Chapter 2 - Kalla #2
In wandering these woods and climbing the mountains, I’d found the potential to balance the life I had with the one I wanted.
When I climbed high enough, I could see areas of the forest that were otherwise closed off to me.
I could see different stars. It was the biggest my world could ever become.
To be told that my one meagre desire was too much for the fury to handle?
It was a punch to the gut I hadn’t expected tonight, but I wasn’t about to let it put me off course.
Resolved, I squared my shoulders and tipped my head back to feel the rain on my face.
It had softened into a light mist, and the droplets brushed across my eyelids like gentle kisses.
My skin awoke under the sensation, and as goosebumps rippled over my arms and across my stomach, my senses sharpened.
I noticed the faint rustle of raindrops falling through the leaves, the tickle of long grass against my leather-clad legs, the smell of damp earth… and blood.
My eyes flew open, and I scanned the area, searching for the source.
There was something strange about the scent.
It wasn’t human, but it wasn’t animal, either.
The differences were subtle but pointed.
We survived primarily on animal blood for lack of options, but whenever bandits crossed into our territory, they were a delicious treat. This…
My mouth watered and my nostrils flared.
I followed the scent, careful to stay aware of my surroundings and make use of the thick tree cover.
Fresh blood meant something living might be lurking, and I didn’t want to rush in and find myself overwhelmed by vampire hunters looking to gain the king’s reward.
Our territory was large, wrapping around the entire base of the dragon’s mountains, but the area that wasn’t rock was mostly forest. People didn’t have cause to pass through it unless they were lost or looking to travel unseen.
I considered the report of fighting nearby.
This had to be related. If I could get close enough to find out what had happened, maybe I could sneak a little farther to learn something the scouts assigned to this mission wouldn’t.
Thorn would be pissed I’d gone against her wishes, but she’d also have to admit I’d helped.
When I cut through the trees and took in the source of the blood, my breath caught in my chest.
Based on what we’d heard, I’d thought we were dealing with some infighting between bandits. A skirmish.
This was a massacre. There had to be over two dozen corpses along the overgrown trail that cut through the territory.
A single torch lay sputtering in the damp grass, but it was enough light for my vampiric vision to process some of the details.
A good number of the fallen appeared to be wearing armour—clean, polished, expensive-looking armour.
Even then, there appeared to be two different sets, some silver with blue accents and others silver and bronze.
The rest were clad in black, with their faces mostly covered.
The damage to the black-clad bodies was extensive. The armoured people had not been gentle.
Curious, mindful that more enemies might be nearby, I approached the nearest body and drew the black cloth away from their face. Flawless skin and bright, empty eyes. I pulled the cowl back a bit farther and took in the pointed ears.
Fae.
“What the blood?” I murmured as I took in the scene again. They were all fae. That had to be why I hadn’t recognized the smell of their blood.
I’d never seen fae outside the few books we’d gathered over the years. From everything I’d read, they weren’t common in Golthwaine, having a bad habit of seeing anyone not fae as beneath them.
So what were they doing here?
With careful steps, I navigated around the bodies, getting a closer look at the armour.
If I had to guess, I was looking at the results of an ambush.
The armoured fae must have been travelling this trail for some reason, and the black-clad fae had attacked them.
The attack obviously hadn’t gone according to plan.
I wondered if there was evidence of where the guards had been headed. Depending on where they were going—and if they decided to cycle back to clean up the bodies—we’d need to make sure we stayed well away for the next few weeks, shift our hunting grounds further west than south.
I stepped closer to the trail to see what else I could learn, and something closed around my ankle.
A scream worked its way up my throat, but I swallowed it and jerked my leg to throw off whatever had grabbed me.
My gaze landed on a corpse. A not-so-dead corpse.
As their head rolled towards me, the black cowl slid from their face, revealing thick, white-blond hair curled around pointed ears.
Their pale skin seemed to glow in the darkness, and the mist caught on long, pale eyelashes.
I found myself captivated by the magic of such a tiny, insignificant detail.
The scent of their blood where it flowed from some wound hidden by the black leather tickled my nose, and the hunger that had woken when I’d stumbled onto this macabre scene made my gums ache.
Yet there was something about this fae’s blood. Something more than it being from a species I’d never tasted before. It danced across my palate, rich and nuanced. Like a fine wine.
I drew in another breath, unable to help myself.
Longing spilled through me—a deep, unfamiliar want.
Duty called for me to stay focused, slaughter the half-dead fae, and return to the fury, but instinct overrode reason.
