After a hunt, the men were always exhausted. Everyone was to remain as quiet as possible and so they all slept. It was Honor’s favorite time of all. Soon enough, soft breathing and snores filled the main area to indicate everyone was dutifully asleep. The familiar sounds of the ice crackling and groaning were a constant, familiar lull. Honor crept from her furs as quietly as possible and, through touch, felt her way to the smaller tunnel they had been working at carving out. She had grown to love the feel of the lumpy ice; she felt the grooves and niches, a road map of discovery in her dark dreary world.
She wasn’t exempt from touching ice, it wasn’t human and contact was allowed. It was so different from feeling soft furs. The texture was firm, like a man’s chest might be. Honor imagined it had life, the glacier moved after all—anything was possible. It made human sounds when it popped, like expelled gas. It shifted form, retreated and returned, each new discovery was a gift of something different to add to her existence when she craved new innovation.
To Honor’s excitement a small opening had formed near the end of the tunnel. Crouching low, Honor slid her way through the hole and stood. Higher up she climbed, placing her feet onto small ledges. A trace of light now aided her direction and she grew curious. At the top of the hole was another aperture, too small for any man; as it was, Honor shrugged out of her fur jacket to fit.
Once through the gap, there was one more cavity. This area was larger; shivering, Honor shrugged back into her jacket. She poked her head through the next hole, wondering how far the cavern led. Euphoria surged through her body, and Honor stared in stunned surprise. Everywhere she looked was wide open. The heavens stretched for miles every which way she turned her head; there was no ceiling. Honor gasped—she was looking at outside. She had heard of a moon, big, round, white and there it sat. How could it just sit in the sky? What held it there and kept it from falling? It had to be the moon—she was told the sun made the entire day light up and the ice cave a little less drab. Bright lights twinkled from high in the darkness. Stars—they had to be stars. It was breathtaking and frightening. Honor’s heart was pounding in excitement and some fear; the Earth was a monstrosity. Even in her wildest imagination, she hadn’t realized anything could be so large.
Honor breathed in the scent of freedom. The land was ice and snow; it went on forever as far as her eyes could see and she could see so far. It was as though her sight was given free reign, no walls to capture and imprison her vision—it was set loose. Honor had no idea she could see so far, she had no idea her eyes were so remarkable. The idea of looking for more was so tempting. If only there was something out there Honor would leave and never look back.
Just to be standing there with her head poking out staring at the moon and stars was an act of treason. It was a dumb law; it was made to control women; only men could see and experience the beauty of the world the laws were destined to destroy. Men could go out, why couldn’t she? Men could make babies—they couldn’t grow them, but they were needed as badly. It made no sense.
Taking a deep breath and with her heart pounding as though it too wanted to escape the confines of her chest, Honor pulled herself out of the hole and onto the ice. She wanted to walk on that snow. Who could it hurt? Honor lifted each foot and set it into the mound of whiteness as she stood. It crunched and gave way unlike the hard ice. Her feet sank a small way and for a second she was afraid she would be covered over. When her feet hit hardness, she grinned, feeling her face almost explode in delight. She needed, wanted, more; she wanted to scream her happiness with the experience.
The slope was treacherous; Honor had never felt so alive. Every step was new, when she had traversed the same steps a million times or more in the ice dwelling. She slipped once, then again. For a second, she searched the sky for the heinous vampires—there was nothing, nothing. She giggled. Honor could just picture dumb Talek’s face if he only knew what she was doing. Men made their own laws. It was time this woman made her own law. Honor decided by her own law she was now allowed to go outside when she chose to.
Honor stood with her two feet firmly planted on the snowy ground, her heart still hammering. Her breath came quick. She had done it, she was outside. Now what? Taking small steps on the crunchy ground she moved away from the ice dwelling. The footing was so strange when she was used to somewhat smooth ice under her feet and she felt a little gangly and awkward. All her life she had lived in a glacier. All her life she had looked at the same ice walls, the same ice floor. She had breathed the same ice air. This air was fresher, it was pure. It smelled—free.
