Blood Moon, page 7
part #1 of Lord of Shadows Series
Inside the inn, all that greeted us were the innkeeper and a few drunk patrons. Strewn about half-broken chairs and tables, worn by use and probably more than one brawl. Thick wooden beams held up the clay roof. A large fireplace lit up the inside and gave off enough warmth to sit around naked. I filed that away for another time as I caught Katya’s eye.
We walked up to the woman, returning her broad smile. She nodded toward us and flashed her bad teeth. I almost cringed but caught myself.
"What can I get ya?" she asked barely audible.
"A room for two, please," Katya replied with a slight nod of her own.
"And some food and drink would be nice as well," I added, getting up into her private zone. Her pale face went red with embarrassment. She must have not expected my brazen attitude, but I had a very good reason: to try out my charming skill. Shadows crept toward her from the darkest corners of the room, slowly reaching out and enveloped her neck, ears, and forehead.
"B-But our kitchen is closed, sir. All I can get you is some bread from last night and some cheese, maybe some cold meat. Would that be fine, sir?"
I nodded slowly.
"That would be very kind of you," I replied, handing her a silver coin. "Is that enough?"
"Y-Yes, sir! More than! But wait, that covers the food, not the-- room as well."
I took another silver coin out of my bag patiently and put it on the counter beside the second, a questioning look on my face.
"Yes, sir! Right away! I’ll get you two buckets of warm water as well. Let the maid heat them up for you first!"
"Thank you, mam," Katya interrupted before I could say anything else. "Where is our room?"
"Oh, right! Hah! I forgot, silly me. Take the first left, and go all the way to the end of the corridor. It’s the largest room on the right. Please, go ahead," she said, glancing hungrily at the silver.
"Thank you," Katya said once more and pulled me after her. Once we were halfway to our room, she rounded on me and hissed. "Seriously? What the hell did you think you were doing in front of those people, huh?"
"Casting my own version of glamor on her?"
"And what if one of those men was a bounty or a Vampyre hunter? We’d probably be dead right now!"
I looked away, embarrassed. Just showed I still had a lot to learn.
"Can we do this inside?" I asked, brushing my finger against her hand. Katya flinched but opened the door and walked inside.
The room was rather lavishly furnished in comparison to the bar area. A large, king-sized bed stood at the far wall with two cabinets on each side. An expensive looking closet stood on the wall to the left, while under the window was a small table and two chairs. A bathtub sat on the right wall, close to the door on what looked like stone tiles.
I undressed slowly and placed everything on the wooden nightstand. All pretense of shame had evaporated the moment she saw me naked, so why act as if I was a shy little kid?
I sat down on the recliner, staring out through the window. Beside me, I felt Katya do the same. One by one, she placed her clothing items atop of the second nightstand. I couldn’t help but look her way. Not that I needed since she walked past me and up to the tub, her shapely figure distorting my view of the moon.
"We need to lay low for the day, rest up and eat, clean ourselves."
As if I didn’t know that, but I acknowledged her with a ‘yeah’. She sat down on the bed, her back pressed into the headrest, one leg under her elbow, the other straight. She looked at me, I felt it, so I did the only thing I could. I looked at her and worshipped every inch of a godly body.
"I’ve been tortured, though it was a long time ago," she whispered. "Maybe some fifty years back? I’m not quite sure anymore. Anyway, the torturer was a real piece of work. See, back then I was still human, and the pain was all too real. Not dull like it is now. Anyway, one day he snapped and started cutting into me, slowly. No matter what he looked at, what part of me, he slowly cut into me, with his sharp, little knife."
Katya went silent. Then, as if another personality took over, she started laughing.
"You don’t have to--"
"Oh, you should have seen the look on his face when Queeny kicked the door in! Oh the beauty, the horror! He dropped his little, bloodied knife, and it struck his cock as it fell! I laughed so hard as she fed it to him while using her fingers to push holes into his disgusting body. You should have seen the pig," she laughed as bloody tears marred her shapely face.
