“He’s got big balls, I’ll give him that,” Georgia said happily.
How could she be so happy?
“Batshit crazy, of course,” she added with a wink. “And paying for it, but still. Big. Balls.”
She came to rest. I stopped walking. Stood still beside her. My eyes on the Fey bracelet. On the Svante. On the Kilij. On the blood that coated my feet.
“El?” Georgia whispered. “He needs you. I’d give him mine, but mine’s not nearly as good as yours. You know,” she added, completely losing me, “the whole more Nosferatu than Nosferatin thing.” She cleared her throat, a very un-Georgia like action. “The Mhachkay needs to feed. Wash out the taint of fairy from his gullet.”
I lifted my head. Stared at the concerned eyes of my friend and then swung my gaze towards where Hakan had fallen.
Prince Terrin of Ljósálfar lay dead on the floor, his skin wrinkled and shrunken, his eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling. Two fang marks marred the side of his neck.
My heart thudded. The swords clattered to the floor. My gaze swung towards Hakan.
So much blood pooled on the tiles. His body bent, his hands and knees in amongst the thick globules and rushing rivers. And then he heaved. And heaved again.
“Didn’t anyone ever tell you fairy blood is tainted?” Georgia drawled from my side.
I was on my knees, slipping in that grotesque liquid, brushing Hakan’s hair from his face, smoothing a hand down his arched spine.
“You idiot,” I whispered. “What were you thinking?”
“No thought.” Heave. “Just you.” Retch. Blood splattered.
He’d drained Terrin dry, risking blood poisoning while impaling himself on the knife to get close enough to bite him. The man was batshit crazy, all right.
“You have a death wish, Mhachkay,” I growled, checking the wound at his neck. It was partially closed, but his beautiful dark skin was pure white. There were some healing properties in Fey blood, that’s why vampires could drink it. But drinking it poisoned their bodies. Making them haemorrhage at a rate they couldn’t sustain until there was nothing left but a husk.
Dust would follow. We didn’t have much time.
A wrist was good. A femoral artery better. The carotid was the fastest.
I drew my hair over my shoulder, wrapped an arm around Hakan’s waist and hauled him upright. We both fell against the wall. His shaking hand come up and cupped my face.
“Hayatim,” he murmured.
“Enough talking. More biting.”
He chuckled. How could he chuckle? He was dying.
“You’re an idiot,” I said, but the words were soft and hardly damning. “If I had access to my Light I’d blast you.”
“You say the most wonderful things,” he mumbled, his head lolling.
“Oh, no you don’t!” I growled, lifting his chin up, slamming his lips against my neck, and tipping my head to the side to provide unhindered access. “Bite, damn it!”
He purred instead. “You smell nice,” he whispered, tongue stroking across skin. “Blech! You taste of fairy.”
“Bite. I promise it gets better once you break skin.”
“I would not break you,” he murmured. “I would protect you. Two hearts. Two souls. And they have chosen.”
He’d said that before; I’m not sure he’d been happy about it then. His tone of voice now seemed to say otherwise.
“Stop being a perv and bite,” I said, smiling.
“Kan büyülü,” he whispered. “Mine.”
And then he struck.
18
I Expected Light
We didn’t make it far. Ljósálfar was swarming with scared and angry fairies. Some of which carried swords and knives and wicked looking hammers. The wards they’d placed on their borders were still powered, too. Even though their prince was dead, there was no conjuring up a portal and simply stepping through thin air to escape them.
If we were going to make it back to Dökkálfa, we’d have to walk. And once we reached the border, what then? I was still banded, or whatever the Ljósálfar called the silver bracelet. I was cut off from my Light, unable to break through their shields.
And that wasn’t even considering Hakan’s injuries and Luc’s unconscious body.
I kept glancing over at them. Ediz carried his master in a fireman’s hold. Harsh but practical, the Erbörü could cover vast distances and not tire. Alain carried Luc in his arms. Luc’s lolling head tucked up under Alain’s chin. Occasionally I’d see Alain look down at his charge and frown. An expression you would not expect to see on a vampire.
