by K. F. Breene
The shiver racing across my body turned into a heebie-jeebies dance. “Stop it. Did you feed me blood? Or what was it, and when does this acid trip wear off? Because I’m seeing things.”
Those delicious eyes glimmered with sex and mischief. My core pounded so hard that I wondered if it would dislodge from my body and skitter across the field.
“I am quite aroused, Reagan. Vampires my age usually only feel this way when we are feeding, and we only feed once in a great while. I should’ve been sated for months. But instead, I am harder than I can remember being. I want to be inside you, Reagan, while tasting the sweet nectar of your veins.”
“Awesome. Great info. Thanks for sharing.” I swatted at my arms to stop the tingles. Then squeezed my nether region for the same reason.
He walked toward me slowly—prowling, almost. Graceful and beautiful, his body was like a dance. An erotic, sexy—
I dug my thumbs into the corners of my eyes and backed up. “Make this stop. Please.”
“Whatever for? You were enjoying it as much as I was.”
“Look, dude, I will literally take out my gun and shoot you in the heart right now. Okay? I’m saying no. No means I’ll kill you if you don’t stop stalking me like a feral cat trying to make kittens. Back off.” I rubbed my eyes and blinked them open.
A smile drifted up his face, but he halted. “As you wish, ma biche—”
“Is that derogatory?”
“—but I will think on that moment for decades to come.”
“You need to get out more. Seriously. It wasn’t that hot.”
“You know that it was. I can still smell your desire.”
“Gross.” I put my hand up to stop the insanity. “What happened?”
“I felt you gyrating against my—”
“Not that part! After I blacked out, I mean.”
His smile brightened. “Come back to me, Reagan. Let me taste you, as you commanded.”
I ripped out my gun. “Really? That the road you want to take?”
“I want to slide my—”
I pulled the trigger. A slug dug into his leg.
Shock covered his features and he faltered before regaining balance on his good leg. He did not call out. There was no sign of pain in his expression. Instead, his sparkling sexual heat dimmed. His features smoothed out, arrogance and disinterest taking over.
I ignored the twinge of regret. Ignored it, and vowed to knife it out of myself if I had to.
He nodded once. It almost seemed like a thank-you.
Mental note: green light for shooting Darius in the leg to prevent sexy times and possibly fall under his enchanting vampire spell.
“You lost consciousness when your blade split in two,” he said, back to business. “Luckily, you had just made it through the last of the spell. I rushed you in here to see if I could get help. The mistress of the island, this great beast, took your measure, and found you worthy. She lowered to give you her life’s blood so that you could heal.” Darius regarded me warily now. “It had an immediate effect on you, and you had a…strange effect on me. I apologize. I lost control.”
“You’re a vampire and therefore bloodthirsty. Don’t stress. Shooting you was strangely gratifying.”
“I am an elder, and therefore not bloodthirsty. The unicorn blood enhances your allure. You call to me, more so than before. It is…unnerving.”
I waved my hand in the air, trying to wipe away the crazy. “You have issues, I get it. But— What?” I rubbed my eyes, blinked, and stared at the regal animal. It had pranced backward when I shot away from Darius’s warm, hard… “Dang it. Stop.”
“What?” Darius asked.
“Nothing.” I stared at the animal, a larger version of a Brink horse with shining cream…fur, almost. Silky-smooth fur, like velvet. The twinkle of rainbow when the animal moved had diminished, but it still seemed to shine in an ethereal way. On its head, like all the myths throughout time, protruded a vicious-looking horn with a point.
“This isn’t real,” I said, staring up at the clear, golden-orange Realm sky. No sun shone down on us, but the light was bright enough that Darius should be a smoldering wreck. “How are you even alive? This has to be some sort of hallucination.”
Darius bowed to the animal, received a horse nod in return, and waited while the animal regarded me.
“It is not my place to teach you civility, but the mistress saved your life. A thank you wouldn’t go amiss.” Darius waited for me patiently.
I kicked the ground and left a divot. I pinched my skin and felt the pain.
I regarded the animal again, which was looking at me with shining black eyes. It neighed, so much like a horse that the two must be related, the only thing separating them being magic, size, and a horn.
“If it gave me blood, where’s the wound?” I crossed my arms, having made my last effort to prove this was all in my head.
The horse stamped its foot before turning. A small drip of red graced its neck, coming from a tiny wound.
“Lucy, you have some ’splaining to do,” I muttered to Darius before I blew out a breath. I spoke to the horse. “I assume you can understand me, since you just turned, so…thank you. Really. You did save my life. I wouldn’t have been able to come back from that. I’d depleted my power too much.”
The great animal neighed, and small flashes of rainbows surrounded it. It bowed, that fierce point leveled toward me, and suddenly I felt a little faint. Something told me the animal had an extreme vicious side, and that it would use its glorious horn in battle to gouge its opponents. Considering its great size and—I imagined—incredible strength, that would be a mighty war-horse. Not to mention an intelligent one. With delicious and helpful blood.
“Does it let people ride on its back?” I couldn’t help but wonder.
The unicorn puffed out breath and turned, prancing away in all its majestic glory.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Would you ask that of a minotaur?” Darius scoffed.
