by T. S. Ryder
"I'm not going to let you die," Hilda said. "Whether because of the baby or not, you're human. You'll die. You'll get old or sick or just fall down the stairs and break your neck. I won't let that happen."
"Hilda," Tindra managed to gasp out.
"It's okay. I know how to turn a human into a vampire. Eva told me. The baby is going to be fine. Vampire women can carry and give birth. Eva told me that she knows a lot of women to do that. It just doesn't happen in the palace because they don't drink enough human blood. Don't worry. I won't let you die."
She tried to push the vampire off of her, but Hilda dropped again. Another burning pain, more ice. Her feet were numb and she couldn't feel her hands any longer.
"St-stop," she whispered, then another long scream tore from her. The pain was all-consuming. Darkness closed in around her vision and she knew she was dying. Her lungs seized, unable to breathe.
Then, Hilda was ripped away. The icy pain didn't fade. Tindra collapsed back, feeling like she was falling forever. She was unaware of anything except noise and the feeling of her heart, the rapid beat slowing. Eventually, the sound around her changed to screaming and she recognized Hilda's voice. Tindra tried to shy away but couldn't make her body move.
"I need more!" the little girl shouted. "I need to change her!"
She managed to open her eyes. A man leaned over her. "Rollon . . . "
It wasn't Rollon, but she didn't care. She clung to the name as her eyes drifted closed again. She remembered his touch, his kiss. When he drank from her, it was so different from this horror. She locked his face in her mind and held onto him as her mind drifted away.
Chapter Eighteen – Rollon
Rollon sucked up the last of the blood in the bag he had been given as he walked. After all these days of fighting, it was the constant supply of these bags that kept him bolstered. Various cuts oozed blood and his fangs throbbed with the need to bury into flesh, but he didn't slow down. Eva had barricaded herself in an old stone-walled palace, one that had been burned years ago. The restoration was only half-done, and when he finally broke through the walls of shifters that attacked them as they moved through the forest, the path to his sister was clear.
He found Eva sitting in a polished throne room. It figured that she would make this room shiny and new while the structure around her still crumbled. Her eyes flared with anger as she sat on a golden chair. She wore a heavy red gown covered in glittering diamonds. A tiara sat on her brow.
"Brother. Come to pledge alliance to the new queen?"
"Only you, Eva, could be this arrogant." He shook his head as he towered over her. Zander and the rest of the men followed until he gestured for them to step back. This was between the two of them. He hefted his sword and pointed it at her. "You betrayed me: your king. You betrayed the kingdom. You betrayed the woman you professed to love and the child you promised to protect under every circumstance. Was it worth it to end like this?"
Eva snarled under her breath. She leaned forward and pressed her jugular on the tip of his sword. "Worth it? You say that I betrayed you? You betrayed me first, and we both know it. But that doesn't matter. You could kill me right now but that doesn't mean I'm not a queen."
"Fair enough," he whispered. He swung the sword in an arch.
Eva didn't even flinch. Not until her crown was knocked from her head. It fell to the ground sliced in two. Eva gasped and jumped, eyes widening in surprise.
"You're not going to kill me?"
"Not today." Rollon stepped back and gestured for his men to move forward. She made an incredulous noise as Zander pulled a set of cuffs from his belt.
"What do you think you're doing?" she spat.
Rollon replaced his sword, gazing at her coldly. "You would rather die than be locked away. But I don't intend on doing that. You are going to be taken back to the palace to be tried and judged according to the court. And perhaps one day you'll understand that you have hurt yourself more than anybody else. You were never a queen, Eva. You could have been one, but you chose wrong."
She let loose a loud snarl and lunged for him, but the guard was already there. They grabbed her and threw her back onto her throne as they bound her hands. She struggled and fought, hissing and spitting. Her eyes never left Rollon and he knew that if she ever had the chance, she'd kill him. He wasn't blameless, he knew that. He had failed her in their past, but that didn't justify her actions now.
