Obsidian Horizon

by Heather Renee

  Gentle arms wrapped around my shaking body, pulling my body sideways into a chest that was familiar. Breathing in his scent, I pressed into him, and the anger tremors began to slow. Even though his arms were my favorite place to be, they didn’t quite soothe the emotions raging within me.

  “I’m sorry,” I finally said, feeling bad for acting out.

  “There is nothing to be sorry about,” he assured me, placing a soft kiss on my head.

  A few tears of frustration slipped from my eyes at his tender gesture.

  “Let’s get you back to the bed,” Jameson offered, adjusting his arms around me and lifting me effortlessly against him.

  My body was exhausted from all of the emotions it had experienced. My fangs were still protruding from my mouth, and I had no idea how to get them to retract. The same went for my claws. Solomon was supposed to teach me how to use my fangs in the morning so I could start producing venom, and now I wished he’d at least given me some information the prior evening. I doubted I would get any sleep as I was.

  Once Jameson settled me on the bed, movement across the room caught my eye. My body stiffened, surprised to see Solomon standing by the table with the lantern and Evander leaning against the wall by the door. While Solomon had on his sleeping clothes, Evander’s torso was bare, and I averted my eyes from the scars that riddled his chest.

  Embarrassed that they had witnessed my breakdown, I lifted my hand to push my hair in front of my face, but accidently scratched my cheek in the process. Blood flowed down to my chin, even as I felt the skin knit back together. Jameson gently wiped my face with a cloth he seemed to conjure from nowhere, while Solomon slowly made his way to the foot of the bed and perched on the edge.

  “How do I make these go away?” I asked him, gesturing to my hands and mouth.

  “They reacted to your emotions,” he explained, looking into my eyes. “They will retract when you no longer feel in danger.”

  My lips pressed tightly together as I nodded. I knew I was safe in the room, with the people who were around me, but I didn’t feel safe in my own body… in my mind.

  “Tell us what happened, Lavinia. Tell us why you no longer feel safe,” Jameson pleaded, drawing the blanket over me before slipping his arm around my shoulders.

  I sat silently for several moments, trying to muster the courage to tell them that I had a nightmare, and then overreacted to what my subconscious had shown me. When I finally did, they remained silent while I spoke of all I had endured while in the dream, though it had felt so real. I could feel the mast behind me and the ropes tight around my arms and chest. I could sense Prime’s red eyes on me while I struggled against the fog that had oppressed my mind.

  “When he moved to attack me and Jameson grabbed my arms, I was finally able to wake up,” I confessed, finishing my recollection of the dream.

  “That was no dream,” Solomon informed, getting to his feet and pacing beside the bed.

  “What do you mean?” I asked, my voice pitched higher than normal.

  “It’s a skill hunters have only speculated about in the past, but here’s the proof,” he muttered as he walked back and forth.

  “What are you talking about?” Jameson inquired next, but Solomon ignored his question.

  “Solomon,” Evander barked, jolting him from his pacing. “What are you going on about?”

  “It has been speculated by many hunters that some vampires, mostly the older ones, can influence reality of another while they are sleeping. They can draw an unguarded subconscious into a plane that they control. It’s difficult and extremely rare, but by the scratches on your arms, it’s very much real,” Solomon assured, returning to his previous position at the foot of the bed.

  “So, you’re saying that the dream wasn’t really a dream?” I asked, feeling my stomach clench while I inspected the claw marks on my arms.

  “Correct. You were pulled to another plane of reality, using very dark and powerful magic. Though, it would have drained Prime significantly to do so, and it’s not likely he’ll do it again after having failed the first time. The vision you were pulled into was carefully constructed by Prime. It was no different than if he stood before you right this moment.”

  “Prime did this? Why?” Evander asked, stepping away from the wall for the first time.

  “He did it to rattle me,” I stated, quivering as I recalled how real it had all been. “To let me know he will stop at nothing to have me again. He wants me to bring my mother Susanna back as we previously suspected.”