I was dumbstruck by her revelation.
"Why-- would you tell me as much? I mean, don’t you hate my guts?"
She offered me a weak smile in return.
"I don’t hate you, and I don’t despise you. It’s who I am. I’m damaged beyond repair, damaged goods if you will. And-- I just thought you needed to know as much."
A knock on the door startled both of us, breaking the spell that had lingered for a long moment. I got up and opened, letting in a servant, carrying a large bucket of hot, steaming water. He put it down next to the tub and retreated. Just before he exited the room, he turned around, his eyes still on the floor.
"Sir," the young boy said with a weak voice, "the second bucket should be there in a few minutes. Please be patient."
I nodded at the kid, and thought about giving him a silver coin, but thought better of it. He might be punished if they thought he’d stolen it. After all, he shouldn’t be worth more than a copper coin at best. I hated it. I hated what this world had become. A single life could be measured with a coin.
"Sure, kid. Thanks," I said and closed the door behind him. My eyes settled on Katya, who stood naked in front of me, eyeing my new, and improved body. She squeezed my bicep, all the while keeping eye contact. My hands shot out and pulled her close to me, our bodies touching each other, just barely.
"I want to wash up first if you don’t mind. Once you’re done as well, we can-- continue where we stopped?" she proposed, pushing herself off me. I gulped at her sight and grinned. She was all that I’ve ever wanted and longed for. She, Katarina, as beautiful as the sun, and pale as the moon.
A second knock on the door made me turn away as Katya stepped into the tub and sat down, throwing back her long, dark hair which hung to the stone floor. I sighed and opened the door. Something inside of me died when I saw Vera standing in front of me, holding a bucket of hot water with both hands. Her eyes were as beautiful as ever, but they were haunted. By life or by someone’s death? She was as startled as I was, shocked even.
"I-Ivan? What's going on?" she trailed off, her eyes locked with Katya who stared back over her shoulder.
"Vera?" Katya whispered, not able to believe it herself.
The young scullery maid heaved up the bucket of water and drenched me from head to toe, burning my skin with the boiling water. She gasped in horror as she saw what she’d done and turned from me, running off into the corridor.
Chapter Eleven
"Ivan, don’t do anything stupid," Katya called after me as I ran out into the corridor. I shut off her voice, not caring for it in the least. I needed to catch up with Vera, the young woman I promised freedom. There was no way I was giving up on her just like that.
"Vera!" I called after her, running through the corridor. "Vera!"
Rounding the corner, a horrific sight awaited me. The six riders from the woods stood there in the hall, Vera hiding behind the one closest to me, the one with the black and red cape that saw through my shadows.
The blood in my veins froze as I stood there, only wearing soaked through trousers. Through the door, I noticed the first sunrays protruded the darkness, announcing the time of the living. I didn’t care. If need be, I would attack all of them barehanded.
"She belongs to me," I said through clenched teeth, both sounding and looking like a madman. I usually never would have used such strong words, but I couldn’t have some thugs prey on my sweet, innocent Vera. And Andrej, where was he?
"Oh, that’s quite the statement, young, naked and handsome fellow. Do you have papers proving those claims?" the caped figure replied as they took off their mask. The eyes, the same red eyes stared back at me, along with the same grin. It belonged to a young, beautiful woman with ashen grey hair and a steely gaze. The outfit had done everything to hide that she’d in fact been a woman.
"Where is Andrej? What have you done to him?"
My words were as cold as steel, and that’s the way I meant them.
"What is it with young men these days? You’re into little boys now as well?" the woman replied, her teeth bared. Her figure became more accented the less clothing and armor she wore. A slender body with only half the shoulders of the man beside her didn’t mean anything. She might as well be a Vampyre or a real monster for all I knew. And in my eyes, she was a monster, though a damn fine one at that. A deep cleavage was uncovered as Vera helped her take off a black vest.