"You are weak. Without me, you never would have been a king. You're nothing without me. You're bloodless, a coward. I will laugh when your kingdom falls around you!"
"Me, bloodless?" He snorted, shaking his head. "That's rich from a woman who decided to kidnap and threaten children to force the shifters into doing her dirty work. You were once a great warrior. Do you even remember how to hold a sword now? Or did you just not want to risk breaking one of your perfectly manicured nails?"
A vampire jogged in from the outside as Eva continued to twist and spit. It was the man that he had put in charge of finding the children. After a quick bow, the solider started to speak.
"We found the children, my lord. They were locked in cages in the lower levels. Only a few blankets, with bowls of stagnant water, covered in their own filth." The soldier shot Eva a look of pure hatred. "My men are freeing them."
Rollon had to wonder if he would change his mind about the trial if he saw those poor children for himself. "Contact the alphas and arrange for the children to be returned to their clans with an offer to sit down and negotiate a peace. They don't deserve to be punished for trying to protect those who are most precious to them."
By this time, Eva was thoroughly bound. Rollon glowered at her. Words could not describe his feelings at that moment. Even if she was his sister, that didn't mean he didn't want to see her destroyed. Part of him seriously considered handing her over to the alphas and letting them deal with her as they saw fit. But there was a due process to these things, and he wasn't going to decree judgment when she was as helpless as she was now.
"You are evil," he told her, "to treat children in such a way."
"They're animals." Eva shrugged. "I treated them as well as animals ought to be treated."
Rollon held his breath for a moment so he wouldn’t say what he so desperately longed to. There was more than he needed to know, and Eva was the only one who could tell him. "What have you done with Hilda?"
"Hilda?" His sister's eyes widened for a moment, then she started laughing. "You think I have Hilda? Oh, that is too precious."
"She isn't in the palace—"
"Of course she is," Eva snapped. The amusement was still in her eyes, a look of sheer cunning on her face. "She has been there this whole time and you didn't know because you were too busy coming after me. The big bad witch. The viper in her nest. Too bad you didn’t know that the kitten's bite can be just as poisonous."
Rollon's eyes narrowed. His heart began to pound. "What are you talking about?"
"I'm saying that you should have taken care of your home before leaving it to come after me."
He lunged. Zander caught him and pushed him back. The king snarled but knew that his head of guard was just thinking of the future. If he had killed her then, he'd have regretted it. "Where is Hilda?"
"In your palace," Eva said, her voice low and syrupy. "I didn't think it would actually work. I thought you must have locked her up by now for being a traitor. I knew you wouldn't hurt her, though. She's young and innocent and you . . . You have a soft spot for her, don't you? She was the perfect spy. She didn't even know what she was doing . . . Children are so very easy to manipulate."
"You evil—"
"Spare me the dramatics." Eva's smile faded. "I will say this, though. I regret hurting her. And Ingrid. I did love them."
"Not enough, apparently."
Eva glanced up at him and, for a moment, he thought he saw true regret in her eyes. But it was gone just quickly, and she shrugged. "Love is a weakness."
"Take her away."
&n
bsp; Zander nodded. He dragged Eva out of the room. Rollon glanced at the golden throne and shook his head. He'd leave it for whoever wanted to take it away. The weariness of the past few days seeped into his bones. He headed back for the vehicles after ordering the majority of his men to stay behind and watch for shifters. They were not to attack, and if they were attacked then they were to avoid killing and instead try to diffuse the situation.
Once he was back in his hummer, Rollon slumped into the seat. His eyes dragged heavily, but he pulled out his phone to call Thor. If Hilda was still in the palace, then where was she? Maybe his son had news . . . Rollon hadn't been able to talk with him for days, except to brief him on what was happening.
When he glanced at the phone, he saw several missed calls and messages. Adrenaline kicked back into his system as he quickly called Thor. There was no answer. Instead of leaving a message, he called again.
