by White, Gwynn
His movements were so fast, so strong. He was a superb fighter, and he was holding his own against the queen, even without the help of his armor. I realized he’d been humoring me last night at the garden party. He’d let me flip him over. Maybe it had amused him.
The Queen swung a punch at Aaron, knocking him hard in the head. He blinked, dazzled for a moment from the impact of her fist against his skull. But he recovered quickly. When she struck again, he caught her arm. She tried to free herself, but his steely grip held.
“You dare to restrain a queen, you filthy vampire!” Queen Gale snarled.
His other arm locked around her body. He had her trapped now. Her arms were pinned to her sides.
“What did you call me?” he said in a low, dangerous voice.
She pushed against his hold. “Filthy…” She tried slamming her heel into his leg, but he evaded. “…vampire.”
“Filthy mage,” he snapped back.
“Degenerate.”
“Savage.” Her voice was a harsh hiss. She tried to head-butt him, but he anticipated and moved his head aside.
He held to her tightly, his muscular arms encasing her. “Yield, Your Majesty.”
“Never.”
He squeezed harder, pushing the breath out of her. She sucked in air in short, ragged gasps.
“Yield,” he repeated.
“No.”
A mind blast exploded out of her, throwing Aaron against the wall.
She glared at him. “You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you?”
He prowled forward. “No. There’s nothing more tedious than an easy opponent.”
Her lips curled up. “I couldn’t agree more.”
She rushed forward, kicking high. He caught her leg and held it there. She glared at him for a moment, then her mouth crashed against his. His hand slid down from her knee to her thigh. The other one locked on her hip. Her fingernails clawed down his back. The screech of tearing fabric echoed through the great hall, then Aaron’s shirt fell off his body.
Queen Gale thrust out her hand, slamming her palms against his chest. The force of the blow knocked him against the wall. Her hands slid up his arms like crawling vines, locking around his wrists. Aaron’s mouth trailed down her throat, pausing on the fat vein in her neck. She groaned in anticipation.
I’d always wondered if the myths about vampires were true. Did they feast on blood? Did they really have fangs? I’d never seen them.
My questions were answered right then and there. Fangs descended from Aaron’s mouth, grazing the Queen’s skin, teasing the pulsing vein. Then he bit down. His fangs pierced her skin, and he drank from her in long, hard draws. His moans blended with hers. It seemed she appreciated it as much as he did.
Aaron lifted his eyes and met mine. They shone with an unspoken challenge that called out, this is what you’re missing. This is what I can give you.
And a deep, dark part of me was excited by the idea—even tempted by it.
But then reason set in. I did not want a vampire to bite me. Those wild thoughts must have been the crazy Phantom magic in me talking.
Aaron held tightly to Queen Gale, drinking. But his eyes never left me. I was frozen, caught in the awkwardness of this moment.
The Queen grabbed the waistband of his sweatpants, yanking them down.
That did it. I spun around and retreated from the balcony as quickly as my legs could carry me.
17
Phantom's Kiss
I ran back to my room, my head swimming. I shouldn’t have gone wandering the castle’s cold halls at night. And as soon as Aaron and Queen Gale had started kissing, I should have taken off right then and there. The dark, primal act I’d witnessed between them—the vampire devouring her blood and body—had shaken me. It had terrified me. Worse yet, it had intrigued me.
I’d reached my room, but I didn’t go inside. I turned instead toward Jason’s door. My heart was pounding, my body shivering from the cold—and the fear. There was something wrong with me, a darkness lurking inside of me. I really needed a friend right now, someone to hug me and tell me I wasn’t losing my mind.
A stream of light crept out from under Jason’s door. I stood in front of his room for several moments, my eyes following the twirling engravings in the wood. It didn’t take long for the cold to penetrate my core, freezing me from the inside. My teeth began to chatter. I had to either just knock on his door, or try to find sleep in my bed. I was turning to leave when the door creaked open, and Jason’s head popped out.
