Chapter 10
Tabby
We drive through the day, into the night, and back into the day again.
The terrain changes over and over again.
We have left my mountains long behind, moved through plains and hilly areas and through a few small towns and otherwise sort of average places.
They are filled with humans and there’s a scent that I begin to associate with human settlements.
It’s the smell of fried fat and sweet treats, and burning oil.
But we do not stop in any of these places for long. Skor lets me out to go to the bathroom a couple of times, but his power ensures that I cannot shift and run. I am locked in my human form and I am absolutely captive to him.
Finally the color of the world changes. The sky turns an almost constant deep green gray, and the grass gets long and lush and grows thorns from its seeds.
The human villages are built from stone, not the wood and brick the others were.
It feels older here. Not the way my mountains feel old, but still.
The air smells wet, and there’s an electric sort of tingle in it. The people here wrap their heads in floral scarves, and wear long raincoats. Their faces are heavy and lined. Even the little ones. I don’t know how that works, but I do know everyone here is suffering.
“What’s wrong with this place?”
Skor slows the car down and pulls over at the side of the road.
“It always rains. The cloud cover is constant. Vampires walk day and night, consuming the essence of everyone. There is a prophecy…”
“Oh, god, isn’t there always?”
He lifts a dark brow at me. “Does this seem like a time for flippancy?”
“It seems like you’ve kidnapped me and taken me to a truly cursed place. I didn’t know there were places more cursed than the mountains. But this…”
“It’s grim,” he says. “On a good day.”
“What’s the prophecy?”
“That someone with red hair who doesn’t listen to her mates will banish the evil from this place.”
“They’re usually more poetically worded than that.”
“This one is too, but that’s the gist of it. You have abilities I don’t. You have powers not seen in my pack. And you are capable of dealing with evil in ways we cannot. I’m going to take you to our pack elders, and present you.”
“And I’ve got no choice, I suppose.”
“You suppose correctly.”
He starts the car and drives again, along winding ever more rural roads until finally we arrive at a large old manor house set atop a hill. Rain is driving against old stone as we arrive, and pelts us both as we exit the car.
We run to the old arched door, which is opened by a tall man with gray hair and blue eyes. They pierce me as Skor ushers me inside.
“This is Tabby,” he says. “My mate. Is the alpha in?”
“Of course, Master Skor,” the man says. He is dressed in a neat suit, and has an air of repression about him that I find makes me feel stiff as well. “Would the lady perhaps enjoy a bath?”
“She would,” Skor says. “And some fresh clothes. And something to eat. Scones with jam and cream, if you have them.”
“Of course, Master Skor,” he says.
“This is Wesley,” Skor says to me. “Go with him and behave yourself.”
I am interested in scones with jam and cream, so I of course agree.
I am led to a room where there is a fire roaring in a grate, a bed larger than any I’ve ever seen, and all sorts of fancy furniture that I don’t know the purpose of.
Storage, maybe? Sitting? Hard to say. In the mountains, furnishings are sparse.
There are chests, chairs, and beds. Tables, sometimes, if you’re lucky.
Wesley opens a door inside the room, which leads to a tiled area much like the one in the train except for being better and bigger in every way. He turns the taps on and hot water starts to flow into the big ceramic tub.
“I’ve drawn you a bath,” he says. “If you need anything else, sing out. There is a wardrobe of clothing here. Some of it should fit. You have a similar figure to the mistress.”
“Who is the mistress?”
Wesley smiles. “You have clearly not been educated in the ways of the family.”
“Clearly,” I say. “I was kidnapped and brought here against my will.”
“As is tradition,” Wesley says. “You will fit in quite well. Enjoy your bath.”
Skor
“Skor!”
My little sister comes running at me like a cannonball.
She is only six years old, but she’s grown since I last saw her.
She almost knocks me off my feet with the force of her glee.
Sali is the baby of the family by almost a decade and a half, and she is also the one who knows everything that is going on always.
“Sali,” I say. “You’re getting strong!”
She smiles broadly. “I am so strong. Where’s Thorn and Krall?”
“They’re busy,” I say as I put her down. “Where’s Father?”
“He told me I was on his last nerve.”
“I bet he did,” I say. “Is he in his office?”
She runs ahead of me to act as a herald.
“Dad! Skor’s home and he brought a lady and she’s having a bath!”
