Dhampira

Chapter 4 #2

The memory of him slicing through the chain on the platform ran through my head. “You’re from Nocta. What were you doing at a monster auction in Sausberg?”

“I wasn’t always from Nocta.” He advanced toward me, and I battled the urge to back up.

Russet waves and freckles aside, he was twice my size and packed with muscle his cloak couldn’t hide.

My apprehension turned to confusion as he stopped before me, pulled up his sleeve, and proffered his forearm.

A boar with a crown above its head was inked into his skin.

I jerked my gaze to his. “That’s King Hubert’s seal.”

“And his father’s and grandfather’s before him. Hubert’s line has used this symbol for centuries. When I served in the king’s army, it was customary for all soldiers to get this tattoo.”

My heart sped up. “You were human.” Only a few kinds of immortals could turn humans, vampires and werewolves among them.

He nodded. “Once upon a time.”

“How long—?”

“Two hundred years.” He thrust his chin toward my collar. “Do you want that off?”

It was an obvious change of subject—not quite a door slamming, but a clear signal he wasn’t open to more questions.

“I don’t even know your name.” He didn’t want to share details about his past? Fine. But he wasn’t putting a sword to my neck until he told me what he wanted with me.

He bent at the waist, offering an abbreviated bow. “Sir Vander Blackfell.”

A knight. I ran my gaze over his broad shoulders. “But you no longer serve in the king’s army.”

“I serve the one true king, Rasimir of Nocta.”

Around us, the trees shivered despite the absence of a breeze.

A great groaning sound swept the clearing, lifting the hair on my nape and making my heart pound.

As one, the trees dipped forward, echoing Sir Vander’s bow.

On the other side of the clearing, his horse lowered its head, its mane spilling forward.

The trees straightened with another onerous groan.

The horse snorted and returned to pulling up chunks of moss.

Silence fell over the clearing, broken only by the horse’s soft nickers.

It took a moment before I could speak. “What was that?”

Sir Vander’s gaze was steady. “All of Nocta bows before King Rasimir.”

I swallowed hard, the precariousness of my situation as suffocating as Cyprio’s collar.

I was alone in a magical forest with one of Rasimir’s knights.

Barefoot and hampered by silver, I was entirely at Sir Vander’s mercy.

Still, he’d shown himself to be reasonable enough so far.

He could have knocked me out and dragged me to Nocta, saving himself a great deal of hassle in the process.

Instead, he’d reassured me. He’d offered to remove my collar.

And now, he appeared to wait patiently as I decided how I wanted to proceed.

I drew an even breath. “What does your king want with me?”

“You are of Nocta, Corinthe. Even if you could live free in Ghedda, you don’t belong there.”

I couldn’t conceal my jolt of surprise. “You know my name.” I searched my memory, trying to remember if Cyprio had said it on the platform. He hadn’t.

“Your father seeks you,” Sir Vander said. “I’ll take you to him.”

My throat went dry. A bead of sweat trickled down my back.

It was as if I stood on a tightrope stretched over dangers I couldn’t see.

If I made a wrong move—if I revealed too much—would I plunge into more peril?

Or was it better to arm myself with as much information as possible? In my mind, I inched a toe forward.

“My father never knew about me,” I said. “My mother left Nocta without telling him.”

Sir Vander looked around at the trees, and his voice softened. “Magic whispers things sometimes.” He returned his silver gaze to mine. “If you’re willing to listen.”

Exasperation made me forget the tightrope. “I’m listening now. You could just tell me why my father seeks me.”

“You can’t imagine why a father would want to meet his daughter? Vampires don’t sire a lot of offspring.” Sir Vander’s eyes glinted. “We’re like every other immortal in that regard. Children are precious.”

I bit my lip, apprehension and curiosity clashing within me. If you cross the Feyline, they’ll find you and use your gift to their benefit. But I was already across the Feyline—or close to it. And Cyprio and his monster hunters waited for me in Ghedda.

“Why should I trust you?” I asked finally.

“You probably shouldn’t.” My shock must have shown, because amusement lit his eyes, putting tiny creases at the outer corners.

“Trust is earned. I can give you my word as a knight that I’ll protect you from harm.

But I don’t expect you to believe me.” He shrugged.

“Fortunately, I’m almost as stubborn as you, and I’m willing to wait until you realize I never make promises I can’t keep. ”

“I’m not stubborn.”