Impassivity is their thing. In all things. They never show emotion. But in this, Alain was worried.
I held tightly to the swirling ribbons that spoke of danger and time ticking. They occasionally twisted one way or another, making me step from the path we were on and take cover. In those moments Ljósálfar guards would run by, missing us.
We’d covered enough distance to take us into the mountainous region behind the Light Fey Court. From what I knew of this terrain, it went on for miles. Getting lost in there was a definite possibility. But taking the more direct route back to the border with Dökkálfa was too dangerous. I could only pray to my goddess that the ribbons inside were in fact psychic and would warn of any impending threat.
Or guide us through the twisted maze of crevices and valleys without getting us lost.
The sun had long risen again, - another day here meant how long back on Earth? - the heat of it an inferno at our backs. As the walls of orange rock grew higher around us, the sun still managed to beat down on our heads.
“We need water,” Georgia said. “And shelter.”
“We’ve got hours before the sun sets,” Ediz replied.
Georgia looked around the mountainous area we were in and drew her lips back off her teeth in a snarl. I wasn't sure if the snarl was directed at the Erbörü; she hadn’t been looking at him when she did it.
“It is not the sun I fear,” she confirmed a moment later.
“You fear too much, Nothus,” Ediz hissed.
“Fear is what keeps you alive,” Georgia said without her usual drawl.
The ribbons twirled and tugged, leading me down a branch of the tall sided valley we were walking through. Everything about the path I took made me think it was a trap. If we were ambushed here, we were at a distinct disadvantage. Lower ground. One way in and out. It was a strategic nightmare.
But no one questioned my directional skills when I’d already helped us evade a small army.
We trudged on in silence, Luc’s laboured breaths the only sound that echoed off the rock walls. Hakan, I feared, had fallen into a healing trance. It was better that way, considering the undignified hold Ediz was carrying him in. But it meant even with my blood on board the Mhachkay was too injured to remain conscious.
Georgia might have thought fear was what kept us alive, but I wasn't sure if the fear I felt for Hakan and my brother right then wasn’t going to kill me. My stomach hurt. My heart ached. My head pounded. And the ribbons kept on twisting and turning and guiding and knotting inside.
We heard the water first before we saw the cave. Goran went ahead and checked the pathway as it led on past the entrance, laying down tracks that would indicate to any who followed that we’d walked onward and not ventured into what looked like an ominous cave.
“Do fairies have bears?” Georgia asked. “Hibernating bears?”
“I don’t know,” I replied, peering into the darkness.
“What does your talent say?” Alain asked, shifting Luc in his hold as if his arms were aching. I eyed him, well aware Alain would be interested in any talent that I had come into after my birthday. But secrets could get us killed and we needed all the help we could get.
“I think it’s safe,” I said, looking into the shadows and not at the piercing blue of his gaze. “I’ll go first.” I took a step forward, but Georgia hissed.
“I’ll go,” she said. “We nee
d you conscious to guide us out of here.”
“I’m hardly incapable of protecting myself,” I growled, twirling both the Svante and the Kilij in my hands.
“She’s right,” Alain offered. “It’s more important to keep you safe.”
“Keep me safe?” I pressed. “And what’s Georgia? Disposable?”
The spymaster flicked an unconcerned glance at Georgia and shrugged. “She is not the daughter of the Champion,” he said.
“Gee,” Georgia drawled, walking toward the cave’s entrance. “And here I thought we were becoming friends.”
Alain growled. Ediz hissed, although I was certain it was different somehow; maybe a chuckle? And the ribbons suddenly tugged, urging me to hide.
“In. Now,” I said, pushing against Alain’s shoulder. He didn’t hesitate, Ediz following behind as Georgia and I grabbed what we could to cover our tracks, leaving only those that led past the cave entrance and on toward wherever Goran had disappeared to.
Both the Nothus and I stepped into the shadows, replacing the leafy branches we’d used with swords. Georgia didn’t actually need a sword to fight, but sometimes she liked the extended reach they provided. I watched the Dark Shadow out of the corner of my eye as it tilted its head at the object in Georgia’s hand and laughed. It didn't need a man made weapon. It was one. I glanced away before its laugh made me shudder.
