by Nicki Ruth
Karina approached him. “Do you feel it now? Your sire has unsealed your gryphinx. Although you’re still vampire, and most likely that would not allow you to transform completely into your vahanan form, you should have powerful senses; be able to see, smell, and hear all within the realms—even those that are hidden—as far as needs to be seen or heard.” She beamed at him. “During the times of the gods, gryphinx led and commanded their armies. Their wisdom and foresight—”
Jason held up his hand. “I hear you. I do. But this is not me and not who I want to be. I cannot be who you want. All I want is to return to normal. I’ve had enough of—” His voice hitched.
Karina sighed. “You should know what you saw in the cistern were images of a past that once existed embodied in the fabric of your DNA.” She stepped to Jason and took his hand in hers. “It was the battle Helmoran, waged a long time ago between the gods and the dark beings of the underworld.
Under the leadership of our general, she and her gryphinx brought us a great victory. The ones who came before you were pivotal in winning that war and were highly honored and regarded ever since, taking a favored place at the gods’ side. You see, it was the gryphinx’s special sight that saw through the wicked plans of the enemy and prevented the world from plunging into chaos.” Karina raised her hand to stoke Jason’s face. “So, your heritage is very much something to be proud of. And I hope you understand that within you is a divine gift of the gods that may not be understood by mortals but can reveal the way through the darkness that comes.”
Jason stared at Karina silently, clearly moved by her words.
“All right. Why don’t we give Jason some time? It’s been a long morning for all for us.” Jason’s sire came to stand protectively beside him.
Cade frowned and silently turned to the door, hating to leave Jason behind.
But Jason called his name. “Cade, why don’t you stay?”
Chapter 16
Jason’s skin had grown tight and itchy. It was as if it was too small for him, pulled taut over a spirit too big for the body that housed it. He grappled with a new urge to stretch his wings, to feel the cool wind beneath them.
His wings.
Bewitchingly dark, like shadows at twilight, they were made to command the skies; to rule the night as hand in hand as steel to a blade.
Pride flooded him at being so openly admired, and he could admit his wings were impressive indeed. Karina’s words still tumbled about his head, feeding his newfound pride. He thought of the battle he’d seen, and the bird-man who looked so much like him. But his ponderings would have to wait. He turned to Cade who’d remained staring at him, eyes clouded with awe and want.
“Cade, I’d like to formally introduce you to my father and sire, Alexios. Father, this is Cade.” He’d asked Cade to remain behind to try to smooth things with his father, in spite of all he had on his mind. “Despite our rocky introduction, I did agree to come with him, so technically he didn’t kidnap me. And to be fair, Brandr and I attacked him first.”
Jason wasn’t sure why he needed Cade and his father to get along, but it was important to him they not continue to be at odds.
Alexios didn’t say much. Instead, he kept a watchful gaze on Cade. Davina, however, was friendly and animated, and she soon had Cade answering questions about himself, vahanas, and his journeys across the planets—albeit reluctantly. She told him she’d recently awoken after years of slumber, and he seemed taken aback to learn she was actually the Queen of Damurios.
“Well, Cade. I hope we can be friends. I’m looking forward to making as many as I can in this time. Perhaps Alexios and I can take a stroll around your village. You’ve gone a great job setting aside a place for your people.” She placed a hand on his arm. “You’re a good chieftain.”
She rose and looked to Alexios who quirked a brow at her, clearly uninterested in leaving Cade unobserved. But something unspoken crossed between them, and Alexios’ face took on a lustful expression as his lips ticked upward. He rose.
“Jason, I trust things will be well with you as I accompany Davina outside.” Alexios only looked at Cade as he spoke.
After they left, Jason turned to Cade, who resumed his dedicated perusal of him.
“So, why you didn’t show me before how to conceal the wings as you do yours?” Jason pursed his lips.
Cade shrugged. “Can you? Not all winged vahanas can take complete human-like forms.”
Jason frowned looking at his hands. What if he couldn’t? He would have completed the transformation for nothing.
