Rebels and Realms: A Limited Edition Urban Fantasy Collection

by Heather Marie Adkins

  She turned to me, both hands firmly on the halberd’s long ashwood staff. Over her shoulder, the red ruby in the hilt flashed like a warning promising rage and vengeance and most of all judgment.

  I gulped, melting under the weight of her stare. “Don't you think it's time we save your sisters?” I stammered. That was the question that had been centuries in the making. “Don't you think it's time we kick this war into high gear?”

  Peggy’s eyes narrowed. I urged her forward, “We should make our own choices, gods be damned!”

  To the side of where I stood, Celestine laughed. Her rich voice remained one of the most pleasant things I had ever heard. But it was the sparkle in her eyes that drove me to my knees. It was the way she looked at both of us with an adoration that was strange and wonderful and unexpected. As if Celestine could love me too.

  That must be my imagination.

  The vampire lifted up her hand and gently touched the valkyrie’s shoulder and hair, adjusting the armor of a powerful, immortal being the way you would a child going to prom. And that kind of love, their deep relationship was visible in every touch. Real Love. The kind worth dying for. The kind of once-in-a-lifetime thing. Worth more than any treasure, more than blood, more than a soul...

  “The first thing we must always remember is the fundamental fact that always holds true in love and war,” Celestine looked into that glowing, so-pure-it-was-terrifying gaze of the winged warrior. Not even one drop of fear filtered through to her hands or her voice. “We win or fall together.”

  Turning to me, she stepped away from her daughter, dropping her hand but never truly leaving Peggy’s side. She stood very still, facing me.

  After the last few days and nights, it was clear that I looked like hell. I smiled, chagrined.

  “Let’s not talk about your breath, either,” she quipped, already laughing at me. “You are going to stink for days. Weeks even.”

  “Survival strategies,” I muttered under my breath. All the same, I had to laugh. The other vampires in the room still wrinkled their noses when I even looked their direction. It was bad. The garlic.

  They also looked at Peggy that way, but I don’t think they gave a damn about the garlic oil she drank, the way her breath smelled, or anything else. They were too focused on surviving being near a valkyrie in full battle gear armed for war.

  What she smelled like hardly mattered.

  Me?

  I was just the stinking, stubborn, refuse-to-go-down-your-craw-without -a-massive-amount-of-antacid kind of human. One of them would kill me. Their fangs promised that.

  It was only a matter of time. I was a walking, talking snack.

  None of that mattered.

  Celestine did.

  She stood close enough now that we were face to face. Now, the vampire queen spoke only to me, the admiration in her voice clear. “You always do the unexpected, Tristan. Survival isn't just for the fittest. It's also for the bravest and the strongest. But in the end, it's always brains that wins.”

  “Where we have to travel, those who are willing to drink the garlic oil might survive. That’s just the beginning.”

  Her perfectly-formed, mesmerizingly beautiful face belonged on the statue of an angel in one of the oldest chapels and cathedrals in Europe. She was a precious work of art. I stared, transfixed by her beauty, but also by her cold, dead heart. Even if it didn’t beat, Celestine was more real than any other woman I’d ever met.

  Brave, too.

  With fangs. And a mind of her own.

  Leaning in, Celestine ignored the garlic stench, the blood, the ash, the dust. She ignored absolutely everything except me. Looking deep into my eyes, she moved gently until her face was all I saw. All I ever wanted to see again.

  And then she kissed me.

  A butterfly landing on a flower petal would have been a wrecking ball in comparison. I felt every nerve, every skin cell, every bit of my soul catch fire as her lips met mine. Gentle, sweet, powerful—Her. All of her attention distilled down to one precious kiss.

  “Thank you,” she whispered before she kissed me again. “My brave, stubborn knight. You have saved me again and again.”

  I tried not to breathe. I didn’t want to accidentally kill her.

  She didn’t seem to care about the risk.

