Chester lowered one hand to the king’s head and gently placed his palm on top of the king’s blond hair, while Lord Belshazzar lowered one hand and lifted the amethyst vase full of blood.
The Overlord tipped the vase and began pouring the blood on top of Chester’s lower hand. Blood drizzled over his skin and down onto the king’s head. They kept chanting, their mouths moving faster.
The four feathers—two from a crow, two from a dove—floated up into the air. They moved like the wings from the birds they were taken from. The dove flew above Chester’s head, the feather’s flapping and hovering above him. The crow took flight to linger over Lord Belshazzar’s head.
Venom from a snake lifted from its vial, then dove to the floor and took shape like the snake it had been stolen from. It slithered around and around King Niallan’s head until it lifted its clear head and struck inside the king’s mouth, filling it with the venom. The king’s cheeks moved, the skin poking out at odd times, as the snake continued to slither about within his open mouth.
I pressed back harder against the wall—and against my father—as the power increased, the chanters’ lips moving so quickly they never stopped for breath, the spell taking over through them.
Lord Cato slid a hand forward and grasped my hand, holding firmly, a physical connection I needed against the power warping the air.
I might have to thank the bastard after this.
A golden light began to glow between the spellcasters, right above the king’s head, the blood pouring over it and splashing out to the sides. More and more power ignited in the room, and I squeezed my father’s hand tighter.
A flash of gold erupted inside the room like a detonation from the center out, blowing every single one of us backward.
The back of my head slammed against the wall and my eyes closed against the blinding light and power. The power pulsed…and then vanished.
Cool air rushed around my tense frame. Quiet.
I opened one eye, peeking.
Then slowly opened the other.
Chester and Lord Belshazzar were lying flat on their backs and blinking in a daze up at the ceiling. Both were breathing and didn’t wear any injuries. The spell had just knocked them down, winding them from the looks of it.
Out of the corner of my mouth, I whispered, “Did it work?”
“I’m not sure,” Lord Cato whispered back.
Lord Belshazzar groaned and arched his back, and then rolled onto his side. On his hands and knees, he crawled back to the pile and shook his head hard, trying to see past the dizziness that had apparently taken hold of him. His right hand shot forward behind the king’s head.
My lover lifted to his knees and swayed for a long moment before he raised his right hand in front of his face and stared.
A golden jewel the size of a baseball rested on his palm with a red chain attached to it that hung down to the ground.
My lips curved into a wicked grin.
Holy. Motherfucking. Shit.
Lord Belshazzar grinned at the Original druid amulet, and slurred, “There you are. About damn time, my old friend. I’ve finally got you back.”
The amulet…glowed…a little?
Like, it was happy.
I blinked real slow like.
My lover just kept surprising me. No wonder I was a mess with him. Fuck, even without my own personal hang-ups where men were concerned, this was an entirely new level of crazy-town.
Lord Belshazzar wobbled to his feet and moved around the pile. On his trek, he absently kicked the druid’s right leg—where he still lay prone on his back. The Overlord muttered, “We did it, dickhead. Good job.”
Chester groaned and pumped a fist into the air.
My lover didn’t even see it, his eyes dead set on mine. He stumbled toward me like a drunken man and stuck the most powerful druid amulet on the earth in his pocket like it was merely change, the chain hanging down his swaying legs. His feet stopped moving about two feet away from me, but his torso kept going—apparently, his feet didn’t get the message that he hadn’t arrived yet. He fell right against me, barely catching himself with one hand by my head.
Lord Belshazzar didn’t seem to notice he had also trapped Lord Cato against the wall since I had been leaning on him. My lover just ran his eyes over my face, his brows furrowing deeply over his striking eyes. He mumbled, “Do you want to talk now, little one? Was that enough space? Or are you all right now?”
“Oh, my good god,” my father whispered under his breath in disbelief. He continued muttering curses quietly even while I talked, stuck as he was.
I cleared my throat and released my father’s hand to place my palm against my lover’s cheek. I spoke gently, “Bel, I’m okay now. I promise. But let’s get you back to your room. You can rest for a little while.”
He wobbled against me. “I’m fine.”
“I’m sure you are, but resting never hurt anyone,” I murmured. I shoved at his chest until he was standing up straight again, then I placed his arm over my shoulder—standing on the side the amulet was not—and proceeded to try to tug him toward the open door. But he just stood there like a tree stump. I persisted, “Move your feet for me. You can do it.”
Lord Belshazzar grunted, and then slurred, “Of course I can. I’m a badass.”
“Well, badass, move your legs. You still haven’t done that yet.”
My father sighed heavily and lifted a foot…and kicked my lover straight on the ass, making Lord Belshazzar stumble forward two steps.
“Whoa.” My vampire Overlord looked down at me and leered. “You’re getting feisty, huh?”
A weird noise came out of my nose as I tried not to laugh. I choked, “You know it.”
Lord Otto fell back against a wall as he wrapped his arms around his waist and laughed silently.
Before my father could kick him in his ass again, I tipped my head toward the door. “It’s a little too crowded in here though. I’d prefer to go to your room—with no one else around.”
