by Megan Duncan
“Welcome to my home,” Titan’s voice roared with a deep baritone as he pounded his heavy fist against his flaxen-haired chest. My father offered the same greeting, pounding a fist against his chest before joining each other’s forearms.
“Thank you my friend. Time has treated you well,” my father commented as he and Titan gave each other a one-armed hug. My shoulders slumped as the tension in the room dissipated. I thought for a moment that Titan wouldn’t be very welcoming, but he and my father were getting along rather well. Arrick and I stood off to the side waiting for an introduction and just staying out of the way in general.
“Of course it has, old friend,” Titan agreed as his ego inflated. “Shall we get down to business? I hear your visit isn’t because you so dearly miss my company?”
“Regretfully, no,” my father said, a smile playing on his bearded face until the truth of our visit sobered him.
“I suspected as much,” Titan said, taking a seat on his throne and gesturing for my father to approach. “Our last encounter didn’t end favorably. I must admit, when I first heard of your arrival I did not believe it.”
“And I did not believe you would receive us.”
“Now that I have, tell me what brings you.”
My father took a heavy breath and pulled on his beard before he began to speak. “Baal has returned,” he said, getting straight to the point. There was no time to dance around the subject or break it to him gently.
Titan’s reaction was microscopic and if I hadn’t been so intently focused on him I might not have noticed it. The lids of his eyes fluttered ever so slightly, and his top lip flinched upward into a brief snarl before relaxing. He raised his hand to silence my father from further explaining, and adjusted himself in his throne.
“It is just as I have always predicted it would be, is it not?” an aggravated tone made his words come out as a growl.
“It is,” my father answered flatly. “He has attacked my region, and that of Nicolae’s. Many lives, both vampire and human, have been lost.”
“Why are you here and not striking back at your enemy?”
“We have come seeking your aide, Titan. Baal is stronger than he ever was before. Without your help I fear we may not survive another attack.” Fear quivered my father’s words. I’d never witnessed him expressing his fear of Baal so openly. I knew he was afraid, but he’d masked it so well until now. I’d never before realized its intensity.
“What do you expect me to do?”
“Fight with us. The only way to destroy him is to unite.”
Titan nodded, rubbing his fingers along the arm of his throne. “Did I not speak those same words to you during our last encounter?”
“You did, and I pray to the goddess that I would have had enough sense then to listen to you.” Titan smiled, pleased with my father’s response.
“You always were a stubborn old fool.” Hearing Titan call my father a fool made my blood boil, but it was my father’s chuckle that cooled it back down.
“I’m still a fool old friend, and you’re still a pompous ass.”
“At least I’m a good looking pompous ass,” Titan retorted with amusement. “Now tell me, why should I invite war to my people? We’ve enjoyed peace since the end of the dark ages. Baal has targeted you, not I.”
“Do you not think he will come for you once he has devoured our regions?” my father’s upbeat tone was suddenly gone.
“He will not; that is why I chose this region. He is not stupid enough to traverse our deserts. And even if he were, he knows not of where I am. Unless you have told him?”
“You and I both know Baal will stop at nothing to exact his revenge. I hoped I could say the same of you.”
I knew my father’s intent with his words the moment he spoke them. He was hoping that Titan would want to claim his vengeance on Baal for poisoning his wife. A glossy sheen of unshed tears covered Titan’s dark eyes as they looked away from my father and stared off into the distance. My heart ached for him. I couldn’t even imagine the pain he’d gone through. If the same had happened to Arrick, or anyone I loved, I’d wait until the end of time for retribution.
“I will reflect on your request.” Titan finally announced after moments of silence. Pleased by his reply, my father slapped a fist to his chest. “Now, come! Let us celebrate this reunion. We have much to catch up on. I’ve called a feast in your honor.”
“We look forward to it.”
“Good.”
