Eye of the Vampire: A New Adult Urban Fantasy Novel (Fated by Magic) (Volume 0)

by Taylor Fray

  Dominic clasped her hands. He was so fluid it seemed like every one of his joints was synced up to the music like a baseline. He danced a few paces away from her. She felt exposed dancing all alone, then he slowly started scooting closer to her as the music reached a longing, thrilling beat. Emily felt more and more eyes on her. Here she was, exposed. She was supposed to be the it girl and yet she couldn't even move her feet without tripping over herself. Suddenly a song she had loved when she was a teenager came on. Its beat and catchy lyrics had been so infectious to her that she had always danced to it growing up—danced in her room alone, but she had still danced. But now, in front of all these people… Then she realized something. She had cast so many spells on her body, improving her strength, her speed, her agility, her overall health. So why wouldn't magic help her now? With all the music and the flashing colored strobe lights no one would ever notice her casting a spell. She murmured the words “Anga-Desina-Mann” which literally meant “body flowing sound” and as she did so she imbued the words with the thought of the music moving her body. She felt a rush of energy course through her, faint magic embers glowed around her for a moment, and all of a sudden she could match the music beat by beat, note by note. Her body moved as a flowing expression of joy and dance. Her teeth flashed as she smiled and closed her eyes letting herself enjoy a freedom she had never known. To feel beautiful in front of people. She enjoyed letting her self-consciousness melt away. She was dancing again, this time not alone in her room, and this time, she was good.

  When the song had died down she was laughing in relief. Dominic was right beside her smiling wide.

  "So now you can dance too? You know, you have to be bad at some things. Otherwise how can anyone impress you?" he said it with a smile that said he was beginning to feel a spark of something between them. “I wouldn’t have guessed it—where’d you get so good?”

  “I dance alone in my room sometimes.” Emily enjoyed flirting back. It began to feel like she was with Vincent again. “So I guess I have some practice."

  Dominic nodded as he grinned. "Dancing in your room. Of course.” His eyes filled with something that Emily hadn't seen in a long time. He reached for her hand. “Who are you, Emily? I need to know how you can be this… mind blowing.” He laughed with disbelief. Their faces were close as they stood at the edge of the dance floor. The lights were casting long shadows on his sharp features, his soft lips.

  "I'm just a girl… who decided she deserves to get what she wants,” she said as he stared at her, seemingly oblivious to everything around them. He stepped closer to her as a slow dance song came on. His arm slid around her and held her snug at the waist. She rested her arms around his neck. He leaned in closer and closer until…

  Out of the corner of her eye, Emily saw a familiar face. It jarred her out from the moment to see Tori standing in the crowed, her eyes boring into her like electric drills.

  Emily gasped. Poor Tori. She was wearing a halter top and a skirt, carrying a tiny purse, no doubt hoping to find someone to get over Dominic with. And here Emily was the backstabbing friend who was cozying up to her old boyfriend.

  "Tori," Emily said unsure of what she would say afterward.

  Dominic turned and saw her too, and was stunned to silence. Emily could see the tears, the wretched pain beginning to stir up inside Tori. She ran into the crowd like she couldn't take it anymore.

  "Tori, wait!” Emily said as she chased after her.

  9

  Silver grass stretched to forever. The heavy twilight hung in the sky like a blue fur. The palpable silence was broken by the gentle gusts of wind that swayed the grass blades and the gentle patter of wolf paws, a father and a son.

  The larger wolf with red streaks morphed into a massive bearded man, Gustav. The other wolf transformed into the father’s younger image, Zak, now a hulking warrior with studded leather straps around his forearms, weapons slung on his belt, a great mane of silver hair and the pelt of a griffon he had slain on his back.

  The pair studied the fields with monk-like reverence.

  “I still remember when you and the rest of your scoundrel pack snuck away and came to these fields.”

  “You never would have known if Thalude hadn’t been so dense and given it all away.”

  “Perhaps it was best you were caught. I argued for the highest punishment before the King, you know.”

  “Yeah, I know.”

  “But what you don’t know, what I never told you, was that I was proud of you.”

  “How could you be proud of me? It was a crime.” “Because knowing you wanted to come here, meant that you must have felt the call of the ancestors, the call of Fenris.”

  “Of course, father.”

  “This is why we are here. In these fields, you will understand what we are fighting for. All that is wild, and clean, and good. Even the humans, whether they know it or not, have need of our home. Their world derives much of its strength from our own. And so Zak, our people need a good king. A strong king. A king like you.”

  “Father…”

  “It is not about power, but about what is right.”

  Zak nodded his head. “Yes, father.”

  “Now, summon the moon sword.”

  Zak took the necklace off; proclaiming the word of power, the fang that hung on it flashed into the brilliant blade, its hilt in Zak’s massive, veined fist.

  “I told you there was one thing left for me to teach you, about the sword. What better place to show you, than here. Ready yourself.”

  Zak clenched the sword and began feeling its power humming, like a crackling storm was gathering inside it.