"Dad," the answer came. Thor's voice was high and stressed. "You need to come home right now. We found Hilda. She attacked Tindra."
The air left his lungs. "Wh-what?"
"She said she was trying to turn her into a vampire. She bit her and drained most of her blood. Tindra's not doing well. You need to come home now."
Chapter Nineteen – Tindra
Everything was dark and cold. Sometimes shivers of warmth passed over her skin, but Tindra could never grasp it long enough to chase away the darkness. She had the odd feeling that she ought to be frustrated or scared, but all emotion felt so very distant . . . She was nothing but a mind floating in a heavy meat sack. Oh, she wanted to be free from it so badly . . .
A voice called her name. Achingly familiar. Warmth skittered over her, just beyond her sensory perception. The voice called again. It seemed closer this time. She struggled to turn her head, to see where the voice was coming from. It was in pain. She didn't want it to be in pain.
Not it.
Him.
Rollon.
Tindra's mind fell back into her body. Her eyes flew open and she gasped. Her back arched, arms flinging out as though to make sure she could still move. Something heavy landed on her and it took her a moment to realize it was Rollon. She seized him and brought her mouth to his, wanting to know he was still with her, needing to know that they were together. He kissed her back fiercely until she ran out of breath and fell back down.
The movement caused a spike of pain to run down her back. She moaned and reached to her collarbone. What the . . . why did she have bandages . . . oh. Memories came rushing back and she bolted upright again. Rollon caught her as she tried to swing out of the bed she laid in.
"Hilda!" She screamed the name. "Is Hilda okay?"
"She's fine." Rollon eased her back into bed. "You have to rest. You went through something traumatic and we're not sure what the extents are going to be."
Her hand pressed against the bandages and she shuddered. "She wanted to turn me into a vampire so I wouldn't die."
Rollon nodded, his expression grim. "Yes. Ironically, she nearly killed you in the process. Hilda had never tasted blood straight from the vein before. She lost control. Imagine someone surviving on rice and beans tasting ice cream for the first time."
Tindra didn't need to imagine anything. She had been there. She shivered as she remembered the pain that had coursed through her. It made her stomach churn, but she forced back the bile. "What is going to happen now? Turning someone is illegal on pain of death."
"Hilda is a child. She didn't understand exactly what she was doing, and she certainly didn't fully understand the consequences. She is going to be punished, but the punishment will be tailored to suit her understanding. She won't be allowed near you alone for several months, and then she'll be evaluated to see what sort of danger she poses."
Tindra shuddered. "She just didn't want to lose anybody else."
"I know. She's devastated, but I'm sure she'll feel better once she knows you're awake. You required a lot of blood to replace what she took." Rollon's expression darkened for a moment and he moved closer. "For a while there, I wasn't sure you were going to come back to me."
"I'll always — the baby!"
Tindra's grip tightened on his arm. Dread flooded through her as she looked down, as though her flat stomach was going to tell her if the worst had happened or not. She felt no different down there, but it was so early still that she wouldn't even miss it if she had lost the baby. Terror clawed at her throat as Rollon pulled her closer. It took several moments for her to understand what he was saying.
"The baby is fine. Still strong and healthy. It's the vampire in him." He kissed her forehead. "The baby is fine."
She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. Rollon's scent swirled around her and she breathed in. Her mouth watered and her gums throbbed. The small fangs that had erupted that first time she wanted to drink his blood were back, and they felt longer than they had been before. Hilda had tried to turn her . . . Was it possible she had?
"Am I a vampire?'
Rollon's face was grave. "I don't know."
"How can you not . . . " She let herself trail off.
"You are displaying some vampire traits. Your heartbeat has slowed, you're cooler to the touch, and you've grown a nice set of fangs. But is it because you're turning into a vampire? We can't know for certain. Thor's mother developed some vampire traits when she was pregnant, but they disappeared after she gave birth. Usually, it takes ingesting vampire blood on the verge of death to turn a human into a vampire. You didn't do that."
