. Juliette’s human though. I’m concerned for her safety here."

  Seven of the eight newcomers startled at the man's unexpected outburst of laughter. Juliette alone stood still, carefully watching him.

  The leader raised his hands and parted them, then motioned toward the door.

  The guards shepherded them outside and guided them to a fire pit surrounded by stones. The flame crackled and white sparks flew upward in spirals. Dozens of other vampires had taken seats where they could find them, some on wood stumps or miniature boulders worn smooth, others on the ground. Unlike the guards, those around the fire smiled and chatted amongst themselves. Garments that resembled massive tree leaves decorated their leather clothing.

  "Clear away," a guard ordered several of them sitting on stumps before an elaborate carved chair, inviting the newcomers to sit down. The leader took his place. Four women flitted in to them, large smooth pewter bowls in their hands. They gave each newcomer one of them, in which lay many bite-sized chunks of raw elk bathed in fresh blood and a two-tined fork. Juliette set hers on her lap.

  "Cian," he called to the guard nearest. "Our human friend cannot eat her food. See that she is provided with a meal more appropriate to her kind."

  Juliette beamed. "Thank you, Sir. What’s your name?"

  He returned her smile with a hint of a twinkle in his eyes. "I am called Tyr, and you, Miss St. Claire, are safe here. Vampires are forbidden the consumption of human. Plus, I like you. You have a good deal more gumption than I have seen in a mortal. That will take you far in life and make you indispensable to your friends. You can mark my words on that."

  "Thank you, Sir." For the first time since their arrival, she lowered her gaze. His praise warmed her. She sighed. "Chit-chat aside, we came to let you know you're in danger. All of you are. Skin-walkers--"

  "--can't find us here," Tyr finished. "What do any of you know about us? Or what you think you are?"

  Juliette quietly started eating the bowl of cooked food Cian delivered to her, resigned to observe.

  Gabrielle stepped forward a few inches. "I have been an upiór longer than any of them, and I learned a lot on my own. A friend named Jane Underwood has been the only one I've known outside of the family with me. Jane is the one who told us there might be a coven up here. Other than this, not much."

  To their surprise, Tyr crooned. "Oh yes, Jane. I’m surprised she didn’t tell you what you are without hiding it behind a Slavic word."