I sighed, feeling slightly better. We walked on and I set my mind on every footfall. One after the other, on and on and on.
After a while, Callie toyed with the ring on her finger then held it up to me. “Fancy seeing if it shows us anything new?”
I nodded, reaching out to brush my fingers over it and the moment I did, I felt my soul being ripped from my body and joining with hers.
We flew high up into the sky and I caught a glimpse of our group on the endless plain below before the world became a blur. We were rushing across the land, passing over the wasted desert which stretched for miles and miles then across a line of mountains. Eventually, a huge body of water became clear on the horizon and my gut fluttered with the glimpse of the sea. It sparkled under the sun, its colour so azure it outshone the sky.
We wheeled away from it over dense forest, swamps, then the holy mountain loomed high above the ground. A mass of clouds swirled at its peak, its presence washing over me as the power of that place dripped through to the core of my being.
The vision faded and I sucked in air as I was returned to my body beside Callie.
“Did you see the ocean?” I breathed and her eyes glittered with light as she nodded.
“It was so...big,” she laughed and I grinned, nodding eagerly.
“I hope we get to see it up close,” I said as energy flooded my body and guided my feet to a quicker pace.
Callie smiled serenely as we bathed in the afterglow of all we'd witnessed. “I hope so too.”
My feet dragged along the soaking wet road as we neared the end of our sixth night traipsing south. Freezing rain slammed down on us endlessly and my saturated clothes were clinging to my body in a way that made me feel colder instead of warmer. I ached for fresh food and drink. Anything more nutritious than the packets of junk food we were surviving on.
Sometimes the vampires had run and carried me and Julius to cross the distance faster but they hadn’t felt up to that for the last few days. I knew their blood supplies were dwindling and I guessed they wanted to conserve their energy so that they didn’t have to consume more than necessary.
“Let’s stop for a few minutes,” Montana sighed, stretching her arms above her head. “We can check the ring, see if we can spot anywhere further ahead that might be good for shelter?”
Sometimes when the ring showed us the journey ahead of us we’d been able to see how close we were to the next town and make plans on when to stop for a rest.
The last two nights we hadn’t been close enough to anywhere and Erik had conjured a shelter out of the soil at the side of the road. I’d never seen powers like the ones Idun had bestowed on him but using them drained him quickly and he didn’t seem keen to wield them more than necessary.
I sank down at the side of the road and Magnar moved to stand over me, shielding me from the worst of the rain.
Julius dropped down beside me and he rubbed his hand over his face to wipe some of the water from his skin.
Everyone apart from Fabian sat down opposite us and Clarice took the pack from her back, tossing a bottle of water to Julius. He caught it neatly, draining half the contents before passing it to me.
The warm liquid flowed down my throat and I fought a grimace as I dreamed of something more refreshing.
“At least two of us don’t have to go thirsty,” Fabian muttered irritably as he kept his distance from us. He hadn’t come close to me all day and I knew he must have been feeling the thirst more strongly today.
Julius scowled as he pulled a small blade from his belt. “You want my blood?” He pressed the tip of his middle finger to the blade until blood welled. “There you go, you can suck on that.” He smirked at the vampires, enjoying his joke and daring them to object.
All of them stilled at the scent of his blood and I suddenly wondered when exactly they’d last had a drink.
Clarice moved forward and dropped to her knees before him, she took his hand in her grasp and held his eye as she pushed his finger into her mouth.
Julius released a noise in the back of his throat which was somewhere between a groan and a growl. He hissed in pain as she drove her fangs down and tried to withdraw his hand but she held him firmly. He shifted uncomfortably as she watched him with an amused smile pulling at her lips for another few seconds then she released him.
“Thanks,” she said lightly and I couldn’t help but laugh at the look on his face as he inspected his finger and wiped the venom from the wound she’d given him.
“Well that’ll teach me not to offer again,” he muttered, his eyes following Clarice as she walked away from him.
