Chapter 20
Dreams. Dreams of shadows and red eyes. And cold. I was so cold.
Then a light emerged from the darkness, and with it a warmth. A voice accompanied them. A low, familiar voice.
“Rose. Rose. Did you forget already? You’re supposed to go on more adventures than this. Your eyes told me that much, so wake up.”
I stirred, and the cold mantle that seemed to pin me down was thrown off. My heart beat again. Blood was pumped through my body. I forced my eyes open. They felt as heavy as lead. I finally managed and found myself staring at darkness.
My renewed heart skipped a beat. I shot up, and my head hit something hard not far above me. A yelp escaped me, and I dropped back down to the covers. Only there weren’t any covers. Just dirt. Grimy, dry dirt.
A crunch of stone on stone from above me made me freeze, and I watched the darkness above my head be pushed aside. Light poured in, and I blinked against the harsh light. A face hovered in the brilliance, and a familiar voice spoke up.
“I leave you alone for ten minutes and this happens!”
I tried to make a vague exclamation, but only a few feeble wheezes of air escaped me. The vague shadow above me stiffened, and a long tongue flicked out. “She’s waking up!”
The shadow was joined by someone else, and another voice floated to me. “Rose? Can you hear me?”
I squinted. “Marc? Ramaro? Is that you guys?”
My vision slowly improved, and the faces of my friends appeared. Ramaro paced the top of the wall of my ‘bed,’ his tongue constantly flicking out. “What in all the seas happened here? Shouldn’t that wretched dravenkin be here to explain himself?”
Marc looked over my face. “How are you feeling?”
I shifted, and a sharp pain struck my head. I winced and clutched my head in my hand. “Like something really hard and cold hit me.”
“That was the blood that fool gave to you without thinking about the consequences!” Ramaro snapped as he pushed his paws against the lid. “Now let’s get her out of here so we can get her out of this place.”
“We’ll do the first, but we’re waiting on the second,” Marc insisted as he pushed the lid aside with ease, then offered me his hand. “Can you get up?”
I flexed my feet and hands, and found they responded, but not very well. “Not without some help.”
“Then let me.”
Marc reached in and grasped both my hands.
He drew me to a seated position before he drew his arms beneath me and behind my back.
His prodigious strength allowed him to draw me from the pit that was the coffin and against his chest. I was glad for his warmth, as my weak heart still wasn’t pumping much heat through my body.
Marc carried me over to a small bench carved into the wall behind one of the free-standing coffins. Ramaro followed us and hopped onto the seat beside me. He set a paw on my bent leg and wrinkled his snout.
“She’s almost as cold as I am.”
Marc stepped back and folded his arms over his chest to study me. “That’s not hard to believe when she was dead a few minutes ago.”
My jaw hit the ground and bounced back up. “I-I was what?”
“Your heart couldn’t take the pressure of Adrien’s blood and stopped.”
I looked down at myself and patted my body. “But I’m not dead now. Unless-” A horrible thought struck me that left me in a terrified stupor.
“You are not a dravenkin, Lady Larkin.”
We all turned our attention to the stairs, down which Adrien strolled. His hands were clasped behind his back, and his bloodless lips were pressed tightly together. He stopped beside Marc and examined me. “How are you feeling?”
I tried not to throw up. “Not great.”
“That is understandable. The process was interrupted. You will feel better after you have eaten.”
More blood drained from my face, and I whipped my head to Marc. “Steak,” he assured me.
“Then I’m not really a-” The urge to say ‘vampire’ made me pause.
“Dravenkin,” Adrien finished for me. “And the answer is a very definite ‘no,’ Lady Larkin.”
I needed more assurance than that, so I licked the bottoms of my teeth. My canines were their normal short selves again. I set my hand over my heart and felt the soft murmur of my heart.
I fell back in relief, and my eyes flickered over the others. “What happened to me?”
“The magic of dravenkin derives from our ability to draw strength from our blood, and that which we consume,” Adrien explained to me as he took a seat on my other side.
He took up my hand, and I had to force myself not to shrink from his cold grasp.
“Mr. Torvus has informed me that you have magic that works much the same way. That you draw magic from your surroundings and are able to make beautiful things with it.”
I lifted my eyebrow at Marc. “He said that?”
Adrien chuckled. “Not in so many words, but your magic blended with the magic of my blood. Given such strength, my blood began to cause you to descend into the arms of the Beloved.”
I blinked at him. “The what?”
“Death. We dravenkin refer to the eternal sleep as our Beloved One, a companion who waits for us at the time when our long lives are finished.”
“I do not think he is that great.” The voice that spoke up belonged to the young girl I’d earlier seen. She stood behind Marc with her nose out of joint. “There’s nothing nice about dying.”
“That is because you are young, Victoire,” Adrien scolded her. “You will welcome his embrace when you are much, much older.”
“I do not think so,” Victoire persisted as she danced to the bottom of the stairs, where she half-turned to us. “That is why I shall live forever. I will find the grave of Ancestor and eat from his body, and be immortal. You’ll see.” She skipped up the stairs and out of sight.
“Mind explaining things a little faster so we won’t be interrupted again?” Ramaro spoke up.
Adrien bowed his head. “My apologies. There is little more to tell. Her magic invigorated mine and attempted to change her into a dravenkin. I removed my blood via my bite, though I must admit I was almost too late.”
I furrowed my brow. “Why did you keep asking for my permission to save me?”
“We cannot bite anyone without their permission. To attempt to do so sours the blood, and if taken in enough quantities, we ourselves are destroyed. This rule was placed upon all of us by the Ancestor, and can never be broken unless it leads to our demise.”
I raised my hand in front of my face and watched it shake. A faint smile slipped onto my lips as I dropped my hand into my lap. “Does this mean I’m not getting any of that super strength and speed?”
Our host smiled in return, and he reached into his pocket. “I fear not, Miss Larkin, but to make amends, I offer you my services whenever you should need them.” He drew out a small whistle, which he held out to me. “Blow on this and I shall hear you anywhere in the city, and come to your aid.”
Ramaro’s tongue flicked out. “That’s a nice promise, but what about now? How about some free food for the rest of us?”
“I offer you as much food as you can eat whenever you visit Cathair.”
I hugged the whistle against my chest and bit my lower lip. “You expect that much more trouble.”
He raised his eyes to Marc. “With such a partner, you cannot help but expect more trouble.”
Marc didn’t look amused as he studied me. “I think we had too much fun this time.”
“Your beautiful friend needs only food and rest,” Adrien assured him as he helped me to my feet.
“And I think I’ll stick with water for the drink,” I added.
Adrien bowed his head to me. “Anything you desire, Miss Larkin.”
“Your finest steak, and make it extra tender!” Ramaro shouted as he scurried up the stairs ahead of us, though he paused at the top to look down. “Hurry it up before the night’s through!”