  “That might be true, but he must not realize that in order to bring someone back, he will need to sacrifice a life in return. He’s not above murdering innocent humans, but it can’t be just anyone. In order to succeed, he has to sacrifice someone who was close to Susanna. He’d have to sacrifice you, Lavinia. A life for a life. That is a price I couldn’t even fathom paying, no matter how much I loved your mother,” Solomon admitted emotively, and my heart swelled.

  “How do we stop Lavinia from being pulled into these alternate worlds? The rest of us may be able to get by with little sleep, but she needs it more than any of us if she’s to defeat Prime,” Jameson reminded everyone, tightening his hold on me.

  “The hunters who had been plagued by these nightmares would sleep with their dagger in hand. Every account I ever heard said that it worked,” Solomon concluded, a smile tugging at his mouth when he glanced over at me.

  “Why are you smiling?” I asked, my eyes narrowing, daring him to comment on my messed-up hair.

  “Your fangs and claws are gone.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Once Jameson’s dagger was tied to my hand with a cloth, I was able to sleep for a few more hours, with him by my side to make sure nothing went wrong. When I opened my eyes, the sun streamed through the window, and I didn’t think I had ever been so happy to see dawn.

  As Jameson started to stir, I snuck out of bed, hoping he would get some more sleep, but no such luck. His hand grabbed mine as soon as my back was to him. “Where are you going?” His voice was deep and groggy.

  “I need to find Solomon and work on getting whatever venom I have out of me.” Turning back, I sat on the edge of the bed. “Last night showed us Prime is only getting stronger. We need to leave the island and grow our army as soon as possible. There is no more time for training here.”

  He nodded. “I agree. Do you mind if I come with you?”

  “Of course not. I would always rather have you around than not.”

  “Always?” He winked.

  “Well, sometimes I need my space, but don’t be difficult. You know what I mean.”

  “Yes, I do, but it’s more fun to make you flustered.”

  Smacking his chest, I pushed away from the bed and got dressed for the day. I donned my most comfortable blue dress and shoes. I had a feeling I would either be sitting or standing for the better part of the day. I didn’t picture drawing venom to be a very exciting task.

  We found Solomon in the kitchen with Nettie, Humphrey, and Ruth. Nettie was once again covered in flour, but it was the smile plastered to her face that told me how much fun she was having.

  “Good morning,” Ruth greeted as we walked in. “We’re making plans for the food we will take on the ships and making sure we portion sizes correctly before loading. We could use some help if you two aren’t busy.”

  Glancing at Solomon, I waited for him to respond. Maybe I wouldn’t be learning how to access my venom.

  “Actually, I was only helping while I waited for Lavinia to wake. With what happened last night, I wasn’t sure when that would be. I’ll send Alice and Henry to come take my place if that’s fine with you.”

  Nettie squealed. “Can I go get them? I’d like to say hi to Maggie.” Her eyes went wide as she silently begged, and my heart warmed. I loved knowing Maggie was getting closer with the other kids now that she didn’t have to deal with being a vampire. Even if we didn’t win, I was happy to know I had at least given her a real shot at l
ife.

  “That would be very helpful,” Ruth finally answered.

  Nettie jumped off the counter, giving Jameson and me swift hugs, then raced from the room, leaving a trail of flour in her wake.

  Dusting myself off, I followed Solomon and Jameson. I had no idea where we were going but hoped it would be outside. We still had a few hours before the sun would become overly hot, and I wanted to soak in all the rays I could before we boarded a ship for who knew how long.

  When Solomon opened the front door, I let out a sigh of relief, but my excitement was quickly dashed when he headed for an outbuilding instead of the grassy knoll or the beach.

  Jameson kept pace with me, but none of us spoke. I didn’t want to talk about the prior night, and I was glad Solomon wasn’t asking questions. Some days it surprised me how much he seemed to know what I needed. I wondered if that was our family bond, or if I was just easy to read.