She sat opposite us again, her eyes sparking with light from her drink as she smirked at the slayer.
Fabian released a snarl and stalked away into the night, heading on down the road.
Montana shifted closer to me, holding her hand out and I leaned forward so that she could brush her fingers against the ring.
I fell still, my soul flying from my body as we were transported high above the road. We stopped short of passing through the thick clouds overhead but the persistent drizzle made the view beneath us seem fuzzy, like it was out of focus. Before we could shoot towards the mountain, the landscape sprawled out ahead of us and I kept my attention on what lay closest to us.
On the edge of the horizon, a town was just visible by the light of the moon between the rain clouds and my heart leapt at the thought of resting within four walls again.
We shot forward but instead of focusing on the rest of our journey I pushed my attention onto the town and the vision slowed a little as we glided over it.
I felt Montana’s excitement beside me as we spotted clusters of buildings which hadn’t been destroyed by the bombs in the Final War.
The rest of the vision resumed, ending in the mountain but I didn’t pay it much attention.
As I slid back into my body, a smile captured my lips.
“There’s a town,” I said excitedly.
“A few more miles along the road,” Montana added, taking Erik’s hand as she shifted away from me again.
He nodded, leaving his hand in her grasp but he didn’t entwine his fingers with hers.
I chewed my lip as I noticed Montana’s face falling, wishing there was something I could do to help her situation with Erik but no one could control how someone else grieved. I just had to hope that he’d find his way back to her sooner rather than later. For both of their sakes.
“Let’s go then,” Julius said, getting to his feet again. “With a bit of luck we can find some more food there too.”
Magnar offered me his hand and I smiled at him as he hoisted me to my feet.
“If it’s only a few miles, maybe we should run?” Clarice suggested. “It would be nice to get out of this rain.”
“I’ll meet you there,” Julius replied, shaking his head. “I don’t much care for the speed at which you travel.”
“Are you afraid you can’t handle the pace?” Clarice teased.
“I’m not afraid of any-”
Clarice shot towards him, sweeping him over her shoulder before he could stop her. Her laughter carried to us on the wind as she shot away down the road and I couldn’t help but laugh too as I heard Julius swearing at her in response.
“I hope we can find some clean clothes there,” Chickoa groaned before speeding away too.
Magnar gave me a slanted smile as he lifted me into his arms and I didn’t even object despite the fact that this wasn’t my favourite method of transport. I was dog tired, filthy dirty and aching for something substantial to eat. Not to mention how desperate I was to get out of this damn rain. If there was even the slightest chance that we could find a solution to any of those issues in that town then I wanted to get there as quickly as possible.
I closed my eyes and leaned into Magnar’s embrace as he started running and the cold wind and freezing sleet whipped against me mercilessly as he increased his speed.
I could hear the others keeping pace initially but Magnar
’s strength made him faster than them and he soon left them behind despite the fact that he was carrying me too.
He finally skidded to a halt on the rain-drenched tarmac of the town and he gave me a little squeeze as I kept my face pressed to his chest in a vain attempt to shield myself from the elements.
“Looks like the gods are finally smiling on us,” Magnar murmured and I opened my eyes to see what he’d found.
My lips parted as I spotted the huge building and I frowned at the letters which hung above the wide entrance.
“P... rrr... Skeee-”
“It says ‘Pure Skies Mall’,” Fabian said impatiently as he pulled up beside us and the look on his face gave away the fact that he thought I was stupid. “That means stores, if you don’t know that either.”
I turned to scowl at him as Magnar set me on my feet but inside, my stomach plummeted with embarrassment.
“Did that feel good?” I asked as I tried to fight off my shame at not being able to read the sign for myself.
Fabian’s eyes softened and he opened his mouth to respond but I stalked away from him, dragging Magnar behind me as I went. Heat crawled along the back of my neck and I blinked a few times, fighting not to let them see how humiliated that had made me feel. If Magnar realised I was upset about it then he’d only get angry with Fabian himself and that wouldn’t help any of us. But it wasn’t my fucking fault that I couldn’t read and if anyone should be made to feel bad about it then it should have been the Belvederes.
