14. The End Is Nigh
Sage and her hunting party returned late in the evening, all heavily splattered in blue liquid. Hope of walking any further that day faded with the light, and we pitched our tents along the bank. The witches had burnt the monstrous body, and I was glad of it. I was certain I wouldn’t sleep after the day’s events, but I didn’t need a dirty great spider shadow flickering over my tent wall as I lay awake all night.
I looked up from what might have been my hundredth cup of strong, sweet tea as Sage marched through the camp and straight to Hyacinth. They shared a whispered discussion before Sage headed to the river and began stripping off her stained clothes. Apparently, she had no qualms about privacy as she waded, stark naked, into the water. I averted my eyes from her slender but surprisingly muscular form. Nobody else batted an eyelid. Maybe nudity was the norm within witch covens.
Hyacinth approached the log I shared with Pansy, smiling.
“Sister Sage has done as she promised,” she said, “but what’s more, she has spotted signs of strange magic not far from here. It’s likely, given the… guardians, that the princes are closer than we’d imagined. With any luck, this will soon be over, and we will be home in time for lunch tomorrow.”
She gave another encouraging smile and hurried away, but the flame-roasted mushrooms I’d picked at curdled in my stomach. I could well be dead before lunch tomorrow. Still, it was an entire day later than I’d anticipated when that many-legged monstrosity had been coming at me.
“Isn’t that exciting?” Pansy leaned in close. “You’ll meet Prince Anwir tomorrow!”
“Hmm.” Excited wasn’t the word I would choose, but I thought of that painting, and that lopsided grin, and butterflies erupted in my belly. They were almost immediately squished by the weight of my dread, but still, they’d existed, however fleetingly.
Supposing I did manage to survive the following morning, what would the almighty immortal Prince Anwir make of me? I coiled the end of my plait around my finger. The fae I’d met so far had been beautiful beyond reason, and I was just a bog-standard human. Pretty, by our standards; everyone commented on how blue my eyes were, and how long my legs. But compared to the fae…
Urgh. I didn’t care what the prince thought of me, did I? This wasn’t me. I wasn’t some preening fool whose only thoughts centred around impressing boys. I had a brain, and a good one at that. I was worth so much more than some man’s–male’s–opinions of my looks.
“I can hardly contain myself,” I said in answer to Pansy’s question. “I suppose I should get some sleep. Big day tomorrow, after all…”
In truth, I wanted to be alone. This could very well be my last night on earth, or wherever the hell I was. What if I did die? What if I never made it home, and my parents spent the rest of their lives in ignorance of my fate? What if I never got to see them again? Never got to graduate and give them a better life?
The ball of dread I’d nursed all afternoon tightened into a physical ache and tears welled in my eyes. I missed them. I couldn’t leave them, not without a chance to say a proper goodbye. I had to live. I had to get through that rift.
I spent an extra few minutes checking the folds of my blankets for spiders. After the horrors of the day, it would take only one tiny beast to tip me over the edge, and I had enough to deal with already. I checked Pansy’s too, just to be on the safe side, and finally crawled beneath my covers.
The camp was quiet. I might have found the snap of the fire and the tinkling of the stream soothing on any other night, but my body was heavy, weighed down by the thought of my parents wasting their lives searching for me. I slid my hand into my pocket and pulled out my phone.
“Please,” I breathed, holding the power button down.
The screen remained stubbornly dark.
I hugged the phone to my chest and squeezed my eyes shut. Tears seeped into my hair.
Frigid wind whipped my hair across my cold-raw face.
Gliding.
I looked down.
Dark ice sped beneath my bladed feet. My lips curved into a beaming smile as I spun, noting the twirling white trail I’d left in my wake. It wasn’t the only one. Another set wove and intersected with mine, criss-crossing and spiralling under the starry sky.
Strong hands closed around my waist, hoisting me into the air. My head fell back, lifting my face to the twinkling heavens, and we revolved gently before my blades met the ice once more, gliding to a halt.
Those hands wrapped around my front, palms pressing into my flesh as they travelled up my torso. A warm, solid body pressed against my back, and when I rolled my head onto the waiting broad shoulder, feather-light lips found my neck.
I sighed, my eyes sliding closed.
Hands kneaded my breasts, sending an electric cascade of shivers over every inch of my skin. My panting breath drifted away in frozen puffs as that electricity pooled between my legs, pulsing and tingling.
I twisted, wrapping my arms around the neck of a tall, dark-haired male with skin as light as moonlit snow. An exquisite face stared back at me, too beautiful to be real, his pale eyes full of hunger as they flickered over my face.
“Aliza.” His lips moved, but my name shivered inside me instead of drifting to my ears. A siren’s call. A plea.
Lightning skittered across the cloudless sky, a blinding flash that threw his beautiful features into sharp relief. I lifted onto the toes of my skates and kissed him.
I woke with a gasp.
It took a good few seconds to realise I was still in the tent, not out on the ice, and that it was Pansy lying beside me, not a hauntingly beautiful prince…
My heart thumped against my ribs, robbing me of my breath.
God, what was wrong with me? I clenched my thighs together, trying to push away the throb between them. It was no good. I needed air. I needed… I knew what I needed, and I certainly wasn’t going to get it.