  “We can’t keep doing this anymore,” Emily said between wet kisses. She felt Dominic’s stubble running along her collarbone as he unbuttoned her blouse. He caressed the flesh between her breast and shoulder, kissed it, ran his hand along her thigh. If she didn’t pull the reins in who knows how far they’d go—and she was not about to have sex in Dominic’s car, she just wasn’t that type of girl.

  “What do you mean?” Dominic asked without looking up at her.

  “This. Sneaking around Tori like we’re kids.” She lifted Dominic’s chin so he would look her in the eye.

  “Alright, well let’s just tell her.”

  “No. I can’t.” It was a reasonable suggestion. In fact, it was the reasonable thing to do. But she had seen how emotional Tori was. She just didn’t know how she would take it. It had been two months of this. Meeting in secret with Dominic so that Tori or even mutual friends wouldn’t see them.

  “We could get a hotel room.”

  “No.” Something about getting a hotel room to sleep with her boyfriend seemed… cheap, regardless that she could afford literally any hotel she wanted—that wasn’t the point. They should sleep together in their own beds, like normal people. Perhaps it was the simple suburban girl in her talking, but she wanted to sleep with someone for the first time in her own home, though where that was exactly was becoming unclear.

  Dominic leaned back in the car seat. Emily buttoned up her blouse. Clearly the passion of the moment was dissipated. Perhaps she should buy a house, she could afford it after all, but embroiling herself in all that, when there were only a few weeks left in the school year, it seemed like a burden that could spiral out of control.

  “My place…”

  “You know there’s—”

  “Three other guys there. I know.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Look, Emily, I think it’s time we told Tori. It’s not even about the sex thing—we’ll run into her for the next three years, at some point she’s going to find out. What kind of way is it to live, always keeping secrets?”

  He didn't know how complicated of a question he had just asked her. The life of secrecy was taking its toll. Now that she was growing closer to Dominic, she realized relationships with Mundanes were going to be very, very complicated. "It's pretty difficult isn't it?" She looked into his eyes and tried to smile. There were so m
any secrets between them. One of them was that she wondered: if she hadn't cast all those spells on herself and made herself stunningly beautiful, would he have any interest in her? The truth hurt… and she was beginning to realize that at some point she was going to have to face it.

  "So who's going to do it? Who's going to tell her? Me or you?"

  "I have to tell you something, Tori," Emily said as she stood at her roommate’s doorway.

  "Sure, what's going on?"

  "That time you saw me and Dominic at the party…" Emily knew that with that she had essentially told her, that she had to be brave, tell her exactly the truth. "That day at Orlando's party, he and I were just talking then we started dancing. I don't know how it happened but we just felt a connection. And since then we’ve been dating.”

  "Connection?” Tori’s eyes dampened, but more than hurt she just seemed serious, her mind lucid. “Did you feel that connection when he was my boyfriend?"

  "No, of course not. I didn't really know anything about him other than he was your boyfriend."

  "Yeah, that's the one thing that mattered. And you didn't care."

  "Tori, I’m sorry. Neither of us meant for it to happen like this.”

  "You probably think this is a shock to me. You really think you can keep something like that from your roommate? I know. I knew and I didn't say anything. I just wanted to see how long you would go without telling me."

  "How did you…”

  "What happened to you, Emily?" Her eyes flared, her face trembled with disgust and frustration at once. "You were this nerdy girl… And suddenly you're this." Tori waved her hand at her as she looked her up and down.

  “Well I…”

  "And don't tell me you worked out and got a makeover! I am not that stupid. I know you think I am,” she said through clenched teeth. “I know you think I'm just another ditzy blonde!”

  "—No, I don't."

  "I know you think I'm just an airhead! That I sleep around with every guy I come across. But it was a mistake only. I made a mistake.” Her mouth wrenched, tears flowed. “And Dominic couldn't forgive me. Why couldn't he forgive me?”

  "Tori, it's all right. Things happen. You’re a good—”

  "Don’t patronize me! Don’t!” Tori’s arms flailed to keep Emily away. She breathed deep and seemed to collect her anger with each breath. Her eyes were rimmed red. “So what is it, Emily? Surgeries? No, that doesn’t explain it all.”

  Emily’s eyes roamed in panic. “There isn’t anything—”

  “What… are you? An alien? A demon? A witch?”

  Emily's chest went cold. Her mind fumbled. Part of her knew Tori was just rambling but utter fear was beginning to burn cold in her chest. She could barely feel her limbs as adrenaline surged through them.

  "Tori, I don't know how this helps anything. I just wanted to be honest with you about Dominic."

  "Thank you, Emily.” Tori said with cutting sarcasm. "Thank you for your kindness.”

  "Alright,” Emily said limply, “let me know if you ever want to talk."

  "Yeah. You’ll be the first to know.” Emily walked back toward her room. "Emily," Tori interrupted, "one way or another, I'm gonna find out what you did to yourself. I'm going to find out what’s really going on with you.”

  Emily looked back at her, a touch of anger dropping in the sea of fear that she felt inside herself.

  10

  CHAPTER 10

  A lot can happen in a year. Brief memories of the last cycle came back to Zak’s mind. Glimpses of his fight with Yuri, his claws tearing into him, the frigid snow burning on his wounds, getting cracked in the head with a stone—that memory would never leave him—training in the forest with his father, receiving the gleaming crescent moon sword.