“Terra? What are you doing here?”
“You mean, besides freezing? I really don’t know. Sorry to bother you.”
His hand caught mine. “You’re unsettled.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” I admitted.
He studied my face for a moment, then spread the door wider. “Come in.”
“What?”
“Sleep is evading you, and you’re going to get sick wandering the halls dressed like that.”
I blushed. I hadn’t thought I’d actually be seeing anyone tonight while dressed in little more than my underwear. Before I could squirm away in embarrassment, Jason tightened his hold on my wrist and pulled me inside his room. A gust of Phantom magic shut the door behind me.
A fire was blazing in the corner of his room, warming the air to a tolerable temperature. I ran to it, rubbing my hands over the flames. A warm hand tapped my shoulder, and I turned to find Jason there. That’s when I noticed he was wearing hardly more clothing than I was.
He was pretty well covered on the bottom with black pants that hung loosely down, brushing the tops of his bare feet. His upper body, however, was completely bare. I couldn’t help but stare at the contoured muscle of his chest, a masterpiece of athletic prowess. I curbed the urge to trace my finger along those hard lines as Queen Gale had done to Aaron. He probably wouldn’t appreciate such audacity.
“Drink this,” he said, handing me a steaming mug. “Queen Gale sent it over for me, but you look like you need it more than I do.”
I realized that maybe he was still awake—and half-naked—because he was anticipating a nighttime visit from the queen. His cold attitude toward her might have been nothing more than a show, no more than Phantom foreplay.
I tried not to shatter the mug as I took it from him. I didn’t know what troubled me more: the thought of Aaron with Queen Gale, or of Jason with her.
“It’s spiced honey,” I said. The mixture was a stimulant for Phantoms. “She’s hoping to drug you.”
“I noticed.” His lip twitched. “But honey is a soother for Prophets. Maybe it will help you sleep.”
Suddenly, I didn’t feel a whole lot like sleeping. More like charging into the great hall and throwing the mug at the Queen’s face.
“Careful there.” He pried my fingers from the mug, which had already split a few hair-thin cracks.
“I don’t like her,” I declared, glaring at him.
“I hadn’t noticed.”
Was that supposed to be a joke? I couldn’t tell. Jason’s face had remained neutral, his mask perfectly in place. It made me want to throw the stupid mug at him too.
“Did you notice that she does like you?”
He inclined his head. “Naturally. Queen Gale is not a subtle woman.”
I wondered if Jason liked that. For all I knew, he had a thing for blunt and domineering women. Women who could blow holes in solid rock with their minds were not easy to come by. Just the thought of him with the Queen made my blood boil.
“I don’t like her.”
“You mentioned that already,” said Jason.
I began to pace. “She’s pushy and overbearing and…” I swiveled around to face him. “Are you on a first name basis with her?”
It shouldn’t have bothered me, but it did. Mages all called Jason by his power name, Magus—all but those few people close to him. Queen Gale’s address to him was too intimate. It didn’t sit well with me.
“She seems to think so,�
�� Jason replied. “I didn’t think it prudent to point out her breach of etiquette. Not to a mage of Everlast. You know how sensitive they are to the slightest misstep in protocol. She would be very offended to hear that she herself had erred.”
I continued to pace, his words doing little to soothe my rage. “Since we got here, she’s been doing nothing but strutting around you.”
“As I said, she is not subtle. She obviously wants more than a good fight from me.”
His bluntness shocked me, but not enough to silence me. “Then why is she in the great hall with Aaron right now? They were fighting. But now they’re…not.”
He picked up on what I was too embarrassed to say. “Does that bother you?” he asked quietly. “That the vampire is with her?”
“No,” I said. “Oh, Jason, of course not! It’s just weird. I didn’t think they even liked each other. Queen Gale likes you.”
“And the vampire likes you.”