The sound of wings reached my ears shortly after, followed by the shadow of a large bird-like creature across the rocky bed we’d just walked on. A screech pierced the air and then another. Two shadows flying in tandem swept down the narrow valley and then flew on. There’d be more. But at least they were using an aerial search, rather than a foot one. Although I was fairly certain the eyesight of the creatures the Ljósálfar were using would be top notch.
Spotting us in here, though, would be more difficult from the air. And we’d not seen the entrance to the cave until we’d practically been on top of it.
I turned away from the valley and looked back down into the cave, realising that there was a soft light coming from the direction Alain and Ediz had taken our patients. I waited for a signal from the ribbons, but they remained quiet. In fact, it was the first time in hours that I didn’t feel nauseated.
I rubbed a hand over my stomach and headed toward the light. Georgia mumbled something about hanging out by the cave’s entrance, but by the way her Dark Shadow paced when looking deeper into the cave itself, I had to wonder if her vampire-within was claustrophobic.
Which was hilarious considering it was a Dark Shadow.
The light brightened into a cascade of sparkling diamonds when I came out into a relatively large domed area. The walls were lit up as though covered in luminescent lichen. But it was undoubtedly more like Fey glow worms, which made me want to stay well away from the walls. A small pool sat on the far side of the cave, water trickling in from a waterfall and then running out under the rock wall, making a rushing sound as the water funnelled through the space.
Alain was wetting a piece of cloth in it, so it must have been at least safe to touch, and then wringing it out and working on Luc’s cuts and scrapes. I should have gone directly to my brother, checked that he was OK. But I found myself walking toward Hakan and Ediz instead. Wanting to check on the Mhachkay. Needing to check on the Mhachkay.
Alain’s eyes followed me the entire way.
I cleared my throat, letting Ediz know I was approaching. He didn’t stop tending to his master. Hakan lay flat on the hard cave floor, skin pale, face sunken, body battered. Ediz had placed a cloth of some sort over his waist, but otherwise the Mhachkay was naked.
I scratched at the Fey bracelet as I crouched down at his side.
“When will he wake?” I asked Ediz.
“He is awake now,” the Erbörü replied.
I stared at Hakan, but there was no indication he was conscious. If he’d heard Ediz, he didn’t offer conformation. I thought it might be more of a “fake it ’til you make it” kind of thing on Ediz’s part.
I didn’t call him on it. Taking one last look at the vampire out cold on the floor, I turned and walked toward Lucien.
Alain sat on his arse with his back against a rock, as Luc mumbled something in his sleep, his eyelids fluttering.
“He’s dreaming,” I said, pleasure I hadn’t meant to show obvious in my voice.
“Nightmares,” Alain corrected.
I studied my brother. His face was twisted in what I had assumed was pain, but maybe it was something else altogether.
“How can you tell?” I asked, kneeling down beside Luc and slowly stroking his arm. He settled, but still mumbled incoherently in his slumber.
“He is full of Dark, Éliane. Can you not sense it?”
Of course, I could. I’m a Nosferatin. It’s what we do. Luc’s Dark called to my Light. Constantly.
“He’s not lost,” I argued.
Alain shifted slightly as if wanting to reach out to reassure me. I pushed back on my heels, ensuring there was space between us. He looked momentarily sad, and then that vampire mask they wear fell into place.
“This is a good cave, bébé,” he finally said. Striking back the only way he knew how. I didn’t rise to the bait. “Water. Shelter. Exactly what the Nothus asked for. And you delivered.”
“I’m not a vending machine.”
“But you are gifted.” Don't say it. “Enchanted.” He damn well went and said it. “Your talents are growing stronger.”
What were Luc’s talents? It worried me that we didn't yet know. And Dark was consuming him. What talents could a Dark Nosferatin possess?
“Have you not wondered,” Alain asked, “why that is?”
“Why what is?” I demanded, my mind still on Luc’s unknown powers.