Without even a glance in my direction, Titan and his guards left the throne room. Arrick towed me along as he stepped forward to speak with my father. “That’s it?” Arrick questioned, clearly exasperated. “He won’t even give us an answer, and he expects us to celebrate?”
“It’s called politics, Arrick,” my father answered, clasping him on the shoulder. “Titan is testing us. He needs to know he can trust us.”
“Forgive me, your majesty, but do we really have time to play his little games?”
“The real question is, do we have time not to?” Arrick shook his head, clearly disappointed in his first impression of Titan. “I expected this to happen.”
“You did?” I interjected as we pushed through the throne room doors, making our way back through the maze of hallways.
My father nodded. “He pleaded with us all; swearing in the goddess’ name that Baal wasn’t dead and none of us believed him. We said he was blinded by his thirst for vengeance.” My father took a breath, before continuing. “We turned our backs on him, refusing to aide him in his search. I thought he was going mad.”
“Do you think he’ll help us?” I kept the panic I was suddenly feeling from exposing itself. What would we do if Titan refused? Would our region and Noire be enough to stop Baal? I squeezed Arrick’s hand for comfort and knew we needed to come up with a plan B.
“I believe he will. He just needs to forgive me,” my father answered as we rounded the familiar hallway of our bedchambers. “Now, get ready for the feast.”
“Do we have to go?” I wasn’t really in the mood for celebrating anything. I just wanted to lay in bed and think of ways to either convince Titan to help us or come up with other options.
“Yes,” his voice was stern. “This feast isn’t just about celebrating. He wants to get a feel for us. It’s our chance to build trust.”
“Why doesn’t he trust us?” I knew I was giving him the third degree, but nothing was going how I expected. I had thought Titan would be jumping at the chance to help us kill Baal, but instead he was holding old grudges and wanting to throw a party. It didn’t make sense.
“Because!” my father suddenly snapped. I jumped back in surprise, swallowing hard at the mountainous vampire in front of me. His eyes searched my face, and he pulled back. “I’m sorry, Claire.”
“It’s okay,” I replied as my heart returned to a normal pace.
“In Titan’s eyes I betrayed him all those years ago. I know him well. To him, I am almost as guilty as Baal by refusing to help.”
“He can’t blame you for that. You thought Baal was dead,” I said, trying to plead his case and ease my father’s guilt.
“No… he can. If our roles were reversed and your mother had been poisoned, I wouldn’t rest until Baal’s body was burnt to ashes. Had Titan refused to help me, I would have considered it a betrayal. I just hope that he can forgive me.”
“He will,” I said, even though I wasn’t sure I was right. I didn’t know anything about him, and from what little I’d learned he wasn’t very forgiving.
“We shall see. Now, get yourselves ready. If Titan wants to feast, then feast we shall.”
“Okay.”
I gave him a weak smile and headed into my room. I didn’t like how things were going, but making Titan happy was our only option right now. If he needed to know he could trust us then that was what we had to do. I would do whatever I could to impress him, to show him that we wouldn’t turn our backs and that we wanted to kill Baal as much as he did. Sure
, I thought he was being childish, but I could see how much it had to hurt when no one would stand by his side. When his wife lay poisoned by Baal and no one offered to help him fight his wife’s attacker. As much as I hated to speak ill of my father, I could see how Titan would consider that a betrayal.
I headed to a water basin that stood on a small, mirrored table and bent over to splash the cool water on my face. The stress of the evening was wearing me out, and it had only just begun. I needed a pick-me-up if I was going to paint a smile on my face and celebrate.
Patting my face dry, I turned to see Arrick inspecting more garments that had been laid out on the bed for us. An irritated sneer was creasing his otherwise handsome features. Since we were alone I didn’t hide my eye roll or my groan of annoyance. I was fine wearing what I had on, but like I’d already learned, when someone sets clothes out for you it usually meant you had to wear them. Not wanting to disappoint my father, I made my way to the bed and picked up the offending garment that Arrick had dropped back onto the mattress.
