Ancient Warrior, page 18
Vita shook her head as she looked back at the fire. “No. No. I cannot see her in my mind. Not now. Only when I sleep. She is hungry. Very hungry. The dragon fed her so well and now she craves the same power once again.” Her voice had taken on an almost rhythmic quality as she spoke.
Harlow was aware of the others coming in with Minerva, but kept her focus on Vita.
“When you see her in your dreams, what do your surroundings look like? Could you maybe draw them for me?”
Vita nodded, then stood without a word and headed to the back of her house.
“She’ll be in there a while,” Minerva murmured, rubbing a hand over her face before she collapsed in the now free seat. “She gets lost in her drawings.”
“Did you know she is a seer?” Harlow asked, annoyance popping inside her. “Because something tells me these aren’t the first visions she’s ever had.” They were so damn specific—she’d written an entire book about them with incredible details.
Minerva was silent and the others remained in the kitchen, happy to let Harlow do the talking. They were so quiet, so still, it was likely Minerva could almost forget they were there. The four of them might be tall, the males huge overall, but they were really, really good at blending in.
“Fae aren’t seers,” Minerva finally said.
“Well, I think we can both agree that’s bullshit.”
Minerva frowned at her. Then she spoke again, her voice lower. “If the former king had ever found out about her abilities, he’d have had her executed or used her for his own gain. He’d have taken her from her home. So the family just denied her abilities to the point where I believed they didn’t exist.” She covered her face for a long moment, clearly in shame. “Or I tried to.”
Harlow glanced back at the others and stood, having nothing left to say to this record keeper. She moved in next to Aodh, slid her arm around him as they waited for Vita. “There’s food if you’re hungry,” she murmured.
But they all shook their heads.
Harlow leaned into Aodh, simply holding him, taking this small break of time to enjoy the sensation of having her arm wrapped around him. Touching him. She’d gone so long without him. This time together was a gift.
Luckily it didn’t take as long as she’d feared for Vita to return with a few pages of sketches. Not overly detailed but filled in with color enough that the places were easily identifiable.
“It is too late for you to go anywhere else tonight. You will stay here. I have an extra room and enough food.” They came out almost like orders, but Harlow had a feeling that was simply the way Vita communicated.
“They can’t stay here.” Minerva stood at her niece’s words, faced all of them. “It is illegal for them to even be in this realm. If you’re caught housing shifters—”
“Then I will face the consequences. What will they do to me anyway? The royal guard does not come here anymore and the new queen is not a bigot. She will change the laws soon. Change the laws.” The repetitiveness seemed to come and go, but was definitely a part of her speech pattern.
Harlow’s heart ached for this female. It seemed that her entire life her family had denied and tried to suppress her seer abilities. Had they even acknowledged her other differences? Harlow pushed back her anger because it wasn’t the issue right now, but she still hated it for this kind fae female who was helping them. She’d gone through life not truly being seen.
“We don’t want to put you in any danger,” Harlow said quietly. Because even if Vita was willing to open her home to them, Harlow wouldn’t allow her to be hurt because of their presence.
“You will not. There is more danger in the forest than in my home. You will sleep well here, and in the morning leave on the rest of your journey.”
Harlow looked at the others. Aodh lifted a shoulder, clearly not caring one way or the other. “We’ll stay if it’s not an imposition. But I think after we leave, you should find somewhere else to stay for a while. If this witch learns of your book, she could come after you if she realizes that you’re literally telling the truth about her crimes.”
“This is my home. I will not leave,” was her only response.
Something Harlow understood. She wanted to tell the others that she suspected Ace was following them. Or was at least in the territory, if Vita’s book held the truth. But she decided to hold off until they were alone.
She liked Vita, but her crew were the only people she truly trusted right now.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Flavia kept the heavy book gripped tight under her arm as she made her way down the salt-covered sidewalk next to the cobblestone street, trying desperately to keep her gait steady.
There weren’t many people out this late, likely because it was so cold. Little snow flurries had started falling, and though it wasn’t much, school had been let out early in preparation and people were staying inside with their families.
Which put a dent in her plans. The family she’d targeted would be locked up tight tonight, and she’d planned to take their son when he walked home from school. She’d had everything arranged perfectly, but this snowfall had wrecked everything.
Though that might be a moot point regardless because of the book she’d just stumbled across in a local shop. Other than a tavern, it was the only place still open after sunset.
Some young brats had been raving about the book, and she’d glanced over, fully prepared to tell them to quiet down. And then she’d seen the display.
There were nearly two dozen copies of a beautifully illustrated book in the style of human fairy tales on a revolving rack in the middle of the aisle. Around it had been a forest scene created with little figurines, including a tiger, a dragon and a witch.
Curious, she had glanced inside the tome because the dragon figurine had looked so similar to her former prisoner. The male she still dreamed about—the desire to suck out all his power was a living thing inside her. She felt hollow now without all that power, and the hunger only grew worse every day that passed.
When she’d started skimming the pages, ice had formed inside her, crystallizing down her spine. Instead of finishing what she’d read in the shop, she’d bought it and hurried out.