I released my grip on Magnar as I pushed my way through an old rotating door and I sighed in relief as I stepped into a dry space.
The others moved inside behind us and I turned to find my sister amongst them.
Montana smiled as she noticed me looking for her and I hurried to her side as I tried to ring some of the water from my hair.
“Shall we see if we can find some clean clothes?” I asked her with a grin, really needing to spend a bit of time with my sister.
It felt like I’d barely spent any time with her over the last few days and though I knew she was trying to help Erik deal with his grief I was starting to miss her. I couldn’t even remember the last time we’d done anything alone together and I felt like I could really do with a few hours to just be us.
“That sounds like heaven,” Monty replied, taking a step towards me. She stopped again suddenly, biting her lip as she glanced back at Erik.
He was frowning at her like he didn’t approve of her leaving with me and she nodded slowly before looking back to me again.
“But... I should probably stay with Erik for now,” Montana said, her eyes dropping to my shoes as she spoke.
“What?” I asked with a frown, reaching out for her but she stepped back, clearing her throat.
“He needs me,” she said vaguely, her eyes sliding to my neck as she drew further away from me.
“I need you too,” I replied in a small voice.
She opened her mouth to respond and it was like a war was taking place behind her eyes. “I’ll see you later, Callie,” she breathed before turning away and hurrying into the mall with Erik.
I stared at her as she left me there, not quite believing that she’d just shut me down like that. The others started heading further into the darkened space to explore too and I had to fight against the urge to cry. I knew that Montana loved Erik and that he needed her right now but I never would have expected her to do that to me.
Magnar moved towards me and he pulled me under his arm as he noticed my dark mood.
“What’s wrong?” he asked softly but I shook my head, not wanting to voice it while the others were still close enough to hear me.
“Let’s go and see if we can find some new clothes,” I murmured, taking his hand and leading him towards a staircase on our left instead of following the others.
When we made it to the top of the stairs, I headed for the first shop that I could see and moved into the sprawling collection of clothes which hung throughout the space.
I yanked off my sodden sweater before I’d even found anything to replace it but Magnar caught my wrist in his grasp before I could continue to undress.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” he urged gently and I released a breath I hadn’t even realised I was holding as I pushed myself closer to him, leaning my head against his chest.
“I don’t know,” I replied honestly. “It’s just, this journey is pretty awful and I haven’t eaten properly in days and I’m filthy dirty and...”
“And?” he prompted, knowing that none of that was really the problem.
“And Montana is hardly speaking to me. Aside from checking the ring she’s barely come near me for two days and I just asked her to spend some time with me and she said no. Just like that. I know that Erik needs her now but I don’t understand why she’s pushing me away-”
“It’s not you, Callie,” he said gently, raising an eyebrow at me as if I was missing something really obvious. “Their blood supplies ran out three days ago and you smell...” he lifted my wrist to his lips, a faint smile tugging at his mouth. “Delicious.”
My heart lifted at his words and a wide smile tugged at my lips. “Really? That’s it? If she needs to feed she can just bite me! I’ll go and-”
“No,” he said, catching me before I could go in search of my sister. “If you go while she’s with the others then they’ll all want to feed from you and you don’t have enough blood to go around.”
“But if Julius agrees as well then maybe-”
“There are six vampires to the two of you. If we’re all feeding from you it’ll weaken you too much. I’m not going to stand by and watch that happen.”
I wanted to protest but I was worried that he was right. Magnar hadn’t bitten me for three days himself and I knew he’d be needing it again soon. He always resisted the thirst for as long as he could before giving in because he didn’t want to take too much from me. But if I was feeding three of them then even if we kept to the same rate I’d have to give blood every day. I wasn’t sure if I could handle doing that for any length of time.
“We’ll talk to Montana together,” he said as he saw my resolve wavering. “As soon as we can get her alone.”