Lord Belshazzar nodded with grand head motions. “Yes, my room. I’m glad you thought of that.” He waggled a finger behind us, ordering, “Someone grab the head. I still need it for something.”
Lord Pippin muttered, “I really don’t want to know what you’re going to do with it, but I’ll take care of it for you for now.”
Tentatively, I tried pulling him forward.
And he fucking moved!
The promise of sex won again in life.
Too bad my lover flopped on his face right outside his bedchamber door, and his bodyguards had to carry him inside and put him to bed. With the Original druid amulet still stuck in his pants pocket while he snored…for the next twenty-four hours straight.
EVERYTHING WAS GRAY AND SQUISHY.
I couldn’t see very well at all. There were just vaguely darker shapes among the fuzzy gray.
I could hear shouting.
There was a lot of it.
My throat hurt.
Not swallowing-hurt, but actual pain.
My own eyes stared back at me.
The sound of a horse took over the shouting, and it felt like I was floating. But a moment after, there were strong arms around me.
“Hang on, Kimber, please…”
I didn’t know if there was anything to hold on to, but I didn’t want to let go.
Not yet.
Galloping. It was breakneck speed. I could feel the wind.
I passed out again.
Galloping. Jostling. Moving.
I guessed time had passed.
I opened my eyes, but the gray had become darker.
Was I dying or had the sun set?
There was so much pain that I didn’t even feel it this time.
My own eyes.
An echo in the blood he forced on me.
He shouldn’t have taken my blood. He shouldn’t have made me take his.
The sun was probably setting.
I refused to let go without seeing my men again. I w
ouldn’t leave them alone.
A scream ripped from me again. The pain must have cut through again, but I didn’t feel anything.
Time became as fluid as motion. I didn’t know if I was moving, if I was on a horse, if I was stuck in time. I knew the gray was getting dark, and it was harder to tell the difference between the shapes and the fading light.
“Kimber, please…”
“Aiko, she’s dying. It’s only her magic that’s keeping her alive right now.”
“What do we do?”
“Give her your blood.”
A scream filled the air, again.
My scream.
No blood.
I swore the wind itself whispered in my ear.
“You’ll die without it.”
The man who could have been my father.
“He ruined her for this. She’ll never take it. No matter how much she needs to.”
“Please, Kimber.”
Stay alive.
I had to stay alive. Roran told me so.
A shadow moved in my vision, moving closer. I was afraid for a moment.
Cool pine.
Not the man who was my father.
The man who saved me from him.
Aiko.
My lips were cracked. The air was thick and scraped my ruined throat as I tried to breathe. “Bloo…”
“Only from me, Kimber.” Aiko. Again.
“Alive…”
“Yes, it will keep you alive. Just like your man said. Stay alive.”
Roran. Rilen. Dorian.
“Aiko…”
“Kimber.”
“Save me.”
The distinct smell of copper and pine assailed me.
I didn’t know which smelled better.
The soft skin of a wrist pressed to my lips and a warm liquid coated my tongue. I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth and pushed the liquid down my throat.
Pure white lightning flashed through me.
This was more than sexual pleasure, climax. It was a binding, a sensation of finding right. Of being comforted.
After it flashed away, I wrapped my lips around the life-giving wound.
And I pulled.
The warm copper, oddly sweet, flooded my mouth and I swallowed, again, again, again…
Sheer, unadulterated pain ripped through my entire body—but it wasn’t a cruel pain. It was a pain that opened.
It opened doors I didn’t know were shut inside me. It tore down walls I didn’t know had been built. It ripped through diaphanous curtains that kept the light from the darkest corners.
It opened my magic.
I swallowed the blood, again, again…
This time, the pain was not as intense, but now it healed. My tired muscles, my straining lungs. It stitched my skin and knitted muscles. It closed wounds and smoothed the jagged edges of the scars.
I swallowed one last time and released the source of power for my magic.
Sweeping a tongue over the wound, taking a last taste, I immediately passed out.
* * *
I shot up in bed.
That was potentially one of the worst things I had done in a while.
Flopping back to the bed, I realized too late that was also potentially one of the worst things I had done in a while.
I groaned.
And then I remembered.
Everything.
My hand flew to my neck, only to find it completely healed. No mangled flesh, not even a hint of a scar.
I pushed myself up to sitting, slowly this time.
“Please, be careful.”
Turning to the voice, I found Odom sitting in the chair, book in lap. His eyes were fixed on me for the moment.
“Where…” I tried to speak. It was raw and painful.
Closing the book and standing from the chair, he poured me a glass of water. Offering it, he also gave me a benevolent smile. “We’re beyond the Burnt Woods, safely deep within our rock sanctuary.”
“Aiko…”
“He’s out on patrol. He’ll be back soon.”
I sipped the water. “What happened?”
“Savion lost his goddamn mind and gnawed through your throat like a dog through a bone.” Odom sat down in his chair again. “He made you take his blood, and he took yours. What he should have done was die, struck down by magic. He attacked the Breaker and nearly killed you.