“I’m not wearing that,” he said, thoroughly annoyed. I couldn’t help but smile. I’d never seen him so irritated before. He stomped his way over to the water basin and began splashing his face. I didn’t want to change either, but if putting on this getup would bring us one step closer to making Titan happy then I was going to do it.
I pulled my hair up into a tight, slick bun and ducked behind the dressing screen once again. I was happy to find that the dress they’d given me to wear wasn’t itchy at all. In fact, it was silky. The purple fabric caressed my skin like a rose petal, wrapping around my chest before crisscrossing on my back and coming back around to drape around my waist into loose pants that swayed around my lower half like a full skirt. It was a little puzzling to put on at first, and I had to readjust the off-the-shoulder straps before I had it on correctly. Golden beads were sewn into the fabric like jeweled flowers that splashed around the bodice.
The beading caught the warm glow of the oil lanterns in the room and sparkled with dazzling brilliance as I stepped in front of the mirror. I turned around to survey the fit, making sure I wasn’t revealing anything I didn’t want seen. Vampires had a naturally open view on nudity, but now that I was building my relationship with Arrick I felt differently. I didn’t want anyone looking at me but him, and when I caught him eyeing my hungrily in the mirror, a blush burned its way across my cheeks.
“Stop,” I said with a smile, even though I loved seeing him look at me like that.
“I don’t think I can. You look amazing.” He strode across the room with purpose and held me at arm’s length so he could get a better look. “I think I hate Titan a little less now.”
“Liar!” I playfully poked him in the stomach.
“No, I’m serious.” He spun me around in his arms, hugging me against his chest so we were both looking into the mirror at our reflections. “If you have to dress like this every day that we’re here, I’m not sure I’ll ever want to leave.” A giggle escaped me as I twirled myself in his arms to face him full on. Before a single breath could escape me, he locked his lips to mine. I was as breathless as always when I pulled our lips apart.
“Well, I don’t have to worry about losing my temper tonight,” he admitted.
“Like you’d ever lose your temper. I thought that was my job,” I smiled seductively at him before reaching for my shoes.
“It’s true. I’m having a hard time being patient. I had all these preconceived notions of the type of king I thought Titan would be, and after meeting him…”
“A little disappointing?” I finished for him, knowing exactly how he felt.
“Yeah. At least I have you to distract me throughout the night.” He trailed a finger across my jaw line before dropping a kiss on my cheek.
“Arrick,” I chided him playfully, “we’re supposed to spend the night trying to get Titan to join our side.”
He shook his head at me, a smile pulling at his luscious lips. “You’re all I’ll be focusing on.”
He offered his hand to me as he leaned against the foot of the bed. My hand disappeared in his as I allowed him to pull me to him. I fit snuggly in his arms, letting the warmth of his body and his masculine scent help me forget my worries. I let my heart focus on the positive. We were in Titan, and although he was being difficult I had to have faith that he would help us.
My head rested on Arrick’s shoulder, and I gazed out the open window at the night sky. Expelling a deep breath, I released all my irritation and doubt, letting only positivity in as I sent a silent prayer to the goddess who watched over us all in the starlit heavens. A shooting star streaked across the sky, and I leapt excitedly from Arrick’s arms to point it out. It was a sign, wasn’t it?
“Better make a wish,” he instructed, standing behind me with his hands resting on my shoulders. I closed my eyes and wished for the only thing in the world that I could ever wish for. That Baal would be defeated once and for all.
Chapter 13
My mouth was watering, triggering sensations that sent electricity through every nerve in my body. Sliding my tongue across my fangs, I tried to focus on the warmth of Arrick’s fingertips across my back as he guided me toward the lively party before us. Delectable smells filled the air, sparking a powerful hunger inside me. I’d eaten earlier, but I was suddenly starving.