“Um, yes. Why, do they have a thing against giving people rides?”
Darius stared at me. Clearly that was a yes. Also, probably silent name-calling.
“Can we talk about this for a second?” I sat down and hunched over my knees. “Was that really a unicorn? A unicorn! The fabled animal that has always existed in myth.”
“As you saw, yes, though they call themselves something different. Don’t ask what it is. They alone choose to whom they will reveal their true name. It bestows a sense of power and sight on any graced with the good fortune.”
“Let me guess, you’ve been graced.”
“No. Only Vlad that I know of.”
“Ah. Fine. So why isn’t it common knowledge that they’re real?”
“This is the secret Vlad spoke of. This is the knowledge you must protect with your life, and we will need to change the contract to reflect that. You are now tied to them, and through them, to us. Should you ever attempt to reveal this knowledge—”
“Yes, yes, death by pleasure. I know.” I shook my head, because who could think of contracts at a time like this? “But…how have you possibly kept this secret? Unicorns, man! Unicorns.” I shook my head again. “I’m blown away. I am simply blown away.”
“Given that there are thousands of myths about them, Brink-wide, the secret isn’t wholly kept.”
“But everyone thinks they aren’t real.”
“They also think vampires aren’t real.”
“The Brink does, but the Realm knows better.”
“Yes, true.” Darius gave me a slight bow. “When a vampire vows to protect something, he does it with everything he has. We have made such a vow to these animals. As of right now, our oath is being called into question. Someone has not only broken into this land on multiple occasions, but has imprisoned one of these creatures and bled her dry. That is unacceptable. Vlad has assigned me to find this person, and great honor will come to me if I succeed. Given that the mistress herself just saved your life, hopefully our o
bjective is as important to you as it is to me.”
“Even if it isn’t, very few people could’ve gotten through that spell like I did. Our mark will be coming for me.” I dropped my head to my hands. “Quite the pickle you’ve gotten yourself into, Reagan. Forming a line of people who want to bring you down.”
“Who else wishes you harm?” A strange ruthlessness filled his voice. It almost sounded possessive.
I shrugged it off. “Doesn’t matter. Okay, time for a quick question-and-answer segment. First, why are you still alive in the sunlight? I thought that was a no-no.”
“I am in no danger. It is not real sunlight, merely magic. Unicorns are our exact opposites; they thrive in the glow of sunshine, and their spirit and power diminishes in the dark. We have altered our territory in the Realm to continually stay in darkness, so that they may stay in constant magical light. For that, they have deigned us worthy. Our loyalty to them, and our vigilance to make sure they are kept secret and protected, has created a partnership. They allow us a certain amount of blood to make a special brew. This brew is integral to our future.”
“You’re talking about the turning potion used to create new vampires.” His look turned flat. “Come on. Everyone knows you guys use one. That’s not secret.”
“The ingredients are.”
“Clearly. Fine. But why are they excited about being trapped on this island? Why don’t they want other magical creatures to know they exist?”
“Do you recall how it felt to ingest their blood?”
A surge of joy filled my body. The craving to run after the beast and latch on to the wound in its neck took hold of me. I turned away and shut my eyes, fighting the desire that had come out of nowhere.
“The closest thing to that feeling is the Brink drug heroin,” Darius said in a cool tone, striding toward me. “But that craving doesn’t come close to the residual desire for unicorn blood. Magic has great perks, but with it comes great pitfalls.” His hand landed on my upper back and slowly ran down my spine. Tingles erupted, but I didn’t shrug him off. The craving for unicorn blood slowly subsided. “Our blood counteracts the desire. I thought our blood and theirs would be sold as a pair, but when I apprehended that mage the other night, only unicorn blood was in his possession.”
“You’re saying that vampires have loose lips somewhere, but they might not be in on it.”
“It is too early to tell.”
“But you could be, essentially, hunting one of your own.”
“Yes.”
“Well, if we are, let’s hope they aren’t as old and fast as you, huh?” I stepped away from him. “I don’t want any of your blood.”
Hunger flashed in his eyes. “Let’s wait and see.” The next moment, confusion bled through his expression. He minutely shook his head. “I apologize for how that sounded. I meant, if you need more of their blood, you might need something to reduce the craving.”
“Nice save. How’s the leg?”
“The bullet has worked its way out.”
“Happy, happy.” I redid my ponytail. “So if knowledge of unicorns was widespread, they’d probably be hunted and destroyed in a mad panic to consume them. Do the elves know about them?”
“The royal cabinet do. They are happy with this arrangement.”
“Of course they are. They don’t want a bunch of magical people running amok, trying to get high. That would be the easiest way for them to lose control.” I took a last look around the lovely meadow. “Let’s get to work.”
He nodded and led us to the right.
“Did you leave your trap or whatever you’d planned?” I asked as we stepped into the trees. Another of those majestic animals, though not as big, stood off to the side, watching us. All I could see was that horn, though. It looked gilded and lethal, over a foot long, and with a dullish point that you’d surely feel as it rammed through your middle.
Not like you’d miss many things, dull or otherwise, that rammed through your middle.