She needed to be alone, to see if this was as bad as she thought it was. It couldn’t be what she thought it was.
It simply…had to be a coincidence.
The walk to the cottage she was renting for a couple weeks only took fifteen minutes but as the need to flip open the book and devour it took hold, time seemed to stretch on and on.
“Finally.” She slammed the heavy wood door behind herself, letting her glamour fall away as she hurried to the table in the kitchen.
With trembling hands, she flipped open the book and started reading quickly, her heart racing.
Despite the little figurines from the shop that had depicted a hideous monster, in the actual book a beautiful blonde witch was hunting fae in a far-off, fictional realm. And “heroes” from another realm were hunting her for crimes she’d committed years ago.
As more cold snaked through her, she looked around the quiet cottage, realized the drapes were still open. She’d never been careless before, but she was shaken to her core. She hadn’t paid attention to anything as she’d rushed inside to read.
Taking a deep breath, she shut the drapes, then started the fireplace with a burst of magic. The little action made her feel more at ease immediately. Grounded her.
As she returned to where she’d left the book, she forced herself to think calmly, rationally.
Someone was clearly writing about her. But how? She’d been very careful when killing, always had been.
She flipped a few more pages, looked at the detailed illustrations of her favorite kill of the last few months, then flipped to another image of where she’d dumped the bones.
The drawings were beautiful, but far too detailed. As if someone had been following her, watching her. But that wasn’t possible.
As anger surged through her, she turned back to the other page and traced her fingers over the fluid lines, remembering the delightful kill a couple months back. Flavia had broken her pattern and murdered a highborn lady who’d been rude to her in the market.
But not before she’d made the female pay. She’d trussed her up like a turkey, rendered her mute with a simple spell, then tossed on a glamour spell so she looked like the woman. Glamour spells like that were difficult, but it had been at night so if there had been any fractures in the illusion, the female’s husband hadn’t seen them.
Besides, once she’d gotten naked, the stupid male hadn’t cared about anything but mauling her breasts and getting himself off. As he’d started climaxing, she’d let the spell drop, slit his throat, and stolen all his energy.
The moment had been absolute perfection. The kind she lived for.
Because of his recent climax, his energy had been stronger, wilder, and she’d very much enjoyed forcing that female to watch Flavia screw her husband. She’d killed her afterward, of course, and then she’d done something else she’d also never done.
She’d left that bitch naked to be found by her servants instead of draining her dry.
This book didn’t reveal any of those details. No, it told a much simpler story of a rampaging witch stealing people’s souls. Which wasn’t quite the truth.
She didn’t have a thing to do with souls. But their power, their strength and gifts…those were hers for the taking.
And the illustration of the highborn lady’s bedchambers, the dress she’d been wearing that night—it was all a mirror copy.
So someone knew what she was doing. Shutting the book, Flavia looked at the front of the book, saw the name on the cover.
It likely meant nothing, would be a pen name of course. And there weren’t things like social media in this realm so she would have to hunt down this author a much different way than if she’d been in the human realm. Well, before The Fall. Now things were just as difficult there.
Not like that mattered now. Focus, focus, she ordered herself.
“My lady, I’ve just finished your laundry.” A sweet female voice called out, the sound of the back door opening and closing. “I meant to get this to you hours ago but the snow has been awful…” The female who owned the cottage stepped into the kitchen, a basket in her hand filled with clean linens. Her eyes widened when she spotted Flavia at the kitchen table. “Who are you?”
Flavia cursed herself for her stupid mistake. She should have checked the locks before allowing her glamour to fall. Unfortunately now the female who had been excellent at keeping this place clean was going to have to die.
Flavia gave her a sincere smile as she stepped around the table. “I’m visiting my dear friend,” she said as she approached. “And you must be Rhona. Here, let me help you with that.” She plucked the basket from the female’s hands, but then she dropped it intentionally.
As she did, she withdrew her athame from her skirts and plunged it into the female’s chest, striking her heart.
“This isn’t personal,” she murmured as the woman stared at her open-mouthed, the pain catching up to the receptors in her brain. “I hadn’t planned to kill you at all. Blast it,” she muttered as the female slumped forward, getting blood all over the newly laundered sheets.
Hefting the female up, she took her to the bedroom, laid her on the unmade mattress and straddled her. As she did, she twisted the knife and breathed in deeply, the faint power from the fae female lingering in the air.
And as Flavia sucked in the energy, more and more of it released from the fae, wanting out, wanting to find a new home inside Flavia.
By the time she finished, the female was nothing but bones inside her utilitarian clothing.
And Flavia barely felt any stronger.
“What a waste,” she muttered. Staring at the bones for a moment, she then flopped on the bed next to the female.
This wasn’t supposed to happen. She’d liked staying here, had picked out families in neighboring towns to target in the coming days. Families with more powerful fae, the kind that would feed the hunger inside her.
She glanced over at the bones, frowned. Then she sat up. “I’m not dumping these,” she said to the empty room. She wasn’t going to waste her time.
