The Reign of Darkness

by Britney Jackson

  “No,” Kara said. She was quiet for a moment. “You said Alana’s name.”

  A pained frown twisted at Rose’s face, as she wondered whether that had been the cause of the grief she’d seen in Kara’s eyes. Was Rose to blame? With these strange, Alana-filled nightmares she’d been having? Or had something else upset Kara? Something completely unrelated? “You were awake,” Rose realized.

  Kara tossed the blankets aside and turned to climb off the bed, effectively hiding her face from Rose. Only the smooth skin of her back and the serpent-like dragon tattoo that snaked down her spine was visible to Rose now. “Hard to sleep lately,” Kara said, as she stood and crossed the room, “with all of these storms.”

  Rose listened to the soft rumbling of thunder outside. “It sounds like it’s almost over,” she said optimistically. “It’s much calmer tonight than it has been.”

  “Yeah,” Kara sighed, as she examined the clothes she’d left hanging over the chair. “I think we’re past it. Which is a relief. Because I’m going crazy in here.”

  It wasn’t that it was unbelievable. The crew had asked them to remain in their rooms until the storms were over—which, honestly, was preferable, anyway, since it drew less attention to the fact that none of the vampires came out during the day. Rose still wasn’t sure how much the human crew knew about them. But they’d been stuck in their rooms for two nights already, and neither one of them hadn’t gotten much sleep—between Rose’s nightmares and the constant rocking.

  No, it wasn’t that she couldn’t understand why Kara would feel stir crazy.

  It was that she knew there was something else. She’d sensed Kara’s pain, while she slept, and she felt it now, too. Dull and aching, just beneath the surface.

  But Kara obviously didn’t want to talk about it. So, Rose didn’t press her.

  Kara turned and tossed Rose’s clothes at her. “Go ahead. Be impressed.”

  Rose traced her fingertips over her blue jeans, smiling in surprise, as she noticed how soft and sand-free they felt. “I am impressed,” she admitted. “You proved me wrong. No washing-machine. No washboard. And they’re still clean.”

  “Not completely. But close enough,” Kara said. “Close enough that I get to say, ‘I told you so.’” She flashed a wicked smile at Rose. “And I won the bet.”

  “What bet?” Rose said with an amused laugh. “I didn’t bet anything.”

  “Yes, you did,” Kara lied, mischief sparkling in her light blue eyes. “You promised to do all kinds of dirty things to me, if I successfully proved you wrong.”

  “Weird,” Rose giggled, her cheeks reddening, “how I forgot that part.”

  Kara tossed her own clothes on the dresser—before returning to the bed. She climbed onto the bed, straddling Rose’s legs. Blue and black hair fell around her shoulders, as she leaned over Rose. “Would you like me to remind you?” she said, moving her lips to Rose’s ear. “Of all of the things you thought I’d enjoy?”

  Whatever witty words Rose had prepared melted into a pool of desire, at the thought of Kara whispering such things to her. Her fingertips slid up Kara’s thighs, curling into the fabric of the boxer shorts she’d slept in. “Uh, yeah. Okay.”

  Kara buried her face in the curve of Rose’s neck, as she started to laugh. “I was looking forward to your sassy comebacks,” she chuckled, her breath warm against Rose’s skin, “but this reaction’s fun, too.” She gently kissed Rose’s neck.

  Rose moaned, her eyes fluttering closed instantly. She slipped her fingers into Kara’s dark, silky hair, as Kara pressed another kiss against her neck. She felt Kara’s body flatten against hers—the blanket between them frustratingly thick. Rose was so lost in the haze of desire that she didn’t notice the knock at the door.

  Kara chuckled against her skin. “You’re not going to get that, love?”

  Rose leaned back, blinking up at her. Her gaze shifted toward the door, as another knock came. “Oh. Uh…yeah,” she mumbled. She heard Kara laughing hysterically, as Kara rolled off of her. Rose clumsily threw on her jeans and shirt, before heading toward the door. She sighed at Kara, who was still laughing at her, and then opened the door. Outside their door, a familiar, blonde vampire waited.

  Colina immediately fell to her knees, when she saw Rose. “My Eklektos.”

  Rose grimaced at the bowing. “Uhh… Colina, isn’t it?” she remembered.