“But Aiko tore out of there with you, and Billan distracted Savion.”
I frowned. “Billan is dead?”
Odom nodded. “Yes. Savion beheaded him.”
“He was going to take mine…” I took a deep breath and let it out as slowly as I could. “He is my father.”
Odom stared at the pitcher on the nightstand for a long moment. “I don’t know how it’s possible, but yes. You are the only known druid-vampire child.”
“In three thousand years.”
He nodded. “In longer than.”
“Go on, what else happened? It was all gray and foggy for me from the moment he decided to make an actual snack of my neck.”
“Aiko rushed out of the building with you, and your sword and his, and stole a horse—”
“We went through the…the Arch of Life.”
“You did.”
I pursed my lips. “Aiko was obscured by an iruki bird.”
Odom lifted his eyebrows. “Auspicious.”
“What did he see for me?”
He smirked. “I’ll let Aiko tell you later.” I harrumphed, but Odom chuckled and continued on. “He stole a horse, and hoisted you on and rode that poor beast all the way to the practice field, where he grabbed a fresh one and rode on again.” Odom grabbed my hand. “I don’t know how you didn’t die on that horse. I don’t know…”
“Because Roran told me to stay alive,” I answered. “Because I have people who love me, and I need to see them again.” I smirked. “It wouldn’t do for the Bright Sword to die on the back of the horse, would it?”
Shaking his head, Odom laughed lightly. “He rode all the way here in a day. He wouldn’t stop until he got you here. And it was only when he got you here that we figured out…” His voice trailed away.
I finished for him. “I’m half vampire.”
“And you needed blood.”
“I figured that out, too,” I whispered. “Somewhere in the mess that was my mind, I realized.” I stared at the sheets in front of me. “I asked Aiko…”
“And he was more than willing, child. More than. He treasures you. That you gave him your blood to preserve his strength the other day meant the world to him, and he was happy to help you.”
I looked up at him. “I didn’t hurt Aiko, did I?”
“Not even close,” Odom smiled. He took my hand. “There are things you should know, Kimber. You and Aiko—”
“General, I’ll explain it.” Aiko strode into the room, looking wild-eyed and wild-haired. He was not happy, and I shrank back on the bed, away from him.
My fault…
I felt so weak still, and unsure of what was going on. I didn’t like it. I had found a new side of me, a confident side, and this mousy naïve person who had just reared her ugly head was unwelcome.
Aiko turned to me. “I am not angry at you, siqinira. I just want to be the one to explain it to you.” He sat at the foot of the bed and waited.
Odom stared at Aiko, mouth open in shock. Aiko cocked his head and stared back.
A moment went by, and Odom suddenly stood. “Oh, right. Sorry.” He scurried out of the room and shut the door behind him.
Aiko forced a smile on his face. “How do you feel, Kimber?”
“Like I had my neck chewed away and nearly died.”
He tried not to give into the real smile, but it won in the end. “So you’re not upset?”
“I’m confused, Aiko. That’s all.” I scooted down the bed and put a hand on his knee. “Thank you for letting me have your blood. I don’t really understand what’s going on, but—”
�
��You are half vampire. The hideout’s doctor said so. He checked your blood, and you have all the markers of a vampire. He pulled out an old book and found that you have all the druid markers too.”
“I shouldn’t be here,” I said, twisting my lip. “I shouldn’t exist.”
“Technically, no, you shouldn’t.”
“But I do.”
“Assuredly, you do.”
I pulled at the covers. “Why did I suddenly sprout fangs?”
“As best we can figure, when Savion tasted you after forcing his blood down your throat, it… activated the vampire half of your biology.”
“So I need blood from now on.”
“Kimber, you’re a giant mystery. We have no idea. I’m going to assume yes, you will need blood from now on. But I don’t know how much, how often or from whom.”
“From…” I frowned. “Wait, there’s a limit on where it comes from?”
“Sometimes.” He folded and unfolded his hands a few times. “There are stories that in another place and another time, it was possible for us to make vampires out of those who weren’t. Those vampires always needed blood from their mate, their maker to keep them strong.”
“Dear Sweet Mother of the Savior of S’Kir, do not tell me that I need Savion’s blood for the rest of my life.” I felt my stomach lurch.
“No, no. You were still dying even after you had his blood.”
“So yours?”
He lowered his eyes.
“But I wasn’t made.”
“But you were awakened, so we don’t know the rules.” He glanced up. “No one does. You’re unique.”
I laughed. “I grew up as the daughter of the Keepers of the Rest, with no high aspirations, no crazy adventures, and no lofty goals. Now…”
There was a small silence, and I couldn’t keep my hand from my miraculously scar-free neck.
“How are you feeling?”
“Alive.”
He tipped his head. “You’re taking this awfully well.”
“I’m…not. It hasn’t set in yet. Give me a few days; I’m sure I’ll break down in hysterics.” I pulled the sheet close and looked at him. “Also helping is that we’re not in the damn stronghold anymore, and I assume I can actually walk around without running into one of his pet torture projects?”
Death of Gods (Vampire Crown Book 3) Page 23