Not after that book had been released. It was too dangerous to return to her dumping grounds. She needed to leave this realm—it was the only thing that made sense if she wanted to survive.
But she would need more strength before she ran. And supplies.
Going to the window of the bedroom, she pulled the drapes back, looked at the flickering lights from the nearby houses.
This town was small, provided textiles for the realm. And they were fairly cut off, with the nearest town an hour or so by horse.
If she wanted power, she could wipe out this entire town tonight. All she had to do was move quickly. Unfortunately she couldn’t tease her prey, draw it out how she preferred.
Tonight was simply about gaining raw strength. Then she would leave, never to return.
She would start over somewhere else, taking what she wanted, where she wanted. And the new world in the human realm would do just fine.
Things were different since The Fall—wilder, less civilized.
Perfect for her needs.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Do we trust them?” Harlow kept her voice low, even though they’d retreated to the nearby forest, using the night and trees as cover. Her gut was telling her that they could trust Vita. She didn’t seem capable of lying, and the scents rolling off her had been so pure. So real.
“I trust the hot one,” Brielle said as she took a bite out of an actual block of cheese she’d snagged from the plate of food. “Vita,” she added, as if they’d thought she was talking about the older fae.
Harlow shot her twin a surprised look. Not because of the cheese thing, but the hot comment. Normally her twin was professional to a fault. “You can’t cut off some cheese like a civilized tiger?”
Brielle ripped another bite right out of the block with a feral grin.
Axel snorted and said, “Yeah, I think Vita is telling the truth. And Jesus, can you imagine going through life having your whole family deny who you are?”
Aodh had his arm firmly around Harlow’s shoulders. “I trust them both, even if I don’t like Minerva.”
“Then we’re agreed because I trust them too,” Harlow said.
“Then we stay the night, and in the morning, see if we can find our target from the drawings,” Aodh said. “They were quite detailed and I think I might ask Vita if she’s able to draw some of those images from an aerial view.”
“Good idea.” She pinched his butt.
He raised his eyebrow, but didn’t respond otherwise.
“Oh my goddess,” Axel grumbled. “You two are taking the guest room tonight and Brielle and I will sleep by the fire. I can smell your damn pheromones.”
Her twin stretched and nodded as she polished off the cheese. “Sounds good to me. I wonder if she’s got more of this cheese. It’s delicious,” she murmured.
Once they returned to the warm house, they found Vita and Minerva talking quietly in the kitchen. Minerva almost looked resigned to having them there, and okay, Harlow didn’t blame her. They could get Vita in trouble by staying at her house, and Harlow never wanted any danger to befall anyone because of her. But especially not a fragile fae who was sharing all her knowledge at great risk to herself and asking for nothing in return.
“I’m sorry for my attitude earlier,” Minerva said to them, her tone sincere. “I just worry about my niece. And perhaps I’m not showing it in the right way.”
Brielle shrugged. “No worries. We look out for our family too.” Now there was the faintest hint of a bite in her twin’s tone. “So I know you won’t say a word to anyone about us staying here.” Oh…yeah, more than a bite. Yep, Brielle was definitely threatening Minerva. “And I also know that once we leave in the morning, you’re going to take your niece back to the library with you or to your home, and keep her safe.”
“Oh, I do not need to leave,” Vita said quietly.
“We’ll see.” Brielle kept her hard gaze on Minerva as she spoke.
Minerva just nodded, her face slightly pale. “I will keep my niece safe.”
Harlow shot Brielle a calm the hell down look, but her sister just lifted a shoulder, her tiger in her gaze.
Ignoring Brielle, Harlow looked at Vita. “I wanted to ask if you would mind drawing us some aerial views of the places you’ve seen in your dreams? Or visions,” Harlow corrected as she changed the subject and silently told her sister to chill. She wasn’t sure what was up with this sudden aggression.
Vita nodded once, her pale wings visible again, but they were pulled up tight against her back. “I will start on them now and give them to you in the morning. I do not mean to be a rude host but I need time to decompress and sleep. The guest room and bathroom are open for you to use. And any food is yours to take. Please help yourselves.”
Minerva sighed as her niece left, then started for the door, but paused as she grabbed her robes hooked by the front door. “Please try to be out of here before the sun rises. She has lovely neighbors but…I still worry about her. And,” she added, shooting a look at Brielle, “I will be back in the morning and do my best to convince her to come stay with me. If she won’t, I will stay here with her.”
“You’ll convince her. I have faith.” Brielle unstrapped her blades then, a practically feral expression on her face as she held them loosely in her hands.
“What the hell was that?” Harlow murmured once Minerva had left, the door thudding shut behind her. Minerva wasn’t as understanding or supportive as she should have been, but she didn’t seem bad at heart. And she’d been helping them freely. They certainly didn’t need to piss off anyone right now when they were covertly hunting in this realm.
Brielle gave a tight shrug. “She denied what Vita was her whole life. It pisses me off. Someone needs to take care of that little fae.”