I dropped to my knees, needing to get closer to that smell.
Copper and sunshine, fresh grass and wildflowers.
When I opened my eyes—not having realized I’d closed them—I found myself leaning over the fae, my fangs bared, my fingers gripping the mask that covered their neck and the bottom half of their face.
I tore it off, vaguely taking in the strong, masculine jaw and parted lips before grabbing his chin to claim better access to his throat, driven by my need to taste him.
His fae blood called to me like no blood ever had, and if I didn’t sink my teeth into his flesh, I would regret it for the rest of my life. It had to be magic.
I was so focused on the fluttering pulse in his throat that I didn’t immediately understand the faint tingle on the back of my neck.
Not until I looked up and found myself pinned by a pair of glazed-over, cat-green eyes.
For a moment, all I could do was stare back.
Even in the darkness, lit only by the flickering embers of the fallen torch, I made out the intricate colour of his irises, as though every shade of green, from the hue of my favourite silk scarf to the richness of a deep forest glade, existed within them.
They were beautiful. He was beautiful. Even half dead, he radiated an extraordinary warmth, and I was drawn to touch him.
For a heartbeat, those eyes homed in on me, touched with something like awe.
“Bredtha. Lutrena fin me de presa mathrennen.”
He spoke in a soft, barely lucid mutter. Then his gaze focused, dropped to my mouth, and raised to meet my stare. Horror flickered across his face, followed by a deep, broken resignation. “Do it, then,” he rasped. “I may as well be useful to someone.”
His eyes fluttered shut, and he lost consciousness.
His challenge was enough to knock me out of wherever my head had gone.
I tightened my grip on him. What the blood was I doing wasting time like this?
I had to kill him. Especially now that he’d seen me and what I was.
Fae. Trickster. Threat. He probably wanted me to lean closer so he could kill me first. I would need to be fast. His blood sang to me, begged me to savour it, and I was ready to indulge.
First I’d tear out his throat, and then I’d drink until my body was sated.
The thrill of his impending death set my heart racing, and once more I bared my teeth, this time fully in control of my instincts. I grabbed his blond locks to yank his head back and leaned in for the kill.
The poetry of his indecipherable words echoed in my ears, made all the more entrancing by the smooth, lilting tenor that had uttered them.
His demand that I finish him, his emptiness at accepting his end, pierced my chest. I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting the emotions he’d stirred to distract me while I drained the life out of him, but even with my eyes closed, the memory of his gaze caressed me like a physical touch.
It wriggled under my skin until my insides itched with the awareness of him.
He’d looked at me like I was a goddess come to see him home.
I extended his neck and leaned in closer.
My fangs grazed the smoothness of his throat, and my tongue flicked over his pulse.
The scent of sunlight and damp earth assaulted my senses, and I swore my face warmed under the light of a bright afternoon, something I’d never been able to experience outside the descriptions written in our small collection of stolen novels.
My eyes flew open and discomfort writhed in my gut. I drew back to look down at the fae, but he lay unconscious in my arms.
What was I doing? I needed to get back to the fury, give Cliff and his team the heads up of what they’d find out here.
Yet the thought of my friends finishing what I was obviously incapable of doing myself turned my stomach.
The universe was laughing at me. It had to be. Of all the nights to stumble across this fae, it was the night Thorn had told me my desires were foolish.
Here’s your chance to dare her disapproval, the Fates taunted. You wanted to experience something new? To find out what you were missing? Accept this gift.
“Don’t be a fool,” I upbraided myself. “If he survives his injuries, I’ll have to kill him anyway.”
It was our most important rule: The fury came first.
And yet.
There’s more to life than death, child. Thorn had said it herself, and maybe she was right.
Despite the fae’s challenge, despite how Thorn would react if she found out, I couldn’t turn my back on this opportunity to hear more about what existed beyond these mountains.
This fae had to come from somewhere. Soldara, probably.
Where, clearly, at least some fae had problems big enough that they believed attacking the royal guard to be the best solution.
And this man in particular…
I may as well be useful to someone.
I tore my fingers through my wet hair, wishing I had someone to ask for advice while knowing no advice I received would be what I wanted to hear.
But maybe my choice didn’t have to be a betrayal to the fury. Something big had happened here tonight. Something that might have greater repercussions than one battle in our territory. Maybe I would serve my fury better by learning what I could from this fae.
Although I knew I’d be breaking every rule, promising myself I would figure it out later, I hoisted him over my shoulder. Tonight, I wouldn’t bring death. Tonight, I would try to save a life.