Cade snickered.
“Stop playing around. I need to know!”
“First, why did you leave this morning?” Cade asked, turning serious.
Jason‘s cheeks heated, and tore his eyes from Cade’s. Should he tell Cade about the nature of his thirst? Could he trust him? Everything within him told him he could, but trust wasn’t something he could afford to offer.
“I didn’t want to,” he whispered, unsure how to proceed. “I needed a bloodmeal, and I . . . panicked and left.”
Cade let out an exasperated sound. “If you needed blood, I would have found some for you, Jason. Even if it meant—”
“Giving me your vein? Because I seem to remember you threatening to burn me to ash if I so much as looked at it,” he snapped, rising from his chair and marching to the window, wings draped in tow.
But he soon heard Cade come up behind him. “If it meant keeping you at my side, I would offer my vein.” Cade’s feather light breath kissed his neck and cheek, but his voice turned deep and thick.
An indescribable feeling lurched in Jason’s chest, and he lifted his gaze to stormy golden-green irises full of desire and the promise of untold passion. His breathing thrummed loud in his ears when Cade licked his full lips that glistened, holding Jason captive. Then to his amazement, Cade bared his neck, thick veins pulsing in invitation. With a look of confusion, Jason returned his gaze to Cade’s.
“Wh . . . What’re you doing?” he stammered.
“If you need to drink, I will provide you my life’s essence,” Cade said quietly, even as Jason saw the throbbing veins of the golden drogulis before him pulse faster.
Cade smiled, burying his hands in the hair at Jason’s nape. “Your eyes are red.” With a firm grip he drew Jason closer to his neck, silently encouraging him to receive his offering.
“But you said . . .” Jason hesitated, despite the lengthening of his fangs.
“Jason,” Cade breathed out his name, “I’ll drain myself dry for you, if that is what you need.”
“Oh . . .”
Cade drew a long braid away from his neck, the offering made and surrendered. Jason’s instincts took over and Cade grunted as he pierced his neck. The taste was exquisite. Cade’s blood was liquid fire; a spicy smoothness that not only scorched his tongue but inflamed his peaked ardor. He accepted the offered gift of liquid power and drank greedily. A jolt of pleasure shot up his spine and diffused through his body in a rush, fueling a wildfire of desire that made him tremble.
An orgasm exploded from him so quickly and forcefully, he staggered back crying out the remnants of his unexpected release.
Cade pinned Jason against the wall while Jason panted and licked the blood from his lips. Giddiness claimed his mind while his body buzzed like a thawed hive at the dawn of spring.
Finally, he was able to focus on the grinning face looming before him. “Gods. What was . . . that?” Jason moaned, still tingling with desire.
Cade brought his lips to Jason’s ear, keeping a firm hand on his waist. “The blood of fire that burns like a newborn star for you.”
∞∞∞
As Cade led a still astounded Jason up the mountain, he thought about what he’d said to him in the cottage. He hadn’t planned on making a declaration, or even allowing himself to become a meal, but over the past few hours he’d found himself muddled with a plethora of emotions that left him confused, angry, and amorous.
Ja
son, Jason, Jason. He is mine, ours. Take him, mark him, bathe him in our flames.
His beast prowled in his mind. He looked at Jason, who also seemed lost in thought, and Cade noticed with unexpected satisfaction, still reeling from the effects of his blood.
He wanted to sate his vampire’s thirst, to see the look of his dazed yearning.
“We’re going to have to fly the rest of the way,” Cade said.
Jason, who still stared longingly at Cade’s neck, glanced at him then looked around, bewildered by either his statement or that he’d just realized he was halfway up a mountain and near the edge of a cliff. Then he let out a long, exaggerated sigh—a habit, Cade noted with amusement, Jason did with dramatic flair.
“Just because I’ve grown wings, doesn’t mean I can fly, Cade!”
“Oh? Are they for adornment then? Going to a feathered ball?
Jason scowled at him. “I thought you said we were going to the stream to wash. I don’t want to be stuck to my pants.”