Everything was so quiet in this world—this foreign magical world. Gazing at the stars Honor felt so insignificant, she was only one under a blanket of dancing light. If only she knew what else was out there. There had to be so much more; she knew inside her heart there was more. She tasted freedom; it was so real it rolled on her tongue and flowed through her veins. The sensation filled her entire being. Smiling, Honor turned. She went no farther. A dark shadow appeared and a huge fist smashed into her face felling her where she stood.
* * * *
Honor heard the yelling first; it’s what roused her. Talek’s tone was furious. Honor tried to struggle to sit up. It was hard with her head spinning; she was still seeing stars, except she knew she was in the ice dwelling with the ceiling overhead. How odd. Her face ached, she tried to open and close her jaw.
“She was outside. It’s treason,” Dylan was shouting.
Honor’s eyes widened, she remembered what had happened. Dylan had punched her in the face with his furry gloved hand; he could have broken her bones otherwise.
“You fucking bastard,” Honor screamed.
Dylan spun around and strode to her. He raised his open hand; he no longer wore his huge white mittens. In Honor’s slumped position she had no choice, it was either curl into a small ball or…
“Bitch!” Dylan howled when Honor kicked both feet out and connected with his groin area.
Dylan sank to the ground and Honor balled a fist and smashed it into Dylan’s nose. “I will not be bullied by a dickless idiot. You’re a coward. You sucker punched me—in the dark. A woman half your size.”
“Enough.” Talek yelled. He pulled Honor to her feet and held her around the waist.
“Treason is punishable by death,” Dylan yelled then groaned.
“Her father saved my life,” Talek bellowed in return.
“Then I will do it,” Dylan said and rose to his feet, both hands cupped between his thighs, and a trail of blood slid from his nose.
“And have her beat you up again?” Talek sneered.
“If she wants to be outside so badly then let her go and tell her not to come back,” Meg said.
“You’re all spineless,” Honor spat. “The entire lot of you. Afraid of a woman’s vagina.”
“You go too far,” Talek said in warning.
“Fuck off,” Honor said. “How are we supposed to stand this? Day in day out, no touching, no love, no anything. No loud laughter or talking because we might be heard. It’s a cold life with the bare minimum of fire allowed. Always afraid of vampires none of us have ever seen. How do you know they even exist? On some man’s say so? Have any of you got any proof? We have been hidden away so long. Have any of you old timers seen a vampire? How do you know this isn’t just based on a lone man’s insanity? A man’s inferiority complex and mission to control women and kill everyone? Mass genocide—we’ve all heard of it.”
Talek looked around. Honor could see the wondering on all of the faces. They had all thought the same thing—was she the only one with enough balls to speak her mind? Talk about irony. Talek turned her in his arms.
“The law is in place to keep you safe,” he said.
“Yeah, I’ve heard that a million times,” Honor said. “But I was outside. The only thing threatening me is my own people.”
“I promised your father I would keep you out of harm’s way.”
“By letting Dylan punch me? Threaten
me?” She was incredulous. “Do you even understand how stupid that is? You killed your own daughter saying it was to protect her. Which is it, Talek? Kill the females or keep them alive and hidden? Your laws are twisted and warped.”
“She causes too much trouble.” Dylan’s voice was sharp.
“Oh gee, I am man, listen or else,” Honor said, her tone simpering. “You’re just a big dumb fuck.”
Dylan tried to grab at her but Honor was faster. Using Talek as leverage her foot came up in a side kick and smashed Dylan in the guts sending him flying. His ass connected hard on the ice floor. Honor heard Talek swear. Talek tossed her over his shoulder. He took, her kicking and screaming, into a storage passageway far from the main room, through the labyrinth of tunnels, and tossed her in a smaller ice cave.
“Maybe some time in there will cool your brain.”