  Her head shot up, her pale blue eyes wide. “You remember my name?” she breathed. An astonished smile spread across her face. “The Eklektos just said my name,” she said to herself. “Oh my goddess! The Eklektos knows my name!”

  Rose stepped back, stunned by the woman’s outburst. She turned, giving Kara a horrified look. “Help,” she mouthed to Kara—who looked very amused.

  Kara chuckled and climbed out of bed, crossing the space between them. She didn’t bother to get dressed or cover herself in any way. She just slid in beside Rose and leaned against the doorframe—in all of her sports-bra-and-boxer-shorts glory. “Colina,” she murmured. She pressed her lips tightly together, holding back laughter. “Rose—or your…eh…Eklektos, as you call her—wants you to stand.”

  “Oh!” Colina said, her eyes wide. She immediately jumped to her feet.

  Kara smiled. “Good girl. Now, take a deep breath,” she paused, watching as the over-excited vampire did as she said—inhaling slowly, then exhaling. Kara winked at Rose, before telling Colina, “Now, tell Rose what you came to tell her.”

  Rose glanced back and forth between them, her brows high. She couldn’t believe how easily Kara had calmed the vampire down, but she supposed that was part of Kara’s job—convincing people to do exactly what she wanted them to do.

  Colina’s head bent a little, as if she’d almost bowed again, but she caught herself this time. With a sheepish smile, she said, “My Eklektos, the princess has asked that you meet with her in her room. She said you can bring your friends.”

  Rose nodded eagerly. It was a relief, honestly, to have the opportunity to get out of her room—after so many days of stormy weather. Not that she hadn’t enjoyed being trapped in a bedroom with Kara all week. There had definitely been some…upsides to that situation. But the claustrophobia was starting to get to her.

  Kara crossed her arms. “Where will we find Princess Uptight’s room?”

  Colina’s eyes widened. “Er,” she stammered, glancing at Rose, first, then Kara, “it’s…Princess Myrinne, actually? You should call her Princess Myrinne.”

  Kara just smiled. “Are you going to tell us where her room is or not?”

  “I can show you,” Colina said. She bowed—apparently forgetting that Kara had told her not to—and said, “I’d be honored to show you, my Eklektos.”

  “Honored?” Rose repeated dubiously. She blinked. “This is so weird.”

  Kara chuckled at Rose’s discomfort. “Colina,” she said with an amused smile, “you’ll need to step outside while we get dressed.” Mischief sparkled in her icy blue eyes, as she added, “Unless you were hoping to see your Eklektos naked?”

  Colina straightened, her pale blue eyes widening. “What? No! I mean…” she trailed off, glancing worriedly at Rose. “I’d never disrespect the Eklektos!”

  “I’m just…so confused right now,” Rose muttered under her breath.

  Kara waved her fingers, shooing the strange, blonde vampire out of their room, before the shutting the door behind her. She laughed at Rose’s expression.

  Rose continued to stare at the door in shock, even after Kara returned to the dresser to get her clothes. “That,” Rose said, pointing at the door, “is a fangirl, if I’ve ever seen one. I wonder if anyone’s introduced her to comics yet.”

  Kara laughed, “I don’t know what a fangirl is, but I know one thing. That girl would do whatever you asked her to.” She turned toward Rose, as she stepped into her leather pants. Her lips curved into an amused smile. “She worships you.”

  Rose grimaced. “Why would anyone worship me? That’s ju
st…weird.”

  Kara winked at her. “I’d worship you. On my knees. Anytime you want.”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “You never stop, do you?” she laughed, as she bent to pick up her shoes. “I’m surprised you’re not tired of me. After the last week.”

  “I’d never get tired of you, love,” Kara said easily. She pulled on her thin, black shirt, tugging it down over her lean stomach. “Especially not when I have so much more to introduce you to.” That statement could’ve been innocent. Rose assumed it was innocent, actually—until Kara angled a lascivious smirk her way.

  A nervous smile twitched at the corners of Rose’s lips, as she pulled on her jeans, trying to avoid Kara’s gaze. “You really are…just terrible,” she giggled.

  Kara watched with a fond smile, as Rose dressed. Kara finally came out of her daze, when Rose finished tying her shoes. She strode over to the chair and sat down to put on her boots. “You’re so different from Alana,” she murmured.