  It was Einherblot again, the celebration of Fenris devouring Chezok, and it meant there would be food, drink, and fighting. He had fought five times already, each fight mercifully quick for his opponents. He had not seriously injured any of them, especially Eric who was his friend. He didn't begrudge it against him to challenge in the Einherblot tournament. For most unmated males of the clan it was a point of pride to fight in the games. Some here and there decided not to. For some of them battle was not their strong point, not what they were expected to contribute mainly to the clan, and the clan accepted this. But for those werewolves who were clearly of the warrior caste, they were expected to fight every chance they got. That’s why it was especially surprising that Eric had challenged at all. He was not a terrible warrior, could hold his own in just about any fight, but everyone knew his value to the clan was much more in his cunning intelligence. Once Eric had stepped in the ring with Zak, he had quickly yielded after a few blows. He exited the contest, saying in his cryptic way “Now I can say I fought you at Einherblot, and it will not be a lie.” Sometimes Eric’s ways were as amusing as they were strange.

  Now, as silent onlookers stood watching Zak, the silver-maned son of Gustav, he made the slow ritual walk toward the last battle in the Einherblot competition. His father looked on, his black cape draped over his shoulders, and a bear fur slung around his neck for an especially cold winter.

  Zak stared across the pit at his opponent, Thalude. They were both barechested. Thalude had grown even more immense that year. Growing up he had been called "Bear" as his nickname, and now he had truly earned it. He was so massive and had so much frizzy brown hair that some half jokingly remarked he was not a werewolf at all but a bear Shifter. In past years, Thalude had not fought in the tournament. But this year his father had passed away, and his mother Brianna had wanted him to fulfill his father's wish, that he fight valiantly and win the tournament. Thalude’s normal jovial way had turned dark since then, as if he felt his father had died ashamed of his own son. So now, Zak stood unwilling to fight, staring across the ice pit at his lifelong friend’s massive frame.

  Thalude wore the massive iron belt of his father, a loincloth and nothing else. His legs were as thick as tree trunks, his body as hairy as a thicket of brambles. Zak looked up to Gustav. He was staring down at him, seemed to know exactly what was running through Zak's mind. Zak and Thalude had fought many times, but it was always friendly tussles between comrades. What made Zak hesitate was that in the tournament blood had to be spilt to satisfy Fenris and the ancient ways—as he had already found through experience.

  The crowd was mostly drunken and boorish, but slowly they began to perceive the tension that hung in the air between these two opponents. Gustav gave Zak a curt nod, his face set to utter seriousness. Zak shook his head at his father, communicating to him his unwillingness to injure his friend. Even for werewolves and their healing powers, some wounds never healed, some wounds left scars.

  Gustav's eyebrows knit together. "See it as a test of skill!" he yelled down to his son. Zak read between the lines. Defeating Thalude without permanently injuring him would be a test of his skill and all that he had learned from his father this year.

  King Sebastian raised his gold adorned hand and silenced the crowd. "Zak son of Gustav, Thalude son of Nicholas, make Fenris proud with your strength and courage.” Sebastian’s hand dropped like lightning, and the crowd’s roar thundered.

  Before Zak could think of a plan, Thalude was stomping toward him, the earth shaking under him. Zak looked like a hare as he hopped away from Thalude’s massive arms that were about to crush him in their grip. In a blur he ducked under his arms, swept around his torso and took Thalude’s back. He clasped his two hands around his friend’s waste. Squeezing as hard as he could, he meant to immobilize him and pressure him until he gave up.

  "Listen to me, friend,” Zak spat through his exertion, “there is no shame in yielding to your opponent when you're bested. Even the ancient hero—”

  CRACK! Zak couldn't finish his plea before Thalude gave him an elbow straight to the middle of the forhead. It would've been enough to kill a horse but mercifully for Zak it only sent him reeling back in blinding pain.

  "You think I can do
that?” Thalude said. “You think I could show my face to my ancestors if I acted like a coward, during Einherblot no less? You’ve beat me many times before, good chum. Everyone knows you're the better warrior. But today, only the King or my death will get me out of this match." Zak barely registered his own frustration before Thalude charged again. Knowing it was foolish to take the same strategy every time, Zak dashed to meet him head on. They met in the center of the pit their blows to one another echoing for miles like the gods were forging steel.

  Again and again Zak pummeled his friend’s body, each blow crushing tendons and organs. Thalude meanwhile landed two clean blows to the face, the first staggering Zak for a moment, the second sending him tumbling back with such force he was like a stone that had been spit out by a dragon. They each took a breath as they recovered. It was only moments into the fight and both were already bruised and bloodied. The crowd began murmuring. As much as Zak was favored to win it was difficult to go against Thalude, who looked like a giant even among this race of Goliaths.

  They traded blows once more. Zak always landed many more than Thalude but each of Thalude’s pounded Zak so hard it left him staggered and dazed.

  SHINK! Zack drew his fangs and claws. As much as combat was training for him, it was also instinct. One of the challenges was going to be not letting that take over and raging against his own friend. If he did so, who knew what could happen.