The night air was cool on my flushed skin as I crawled out from under the flap and knelt on the ground. The camp was fast asleep, and thanks to my early night, I had no idea who’d taken watch. I peered through the dying glow of the fire, and saw Hyacinth’s faintly glowing silhouette leaning against a tree with her back to me. As silently as I could, I crept between the tents and into the deeper dark of the woods.
I hadn’t forgotten my disastrous afternoon, but I couldn’t bring myself to look up. If I was going to be mummified and have my insides liquefied, maybe it was better to not see it coming.
I was only slightly surprised to find the vampire sitting on a half-fallen tree, his legs swinging idly. Had he always been that waifishly handsome, or was my mind well and truly in the gutter?
“Jacques,” I said, my voice soft to avoid alerting anyone, or anything, to my presence.
He smiled, his lip ring dark against his stark teeth. “Aliza.”
He pushed off the branch, landing without a sound, and prowled closer.
“I almost died today.” I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to share with him.
“I know.”
What was the point of having a supernatural stalker if he didn’t come to my aid every now and again? “Much use you were.”
He huffed a breath through his nose and came to a halt before me. “You had your witches.”
“Why are you following me if you’re not going to protect me?”
“Who says I am not protecting you? My kind is feared by most. My presence here keeps you safer by night.”
That explained why our camps had been left untouched so far. “We teleported here. How did you find us?”
“I am a hunter, faster and more efficient than any of nature’s creations, and my kingdom lies beneath your feet, ma belle. A great spiderweb of darkness beneath the ground, allowing me to travel undetected and untouched by the sun.”
“Don’t talk about spiders.” Shuddering, I wrapped my arms around myself. “I’ve had enough of them.”
Jacques gave me a wicked smile. “Comme tu veux.”
“The witches think we’re close.” I wasn’t exactly sure why I volunteered the information when the vampire was basically a stranger, and a suspicious one at that, but I had few friends in this world. I was under no illusion that he was one, not with his penchant for human blood, but he made pretending easy. He was the first person I’d met in this God-forsaken place, and I was coming to enjoy our little chats, even if I didn’t understand half of what he said. “I’ll probably die tomorrow.”
He stepped closer still, his star-bright eyes as sympathetic as I’d ever seen them. Had any other human glimpsed pity in a vampire’s gaze?
“Non, ma cherie. Tomorrow you will break the curse.” His nostrils flared, and his soft, gleaming gaze sharpened. “What have you been thinking about, ma belle?”
My thighs clenched again, my heart quickening. Could he smell me, and the dream I’d had? God, I hoped not. Then again…
“Why haven’t you bitten me? Is it because you need me to break the curse?”
I expected him to deny any such thing, but his piercing gaze dropped to my neck, as though he was imagining his teeth piercing me instead. “Yes.”
“Oh.” My belly flipped, half fear, half insanity-fuelled excitement. “Then, you wouldn’t hurt me no matter what?”
The muscles in his sharp jaw flickered. “I need you to live long enough to save us all.”
I drifted closer. Did I have a death wish? Was I still dreaming? Whatever was happening, my mind had turned to candy floss, and the need between my legs grew more demanding with every beat of my heart. Cool breath fanned over my face, and my eyelids fluttered. My skin tingled, waiting to be touched by something other than air. I didn’t care if I died. I was doomed either way, I may as well go out on my own terms.
“Is that all humans are good for? Food and curse breaking?”
“I too was human, once. I believe our kind are good for many things.”
“Oh?” The word was nothing more than a sigh. I dared to slide my hands up his chest. Why shouldn’t I? He’d touched me, the last time we met. I wanted him to touch me now. To relieve me of the need my dream had left behind.
Jacques’ breath came heavier, but his hands remained at his sides.
“What would happen if you kissed me?”
Faster than I could see, his hand shot to my jaw, forcing my head back. A tree collided with my spine, knocking the breath out of me, and with Jacques’ cool lips skimming my neck, I couldn’t remember how to take another.
“If I kissed you…” His hissing voice fell silent.
I ground my crushed body against him, gasping at the sparkling sensation. A hissing sigh sounded at my ear, the vibrations travelling through my body.
“Do it.” I couldn’t stand another second of it. I needed lips and flesh. Maybe even teeth, as long as they didn’t go too deep. Or maybe I wouldn’t care as long as I was being touched. And if I died, so what? It was only a few hours earlier than the fate the witches had in store for me.
Jacques took a step back, freeing me from the prison of his body. I slumped a little, my legs weak.
“If I kissed you,” he repeated, “your prince would have my head.”
I bristled. “What?”
“You will be his queen. The Human Queen, promised millennia ago. He will be your king. I must not touch you.”
“I don’t belong to him,” I protested, indignant and desperate for his lips on my neck once more. “I can do whatever I want, with whoever I want. He’s not my prince.”
Jacques’ shrugged, giving me a half smile. “Perhaps, but it will not be me who tests your theory. Bonne nuit, Aliza.”
He swept his tangle of waves back and disappeared into the shadows, leaving me hot and cold and bothered, in more ways than one.