  Rose’s bright blue gaze shifted up, toward her. Kara had said it quietly—so quietly that most people wouldn’t have heard it—but Rose’s sensitive hearing was more attuned to that beautiful, lilting voice of Kara’s than it’d ever been to anything else. “Why do you say that?” she said, her tone gentle and sympathetic.

  Kara looked at Rose, pain flashing in her light blue eyes. “Because Alana longed for people to worship her. But you—you think you’re not worthy of it.”

  Rose’s brows furrowed. “Well…I mean…I’m not, though. No one is.”

  Kara finished lacing up her boots. “You’re the worthiest person to ever exist,” she murmured, smiling to herself. Before Rose could sputter out whatever incoherent response she could muster up, Kara stood. “I’ll go get Elise and Erik.”

  “But,” Rose stammered, as Kara headed toward the door, “I don’t…”

  Kara was already out of the room before Rose finally managed to mutter, to a totally empty room, “I don’t know how to respond to something that…nice.”

  —

  “Holy shit! Is that the moon? And the stars?” Erik exclaimed. He hung over the side of the ship, glancing down at the lapping waves. “And calm waters?”

  Colina watched his outburst. “The storms do seem to be ending, yes.”

  Elise exchanged an amused look with Colina. “He can be a bit dramatic.”

  “I thought you were taking us to the princess’s room,” Kara interrupted.

  “Oh. I’m not allowed in there, actually,” Colina told her, as they waited on the deck. “When the princess is ready, her warrior, Ligeia, will take you inside.”

  Rose frowned curiously at the vampire. “Why don’t they let you go in?”

  “Oh, I’m just a servant,” Colina said, smiling sheepishly, “my Eklektos.”

  Rose’s eyes narrowed. “Just? You’re no less important than anyone else.”

  Colina’s mouth fell open. “I’m… You think… The Eklektos thinks…”

  Kara nudged Rose with her shoulder. “She’s already about to fall apart.”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “Hush,” she said, suppressing a laugh. She frowned, as she wondered why Colina would freak out like that—over something so small.

  But before she could ask, Ligeia came around the corner, dressed in her black, leather armor, like before. She bowed to Rose, her long, black braid falling forward. “My Eklektos,” she murmured, before turning toward Colina. “Thank you, Colina. I’ll take them from here. I’ll call when the princess needs you again.”

  Colina glanced at Ligeia, her pale blue eyes still wide, her mind obviously still on what Rose had said to her. “Yes. Right. Got it,” she sputtered. She bowed to Rose again and then rushed away, nearly tripping over her own feet, as she did.

  Rose watched her with a confused frown, cringing, when she almost fell.

  Ligeia chuckled. “She’s a little neurotic sometimes, but…she’s sweet.”

  Rose nodded. “I can be pretty neurotic myself, so…” She shrugged.

  Erik came running back toward them, apparently still not finished with his melodramatics. “I’m not dreaming, am I?” he asked Elise. “Quick. Pinch me.”

  Rose suddenly heard a quick rush of movement and a sickening crunch. She didn’t turn to look, but she was pretty sure that wasn’t the sound of pinching.

  Erik yelped and covered his face with his hands, as the scent of his sweet, powerful blood filled the air. “What the hell, Kara?” he whined, his voice muffled by his hands. “I wasn’t even talking to you! And I said pinch me! Not punch me!”

  “It’s one letter difference,” Kara said with a shrug. “Basically the same.”

  Meanwhile, Elise—the person Erik had so obviously been trying to flirt with—doubled over in laughter. When he glared at her, she laughed even harder.

  Rose smiled awkwardly at Ligeia—who seemed less than impressed with Kara and Erik’s warriorly behavior. Ligeia had such an intense presence and such a dark, scathing gaze that Rose couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably beneath it.

  “These,” Ligeia said, waving toward Erik and Kara, “are your warriors?”

  “No!” Rose laughed nervously. “I mean, they’re not my warriors. They’re both warriors, yeah. Viking warriors, to be specific. But they’re not…mine.”

  “I’m hers,” Kara said. She flashed a flirty smile at Rose. “Very much so.”

  Rose blushed. “Okay, yes. Kara did swear fealty to me. But it was silly.”

  Ligeia bristled, obviously offended. “You think an oath of fealty is silly?”

