“So long as she dies I don’t care much either way,” Clarice growled. “We can’t let this stand. She has flouted our laws, raised a rebel army, abducted a count and placed a false crown upon her head. It’s time she learned the consequences of those actions.”
“We should go after her at night so she can’t use the sun against you,” Julius said.
“What of the other elements she can wield?” Miles asked, pushing a hand through his blonde hair. He and Warren looked oddly clean in comparison to our post-battle filth.
“There’s not a lot we can do about the wind.” Julius shrugged. “But when I used to spar with her I would try and contain her within a building or cave to cut off her connection to the rain and lightning. She can’t fist fight for shit if you can get that close to her. We always used to tell her to work on it but she refused, preferring to rely on her gifts.”
“As far as I’m aware she hasn’t spent any time sparring since she was turned,” Fabian added. “So I’m sure if any of us can get close enough she’ll be easy to dispatch.”
I smiled in response to that.
“Good. Then for now we should rest up in preparation of heading after her once we get a location,” Clarice said. “Montana, you can have Erik’s room; as he’s your husband it’s yours now too.”
“Oh... sure,” Montana said with a faint frown and it didn’t seem like she was entirely comfortable with that decision.
Clarice turned her gaze to me and Julius. “I can have rooms made up for the two of you as well.”
“As much as you’re obviously looking forward to sneaking into my bedroom tonight, I’ve told you I’m not interested in you, harlot. So we only need one room,” Julius replied firmly.
Clarice opened her mouth to respond, her eyes flashing with rage but Fabian beat her to it.
“If you seriously think I’m going to let you take my wife to your bed in my fucking castle then you must be deluded,” Fabian snarled. “If she’s sharing anyone’s bed it’ll be mine.”
“Callie belongs with my brother,” Julius growled. “And I’ll die before I’d let you lay a hand on her.”
“That can be arranged,” Fabian hissed.
“I’m right here,” I said loudly before they could come to blows. I turned my gaze to Fabian before I continued. “And I’ll be sharing a room with Julius and ideally Montana too. We’re already outnumbered here and if you think we’re going to put ourselves at further risk by separating then you’re all fucking insane. This isn’t a negotiation and if you try to make any decisions for me then I will happily use this blade to cut your head off again.”
Fabian eyed Tempest with distaste and let the subject drop.
“Well if we’re done here then maybe you could all go and wash up,” Miles suggested. “You reek of death.”
Everyone got to their feet and as I stood I was pleased to find my head didn’t spin. In fact I could barely feel my headache at all anymore. I realised with a jolt that it must have been because of the pills Fabian had given me and my gut squirmed uncomfortably.
“I’ll show you to your room,” Clarice said and Julius followed her as she headed away down the corridor.
Montana noticed my hesitation and stopped beside me as Miles and Warren left too. “Are you okay?” she asked curiously.
“Yes. Just tell Julius I’ll catch him up.”
She glanced back at Fabian in surprise then nodded as she hurried after Clarice and Julius.
“Fabian?” I asked, drawing his attention as he stepped out of the door.
He stilled and looked at me like he couldn’t quite believe I wanted to talk to him. “Yes?”
“Could I have a moment?”
“Anything for my dear wife,” he replied mockingly.
“Would you prefer it if I kept using the ring on you while we’re talking?” I asked as I spun the golden piece of jewellery on my finger. I could already feel the others slipping outside of its protection and I just hoped that the gods didn’t try anything while they were too far away for me to hide them.
Fabian looked at the ring too, seeming to consider it for a moment. “I think that would be wise if you would rather I restrained myself.”
I gave him a faint smile and left the ring’s power in place over him so that he wasn’t a slave to our bond.
“I just wanted to thank you,” I said. “For the pills and for fighting beside me out there. You might have saved my life once or twice.”