Honor watched as the men helped Talek move a huge boulder of ice to cover the entry. As the room darkened Honor hugged herself. It would be a good way for Talek to kill her. If he ‘accidently’ left her in there for too long, she would freeze to death. Honor shoved at the door. It wouldn’t budge—it had taken four men to close it. She saw light coming in the bottom. Looking around she noted a hunting tool. Crouching near the hole, Honor began picking at the ice. She’d be damned if she just sat around and waited to die before she even got a chance to live.
Chapter 2
Honor had stripped down to her leather undergarments. The shirt just covered her belly, leaving her arms bare, and the pants were snug and came to just below her knees. It was treason to be so unclothed—it was bloody cold too. She shoved her furs through the hole she had made. It was a tight fit but she was able to wiggle through the opening she had hacked out. Her bare arms scraped across the ice—she was already feeling half frozen.
It took her only seconds to yank her white furs back on, once free of her jail. She had been thinking while she was trying to gain her freedom. The men could keep their manmade laws, but she had made her own. She was going to go outside, she was going to learn to hunt and she was going to survive. There was no other option.
Vampires had to be a myth; flying creatures that came out only at night with glowing eyes and fangs that drank blood? Seriously, who were the men kidding? Men used the idea of vampires as physiological warfare. Honor knew all about war. The older ice dwellers—some dead now, had spent long hours talking by the fire about their ancestors to anyone who would listen. Honor was an apt student, it was the only time anyone had noticed her and answered questions. It was how she had learned to fight. The fact they explained how battle moves worked was interesting. It had been bliss to punch Dylan in his stupid face. Except her hand hurt—that wasn’t quite so pleasant. Her face ached when she gritted her teeth.
On stealthy feet, Honor made her way to the smaller cave. They had left no one guarding her. There was no way anyone wanted to be left out of the decision to strip her naked and expose her to the elements. She was no baby; they’d have to catch her first.
Honor could see her breath as she moved slowly and steadily. Her heart was pounding. All she had was the weapon she had used to chisel her way out. The thought of killing someone made her grimace. But if they were going to kill her anyway, she needed to be ready to fight back.
Honor made her way into the small hole from the night before. When she poked her head out of the ice, she breathed a sigh of relief. There was no one in sight. The wind had picked up and the sky wasn’t as clear, drab—it looked drab. It confused Honor. Isn’t it just night then day? She had thought there was either one or the other, not an in-between. Moving more quickly, she slipped and skidded down the side of the glacier. When she hit the ground, Honor broke into a run. Around any ice bank could lurk danger. There was no turning back. Honor might die, but she would die free. There was no honor in giving up or in.
* * * *
Laken was sitting on a mound of furs; he stared vacantly into a brightly burning fire. He wasn’t cold, even though he was in a cave, and outside the wind was howling with another blizzard. Snow blew round the cave opening and ruffled his shoulder-length black hair. The fire was more of a comfort than a necessity, simple movement and some noise to offer a little distracting relief in the quiet of night. Laken wore a black t-shirt, black pants and heavy black boots. It was the coven attire and Laken found it amusing. It was how the humans differentiated between human and vampire.
There were furs in the cave besides the ones he sat on, but they were mainly to wrap any human Tavish’s coven came across. There was synthetic blood for Laken to drink but thankfully, he wasn’t hungry. The blood their good Dr. Caine made was gross. A necessary evil for travel purposes. The others laughingly called it vampire trail mix. Bringing humans into the freezing cold was too dangerous, and because they were hard to come by in this new day and age, the vampires made certain their valuable assets were kept safe.
Laken sighed; the world had changed so much in the last sixteen thousand years of his existence. Over time, Tavish had been adding to his valuable, powerful vampire dynasty. Tavish’s coven was growing, but not nearly fast enough for Tavish’s liking. Humans were rare and few and far between—they were gifts to the vampire kind. All of the vampires were given a human to protect and call their own, but in the end, when their usefulness was done, the humans were put out of their misery in a gentle way then fed to the animals over the solid twenty-foot-high fence surrounding the compound.