I blinked. “No, he doesn’t like me. He’s just the sort of person who tries to seduce everyone to show that he can. These are all games to him. Nothing more.”
“Trust me, I’ve caught glimpses inside his head, and he very much likes you.”
“But even if that’s true… Then why are he and the Queen…”
“Phantoms have powerful impulses. And so do vampires. War and sex, they are much the same.”
I blushed, thinking about what I’d witnessed in the great hall. It had been only a brief moment, but I’d seen enough. And heard enough.
Jason swept his hand across my cheek. “You’re so innocent.”
I brushed his hand away. “You’re mocking me.”
“No. I’m not.” His face grew serious. “You’ve had foresights tonight.”
“How do you know?”
“Your eyes. They’re glowing.”
I met his eyes. They were growing darker. I knew that look.
“Yours are glowing too,” I told him. “You’re having trouble controlling your powers.”
“I just need a good fight.”
He’d needed a lot of those lately.
“Or something else?” I asked, feeling bold.
“Perhaps.” His eyes pulsed with what might have been amusement. “Do you think Queen Gale is still awake?”
I punched him hard in the arm. He didn’t even wince. My hand, on the other hand, felt as though it had hit a boulder. Ouch.
“This isn’t funny, Jason,” I growled, shaking out my throbbing hand. That would teach me to punch him. He was made of granite.
“You’re jealous.”
I glared at him. “Yes.”
“She is nothing to me. And she never will be.”
“Oh.” I slouched with embarrassment. I was acting ridiculous. “Ok, now that that’s cleared up, I’ll just…”
I started to turn toward the door, hoping to leave with some scrap of dignity, but Jason locked his hand around my arm. I struggled to pull away from him—and failed to move a single millimeter. Damn. I’d already forgotten he was a granite rock.
“Let me go.”
“No.”
“Jason, I’ve already humiliated myself enough for one night. Please, just let me go,” I pleaded.
He didn’t say anything, and he didn’t let go. Instead, he lifted his other hand to me. I winced in anticipation, but he only traced it slowly up my arm, searing a trail of fire into my skin.
“You’re cold,” he said softly.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, forcing myself to remain completely still. Jason followed my contours over my shoulder and up my neck to my hair. As he brushed loose strands from my face, I opened my eyes to two smoldering pools of deep obsidian.
His body was pressed against mine, so close that I could feel the pop of his racing pulse. He held out his hand, and I intertwined my fingers timidly with his. As skin met skin, a pleasantly violent jolt tingled through my body. I arched my back, pulling away.
He captured my chin between his thumb and index finger. “You’re right.”
“About what?” My voice caught in my throat.
“About me losing control,” he whispered, our lips nearly brushing. “These impulses that I cannot control. My magic burning inside of me.”
My heart pounding in my ears, I struggled to catch my breath. “What are you saying?”
“There’s a connection between us, Terra. Something more than friendship. I know you feel it.”
“You’re saying…” I couldn’t speak, could barely breathe. I managed to get the words out, “…that you’re attracted to me.”
“Yes.”
He kissed my jaw. Heat pulsed beneath my skin, spreading out from his kiss.
“But…how…” I spluttered, feeling flushed.
“I’m in love with you.”
The world stopped.
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I felt guilty about it because we’re friends.”
“How long has this been going on?” I asked.
“Years.”
“Years?” I gasped.
He nodded.
I swallowed hard. “Our fathers knew about this?”
“Most certainly.”
So that’s the other reason they’d betrothed us.
“I don’t know what to say,” I admitted.
“You don’t have to say anything, Terra.” His hand stroked through my hair. “I’ve been waiting years for you to look at me like you are now.”
“And how is that?” I said quietly.
“Not as a girl looking at her childhood friend, but as a woman looking at a man,” he replied. “I see in your eyes that you want what I want. I feel it in your resonance.” He set my hand over his heart.
I tried to laugh, to ease the tension building in my chest. “So that’s why you took off your shirt?”