  “I know where we have to go,” she whispered in my ear. Her scent filled my heart. Just seeing her walking, talking, scheming… it was like watching a mountain lion stalking a deer in the thickest forest bushes.

  I loved her.

  I love a monster. What does that make me?

  Gulping some air to the side of her face, I tried not to breathe near her.

  She didn’t release me, even as I inhaled deeply and exhaled garlic air. Instead, she kissed my cheekbones while I tried to steady my nerves, calming my breathing. I swear she laughed at my feeble attempts to not cover her face in garlic-infused carbon dioxide.

  When I had steadied my nerves a tiny bit—to a point where I felt more like a mere fragile glass holding captured lightning within its translucent brittle skin—Celestine kissed me again. Just like that, she overloaded and blew every fuse in my hopeful heart. I melted.

  “Come with me, Tristan. We are going on an impossible adventure. You probably won’t survive. But I will do my best to save your life, no matter the cost.”

  There was never a question. Not for me. Celestine saw the agreement in my eyes. I didn’t even have to say yes.

  “I have a plan.“ She smiled wickedly and arched one eyebrow.

  “You’re not going to like it.”

  Epilogue

  When I awoke, my head hurt like a mother.

  Other than that though, I felt rested. “H-hey,” I whispered, turning over, reaching out. My hand drifted across a field of incredible softness. The sheets were smooth as silk.

  Under my questing fingertips, I realized abruptly that the fabric was actual silk. Brilliant red, a field of cloth woven so fine covered the entire bed in exactly the perfect shade of spilled blood. Even the size and shape of the pillows that I rested upon—perfection.

  Everything was exactly how I’d always pictured Heaven should be... except for the part where I was alone.

  Her side of the bed was empty. “Celestine,” I called out, “Celestine, where are you?”

  There was only one long red hair on the pillow case.

  “Darling?” I yawned, searching for her.

  There was a weird disconnected feeling in my own brain, like I startled awake from a dream so deep I could barely remember. “Honey? You there? I could have sworn that I was just fighting vampires. Super vivid dream. It felt so real. “Honey?”

  I called out for her, my darling wife. I’d loved her since I met her back in— back in—at my old dojo, before it burned down. What was it called again?

  Such a beautiful girl, Celestine... a treasure that happened to fall into this poor man’s lap. Surviving was hard enough. Loving? Even a harder road to climb.

  We did it, though. Along the way, we saved little Peggy from that abusive asshole, DeBrenton.

  It had been completely devastating, the shitshow her ex put her through. We had finally done it. After we’d gone to the doctor, and visited the lawyer, we fought our way through three miserable court proceedings.

  We won. We celebrated on the steps of the courthouse, finally a family again. She had cried a great deal, which nearly broke my heart. But in the end, it was a war for justice. And somehow through all of it, damn it if I didn't fall in even more in love.

  She was a gift. A gift I never thought to have in my life again.

  “Celestine?” I reached under the side of the bed and pulled out a small red jewelry box. Today. It’s perfect.

  I loved everything about her. Her nose, the pale skin, the smokey eyes and even the way she pouted when I wouldn't share any of my pizza.

  That woman sure loved anything Italian. Swore it was her favorite food. “Shame no one makes it quite right any more.” Al dente sh
e explained, every time she pushed away a bowl of perfect pasta. “To the teeth, Tristan.” She mumbled sadly. “It has to be to the teeth, or it’s just not right.” Seventeen days ago, I swore I even saw a tear.

  Well, damn it all. That wouldn’t do.

  Two weeks ago, we had gone through every pasta shop in southern California. No luck.

  “If that is what you want,” I declared, taking her by the hand, I placed in her open palm three airline tickets to New York and a cruise ship itinerary. “We are going to Italy, then. We will find the perfect pasta chef. You will have the best food you have ever tasted. And of course, we will take Peggy along as well.”

  We definitely needed a vacation. Three days later the cruise ship was booked. Clothes bought. Passports: check.

  “As long as you are with me, baby, I got everything I need,” she said, clutching just one small overnight bag. Practical woman.