“Which is exactly what a stubborn person would say.”

My exasperation rose higher. But as his smile lingered, an altogether different kind of awareness spread through me. I shoved it away. “What’s my father’s name? Why didn’t he seek me out before now?”

Sir Vander sobered. “That’s his story to tell.”

“He serves King Rasimir?”

“All of Nocta serves the king.”

The trees around the clearing shivered. Their long shadows slanted across the moss. The sun had set while Sir Vander and I talked, the sun-dappled shade giving way to purple twilight.

“I need to make camp,” he said. “If you want me to remove the silver, we should do it now.”

Once again, I knew he was finished answering questions. He’d said he was stubborn. I had to remember it for the warning it was.

“All right,” I said, gathering my hair and pulling it away from my neck.

He drew his sword with a rasp of steel. Wariness crept over me as I eyed the blade.

I’d only caught a glimpse of it on the platform.

Now, I could see it was no ordinary weapon.

Narrower than a standard broadsword, the blade was a deep, rich blue.

As Sir Vander placed the tip at the hollow of my throat, the metal appeared to ripple.

“Tip your chin up and don’t move,” he said.

My stomach lurched. “Maybe you should start with my wrists.”

“Aren’t you sick of wearing that collar?”

“Yes, but—”

“Go on, then.” When I hesitated, he gave me a look. “This sword eats silver. You could be collar-free in the next fifteen seconds. No more Cyprio Kormaz hanging around your neck.”

I tipped my head back and held my breath. Above me, stars twinkled through gaps in the forest’s canopy.

“Don’t move.”

“I’m—”

“Don’t talk, either.”

Grimacing, I braced for the bite of the blade. Instead, warmth suffused my neck. It built and built, circling my throat with a band of heat. Hotter and hotter. I struggled to keep still. My heart thumped painfully as the temperature grew uncomfortable. Panic gripped me.

“It burns,” I gasped, the sky going blurry as tears formed in my eyes.

The heat vanished so quickly that I stumbled backward. A strong arm circled my waist, and Sir Vander caught me against him before I could fall.

“Done,” he said softly.

I reached up and touched my neck. The collar was gone. A glance at the ground revealed a bit of fur and a strip of leather. But no silver. The sword had absorbed it. My skin was smooth and uninjured.

Sir Vander stared down at me, a lock of auburn hair spilling over his forehead. The scent of rain and forest teased my nose.

“Thank you,” I said, my voice emerging low and raspy. I cleared my throat. “Sir Vander.”

“Just Vander.” His eyes dipped to my fingers on my neck…then flicked to my mouth. He released me and stepped back, his sword tip pointed toward the ground. The blade glowed a soft blue in the deepening twilight.

“I’m glad it worked,” he said.

Something in his tone made me touch my neck again. “Were you worried it wouldn’t?”

He gave his sword a considering look. “It’s been a while since the blade fed. I thought it might be…overzealous.”

I pressed my palm over my throat, indignation heating my cheeks. “You could have mentioned that.”

“It’s harder to stay still when you’re nervous, and you were already anxious enough.” He flicked the blade. “Now, hold out your wrists. This will be a lot easier.”

He was right, and I barely felt it as the sword devoured the manacles, leaving the tufts of rabbit fur and leather to drop to the moss. Afterward, Vander produced fruit and strips of dried meat from his saddlebag, and he seated me on a rock and instructed me to eat while he made camp.

But his version of making camp didn’t involve setting up tents or building a fire.

Instead, he walked a circle around the clearing, a chunk of cloudy white rock in one hand and a shiny dagger in the other.

He scraped the dagger against the rock as he went, shedding a trail of stones that plopped onto the moss.

He moved quietly for such a big man, his boots almost soundless as he walked another circle.

When he passed Maddox, the horse whinnied softly.

More chalky stones dropped to the ground.

“What is that?” I asked, my feet drawn up and tucked under my nightgown. A full moon peeked between the trees, and chilly air drifted through the clearing.

“Crystal.”

I waited for him to elaborate.

His blade scraped in a steady rhythm.

“What are you doing with it?”

Silver eyes met mine briefly. It was too dark to tell, but I thought I saw a hint of a smile. “Setting a ward.”

I straightened. “A ward?” I looked around the clearing, nerves erasing the calm that had settled over me with a full stomach and no silver draining my strength.

Ghedda didn’t have magic, but enough tales flowed over the Feyline for me to know that people only set wards when they wanted to keep other people—or creatures —out.

