by Megan Duncan
“Something was out there,” I said as I pressed my hand against a reopened wound on my thigh. I rolled down the window and stuck my head out to look behind us. “You felt that right? What was it?”
Arrick pressed a button rolling up the window after I sat back down. “Yeah I felt it.” He gripped the steering wheel turning his knuckles white.
“What was it?”
He glanced into the rear view mirror as we sped down the empty highway. “I don’t know.”
Chapter_2
We drove on in silence until the electricity in our nerves died down. I didn’t want to say it out loud, but I had a sinking suspicious that Ana was watching us. Just like Arrick said, she would plot and plan, taking her time until the perfect moment to strike. She was going to watch me, haunting my every step until she was ready to strike. My stomach grew queasy at the thought, but I was determined to be prepared for that moment, whenever it may be.
“Are you excited?” Arrick asked. There was a lighter sound to his tone, but it seemed forced.
“About?” I couldn’t imagine what I could possibly be excited about considering the situation we were in.
“Going home.”
I got the feeling that he might be the excited one. I had never known my real home and Arrick had been assigned to guard over me. He had to leave his home and live in hiding for eighteen years in a different region.
“I don’t know really. I’m not sure I feel like I really have a home right now.” How could I be excited? With my current track record something was bound to rip me from this new home soon enough.
“Don’t let it get to you, Claire. You will love it in Naos.” He gripped the shifter, adjusting the gears on the Mercedes.
“Naos?”
“That’s the capital of the Zakarian region. The most beautiful city in the world. I can’t wait to show it to you.”
His happiness now seemed genuine, and I hoped it would be infectious. I envied his joyous and seemingly care-free mood.
I adjusted my body on the leather seats and directed my attention to Arrick and off the endless darkness of the night as I searched for what hunted us. “All the cities of the region are named after constellations and stars, right?”
“Yes, in honor of the goddess. In the ancient tongue it means, ‘dwelling of a God’. In a mythical tale, the goddess sailed down from the sky on the moonlight in a ship called Naos. That is how the city it got its name.”
“Tell me about Naos.” I rested my head on the back of the seat as Arrick spoke.
“It’s an ancient city built on a rocky coast with towering stone buildings and crashing waves against its shores. Some say the water is so clear that the moon reflects off it and lights the entire city.”
“Sounds pretty. You really miss it there don’t you?”
“More than I realized.”
Arrick had opened his mouth to say more but the sound of his phone buzzing in his shirt pocket broke his concentration.
I needed only one guess for who was calling him and it made my stomach ties in knots of nervousness. I knew there was no avoiding it, but meeting my real parents scared the hell out of me.
Focusing intently on Arrick, whose brow was furrowed, I tried to pick up on the conversation. Sadly Arrick only responded with ‘Mhm’ or ‘No sir’, making it super difficult to get any details. Yet, when he glanced toward me and gave another ‘Mhm’, I knew without a doubt who and what they were talking about. Me.
I ran my tongue absentmindedly against my fangs until Arrick clicked his phone shut and slid it back into his shirt pocket. “Well? What did they say?”
“They got my message.”
I hated that I had to pull every bit of information out of him. “Yeah, so… are we allowed to go there or not? Are they happy I am coming home?” A growl of annoyance tumbled from my throat, but Arrick only smiled.
“Yes and yes, Claire. That was Cathair.” He shot me a sidelong glance before clarifying, “Your father.”
“Wow, so that’s my dad’s name. Cathair,” I repeated the name again in hopes that it would somehow stir something inside me, but it didn’t. “What’s my mother’s name?”
“Her name is Ione. You look so much like her.”
“I do?” I flipped down the sun visor and opened the small compartment on the back that revealed a small mirror illuminated in a slight yellow glow. I stared at my reflection and wondered what about me, resembled my mother. Was it my round eyes, my long lashes or my auburn hair? Did her nose wrinkle like mine did when she laughed really hard?
I looked to Arrick, whose expression made my heart pound heavily in my chest. His feelings for me hit me head on, yet I did not feel the same. A small part of my heart longed for Dmitry and the other yearned to reciprocate Arrick’s feelings. My heart was in a battle with itself. But maybe I could be wrong about Arrick’s feelings. He had never verbally expressed them. Perhaps I was reading the signals wrong? Maybe I was mistaking his devotion to his duty of protecting me for eighteen years, for love.
“We will make it there by sunset tomorrow.”
“That long?” I was starting to hope it would be sooner. Not from excitement, but I was just sick of riding in the car. I was never very good at sitting still for very long.
“That long; we are still about a day away, and you can’t exactly stroll through town mid-day now, can you?”
“No.”
“Sunset tomorrow will be perfect, Claire. You will see Naos in its finest.”
“Can I call on Robin when we get there?” Arrick’s muscles tightened at that, and I continued quickly before he could shut me down. “She’s got to be worried sick and I trust her completely. She deserves to know I am alright.”
“We don’t know what kind of situation we are in, Claire. The attempt on your life and my taking you can have our regions at the brink of war.” His tone was rising in defiance.