As we drew closer, I recognized the courtyard from our entry into the citadel. We were under the hanging gardens. The glowing, white flowers clung to the terrace above us, illuminating the area with a soft radiance. During a brief lull of the boisterous laughter and music of the party, a deafening roar shook me violently out of my trance. My body jumped backward into Arrick’s chest as the roaring sound boomed again, breaking through the now excited cheers of the crowd.
“What the hell was that?” I asked, fear prickling my skin.
“That would be a tiger,” Arrick answered, pointing in front of us through a break in the throng of bodies. And there it was, a tiger lounging freely beside a table overloaded with colorful food. The tiger was snacking on a massive hunk of meat at its feet, licking his ivory fangs after every bite.
“He’s got a friggin’ tiger!” Disbelief flooded me. I had never seen a real tiger before, only pictures. According to my teacher in school, they were extinct.
I let Arrick take the lead, hiding under his arm as we made our way closer. I loved cats, and remembered how badly I used to wish tigers weren’t extinct. I wanted to reach out and pet it, scratch its head and touch its ears, but the way it stared me down told me I probably shouldn’t interrupt its meal.
Surprisingly, a tiger wasn’t the only exotic animal Titan had. My father wasn’t kidding when he said Titan had a flare for the dramatic. There were multi-colored birds perched on jeweled posts watching the crowd through beady eyes.
Rare animals weren’t the only things that stunned me as we entered the party. I didn’t think I’d ever seen so much skin in my entire life. Most of the women were wearing nothing more than skimpy bikinis covered in gemstones, and draped with beaded sashes. Their skin was covered in a gold paint, and their hair hung elegantly down their backs, filled with ribboned braids and beads.
The guys, on the other hand, really got me blushing. Even though my heart was solely Arrick’s, I couldn’t help but gape at the muscled Adonis’s that strode around with nothing more than pants, or wrapped loin cloths that left little to the imagination. But, it was the sculpted males that walked around with swords on their hips and intricate tattoos across their bodies that really got me. There was just something about a vampire warrior that set my blood on fire, and I couldn’t help but imagine Arrick with his shirt off and a tribal tattoo etched across his pecs.
He gave me seductive wink, like he knew exactly what I was thinking as he guided me to a pillowed seat beside my father. I settled in, kissing my father’s cheek as he welcomed me. He felt considerably more relaxed than when he exploded on me after meeting with Titan, and I was so relieved. Seeing
him stressed made it that much harder to stay relaxed myself. We sat, watching dancers, and enjoyed the music as the festivities proceeded. An elaborately decorated chair at the far end of the party was obviously meant for Titan, and it remained empty until he stumbled in with a woman on each arm. Wanting to stay on my best behavior, I turned my attention to Arrick as he walked back to our table with a plate full of food and two glasses clasped awkwardly in one hand. I stood up to take the drinks from him as he balanced his food and sat beside me.
My nose picked out the unmistakable scent of blood mingling with wine from one of the glasses, and I brought it to my lips without a second thought. The warm mixture tantalized my taste buds with a bitter tang. It was shock at first, the bizarre taste of blood mixed with the spicy, bitterness of the wine, but I licked my lips and drank some more. As my hunger abated I grew more comfortable and allowed myself to release the anxious feelings that had been pent up inside me. My father conversed with a couple who was sitting beside him, while Arrick and I chatted and laughed at the dancers. It became quickly apparent that nearly all the people present were human. For a region that was supposed to be all about building a secret army, I expected everyone to be a vampire or at least a hybrid.
“Where are all the vampires?” I whispered to my father.
“I believe Titan is the only full vampire in the entire region, with the exception of his soldiers who are all hybrids.”
“What’s a hybrid?”
“Just another word for Blood Mate of Blood Guard,” my father answered my question. “They are all technically the same; each region just has a different name for them.”
“Myself and my son,” Titan interjected, suddenly standing in front of my father and me.
“Your son?” my father asked; genuine surprise in his voice. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know you had a son.”