I lowered my feet to the moss as goose bumps formed on my arms. “What are you warding against?”

“Ideally? Nothing.” Vander stopped and gave me an assessing look. “You’re cold.” He turned and went to his saddlebag. Red flashed, and black fabric slithered over the ground as he withdrew my mother’s dress and turned back to me.

“I can’t wear that,” I said, standing.

“Why not?” He carried the dress across the clearing. “It’s better than a nightgown.”

The dragonstones’ centers flickered red in the moonlight. In my mind’s eye, a vision formed of them swelling and refilling the holes in the fabric.

I lifted my gaze to Vander’s and found him watching me. “It’s worth a lot of money. I don’t want to ruin it.”

A beat passed. “I don’t think you need to worry about that,” he said quietly.

Of course. Of course he knew the stones were indestructible.

Possibly he knew how my mother had come to own the dress.

But he wasn’t going to answer my questions.

Compliance was the price of information.

My father had sent him to fetch me. If I wanted to know about the dress, I had to meet the vampire who sired me.

With a sigh, I took the gown and moved away. In my peripheral vision, Vander turned his back, giving me privacy.

My heart raced as I tugged the gown over my head.

It settled into place immediately, molding to my skin like it had been made for me.

The dragonstones winked and flashed, and a strange energy hummed in my ears.

The bodice hugged my breasts, pushing them up so they formed cleavage I didn’t ordinarily possess.

My skin peeked from the slashes in the sheer sleeves.

When the stones’ flickering beats sped up, I realized they’d synced to my heartbeat.

“It’s beautiful,” Vander said behind me.

The gown’s skirts flared as I faced him. My hair streamed over my shoulders, the black strands blending with the fabric. As the dragonstones continued to mimic my heartbeat, I smoothed a hand down the lower half of the bodice. “I wish it was a bit more practical for travel.”

Energy flared like a warm breeze caressing my skin. Before I could react, the dress…melted.

No, it reformed . Stunned, I held out my arms from my sides as the silky black fabric shifted into a sturdy brown cotton.

The plunging neckline lifted. White lace swirled around my cuffs, which ended in the middle of my forearms. My breath caught as the dragonstones climbed up my skirts and slid around my back.

I craned my neck just in time to see them form a line of gleaming brown buttons down my spine.

As quickly as the transformation started, it stopped, leaving me in a beautifully made but simple gown perfectly suited to riding on horseback.

Heart thumping, I turned back to Vander.

A knowing smile curved his lips. “Looks like you got your wish.”

“You knew that was going to happen.”

“The dragons were true shape-shifters. They could take any form they chose.”

I stared down at the dress I’d wished into being. Had my mother known? She’d kept it despite her desire for secrecy. But she’d told me a half-truth, revealing its value without divulging its power.

Bitterness welled in my throat. What else had she kept from me?

Vander’s regard was like a weight. Pushing aside my thoughts, I made my voice light. “So I just tell it what I want to wear?”

“Dragons were telepaths, too. With some practice, you can probably change the gown with a thought.” He looked up at the moon. “We should get some rest.”

He tended to Maddox, giving the horse water and another round of crooned praises.

Then he produced two bed rolls and stretched them over the moss, which was softer than my bed at home.

When we were settled, he murmured something under his breath and the stones around the clearing glowed the same soft blue as his sword.

That accomplished, he removed his cloak and flung it over me.

“Oh,” I said, sitting up. “You don’t have to—”

“Please, my lady, I’m much too tired to out-stubborn you.” He pulled a dagger from somewhere and extended it, hilt-first. “Here. I know I always sleep better with a blade.”

I took it, his my lady ringing in my head. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll gut you in your sleep?”

He lay on his back and closed his eyes, his auburn lashes even longer than I’d first thought. “Just leave my face unscathed. I’m much too pretty for a closed casket funeral.”

The ring of crystals splashed blue light on the trees around us.

I looked at Vander. “Do all vampires have the ability to set wards?”

He grunted without opening his eyes.

No more questions.

With a sigh, I lay down and stared at the stars.

Within minutes, Vander’s soft snores filled the clearing.

I turned onto my side, the dagger’s hilt snug in my fist and my gaze on the ring of glowing stones.

The events of the day raced through my mind.

Unanswered questions followed in their wake.

I clutched the dagger more tightly and resigned myself to a sleepless night.