  “Here they are.” Solomon opened the outbuilding door and disappeared inside.

  My feet didn’t move. The building was small and dark inside. I was not going to spend hours in there forcing poison from my body. Crossing my arms, I glanced up at Jameson.

  “I’m staying out here. There’s probably a decade’s worth of spiders in that thing.”

  Jameson laughed. “You’re ready to go face an army of vampires and pirates, but spiders you won’t do?”

  Narrowing my eyes, I shook my head. “It’s not funny.”

  Solomon came back out with a thick glass jar in each hand. “What did I miss? Why does Lavinia look ready to kill someone?”

  “She thought you wanted us to go in there, and she refused because of a potential spider attack.” Jameson barely got the words out before more laughter slipped from his lips.

  Oh, he was about to find out how funny I could really be. I moved to strike him, but Solomon gently grabbed my arm.

  “Children.” His gaze moved between the two of us. “Do I need to separate you two?”

  I couldn’t keep it in any longer. Hysterics consumed me and before I knew it, all three of us were holding our stomachs and laughing over something that really shouldn’t have garnered that kind of reaction. Though, emotions were high, and everyone was on edge, so I wasn’t surprised we lost it. At least it was in laughter. It could have been much worse.

  “All right, now that we got that out of the way, let’s head to the beach,” Solomon mused. “Lavinia, I need you to be focused, and I’m assuming that’s the place for us to go in order for you to achieve that?” A smile lifted my lips as I nodded at him. “Then, I have the perfect place.”

  We continued past the shed where Solomon found the jars and followed a path down to a clearing that had a small creek running at the edge of it, which led into the ocean. The meadow consisted of long grass and wildflowers of all colors, making me wish I was there for a day off and not to milk my fangs for venom.

  Jameson found a few fallen trees to sit on while Solomon explained how I needed to get the venom out of me.

  “Last night, your fangs were forced out, but now you need to learn how to call on them without being scared or angry. This should be easier for you, since you’ve practiced already when you bonded with the darkness and used your compulsion. You just need to have the right thoughts.”

  I followed Solomon’s step-by-step instructions and, on the third attempt, both of my fangs came out with a pop, an excruciating pop.

  “Ouch,” I mumbled. “That is not pleasant. Why would anyone use these?”

  Vampires had immense power and brute strength. If we didn’t need my venom for the upcoming battle, I didn’t see any reason to deal with that kind of pain, not when my other abilities were far easier to access and use.

  Solomon shrugged. “It gets easier the more you do it.”

  He made me continue retracting and drawing in my fangs over and over, until it seemed more like muscle memory than a forced action. Once I had that down, it was time for the hard part.

  Jameson stayed by my side, offering his support with either his calming touch or encouraging words. If he hadn’t been there, Solomon might have been gifted a few bruises by me, but Jameson managed to keep me from losing my temper more than once.

  “There you go,” Solomon praised. “Just like that.”

  My gums hurt and bled each time I retracted my fangs, but after two hours, I was finally able to control the ability to call on my venom. I glanced at the glass jars and groaned when I saw that there was barely enough venom to cover the bottom of one.

  “I’m not sure I can do this much longer,” I admitted, rubbing the sides of my face and trying to ease the ache.

  “That’s all right. You have the hard part mastered. Let’s head back and bring these with us.” Solomon pointed to the jars. “We can eat lunch, and then try again later at the house. If you can fill even just one of them, that will give us a huge advantage.”

  Solomon wouldn’t have grabbed two jars if one was enough, but I appreciated him taking it easy on me and trying to make me feel like I was making enough progress. I could see it in his face, though. He had high hopes for more venom.

  We arrived back at the house to find Alice and Henry taking a seat at the table with their lunch. Alice beamed at me. “How did it go?”

  My shoulders lifted briefly as I shrugged. “It went all right. I’ll keep working at it, though.”