  Rose blinked in shock. “No,” she stammered, immediately backtracking, “I just meant…Kara’s my girlfriend, and the whole oath-of-fealty thing happened before the girlfriend-ing. So, it should be null and void, right?” She smiled warily.

  Ligeia’s dark brown eyes narrowed. “A warrior’s oath is unbreakable.”

  Rose winced. “Right. That’s, uh, what I meant. I was just…testing you?”

  Ligeia looked skeptical. “And the big, whiny one? Did he swear fealty?”

  Rose glanced back at Erik. “Oh, him? No. I don’t even know him.” She turned to Ligeia, lowering her voice. “He just follows us around. It’s weird.”

  Erik’s eyes widened. “She’s joking,” he assured Ligeia. “We’re friends.”

  “He’s clearly delusional, as well,” Rose sighed. She smiled encouragingly at the warrior. “You can throw him overboard, if you want. I don’t mind.”

  Erik spun toward Rose, his eyes narrowing. “I should kill you for that.”

  Ligeia’s dark gaze shifted toward him, her brows creasing with concern.

  But Rose just smiled. “Yeah, you should! Except, then, I’d shatter every bone in your body with my mind. Which might delay your murder plan. A little.”

  Ligeia returned her gaze to Rose, anxiety flashing in her dark brown eyes.

  Erik looked a little anxious, too, all of the sudden. “You can do that?”

  Rose shrugged. “It can’t be any harder than ripping someone’s heart out through their rib cage.” Her brows furrowed, as she considered it. “It’s probably like shattering glass. Except I’d need to concentrate harder. Because it’s denser.”

  Erik stepped back, his bright green eyes wide. Kara, on the other hand, watched Rose with a wide, open-mouthed smile, her eyebrows lifting. “You’re so sexy,” Kara said—at the exact same moment that Erik said, “You’re terrifying.”

  Rose glanced back and forth between them, bemused by their drastically different responses. She felt the edges of her lips twitch when Kara winked at her.

  Ligeia shook her head. With an exasperated sigh, she muttered, “Of all the things I expected the Eklektos to have, a sense of humor wasn’t one of them.”

  Rose’s bright blue gaze shifted back toward her. “What about a tendency to disappoint people?” she said with a playful smile. “Because I have that, too.”

  Surprisingly enough, Ligeia’s lips actually curved a little. Not enough for an act
ual smile, of course. But enough that Rose could see the amusement. “I’ve noticed,” she muttered under her breath. She followed that comment with a quick bow, as if it had never happened. “If you’re ready, my Eklektos, we should go.”

  Rose couldn’t help but laugh. “Sure. Let’s go disappoint someone else.”

  —

  Rose stood in the doorway, watching as everyone else explored the room. Kara hadn’t wasted any time before making herself comfortable. She’d taken over the rocking chair in the corner already, propping her boots on top of the ottoman in front of her, as she rocked backward in the chair. Erik and Elise had made their way into the room a bit more casually, but now, they were roaming it freely.

  It wasn’t any newer than the rest of the ship, but it wasn’t decrepit, either. Soft, white rugs—made of fur, possibly, or something that looked like fur, Rose wasn’t sure—covered the wood floors. A few paintings that looked a bit personal, compared to the standard scenic ones in Rose’s room, hung on the wall. But what stood out most, to Rose, about the room, was a thing—or collection of things—that looked like a coat of arms. There was a sword and an arrow behind the shield, set at angles, so that the viewer could see both, and on the shield, there was a symbol—a circular symbol with two drastically different sides. On one side, it was a white semicircle with jagged bolts jutting outward. On the other side, it was multiple, black semicircles—almost like crescent moons—closing in on each other. And in the center, there was a red flame. Rose stepped closer to the shield.

  “This is the princess’s room?” Erik asked, as he picked up a book without asking, thumbing through pages and pages of gibberish. “What language is this?”

  “It’s mine,” Ligeia said, taking the book out of his hand. “The room and the language, actually.” She shifted uneasily. “You wouldn’t be able to read this.”

  Kara watched curiously, as Ligeia set the book—that she obviously didn’t want anyone to read—back on her desk. Her light blue gaze darted quickly toward Rose, who seemed eerily focused on that symbol on the shield, as if it’d entranced her somehow. Kara returned her gaze to Ligeia. “Let me guess. That,” she paused, long enough to point at a door on the innermost wall, “is the princess’s room.”