She throws my father’s office door open and yells the news inside. I would never have dared done such a thing at her age, but that is how life is between oldest and youngest.
My father is gray now, but no less powerful than he was in my memory. It has been quite some time since I stood in his presence. When I left home, it was to prove myself.
“Thank you, Sali,” he says. “Run along to nurse, now. Tell her to take you to the kitchen and feed you as much ice cream as you want.”
Sali does not look that gift horse in the mouth. She is gone before he finishes the sentence. That leaves me standing just inside the doorway of his office, and him behind his desk, holding a paper of some significance, I am sure.
“Where are your brothers?” He’d rather be talking to Krall, I am sure. Or listening to Thorn’s exploits. The appearance of the black sheep middle child does not please our father all that greatly.
“Busy,” I say simply. “It is good to see you, Father.”
“You’ve brought a mate home,” my father says. He sounds somewhat dubious, and I know why. None of the females in our territory would have me. My powers repulsed them. For me to have found someone is a surprise. Maybe even a shock.
“Yes.”
“I didn’t expect you’d find anybody you could bond with given your… affliction.”
He says the word affliction with a curled upper lip. He has the same disdain for my gifts as Krall has for Tabby’s. It is a tragedy to think how hard our ancestors fought to be able to wield magic, only for it to turn out to be something loathed and feared.
“I am not the only one afflicted, Father. I think I may have found a way to break the curse of these lands.”
“There’s no curse,” he says. “This is just how it is.”
“How many have been lost to vampire attacks in the last month?”
He stiffens slightly. “A few.”
“Tabby can call down the sun on those creatures,” I say. “I haven’t brought my mate here to plan a wedding. I’ve brought her here to make a difference. To fulfill the prophecy.”
He pauses for a long moment, looking at me consideringly. Probably trying to work out if this is bullshit or not.
“Have you brought a mate, or a weapon?”
“Both,” I say.
“I’d like to see this power demonstrated,” he says. “And of course, meet the female who has become your mate.”
“And you will.”
Tabby
I’m splashing in the bath happily. Second bath in just a few days feels amazing. Being kidnapped is almost worth it. This bath is even better than the first one. I wonder if the next one will improve somehow again, or if I’ve peaked now.
A light tap on the door indicates the presence of someone.
“Yes?” I call out.
The door opens just a crack, and a refined voice speaks. It’s Wesley again.
“The lady is required at dinner. I have laid out a few dresses I think you might find to your taste and fit.”
“Okay, thank you.”
I get out of the bath, glad I elected to keep my hair out of the water. When I go out to the bedroom, I find three pretty gowns on the bed. One is blue silk, one is a snug black velvet, and the other is green and frilly.
I am being given a choice in how to present myself for the first time. There can be only one choice.
The black dress.
It cups my breasts and it snugs in at my waist, and it falls to the floor. There are shoes to go with it, shoes with a heel and a strap that wraps around my ankle and are conveniently in my size.
There is a dresser with hairbrushes and things on it. I go there and I pull my hair up onto the top of my head, letting a few curling red strands fall down the sides of my face. There are cosmetics, and I use them to make my lips red and my cheeks blush and my lashes dark.
Then I am ready.
Wesley is waiting outside when I emerge.
“Come with me,” he says.
I go with him.
He leads me to a dining room that is warm and cozy, with a fire burning behind the chair at the head of the table. The room has paneled walls and many portraits of people who must be relatives because they all look more or less the same, male and female alike.
One of those portraits is of Skor. He was painted seriously, with a scowl of determination I have seen many times. Another of the people in the portraits is standing at the head of the table. An older man, clearly Skor’s father.
Skor’s eyes widen as I enter the room. He looks surprised in some fashion. I hope I look good. I think I must. He does not take his gaze from me as I am escorted to a chair opposite him, and next to his father at the head of the table.
“This is Tabby,” Skor says. “She is my mate. Tabby, this is my father, Lord Skar Vertigen.”
“Hello, Mr. Vertigen,” I say.
“Nice to meet you, Tabby.”
His father is normal. Dominant, but mundane. The only other magic in this room sparks from Skor, and it does so with an intensity I have not felt before. His arousal is making him even more powerful than usual.
We sit and dinner is brought to us. It is good. Animal flesh, potato, other vegetables, and sauces of cheese and meat. It is a very good meal, and I turn my full attention to it at the cost of small talk.