  I was crushing so hard.

  That was before I realized the entire eighth grade class was going to Italy with us. Poor kids. After their school, the Reborn Church of the Desecrator of the Cross burned to ash, the remaining students had nowhere to go.

  Celestine relayed to me the unfortunate news that most of them were foreign exchange kids. Barely spoke English.

  Even on the cruise ship, we barely saw them. They were entirely seasick too, poor things. Stayed below decks playing Twister and Canasta and Shuffleboard like retirees. Celestine taught the class every day and then spent the evenings with me.

  And every night as well.

  We made room in our lives for their misfortune. It wasn’t hard. Between the trip and the search for pasta, we could help these sheltered kids find their way home.

  My Celestine, such a leader in the community.

  A huge 10 lb box of breath mints lay open on the bed side table—her little joke. She always said I smelled of garlic bread.

  “I can't help it if I have the breath of a mighty dragon in the morning,” I protested innocently.

  To which she just always burst into giggles. Hearing her laugh was worth any price. That was in fact why I found myself on a cruise ship nearing the port of Gibraltar at this very moment. Her happiness had taken some wrangling on my part, but after being shipboard for a month, Celestine glowed whenever she spent time with her little girl.

  “It sure is great having little Peggy back.” I whispered last night, watching them play cards. Hearts was their favorite game.

  I shivered at the memory of the whole kidnapping incident and the maddeningly horrible custody arrangements we had to fight. Thank goodness, that had been worked out. It had taken many thousands of dollars to finally wrench that innocent child free of DeBrenton’s slimy grasp. And most of my life savings. But it was worth everything to make sure that Peggy was free. Money didn't matter. Even the closing of the dojo I’d had since Marian and I met, that didn’t matter.

  Besides, now there were new students to train. The foreign teenagers were instinctually so shy, clinging to the shadows, hesitant to be seen in the light of day. “They just embarrass too easily, Tristan. Don’t be mean,” Celestine laughed this last week when I tried to encourage them to wake up before late afternoon.

  Poor things were always red-eyed from crying.

  “Homesick,” Celestine shook her head in pity as she reached into the shadows and ruffled the nearest one’s hair.

  But at night? At night, they danced. And when they danced, the whole ocean stopped to watch.

  A three week cruise from New York to London and then around Spain and into the Mediterranean: we had nothing but time. Silence and calm. And the sunsets… All around us, horizon to horizon filled with ocean waves and sky.

  Nothing disturbed the peace except the two vacationing families who mysteriously jumped overboard somewhere near Nova Scotia. That was horrible.

  Such a tragedy.

  The cruise ship spent two days looking for any trace of survivors. Ultimately, they found nothing except a small stuffed animal floating in the waves. Devastating.

  People are strange. How parents could do something so horrible was beyond my grasp.

  All the same, I hugged little Peggy every time I saw her. She loved the shy students from the ruined school and spent almost every day with them. Celestine trusted the students. I trusted Peggy, maybe more than a ten year old should be.

  Still, the arrangement worked.

  Having adjoining rooms was nice. Having the ability to lock the middle door, well, that was sometimes even better.

  This morning, my head hurt. Not even getting out of bed, I called room service. When breakfast arrived, the smell of bacon, eggs, and orange juice filled the room.

  Then it really was time to get up. The way the ship moved side to side took some getting used to. Thank goodness I had a strong stomach.

  Another blissful calm day at sea.

  Turning on the shower, I stepped in to the hot water, like I was burning away the past. Slathering on the shampoo, I scrubbed the dirt off.

  A cool puff of air told me Celestine had joined me.

  Suddenly, everything focused, like I stepped out of a dream and into a dazzling reality. That happened every time she was with me lately. An explosion of color, sound, and textures, like my mind was on fire just being near Celestine.

  Stepping inside the glass door, her perfumed hair filled my senses. Her hands wove around my sides, slowly tracing my spine, lingering on my ribcage. She knew exactly what she was doing.