Jason just looked at me. His stare burned me from the inside.
“Jason, I…this is so…”
I stepped back. He followed, matching my movements. My back hit the wall. Jason dipped his head, his nose brushing mine.
My lips trembled, and I breathed out, “Stop.”
But my hand gripped his back, pulling him toward me. When Jason kissed my jaw, I gasped. His nostrils flared, inhaling my scent. He looked almost dizzy, as though he liked what he’d smelled.
“Stop,” I said again.
He stopped. “Are you sure?”
“No.”
He stroked his hand down my neck, tracing my collarbone. “I want to kiss you, to taste your lips. I can think of nothing else.” His mouth grazed my jawbone, burning his brand into my skin.
I struggled to think, to push past the haze of my distracted mind, but all I wanted was to pull him in closer. I brushed my finger across his lips—lips that should have been kissing me. His eyes pulsed as black as midnight, and I felt his hand slide around my hip.
Three resounding knocks thumped on the door. Jason ignored them, his lips moving in to kiss my hand, ever so lightly.
Then he met my eyes. His soft kiss caressed my cheek. As his lips swept across my jaw, trailing down my neck, my breath caught in my throat. I threw back my head and closed my eyes, turning so my mouth could find his. His lips brushed teasingly past mine, and then he kissed my lips—smoothly, leisurely. My pulse beating like a drum in my ears, I grasped the back of his head, pulling him in closer.
The knocks sounded again, this time louder. Jason swore under his breath and released me. As he walked to the door, cold flooded back to my bare skin, chilling me to my very bones.
Aaron stepped into the room. His eyes darted from Jason’s bare chest to me in my nightclothes. A slow, knowing smile curled his lips. “I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”
Aaron met my eyes. I blushed and hastily looked away, embarrassed by what Aaron had just seen—and by what I’d seen earlier in the great hall.
“What do you want?” Jason said coldly.
“The storm has passed. The portal is free to be us
ed,” Aaron told us. “It’s time to go.”
18
Synergy
The portal to Temporia was deep in the castle’s basement, along with half a dozen other portals. It seemed the castle had been built on a hotspot of paranormal energy, and that the Everlast mages were keeping it for themselves.
We popped out of the Temporia portal on the other side of the forest—and on the other side of the witches’ storm. The air was calm here, almost tranquil. A building hugged by two lakes lay before us. Fallen silver-green needles coated its grey stone walls like dust, and pinecones cracked beneath my boots.
Bulky and sharply rectangular, the building was hardly a testament to the witches’ aesthetic sense, but it was sturdy. Trees and plants grew out of the roof. I’d thought the witches would have better style. They wore such extravagant outfits, after all.
I had to bend over to pass through the front door, crouching beneath an open archway of hanging roots and branches. Jason and Aaron, who were taller, had to bend over even more. Especially Aaron in his massive armor.
A sliver of light cut through the open doorway, but the hall we entered was otherwise black—so black that I had trouble navigating the damp tunnel. I came around a corner, and the burn of oil and wood singed my nostrils. A dim orange light wavered weakly against a wall thirty meters away. Shadows shifted, forming a turning wheel of grotesque shapes. How ominous. It was like walking into a haunted house.
The air was muggy and grey, the ceiling low. It was cracking in places. Loose dirt had spilled down, coating the stone walkway, and a dusty mist swirled continuously just above the floor, shifting with each change in the otherworldly breeze. It was a tomb, the rotting remnants of a forgotten era.
I hadn’t seen anyone yet, but that didn’t change what I knew was up ahead. A cold shiver slunk down my spine, as memories of my last experience with Vib’s menagerie flooded my consciousness. The eerie, glowing eyes of the augmented Elitions. Strong and fast, they had moved as one, overwhelming us in a synchronized dance of brutal efficiency and deadly blows. I had never seen anything like the menagerie before, and I hoped I never would again.