“Okay,” I agreed. I wasn’t sure if it was the right way to go about it or not but Magnar was right; I couldn’t just become an all hours buffet for every vampire who kept our company.
One way or another we were going to have to figure out how to deal with this situation but my priority was always going to be my sister. I’d help her first and then figure out what to do from there.
It felt so good to get into new clothes, but my relief was short-lived as the persistent pounding grew in my skull and the ache in my throat grew unbearable.
I headed out of the clothes store and lowered myself onto a bench at the heart of the mall, having parted with Erik when I’d headed into the women’s store. I groaned, digging my fangs into my tongue as the thirst clawed and raked at my insides. The thought of blood made me so desperate I wanted to scream.
“Hey.” Erik appeared, speeding forward and dropping to his knees in front of me. He pushed the hair away from my face and gave me an anxious look. He’d changed into a black sweater and jeans, his hair still damp from the rain.
“I'm fine,” I said, but my voice was croaky and dry.
He shook his head, guiding me to my feet. I staggered forward, nearly hitting the floor, but he lifted me into his arms and shot through the mall in a blur.
I was so dizzy when he planted me down that I sank to the floor and clutched my knees to my chest. I kept hold of his hand, needing him so badly in that moment.
We were in what I presumed was a food hall with counters ringing the space. A white stone fountain sat at the heart of it which had long since stopped running. Julius was sitting at a table with Clarice, spooning beans into his mouth from a tin.
“It’s alright,” Erik promised, squeezing my fingers before stepping away toward Julius.
Fabian
and Chickoa were investigating the store fronts around the edge of the circular space, but as they spotted us, they headed over.
“She needs blood,” Erik said to Julius.
“We all do,” Fabian rasped, his skin looking near transparent up close. His hunger was clear and worry pooled in my gut at the sight.
“It's a miracle none of us have lost our minds yet,” Clarice agreed, looking to Julius hesitantly. The small drink she’d taken from him clearly hadn’t been enough to sate her thirst.
Julius eyed us all, swallowing the beans in his mouth. The scent of his blood invaded my nostrils and I found myself unable to voice my arguments against this idea. I was snared in the clutches of the curse so profoundly, I'd lost the will to do anything but drown in the pain inside me.
“Back the fuck up.” Julius pointed around at the vampires, but reached out and caught my arm, tugging me closer.
Tears prickled my eyes and I shook my head, but I still couldn't get the words out.
No, I won't hurt you. I don't want to drink from my friend.
Julius yanked me into his lap and I pressed my hands to his chest, releasing a pained whimper as the smell of his blood took me hostage. My fangs ached, my throat burned. It took everything I had not to rip into his flesh and sate this need.
“Chill, damsel,” he said gently, lifting his wrist beneath my nose. “I'm not gonna sit here seeing you suffer.”
“But you're happy for all of us to?” Fabian growled. “We're dying here. And if you and Callie don't start offering out blood freely, you're not going to get a choice in it.”
“Stop it,” Clarice begged of Fabian. “We can last a little longer. We're Belvederes.”
My throat swelled and my tongue thickened in my mouth. I brushed my shaking fingers over Julius's raised wrist with a moan of longing.
“Feed,” Erik commanded me, but I wouldn’t do it.
“Oh for fuck's sake,” Julius muttered then grabbed Nightmare from my hip and slashed his wrist open.
I lost it. The scent was too much. The deep red of his blood filled my eyes and I couldn't see anything else. I fell on him with a primal need, hating myself but too desperate to do anything else but drink. The rich taste of his lifeforce rolled along my tongue and down my throat, his heart pumping more and more into my mouth. It was the best thing I'd ever tasted. More so than any blood I'd ever drunk. It was pure ecstasy, flowing through me and making my mouth water with how intensely sweet it was. Julius placed his free hand on my back as I fed and electricity coursed along my spine as I desired more of him.
Age of Vampires- The Complete Series Page 175