“Why your talents have grown stronger.”
“No,” I snapped. Talking of my talents with Alain always left me feeling uncomfortable.
“Really,” he said, sounding doubtful. “How long have you been here?”
Where? And then it clicked. How long had I been in Álfheimr?
I let out a slow breath, my eyes all for Luc. I still had roughly two weeks back on Earth to go before I needed to join. I’d been in Faerie for at least forty-eight hours. It was hard to say how much time that meant for Earth. But it wouldn’t be more than a week, tops. So I still had a handful of days up my sleeve.
But Luc?
“The closer to your kindred cut-off,” Alain said, “the stronger your talents will be. It is not unheard of for a Nosferatin to wait until the last minute in the hopes the time elapsed would be in their favour when they finally joined.”
“My mother joined with my father before her twenty-fifth birthday and look how ‘talented’ she is.”
“Your mother was the Sanguis Vitam Cupitor.” Blood Life Seeker. “And not only that, but she was also destined to become the Prohibitum Bibere and the Lux Lucis Tribuo.” Forbidden Drink and Giver of Light. “The Prophesied,” he added simply. “Her joining was always going to be powerful.”
“Then Luc will be powerful,” I said.
“Yes. He is also out of time.”
I shook my head.
“Éliane,” Alain murmured. “You know this. We take him back to Earth, and he will die.”
“Then he stays here.”
“Where? With the Dökkálfa? With the Dark Fey who would feed him only more of their Dark?”
“Aliath would protect him.”
“The King of Dökkálfa cannot protect him from this.”
“You’re exaggerating,” I hissed. “Luc talked to me. He’s in there.” I indicated his unconscious body. “He laughed, Alain.”
Alain only looked sad. Infinitely so.
“Bébé,” he said.
“Don’t.”
I stood up and turned away, wiping at tears.
My eyes met Hakan’s; he was awake. I wanted to run to him. Throw my arms around him. Lose myself in him. I stood my ground, daring the ribbons to twist.
“Éliane, then,” Alain said from behind me. Something in his voice made me turn around. Something tragic and stoic and full of loss and determination. “You know who I am,” he said, my gaze lifting to his. “You know what I must do.” Such a beautiful ice-blue. I shook my head. A knife appeared in his hand. “I would have fought for you,” he murmured. Then he sliced Luc’s palm. I stepped forward, still unsure of what I should do. Stop him. Let him go. Save Luc.
And then a cut appeared in Alain’s own hand. Sound warped, Hakan’s voice rose up behind me, but I couldn’t hear it. Not really. It was there, but it wasn’t. Pounding ricocheted through my head.
Through my heart.
Alain took one last, long look at me as if committing my face to memory. And then slapped his palm against Luc’s hand.
Hakan roared. Ediz hissed. The Dark Shadow burst out of Georgia.
And Alain Dupont, the Champion’s Second, joined with my brother.
I expected Light. Lots of it. Kindred joinings are based on our Nosferatin Light. But Lucien was full of Darkness. So removed from the Nosferatin he’d once been. And although Alain was part of the Durand line, a vampire possessed of much Light, he didn't have enough of it.
What he did possess, though, was power. Sanguis Vitam. And more than my father knew, I was sure.
I saw it now. Battling to contain the Darkness. I saw Alain fighting Luc’s inner self. I felt the Sanguis Vitam swell up inside the cave, threatening to drown us. I reached for my own Light instinctively. The bracelet slapped me hard. I fell to my knees, firm hands landing on my shoulders. My body started being dragged back, my feet drawing two identical lines in the dirt behind us.
I reached out a hand; to Luc or Alain, I don't know.
Then the Dark Shadow was there, and the Erbörü was beside her, and Goran was shouting for us to run.
And the cave started to crash down around us.
Alain’s Sanguis Vitam tore down the rock just as much as Luc’s Darkness.
And the last thing I saw was Alain’s twisted features, as the Dark in my brother consumed Papa’s spymaster.
Blood Entwined (Blood Enchanted, Book 2): A Vampire Hunter Paranormal Romance Series Page 10