"You don’t want to get into trouble with me, young miss. Give me back my friends, and I will leave you be."
The group burst out in laughter. Hoarse, low laughter filled the air, grating on my nerves. I was going to lose it, yes, I could feel it. I was going to kill them all here and now!
A hand landed on my shoulder. It was Katya’s, I knew it. She prevented me from lashing out and calmed me with a whisper.
I didn’t look back at her, my eyes focused intently on Vera’s who hid behind the tall woman.
"Don’t. This is not the time to do this, you have to trust me. There’s a lot of things you don’t know about yet, especially as a baby Vampyre."
"What are you two whispering about? Not very polite to do so in my company," the woman said with a grin. "Besides, whatever you have to say falls to deaf ears. Vera here," she said and put her arm around the young woman, "Is my personal handmaiden. And there’s no chance in hell that I’ll let you have her. Over my dead body, as they say. Besides, aren’t you the man she’s running from? That stuck up count. What was his name again?"
"No, I’m not! That pig deserves to rot in a dungeon far beneath the surface!" I snapped back at her. "I’ll not be compared with that trash!" I was angry, and couldn’t help myself for yelling. But the count-- he and I had an unsettled business. One day, sooner rather than later, we’d cross each other’s paths once more.
"Oh, I struck a nerve there?" she laughed.
"I challenge you for the right to take Vera!" I barked angrily, drunk on false power. The woman’s smile turned into something dead serious in an instant.
"Oh no. We’re doing this on my terms. You win, she’s yours. Oh, and the boy too. You lose, I become your new master. And that woman behind you as well."
"No!" Katya yelled, shoving me aside. But I didn’t care what she wanted. All I cared about at that moment, was me, and my promise to Vera.
"We accept!" I yelled, shoving Katya to the side. There was no chance I was about to lose to whatever she was. Monster or human, she was just an obstacle.
"Hah! You have some balls there, little boy," the woman said with a laugh. "Now, let’s take this outside. We don’t want to damage this fine establishment, no?"
Katya tried to warn me once more, but I wasn’t having any of it. Inside or outside, I’d mop the floor with her.
As soon as I stepped out to the blaze of the sun, I felt like a sledgehammer struck my forehead.
The music died out momentarily as a circle formed around the entrance and where the woman stood. There was no way out of this, even if it meant death.
The woman bit down on her finger, drawing a drop of blood. No one seemed to notice as they cheered her on, be it because of that they were under her spell, or that they didn’t care. With a flick of the wrist, she hurled the droplets my way. It were only a few, tiny drops, but I’d seen them thanks to my bettered eyes. With a chuckle, she drew two long daggers and then whispered something I didn’t understand.
"Watch out," Katya spoke directly to my mind. Without a second thought, I dropped to the ground, narrowly evading the drops. The stair railing corroded as the blood touched the old iron with a hissing sound.
I turned back toward her. A deep smirk was set on her face, as she cherished the moment. Her eyes took on the red glow once more, just before she darted in toward me and driving her fist in my gut. I managed to kick out and caught her in the side as I fell to the ground, all air knocked out of me.
My sword. Where was the damned thing? I turned around, and there it lay, not a couple of foot away, but I couldn’t reach it.
The woman gathered herself and sat up beside me, whispering in my ear.
"You are the one who has no idea who he’s messing with, kid."
She loomed over me like an avenging angel, as if she was death itself.
"Fuck-- you!" I cursed and headbutted her.
She struck her fist against my face and grabbed my neck.
"I’m so much more than you can ever hope to handle, boy. Don’t fight or argue your new mistress, if you know what’s good for you."
I struck out, catching her off guard again. My fist connected with her right shoulder, bringing her slightly off balance, but the look she gave told me one thing: now you’re fucked.
She kicked me in the ribs, two times in quick succession and stomped on my side. Even though I was immortal, the pain was all too present. She must have been a monster herself to be able to dish out such punishment.