There was no arguing; Arrick’s duty would always overshadow my needs. He had been watching over me for eighteen years. There was no way I could talk him into risking that so I could call my best friend.
I folded my arms in defeat and went back to staring out the window. I focused on the night sky, hoping that Nyx would connect with me and give me some peace. If even a little.
“If you’re going to keep sighing like that, I can promise only that I will ask the King.”
I swirled in my seat and beamed at Arrick. I could tell he wasn’t happy about giving in but he attempted a weak smile anyway.
“I only promised to ask, so don’t get too excited. I don’t remember him being very lenient, but maybe time has changed him.”
“Thank you, thank you.” I held myself back from giving him another bear hug. We had enough problems and causing a car accident didn’t need to another one of them.
The thought of getting to talk to Robin again filled my heart with renewed hope. I could only imagine what she thought when she saw the state my room was left in. Even worse when Dmitry told her what happened. That he and Arrick walked in on Ana drinking me nearly dry and Luka lying on the floor motionless. Poor Dmitry. He had left to get me help only to return to find me missing. Would he think that Arrick took me or that I ran away? I wondered if he would come looking for me, thinking he needed to save me from Arrick.
I smiled inwardly at the thought of Dmitry coming to my rescue, even though I didn’t need rescuing. I envisioned his devilish smile in my head and the way my body heated when we danced at my coronation ball. Wow, I really was in trouble. My feelings for Dmitry were stronger than I let myself believe. I missed him as much as I missed Robin, if not more. If I got to speak with her then I would have to give her some kind of message that she could pass onto Dmitry to let him know I was okay.
“What are you thinking about?” Arrick asked wryly, obviously sensing the passion in my emotions.
“My friends.” Technically I wasn’t lying. They were both my friends. I just had deeper feelings for one of them.
“Right�
�” Arrick sounded unconvinced.
“Whatever. Just get us to Naos, so you can ask permission to let me contact them, okay?” I huffed and flipped on the radio only to find static.
After a good half hour of silence, Arrick cleared his throat. “In about a hundred more miles," he said, “we should be able to pick up the radio signals of Naos. They will be a little fuzzy, but you might be able to get some stations.”
I could tell he was trying to make peace so I smiled at him. “Thanks. So what are you going to do when we get back to Naos? You won’t have to watch over me anymore. You can live your own life.”
He looked hurt by my words, which surprised me. I had meant them to be kind. He couldn’t have enjoyed giving up his life to pretty much babysit me for eighteen years.
“This is my life, Claire. You are my purpose. Before I was assigned to you I was an ironworker. I dreamed of joining the Blood Guard. Then you were born and the entire region rejoiced at the miracle. Humans, vampires and Blood Mates from all over came to Naos to offer themselves into service. I was one of them.”
“That just sounds so bizarre.” I had said it more to myself than to Arrick. I had never heard of vampires having children before. In fact, up until now I had never known it was possible. Apparently it was. And I had no clue what the Blood Guard was. Some kind of army?
“Not bizarre. Just rare. It is a miracle that Nyx has passed only to the Zakarians.”
“Sounds like Nyx plays favorites.” I could tell my comment came off as snotty when Arrick failed holding in a growl.
“Must you always look at things so one dimensionally? It is not playing favorites,” he said, his tone rising in pitch. “It’s her granting the faithful a gift, so that they may live a full life even with such a great sacrifice.”
“What great sacrifice is there for someone who will live forever?”
Softer now, Arrick said simply, “Family.”
I had hit a sensitive nerve with this subject and I made a mental note to be wary of it in the future. Growing up, I knew nothing of Nyx. But I had to admit that I probably wouldn’t have survived my transformation without her. Connecting with her as I locked onto the limitless night sky was probably the only thing that kept me alive during the most painful experience of my life. Well, one of the most painful.
The more I thought about Arrick’s answer, the more I realized it sounded very much like something Nicolae would say. He too had told me how important family was. In a small way I guess that explained why he had me kidnapped. Only the Zakarians could have children. I should hate him for what he did, but how could I? He wanted a family and so did I.
“What is it like for a vampire to have a child? I mean… how does it happen?” I blushed at my question and hoped that Arrick wouldn’t start giving me the birds and bees talk, but I was curious. It couldn’t possibly work the same as it did for humans.
Arrick smiled, “It is a bit of a mystery actually. A vampire can be pregnant for decades or even centuries before she will even start showing, if it even happens at all.”
I couldn’t imagine what it must feel like to be pregnant for that long. I recalled a girl in school who had got knocked up at sixteen and how much she whined about how terrible it was. That had to be nothing compared to years upon years of it.
“So… Ione carried me for decades?”
“Yes. Or longer. There is no way to tell for sure. A vampire doesn’t even know she is pregnant until she starts to show and the birth might not be for a couple more years after that.” He glanced at me and grinned at my perplexed expression.
“I still don’t understand how it’s even possible. I mean… vampires aren’t human.”
Arrick laughed loudly, which only frustrated me. Why was it that everyone found my limited knowledge of Vampires so entertaining? Irately, I raised my eyebrows and folded my arms at him.
“Sorry. You just sounded like those human protestors who think vampires are some sort of undead, soulless being.”