  Jameson stepped closer. “Lavinia did great. She’s being too hard on herself. We’ll grab our own food and join you for lunch.” His hand pushed my lower back, guiding me toward the kitchen.

  “I’m going to go see how things are with Ruth,” Solomon offered before we were too far way. “I’ll check in on you two tonight.”

  Turning back, I went to wave goodbye, but he was already gone. Frowning, I glanced up at Jameson. “Is something going on with him that I don’t know about?”

  He shook his head. “Not that I know of, but if I hear anything, I promise you’ll be the first to know.” His lips pressed against the side of my head as he guided me into the kitchen.

  Once we had our food, we headed back to visit with Alice and Henry. Their heads were close together as they whispered to each other. I had no idea what they were saying, but I had no intention of using my advanced hearing to intrude on their moment.

  When I had first met them, I would have never guessed they would be compatible, but seeing them together, I couldn’t imagine either with anyone else.

  Jameson cleared his throat and moved forward. He didn’t have the same respect for romance as I did, and if my hands weren’t full, he would have felt my palm on his back.

  “Sorry for interrupting,” I offered when we sat down across from them.

  Alice laughed. “We’re happy to have your company. You weren’t interrupting anything. Tell us how it went earlier.”

  “I guess it was fine. Painful, but Solomon seems to think it will get easier.” I brushed my tongue against my gums, feeling the two bumps where my fangs had protruded. The swelling rubbed against my lips, causing intermittent stinging, though I hoped my healing would soon take care of it.

  “If there’s anything we can help with, all you have to do is ask,” Henry reminded.

  We started eating our lunch without much conversation until Henry filled us in on how the ships were coming along. We had five total, but only enough rations to fill them for one week. Ruth decided it was best to split it up as evenly as possible and hoped to restock when we arrived at the other islands.

  “So, Ruth wants to leave tomorrow morning. Do you think you’ll be ready?” Henry asked kindly.

  “I’ll make sure of it.” Even if I have to stay up all night milking as much venom from my battered gums as possible.

  The rest of the afternoon was spent helping around the house and gathering more supplies before packing up everything I thought Jameson and I might need. Once we were packed, I sat down on the bed with my ankles crossed and one of the jars resting between my legs. I eyed it with apprehension as
I concentrated on calling out my fangs.

  My body tensed as I waited for the ache that I had experienced earlier, but I was surprised when it never came. Instead, the sharp teeth slid into place without complication.

  “Are you all right?” Jameson asked, seeming almost as nervous as I was.

  “I think so. Let’s see if the rest goes as easily.”

  Placing my mouth over the jar, I gave every effort I could in calling on my venom. A burn coursed through my veins as it moved through my bloodstream, but instead of being afraid of it, I embraced the sensations. Earlier, I had spent a lot of time thinking about how I could make the process easier, and I thought back to when I accepted the darkness and fully took on my vampire side. I decided I needed to face my venom the same way, and it seemed to be working.

  The flow wasn’t as strong or fast as I would have liked, but it was more than earlier, so I wasn’t going to complain. After an hour, the jar was a quarter full, and I needed a break. Jameson had brought our dinner up to the room, and Solomon joined him.

  “Jameson said you’re making good progress.”

  Holding up the jar, I let him see for himself. The venom was murky, but when the light hit, there was a sheen that made it almost glow.

  Before I could say anything, an alarm went off and I covered my ears from the blaring noise. The sound was familiar, but it took me a second to remember the last time I had heard it.

  “We have company.” Solomon stood and rushed out the door before I could blink.

  Chapter Twelve

  The only other time I had heard that alarm go off was when Pierce had come for me after we first arrived. My mind raced with endless possibilities as to who could have come and what they wanted. It could have been Prime coming to fulfill his previous threat from the vision he dragged me into, or it could be a new enemy we had yet to meet.

  Either scenario didn’t seem like a good one for us.

  There was a mass exodus from the house. Hunters who were in the middle of doing other tasks, or sparring, dropped everything to investigate the alarm.