Today it had been one of Laken’s humans. He had been fond of Ginger. In her youth, she was a real firecracker. Age had matured and tempered her and Laken had no less enjoyed her golden years. Laken had watched over her since birth. At sixty, Ginger had developed a disease Caine couldn’t cure. The doctor had tried, but when Tavish had come to Laken that morning he knew what Tavish was going to do.
Laken could only control so much of Ginger’s pain with hypnotism. Caine had stronger meds that made her lethargic and weepy—she hated them. At times, her pain was unbearable; it was more Laken who needed to come to terms with what must happen. Ginger’s time had come. When Laken had gone to her, he told her he loved her too much to see her suffer; it nearly broke his heart. Ginger had touched his cheeks with gnarled hands. She simply smiled at him the way she always did when she understood and agreed, and had then taken Tavish by the arm. Laken watched as they strolled together around the compound a last time, saying her goodbyes. As she moved away Laken listened for any distress, but Ginger’s heart hadn’t pounded, she wasn’t afraid.
When children were born into the coven, the first person they saw was Tavish. He would stare deeply into their eyes, demand loyalty and in return he swore to them they would be watched over and welcome, cared for—loved. They would be fed, housed, clothed, their medical needs met. Any necessity was granted and then some. In short—everything was provided. The demands Tavish made were strict, and he expected to give no less to the ones he cared for. He felt it a fair compromise. When their time was over, Tavish would take their human lives in the most humane way possible.
Ginger hadn’t been troubled; she loved Laken and trusted Tavish. Her death was as promised—painless. A new baby had been born three days prior to Ginger’s demise and Tavish promised the child to Laken. It was bittersweet to get to know a human from birth to death. Immortality had its drawbacks. Laken had seen a great deal of loss in his long life. The child’s mother belonged to Tavish, but with the new birth of Tavish’s hybrid human-vampire son and Tavish’s new vampire wife, he was a bit busy. Tavish was responsible for everyone in his coven, and his humans were shared with his wife—who was somewhat hesitant to feed from humans. It was why Tavish didn’t mind parting with the human babe.
The baby promised to Laken, a boy, was cute. Laken hadn’t decided if he wanted him or not. The child would, of course, stay with his mother; she would care for him. If Laken agreed to have the boy under his protection, the child would only ever need to say his name and Laken would hear him from anywhere on the compound. All
humans needed a vampire to watch over them and call their own to make them feel safe and secure.
The boy would not be bled until at least his eighteenth birthday. It was a rule of Tavish’s—no bleeding a child. It was a simple rule and none of the forty-two and a half vampires who lived at the coven ever broke any of Tavish’s rules. Neither did the humans. Tavish had reminders who roamed the coven. Anivamps. A white wolf, a white tiger, a wild boar and a silver back gorilla. For the most part the humans had stopped fearing the creatures, but they were still there as encouragement to obey the laws.
Laken sighed. Ginger had always obeyed the laws. Laken knew eventually he would need to take a new human. Ginger had been the first human he had watched since birth, now she was gone—humans had so little time. For now it was simpler to wallow in self-pity. Laken tossed another log on the fire and watched it spark and pop. The log was still a bit damp and it sizzled. Another sound caught Laken’s attention, a heartbeat; Laken grinned. He wondered if an animal was coming to seek shelter from the blizzard that raged.
Thank heaven, no gross synthetic blood for me tonight.
Laken stood and assumed predator mode, he felt his fangs grow and the surrounding area turned black and white—he knew his eyes were white as snow and glowing. Every vampire in Tavish’s coven experienced the same type of vision while hunting, Laken felt it a boon to their survival—no unneeded distractions. Whatever it was that was approaching was about to get the shock of its life—its last shock ever.
A Vampire To Watch Over Me [Vampire Coven Book II] Page 3