Tindra nodded, not sure if she was relieved or disappointed. "So I'm not."
Rollon put a hand on her stomach. "Maybe not."
"What . . . Oh. Because blood is shared between baby and mother through the umbilical cord . . . I had vampire blood in me. From the baby."
The king nodded. "And it's the combination of death and vampire blood that triggers the change. We don't know if you were drained enough, or if there was enough vampire blood from the baby. Right now we'll just have to wait and see."
"Wait." Tindra smiled. "Well, either way . . . I'm alive. We survived. And Eva?"
"In custody. I'll deal with her. And the shifters have responded favorably to my extension of peace. We are going to negotiate somewhat, but things are looking up." He stroked her face. "Especially since you are here. Alive. With me. Now you need to rest."
She eyed the pulse at the base of his throat and a wicked smile crept over her face. "What if . . . we did something else instead?"
His pupils dilated and he shook his head. "Oh, Tindra . . . you are determined to end me, aren't you?"
***
One Year Later
The night sky was bright with moonlight, the stars hidden behind wisps of clouds. Tindra walked through the gardens, bouncing her small baby boy as he hiccupped, his tears just starting to subside. Walking around outside was one of the only ways to calm him when he got all worked up at night. The silly thing was already too interested in what was going on around him to want to sleep.
Rollon came up beside her, smiling as he gazed down at their son. Their daughter was nestled in his arms, cooing as she waved her small fists. She never slept unless she was with her brother. It made for some interesting nights when neither of them would settle down properly. Little Artemis smiled a toothless grin at her mother when she saw her.
They had decided to continue the god theme that had started with Thor, but Tindra had flatly refused to keep the Norse mythology ("Do you even know the legends of Freya and Frey? Look them up!" she had told Rollon when he had brought it up) and so they had Artemis and Apollo. Both appeared fully human at the moment, but that's how Thor started as well. They would just have to wait and see how things went from here.
"Ingrid wants to see us once the babies are asleep," Rollon whispered to her. "More wedding planning."
Tindra had to bite her tongue to stop laughing at his expression. She leaned over and brushed a kiss on his cheek. "It's your fault for asking me to marry you."
"I know. I just never thought it would inspire her to do all this. I just hope that those seductive eyes she's been making at the wedding planner start to work soon. Those two would make a cute couple, wouldn't they?"
Tindra nodded, thinking of the short, curvy woman who Rollon had hired to assist Ingrid in planning everything. "Have you seen Hilda in her flower girl dress yet? She looks like a little angel."
"Not yet. She insists it's bad luck."
Tindra smirked. "I think that just applies to the bride."
He shrugged. Over the past year, Tindra had slowly gained more and more vampiric traits. It appeared that she was going to be a full-blood vampire sooner rather than later. At times it was very unpleasant and painful, but if the slow change meant forgoing the week of pure torture that Rollon had told her about when he had changed, it was worth it.
Everything was good. Eva was locked up, Ingrid was moving on, and Thor adored his younger siblings. He had taken over more responsibility for the kingdom, allowing Rollon to have more time to spend with his mate and two younger children. Even Hilda had recovered from Eva's treachery.
"We should get back inside," Tindra whispered. "Before our little sun-god wakes up again."
Rollon nodded. They headed back inside, walking side by side. Tindra couldn't help but smile as they got inside. It would only be another year before she was a full-blooded vampire like Rollon, but she never had any cravings for human blood. Her king gave her all that she needed. Their children would grow up like Thor had, having normal childhoods and becoming adults before they stopped aging.
And as for her and Rollon? They would live forever together. King and queen of their kingdom, their lives full of happiness and love, never having to fear when death would part them because it never would. They were looking into the possibility that they might be able to have children still after her change was complete. There was some evidence that vampire women could, in fact, carry and give birth if they were supplied the right amount of human blood. They had forever to test it out, though, and for now, she was happy with her babies and her king.