Fabian narrowed his eyes at me as if he was waiting for me to add something else but that was it. I was still pissed at him for what he’d tried to do to Magnar in their fight but it wasn’t as though Magnar would have done any different had the tables been turned. And if they were all able to put their feud aside to try and solve the prophecy then I was willing to do the same. As much as I might have preferred not to, I knew that I did owe him my gratitude.
“Well if you really want to thank me then feel free to use your mouth for something other than words,” he replied, shifting a little closer to me.
I rolled my eyes at him. “Do you work hard at being an asshole or does it just come naturally?”
“It’s hard to say after all this time.” He shrugged playfully and I couldn’t help but smile a little.
“Have your Familiars found anything yet?” I asked, trying to keep the desperation from my voice even though I was fairly sure I failed. My heart ached for Magnar. I needed to know he was alright. I was desperate for any hint of information and I wasn’t sure how long I could bear to wait in this damn castle before we headed after him.
“It’s been thirty minutes,” Fabian replied scathingly. “Animals can only get so far in such a short period of time.”
“Right.” I nodded, disappointment pooling in my gut as I began to turn away from him. “Well that’s all I wanted to say so-”
“I could show you something else if you’re willing to trust me?” he offered.
“I should probably just go. Julius and Montana will be wondering-”
“Of course, you’d have to get permission. I’d forgotten you slayers are all just slaves to your vow.” He turned and headed out of the room and I scowled as I followed him, knowing full well he was manipulating me but unable to resist the urge to prove him wrong. I didn’t need to ask anyone’s permission for anything anymore. I was free and I intended to stay that way for the rest of my days. Besides, if I stayed with him then I’d find out as soon as his Familiars discovered anything.
“This had better be worth my time,” I muttered.
Fabian chuckled as he led the way back down the corridor and we descended a flight of stairs. He pointed out things about the paintings on the walls and the architecture of the building as we passed them and I frowned at the opulent surroundings.
“You realise this stuff doesn’t impress me, right?” I asked as we headed down another long corridor and Fabian guided me into a darkened room. “Everything you’re showing me just highlights how much you kept for yourselves while leaving the humans to suffer in squalor.”
“Well there are those who would argue that humans used to allow their farm animals to suffer in squalor before we took over. As the new apex predators we are simply continuing your traditions.”
“Humans used to eat animals?” I asked in disgust. That sounded a hell of a lot like being a vampire to me.
“Of course. But you couldn’t really expect us to maintain that level of farming just to fatten up our own food supply now could you? So we got rid of all of that when we seized power.”
“Well it sounds like you did at least one good thing then.”
I looked around at the dark room as he headed on through it and I realised it was a library. The scent of dust filled my nostrils and I glanced back towards the exit, tightening my grip on Tempest as we delved further into the dark. The blade hummed with displeasure and I was sure it was trying to tell me that Magnar wouldn’t like me doing this but it was too late for me to turn back now. And if Fabian did d
ecide to hurt me then all I’d have to do was remove the ring’s influence from him again. The version of Fabian who was hopelessly in love with me could at least be relied upon to leave me unharmed.
“Yes, I suppose you would be able to identify with the plight of a cow destined to be hamburger,” he murmured.
“A what?”
“Never mind.”
“I hope you haven’t brought me all the way down here for a reading lesson so that I can decipher your next letter for myself,” I said, eyeing the books. “Because I’m really not sure if writing poetry is your calling.”
“Hilarious,” Fabian replied coolly. “But you can be assured I won’t be writing to you again. Even if you could read.”
“Well you say that now, while you’re not all obsessed with me. But love-struck Fabian deals with things a little differently,” I teased.
“What’s to say I’m not obsessed with you either way?” he asked as he stopped before a door at the back of the room. “Here we are.”
“And where exactly is here?” I didn't want to respond to his other comment, or think about what it meant.
“You’ll see.” He typed a code into a keypad beside the door then pressed his hand to a scanner. The sound of a heavy bolt unlocking filled the air and the door slid back into the wall.