I sighed heavily. I did worry that I was soulless. That someday the animal inside me would consume what was left of the Claire I used to be.
Sensing the emotions of my thoughts, Arrick grabbed hold of my hand. “You’re not, Claire,” he said reassuringly.
“How do you know?” Hot tears of frustration raged down my cheeks. I tore my hand from his grasp to smear them away.
“Because I know,” he said sounding like a smartass and I just rolled my tear-filled eyes. “I might not be a vampire, but I’ve been around them a very, very long time. If you were soulless would you be crying right now?”
I aimed the a/c vent toward my face and exhaled, “I guess not.”
“If you were the undead wouldn’t you have had to die and rise again?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright then,” Arrick said triumphantly.
“Fine, I get your point. You still haven’t answered my question though.”
“I know I haven’t.” He looked at me and smiled softly, even when I raised my eyebrows defiantly. I hated it when things weren’t explained clearly to me. “Sometimes it is best for a mother to explain to a daughter.”
I was stunned. Arrick was withholding the information so I could share the moment with my mother. I could feel his love for sense of family emitting strongly from him and it made me heart swell. Arrick wanted family and valued it as much as me. It was heart-warming to know we had that in common. Maybe we really could have more than just the bond that connected us through an ancient vampire ceremony.
My body sensed the rising of the sun even before its rays broke the horizon. I crawled into the back of the Mercedes and latched the curtains to prevent any light from entering. This would be my last day’s sleep before we arrived at Naos. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I prayed to Nyx that it would be a better home than the last one. Then I prayed that Nyx could even hear my prayers during the day, before falling into a deep dreamless sleep.
Chapter_3
The sound of the Mercedes door slamming shut startled me awake. I shoved the curtains away from the windows to see nothing but darkness through the dark tint. Just as I began to expand my senses to find where Arrick was, he pulled open the car door swiftly and poked his head in, an excited smile planted firmly on his chiseled face.
“You look awfully happy,” I said sleepily as I rubbed my eyes.
“Very. Is there something wrong with that?” Arrick offered his hand to help me pull my cramped body out of the back seat.
“No.” I rolled my eyes, not wanting to have another debate with him.
Finally free of the Mercedes, I stretched my arms and legs, allowing my muscles to flex. His excitement confirmed we had arrived, but as I looked around I realized my surroundings were nothing like I thought they would be.
“This is it?”
“Almost. We have to leave the car here.” Arrick pushed up the trunk door and flung our bags over his shoulder. “Just a quick walk over the hill there.” He pointed with a shake of his head and slammed the trunk shut.
“Okay…” I looked toward the hill that was aglow with the brightness of the moon. I couldn’t recall ever seeing grass reflect the light with such intensity before. “So, then where are we now?” I asked Arrick as I offered to take a bag from him.
“It’s not heavy. I got it. We are just outside of Naos. Like I said, the city is very old and the streets weren’t quite built for cars back then. Anyone who drives must park at one of these storage areas.” He pointed his thumb toward a silver sports car I hadn’t even noticed was there.
We made our way onto the small concrete path that led up the small hill only a few hundred yards away. The closer we got the more I could sense the city. It was buzzing with power. I could sense Nyx as strongly as I could the night of my transformation and it made me quicken my steps. “Wow,” I exhaled as we neared the peak.
“You haven’t even seen it yet,” Arrick laughed.
“No, but I can feel it.”
He smiled
at our shared excitement. I raced to the top, and Arrick joined in the run behind me. The sprint did not make me the slightest bit winded, but the view that lay before me took my breath away.
The city hugged the rocky coast, allowing the full moon’s light to reflect off the crashing waves of the shore. It was bathed in its beauty. The buildings were tall and smooth, every one seemingly unique in shape and size. There were round towers with arched windows and large square buildings with iron lined railings that swooped and twirled. All were lined with roof tiles that seemed to sparkle in the night like a billion stars.
“Wow.” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. The city of Naos really looked like a city blessed by the Goddess of night.
“You said that already,” Arrick smiled and wrapped his arm around me, as he took in the sight. “No matter how many times I’ve looked at it from this vantage point, I think it gets more and more beautiful every time.”
“I can imagine,” I agreed as I focused my vision to take in every inch of its beauty. “How does it reflect like that? I asked, pointing at one of the rooftops. It looks like it’s made out of stars.”
“They are made from Zakarian sand. The beaches further south sparkle with it at night. It’s luminescent sediment; it reflects light. All the roof tiles are made of the sand. And other things like glass, sand art, um…” Arrick tapped his finger to his chin, trying to think of other examples.
“Well, it’s amazing. I don’t really know what I was expecting, but this… this is really indescribable.”
“Wait till you are in the middle of it. It is like another world compared to…” Arrick caught himself, but I still knew what he was going to say. Naos was looking to be a much more beautiful place than where I had come from.
“Let’s get going,” I said, and yanked a bag from his grasp despite his protests. I was more than capable of carrying one and I needed something to do. As much as I was already taken by the beauty of Naos, I wasn’t going to let it win me over completely until I knew more about it.