I curled up, trying to protect my ribs from any more damage. Leaning in against me, she pressed her knee to my hip and brought her fist down against my temple. I managed to count three times before I let it go and gave in. Darkness enveloped me, sending my thoughts off to dreamland. If Vampyres even had such a thing.
The last thing I heard, was Katya’s voice, screaming in my mind.
"She’s a bounty hunter, or worse. You idiot! If we managed to survive this, you better get your shit together or I’m leaving you!"
I came too sometimes later to glorious laughter. It must have been a few seconds or minutes at most, as the circle was mostly intact. The red-eyed woman looked me in the eyes and grinned.
"My name is Hana, Ivan dear," she whispered and leaned in closer until our eyes were only inches apart. "From today onward, or until I say otherwise, you’re mine." She planted a kiss on my forehead and got up. With a chorus of laughter and cheering, she held out a hand for me to take. It wouldn’t do to insult her, so I took the offered hand and got up. Four of the men with her slapped me on my back or shoulders, congratulating me for holding out that good against her. Right. She owned me badly.
"Idiot," Katya whispered from my side. "Tierney’s not going to like this. Not at all."
Chapter Twelve
Rough, male arms bound our hands to rope and a horse. Katya denied me a single glance ever since I lost, sulking about as if the world had ended then and there. I could feel that she was broken, or at least the little bit of resolve that had been there inside her. Along with that, an outer rage was directed at me no matter how hard I tried to apologize, but maybe she was even mad at herself for not keeping me on a tighter leash. Yeah right, I myself couldn’t stay cool-headed when needed.
Vera wouldn’t talk to me either, no matter how often she glanced at me. The five times I had tried talking to her, she looked away and held her head held high as if she was above me. Even after trying to charm her, she just turned away and kept on walking.
There was another thing that bothered me as we kept walking down the cobbled road, keeping to the shade more often than not, were the missing corpses. Instead of them, a weak scent of dried blood wafted in the air from the horse ahead of us.
"What’s in the sack?" I asked one of the men. The lower part was red from the blood that must have gone through.
"Bones. Skulls. Stuff for the dogs. Why? What is it to you?"
I shook my head and remained silent. The only reasonable option would be that they’d eaten the two and packed their bones. What sadistic bastards.
Hours passed as we walked along north before we got to rest. The bastards let us stand in the sun, knowing what we were and that the sun weakened our bodies. Once they’d rested up enough, two men approached and put cloth sacks over our head, smelly and dirty things. We could barely see anything through them, even less breathe through the stench.
"We go off the road for now," the man said as he lead us off the trail and lurched stark right, forcing us to stumble to the grass. A lot more forced march followed over what felt like another hour or more, I’d lost the feeling of time slowly. The only good thing was the darkness around us. And the shadows in abundance.
I reached out carefully, observing the area around us. The forest was too thick to see anything that might give me a clue as to where we were, but then again, I’d never gone past the palisade. The trees were different than earlier when we trailed past the river. How far had they taken us?
"Katya?" I asked, reaching out through my shadows. I had no idea if I was talking, or actually using my shadows to speak to her, but she replied after a while.
"What? Have any more stupid ideas?" she asked, the fight gone from her voice.
"I’m sorry. Forgive me if we make it out alive?"
She chuckled.
"Really? You’re such a lost cause, you know that?" she replied. I couldn’t feel if she was being sarcastic or just angry, but I’d rather take the prior.
I grinned beneath my cloth sack and studied our surroundings from higher up.
"Quiet, the two of you," Hana’s voice spoke directly into my mind. "If there was anyone of our kind present, or anywhere nearby, he’d be able to read your minds. That’s how loud you’re shouting over the mental plane."
I cursed under my breath and remained quiet as we cleared the treeline and entered an open field. My overhead sight disappeared as the sun hit me like a stone wall. Cold, rough hands forced us to stop walking as the sacks cleared off our heads. Bright daylight assailed my eyes, forcing me to flinch.