A light flicked on and a stairway was revealed.
“Ladies first,” Fabian said, indicating for me to go ahead of him.
A shiver of anticipation ran down my spine and for a moment I could have sworn I heard a thousand voices whispering to me from the space beyond the stairs.
I stepped forward slowly, descending the steps as Tempest and Fury hummed in hungry excitement.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end and goosebumps raised along my flesh the further I went. Something was waiting for me at the foot of those stairs and it was eager for me to arrive. My blood sang for it and my heart pounded.
When I finally stepped out into the enormous vault, my breath caught in my throat.
Every inch of space was filled with rack after rack of glimmering golden weapons. There were bows, axes, daggers, hatchets and blades. So many slayer blades that I could have sworn the room was alive with their energy.
I stepped forward, brushing my fingers along their hilts as their names whispered through my brain, one after another. Each of them longing to be held, begging me to lift them into my arms and use them for their sole purpose. To destroy the vampires.
I bit my lip as I turned back to Fabian and I couldn’t fight the smile which lit my face.
“Do you think it was wise to bring me here?” I teased. Every weapon in this room hungered for his death with the desperation of a starving man.
“Maybe not,” Fabian admitted, his eyes sparkling with a joy of his own. “But the look on your face right now is worth the risk.”
I stood in Erik's room with a sinking feeling in my chest. I gazed around the space with emotion welling inside me. Black walls stared back at me and his large bed looked like it hadn't been slept in for a while. It was hard to believe how much had changed since the last time I'd been in this room. Erik had captured my heart entirely. We were linked in an irreversible way that had nothing to do with the gods' rune on my palm.
I'm coming for you. I'll save you from that bitch.
What if Valentina was torturing him? The idea set my blood boiling and my throat tightening. I hated her with an intensity that started an anxious fire in my heart.
I moved to the bed, dropping down onto it with an itching at the base of my throat. It grew to a persistent ache and I sucked in a slow breath, trying to will the sensation away. After the battle, I was exhausted. But not in a human way; it was a feeling deep in my chest and I was sure blood was what I needed to feel right again. Perhaps a good night's sleep too. But I didn't think that would come easy knowing Erik was trapped somewhere with Valentina for company.
I ran my tongue across my canines, flopping back onto the mattress and covering my eyes as I tried to will the desire away. Erik's scent floated over me and I rolled, pressing my face to his pillow and devouring the earthy smell. It might have been one-percent creepy but it also gave me an ounce of comfort that helped me fight the thirst. I lay there until I was sure the pain was going to devour me from the inside out. The ache for blood was nothing in comparison to being parted from Erik. Why was everything against us? Why couldn’t any of this be simple?
I pressed my fingers into my eyes, not wanting to drown in self-pity. It was a pointless emotion, but one that was gnawing on my insides.
I just want him back. I need him to be okay.
The longer I lay there, the more my sadness evolved into a steely determination. I had my family at my back. Erik’s family. Callie. Julius. Today we’d fought those Biters and survived. I was certain we could keep doing so. Together, we were a small army. Frighteningly powerful and fearfully protective of our kin. So long as we could keep working together and put our differences aside, nothing could stop us. I knew I was a vital link between the two opposing sides. The bridge between the slayers and the vampires. So I had to be strong and ensure the fragile ties binding them never wavered.
A knock came at the door and I sat upright, jolting out of my reverie. “Come in.”
Clarice stepped through the door looking freshly washed in a silk dressing gown, the scent of coconut soap sailing from her skin. But the smell was nothing in comparison to the contents of the bottle in her hand.
I bared my fangs, unable to help myself as I sprang from the bed and started hounding toward her. I dug my heels in, forcing myself to a halt as my fingers twitched with the need to grab that bottle from her grip.
“It's alright. Here, it's Realm A.” She held it out for me and I gritted my teeth, despising this part of the curse more than anything.