“I wasn’t the one who became so eager that I spilled in my pants.”
A red-faced Jason punched him in the arm, and Cade laughed at his feigned ire. He grabbed Jason’s hand and tugged him forward.
“Come on. This is a good spot.”
“Spot for what?” Jason asked, but his eyes rounded as he realized what Cade was about.
“To teach you to fly to the other side. The falls await us.”
Jason balked, backing away from him. “No, no, no . . .”
“It will come naturally to you. It's your nature to be in the sky.”
“No, Cade. No!” He tried to yank his hand from Cade’s, but Cade maintained a firm grip as he brought the struggling Jason to the edge of the path, where the wind rushed upwards.
“Spread your wings and let the air take you. Watch me.”
With his grip still on Jason, Cade unfurled his wings and the wind pushed against them.
“Lean forward a bit and feel the wind. I promise I won’t let you go.”
Jason remained rooted to the spot, fear coloring his face white. His mouth opened, and Cade was sure he’d refuse, but he swallowed and stepped forward. Cade squeezed his hand to reassure him. Black feathered wings spread wide behind him, and Cade took another moment to admire them. There was no record of there ever being a black gryphinx. He wondered if Jason was black because he was part vampire.
“Don’t look down. Look where you want to go,” he said when he saw Jason glance down. “Feel the wind. It's calling you. Relax into it. Your wings will know what to do.”
Jason looked at him with unsheltered fear. He didn’t seem to have noticed yet, but they were gliding on the upward thrust of wind that ricocheted off the mountain. Higher they went, until Jason realized what was happening. He panicked, but Cade kept hold of his hand.
“Easy. You’re doing well. Now, we’re going to take control of the wind. Let your wings do what they were made to do.”
Jason looked at him with wide-eyed confusion, so Cade gave one flap on his wings that sent them higher into the air, out from the torrent of gust. Instinctively Jason did the same, matching Cade’s movement, black wings in stark contrast to his golden ones.
Jason gaped with surprise to have done it; he’d taken his first flight. They did this for a few moments until Cade loosened his hold on Jason’s hand.
“No! Don’t let go,” Jason cried, but Cade laughed.
“We’ve been flying for the last few minutes, Jason. You don’t need me.” He snatched his hand away.
Jason yelped as he faltered, but as Cade expected, black wings parted the air, hefting their precious cargo on the wind. Jason righted himself and laughed in eager amazement. Cade flew ahead of him, tucked his wings to his sides and dove, then opened his wings again, leveling himself as he parted the indignant clouds that parried against him. Jason called his name, but he was enjoying the exhilaration of the rush of the wind and wanted Jason to experience the same. Jason appeared at his side a few moments later, flushed and tousled.
“Geez, you scared me,” he laughed. “I couldn’t see you.”
They hovered about each other grinning like children who’d stolen away to impish play. Cade, huge wings spread about him, glided toward Jason, reached out and kissed him. It was brief at first, and Jason faltered again on his wings.
But Cade took hold of him and brushed their lips together again, a tangle of black and gold swirling the air around them.
Chapter 17
Jason licked the blood from his busted lip as he rose from his hands and knees. Another failed landing attempt.
His fifth try.
All he could muster was a hard crash onto the rocky cliff. Cade laughed. Jason still tingled from Cade’s blood and the rush from his time in the skies. He had flown, on wings—his wings—that knew exactly what he wanted to do without much thought. It felt incredible. Better than incredible. Natural.
He felt lighter, unencumbered and unbound; finally released from unseen manacles that had kept him unknowingly grounded. Better yet, he’d drunk from Cade and didn’t retch with sickness. Not only was he able to keep the blood down, but it lit up his body like fireworks.
“You know, you have that tail for reason.” Cade broke from his laughter. “To help with your landings. Use it like a rudder.”
Jason’s face heated. He refused to acknowledge the appendage he kept hidden in his pants.
Cade stepped toward him and frowned, taking his chin into his hand. “Why hasn’t your lip healed? Vampires have the fastest healing of any species.”