  Exactly.

  Down to the way she swiveled into my arms in a shower so tiny it barely held enough room for one person. That didn’t stop her. I thought there was a drop of blood near her mouth but the red droplet washed away in the shower, leaving no trace.

  Like a whirling dervish, she filled my arms, wet and soapy, sexy as hell.

  “I missed y—” I started to say before her lips found mine. That was all I managed to say for the next two hours.

  Talking is highly overrated.

  Celestine’s hands were everywhere, cool to my warmth. Her lips stayed focused on my own, each delicate lash more fine than the last. Worried about hurting her, I carefully held back every touch. Passion roared through my veins.

  This woman.

  This.

  Adoring her body was easy, like breathing after being underwater for too long. Celestine filled my arms and my mind. Kissing her, wrapped like a second skin around my body—she felt right. Kissing her was a never-ending journey, a drug with only high notes, no downer to wreck the savage beauty. I held her body within the embrace of my arms. She was fierce and defiant as a lover, challenging any assumptions I might of had about good girls.

  Perfect. Bad women knew better.

  Water ran down my back, across my shoulders, down my arms, and across her pale skin. A sigh escaped my lips. Celestine kissed my water-covered lips and stole that sigh away. My head spun.

  I couldn’t get enough.

  Hands followed mouths, lips, skin, every bit of her body was exquisite. Celestine pulled my neck closer as her kisses stole my mind again and again.

  I’m addicted, I realized, my emotions buzzing. She’s my drug.

  Kissing her face, the top of her ears, the line of her collarbone from shoulder to neck, that was a journey I could make a million times and never find the same route. No matter how I tried, or how many times I kissed her, Celestine remained a mystery.

  I was never going to let go of this woman, never.

  “Gods, woman, where have you been all my life?” I couldn’t help but wonder as we lay on the bed amidst the rumpled sheets. She smiled, stretching her body, each breast skimming the edge of the silk sheets.

  “I’ve been waiting for you, my darling. Just biding my time and waiting for one good man.” The smile on her face was kind as she answered my astonishment. But there was a sadness underlying everything she said and did.

  And it bothered me.

  “We will fix this,” I murmured into her damp hair, snuggling near her
ear as my free hand traced strange invisible signs on her hip. The certainty I felt, the solemn way I spoke seemed a bit too intense for a sightseeing tour of Italy looking for the perfect pasta. I meant it though. “I will do anything for you, Celestine,” I spoke impulsively, my words weighted.

  It felt right all the same.

  Lifting my chin, she gazed into my eyes. I swore there was a flash of fear, but that quickly vanished. “Tristan?” My name on her lips was everything. “Do you trust me?”

  She shook a little when she asked me that. All teasing aside, the roots of the question ran deep. Deeper than either of us wanted to admit.

  “Absolutely.” I swore to her. “I am yours, Celestine. Forever.”

  Even the sadness flickered away when she heard that promise. I was once a dojo master. I would be one again—anything to protect her.

  Anything she needed.

  Celestine clutched the brilliant gold chain that lay like stardust around her neck. The links were the same matching design that I wore, a wedding gift that bound us together.

  The sincerity in her eyes took my breath away.

  So did her heartfelt words:

  “Come heaven or hell, I will keep you safe. I swear it.”

  * * *

  ~The End~

  Blood in the Ashes

  Continue the journey in book two:

  Blood in the Snow, coming Spring of 2019.

  Read more books in the Uncertain Vampire Hunter Universe by clicking here. Pick up an adventure:

  Daggers In the Dark

  Blades in the Shadows

  http://www.authorcarolineagill.com/the-uncertain-life-of-a-vampire-hunter.html

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  About the Author

  Caroline A. Gill writes dark fantasy and epic stories of light and courage found in the most hopeless of places. With five children and a pile of never-ending laundry, writing short stories, novels. and drawing my covers are my only links to sanity or any form of actual adulting. You, the reader, are the only audience to my dreams and wild imaginings.