I swallowed hard against the sharp lump in my throat, having no choice as I took the blood from her. I was no good to Erik if I couldn't focus. And without blood, the hunger would only increase, snaring me in a net. There was only one way to escape that fate.
Twisting the cap off, I shut my eyes and lost myself to the tantalising scent. I started drinking and the thick liquid rolled over my tongue, so sweet and full of nourishment. I swallowed every drop, releasing a growl as I finished, hungering for more.
“It'll pass,” Clarice promised. “That's enough to sate you.”
I nodded, digging my fangs into my tongue to try and battle away the clawing urge to find more blood. I blinked hard and slowly the haze lifted from my mind, returning me to myself. In that moment, I was glad I’d chosen to sleep separately to Callie. I never wanted her to see me feed. And I’d known the second we’d arrived at the castle that the curse had gotten its hooks in me again. The less she witnessed that side of me, the better.
“Is it going away?” she asked and I nodded, releasing a breath of relief. She smiled, but there was a sadness in her eyes. “How are you adjusting?”
I chewed my lower lip, shrugging. “It's fine. I mean...it's not as bad as I thought. But the blood thing...” I shuddered. “I feel like a traitor to humans. Like I'm still one of them but at the same time, somehow not.”
“Maybe we'll be human again one day,” she said, her eyes glowing at the idea. “Erik said you're close to working out the prophecy?”
I nodded, but the possibility didn't offer me any of the relief it had in the past. With Erik and Magnar in trouble, Callie and I couldn't focus on anything but saving them.
“Why do you want to be human?” I asked, the question popping into my mind. “I mean, you have everything here. Is it the thirst?”
She pressed her back to the door and it clicked as it shut. She toyed with the belt of her dressing gown. “Partly that, yes. It's always been a burden to bear. But I...” She glanced up at me, seeming to consider whether to go on. “I don't want to upset you.”
“Why would you upset me?”
“Because when you realise what you've lost, you'll know
why it's the most terrible of curses. Especially for a woman.”
My mouth parted as I figured out what she meant. “You want children?”
She nodded and her blue eyes sparkled with tears. “I thought if I could have love with a man, that would be enough. But even that's been impossible to find. I don't know if it's the curse or just...me.”
My heart twitched at her words. How could someone as beautiful as Clarice not have found love? And regardless of her beauty, I was starting to see such a warmth in her. A kindness. She'd been good to me, even though her intentions hadn't always been for my benefit.
“I love my nieces and nephews,” Clarice went on. “Don't get me wrong, I'm so blessed to have the life I do. But it will never be quite enough.”
“Where are the children?” I asked.
“Miles and Fabian’s wives live in the suburbs with them. They’re protected. Human blood still runs in their veins until they come of age. They’re vulnerable to our kind before their eighteenth birthday, then they become more like us. Immortal, impervious to the passing of time. Although some of them inherit the gifts of the slayers too. But the curse is still theirs to bear...”
I reached out and rested my hand on her arm. “We'll break it,” I swore.
“But what if we don't?” she whispered. “What if there was never an answer? If it's just a riddle to drive us mad?”
Fear spilled into my veins. I hadn't once considered being stuck like this forever. I'd barely had a day to adjust to this new life, but it hit me hard that Clarice could be right. That the prophecy was a lie. And I would be stuck like this for all eternity. Erik and I could never have children. No family of our own...
It wasn't something I'd never wanted in my life in the Realm. But so much had changed in the past weeks. The possibilities a free life had been presented to me. One where my children would never have to live in the conditions I'd grown up in. Would I choose to have them one day if it were an option?
My heart splintered as the answer came to me in a resounding, instinctive voice.
Yes.
I looked to Clarice with a sense of pity. She'd been this way for over a thousand years, searching for love, for something to make her immortal life worthwhile. “That's why you have a harem,” I guessed and she nodded in confirmation.
Age of Vampires- The Complete Series Page 124