“I decided saving your life was top priority,” he said in a matter-of-fact sort of way.
“Thanks,” I muttered, a little embarrassed. This was unfamiliar territory.
A soft rustling caught my attention as we wandered through a patch of dense trees. A colt—or whatever unicorns called their young—peeked its head through a leafy bush, its horn nothing more than a tiny nub. As I walked, it wobbled out, its legs shaky.
“Holy smokes, stop the presses.” I halted and felt a silly smile crawl across my face. At half my height, it was not little by any means, but the critter still seemed brand new. “Look how cute!”
Before I knew what I was doing, I had walked toward it with my hand out. “Hello!”
It wobbled toward me, its legs bending awkwardly and threatening to give out.
“No! Don’t!” Darius shouted.
Before his blur of movement could intercept, the colt’s nose rubbed against my palm and then fell toward my body. I wrapped my arms around its neck and laughed with glee. The memory of the blood wasn’t controlling me, though—I was just enjoying some cuddle time with a seriously cute animal.
“How adorable is this?” I laughed again and backed off. “But where is your mama, little baby?”
“You should be dead. It is forbidden to touch their young.” Darius stalked toward the bush. He paused for a moment, and then said, “Come here, Reagan.”
The way he said it, deep and vicious, raised the small hairs on the back of my neck. I gently pushed the baby, who was trying to nuzzle my stomach, and joined him. As I peered over the hedge, a blast of anger rose up through me.
A unicorn stood in mid-stride, frozen in space. The residual items of birth trailed along the ground from the animal’s glistening backside. It looked as though it had birthed its baby, walked a few feet, and then gotten snared in a spell.
“And now we know how the unicorn was bled dry,” I said, reaching for my sword. My hand grasped emptiness. “Crap.”
“Can you break the magic without your sword?”
Not without revealing what I was. “Keep that little baby away.”
“We are forbidden to touch them.”
“I might not be able to get Mama free. How many do you want to lose to this magical trap, one or two?”
I barely heard his soft growl of annoyance before he took up space between the colt and me. “Get away, small creature. Do not touch me.”
“That’s…one way to do it.” I closed my eyes, once again feeling the vibrations of the magical currents. They didn’t reach out for my touch, and certainly didn’t swirl around my fingers. Instead, they kind of buzzed right where they were.
I stepped back and looked at the sky. “It seems like a simple enough freezing spell. I’ve seen these used on people, though with much less power. The thing is…” I cranked my neck, wishing I had my sword. “The way it was done, I am positive this is the same guy who cast the other spell. It has less power, though. Significantly.”
“Did he not mask the power of the other?”
“He wasn’t masking the power so much as the type of spell. It was harder to break through than I was expecting.” I analyzed it further, wanting to be as sure as I could. “He clearly laid this spell like a snare, waiting for something to walk into it. But I have no way of seeing if there’s a defensive situation disguised in it.”
“There isn’t. No, little creature, I am not to be touched! Begone, silly thing.” He flinched away from its seeking nose. It stomped the ground with its foot, then wobbled toward him. He contorted his body so its seeking nose couldn’t touch his hip, then his waist. He looked like he was playing Twister standing upright. Finally, he sighed in exasperation when it nuzzled his stomach, and then dropped his hands to his sides, relenting. “Any defense woven into a freezing spell would result in the trapped victim dying. If she died, her blood would quickly turn black and unusable, like ours does. Can you get her out? I have something that might help, but if he used even a fraction of the power he used in
his other trap, my spell won’t be enough.”
I waggled my fingers in the air and bit my lip, thinking. In short, yes, I could. And I should, because this was a life-for-a-life situation. Without a powerful mage or me, this unicorn, and probably the little baby that needed its mother’s milk, was as good as dead.
I owed them this. The problem was that I might end up giving my life as payment for their help.
Chapter Ten
“What’s this help you have?” I asked with a sigh.
He pulled back the flap on his satchel and peered inside. Instead of digging around like I would’ve, he reached in and plucked out the item. He stepped through the bush, followed by the colt, and handed over a small, light green orb.
“Keep that colt away from the spell,” I hollered with a shock of fear.
He shepherded the creature away.
“Okay, then,” I said, holding the spell between my finger and thumb to analyze it. “Very disco. Why is it green?”
“We have our mages color-code the spells so we can easily identify their properties.”
“Organized.” I didn’t need that, of course. I could feel the spell’s properties. Also, I rarely had the luxury of too many spells in my possession. Still, I loved the idea. “Can you get some with sparkles?”
He leveled me with a glare. No, then?
“Not a big push of power in here.” I rolled it behind my fingers as I eyed the spell. There was nothing for it—without the sword to act as a medium for my power, I’d have to apply it directly. I would basically be handing Darius the key to figuring me out.
The unicorns were putting me in a tight spot.
“Look, Darius, I’m going to need you to look away.”
“No.”
“I’m not asking. If you want my help, then you need to let me do this. I can’t work with your eyeballs scratching at the back of my head.”
“If you succumb to the magic—”
“That’ll be immediate without a sword. I’m about to wrestle directly with it, spell to spell. If I lose, there is no coming back. So…off you get.”