Jason jerked his chin from Cade’s grasp, not saying anything.
“Tell me.”
Jason sighed. “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.” He didn’t want to get into a discussion about his tail or the Dāmming.
Cade stood with his legs braced apart and his arms folded over his chest. He wasn’t taking no for an answer.
Jason bit his lower lip, before saying, “If I tell you, you cannot tell anyone or use that information to your advantage. Promise me.”
Cade stared at him for a few moments. “I promise.”
Jason hesitated. This vulnerability wasn’t something vampires made known, but deep down, he knew he could trust Cade. He released the breath he was holding.
“It's the Dāmming. A period that comes every five hundred years, when vampires lose all their supernatural abilities.”
Cade’s brows rose, and his lips parted in surprise.
“So, I’m not able to heal quickly during this period. No one knows how long it lasts. A few weeks, months maybe.” Jason shrugged. “I still need to feed.”
Cade was silent, clearly thinking over what he’d just learned, but watching Jason intently.
“You should’ve told me sooner. I could’ve seriously hurt you.”
Jason rolled his eyes. “Don’t get too cocky. Once it's over, I’ll be beating your ass. Thoroughly this time!”
Cade chuckled. “I’ll be waiting . . . eagerly.”
Jason smirked, knowing they both looked forward to testing their skills against each other.
“Let’s get that swim, shall we?” Cade said.
They came to a clearing thundering with the roar of waterfalls. Three falls circled a large mountain lake, the waters of which were a tropical turquoise. It was a breathtaking sight. Mists drifted upwards, reflecting a rainbow of colors that painted the smooth rock faces around them.
They wasted no time stripping and diving into the cerulean waters, splashing and jostling to bursts of laughter.
As before, Jason found it difficult to keep up with Cade with his waterlogged wings. He waited for Cade to resurface from his dive, admiring the muscles of Cade’s back parting the water as he glided seamlessly through its depths.
“Why won't you show me how to get rid of the wings?” he asked as Cade shook his head, sending water flying from his long tresses.
Cade wiped his face with his hands and waded toward Jason. “What do you mean?” he
began with a frown. “I thought—”
Jason huffed. “I mean, make them disappear, like you do.”
“Oh.” Cade’s relief was annoyingly apparent. “That’s easy. Just will them into your back.”
“What?”
“They’re your wings. They obey you, so will them. You’ll soon come to learn that wielding your vahanan traits is all about willpower. Your wings, the tail you keep trying to hide, your vision and hearing. You can turn them on and off.” Cade said, with a smirk. “Go on, try it.”
“You could have told me this from the beginning!” Jason fussed, splashing water at Cade, annoyed he’d pointed out the wretched tail yet again.
“No, I couldn’t. You weren’t ready to accept your wings, much less control them. Now, you’re willing to at least give it a go.”
Jason grumbled and thought about pulling the wings into his back. Nothing happened. Cade moved closer to him. “Focus. See them folding and tucking into your body.”
Jason envisioned the mass of black feathers folding, then his back and shoulders twitched and pulled as they drew up and over, disappearing into his body. He gritted his teeth. It was uncomfortable and left him sore, as if his wings didn’t like their confinement.
“Good job. It’ll get easier over time,” Cade said before pouncing on him and dragging him underwater.
∞∞∞
“Ah, yes. Don’t stop. I said . . . don’t stop,” Jason moaned as Cade entered his body again. They’d been drying off on the rocks when they found themselves tugging at each other. Jason had gotten himself completely besotted with Cade. Cadeonidas. It was a name that told of Cade’s noble, ancient lineage; a creature of fire whose flames licked at Jason, weaving their fiery tongues around him, making him a servant to their heated, hedonistic commands. Jason had never experienced anyone or anything like Cade before. He was all consuming; all Jason’s apprehension and angst faded away like the sun burns away morning fog.
Jason gasped as he felt Cade’s tongue teasing his nipples, flashes of light exploding across his eyelids. In and out Cade thrust, and Jason welcomed the fullness of him.