Foresight, page 5
part #4 of Beginning's End Series
Kiera looked up slowly, fixing on his face. “...in your experience?”
The vampire shrugged, as if such things could scarcely be avoided.
“I have seen a dragon,” he admitted. “From a distance, long ago, and not the kind that you have described. It would likely have been much smaller. And still, the wingspan was immense.” His face stilled at the memory before he forced himself onward. “At any rate, most creatures will not make a nest somewhere it can be disturbed. If we are searching for a land both hot and isolated...”
He pointed to a far-flung spot on the map.
“That is the only place which comes to mind.”
Like they’d planned it, the rest of them leaned closer—peering down at the map.
To be honest, the rolling valleys and jagged peaks made little sense to Kiera. Yes, she could understand what they represented, but each one was layered atop another and there were too many to keep track. While the others saw past the topography to things like population centers and the fastest path through an agricultural sprawl, she was blown away by the sheer scale. She could have stood there looking for hours, poring over every inch of it. A place she’d lived her entire life.
“What do you think?” Jesse asked quietly, studying Eden’s face for a reaction. It had felt strange making plans with the vampire as he slept. “I mean, we need to head somewhere...”
The fae nodded slowly, never taking his eyes from the map.
Since leaving the Marrow’s house, the companions had been travelling west with no particular destination, just as they’d been travelling north in the weeks before. There was a strange comfort in it, like if they went far enough, they might simply see a dragon in the clouds and follow it home.
“I have never been that far across the sea myself,” he admitted, staring at the map with a thoughtful frown. “I know of no one who has. Perhaps one man. But we can no longer ask him.”
Several times, his eyes flickered back towards the mainland, towards places he was familiar with himself. There were deserts there as well, endless scorching plains. But the vampire was right about the people. If a three-headed dragon was torching the skies, they would have heard.
“It is a good rendering,” he remarked, almost without thinking. “It makes me wonder how you know some of these places so well.”
Evander hesitated, then smiled. “You need only ask me.”
The two shared a swift glance.
“It is a remarkable rendering,” Kiera murmured, winding her fingers along an intricately drawn river. “But why must you lay it all out like this? If we’ll all be staying together...?”
Before she even finished the sentence, she understood her mistake. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, but in case there was any confusion, Jesse tapped his finger upon the edge.
“You need to memorize it,” he said quietly. “We all need to memorize it. In case something should happen...this quest is too important to fail because not all of us knew the route.”
To her great surprise, it was Evander who took her through it.
Together, the two of them followed his musical voice up through the Seraphine Forest, and down again through the river country—where the people were hearty, and the earth sucked the boots from your legs. Up again to the frosted mountains—avoiding for some reason, the wide valley in the middle—before pouring out near a dwarven settlement at the base of the wooded peaks. A hundred tiny landmarks stood out along the way, but those were the points they were looking for. If they managed to make it through all that, there was just the small matter of crossing the Great Sea.
The vampire did not usually speak so much. She got the feeling he was making a concerted effort to try. Whatever the reason, he was a patient teacher. He’d ask her questions, point out details that she hadn’t thought of—imprinting the image slowly into her mind, so that in the end, she did not need to scramble for answers. It was more like remembering a picture.
She sat there a long time after he was gone. Remembering with a smile.
THERE WERE SOME DAYS when the hike set before the friends seemed endless. The scenery, while beautiful, held no variation, and every league that passed beneath their feet blended into the next. It was not that way for the next week that they travelled. It was like wandering in a dream.
“What about those ones?” Kiera asked excitedly, pointing to a cluster of crystallite flowers on the side of the trail. “Eden, what are those ones called?”
He let out a patient sigh. “Those are imoneth.”
She bounded past him, forgetting the rules that forbade her from ever walking first upon the forest trail. “And those? What about those?”
“They are haydocin.”
She stared as long as her attention would allow, marveling at the delicate iridescence, before spring-boarding to the next. A grove of silver-tipped roses. Sprigs of cantiss and larkspurs of the clearest blue. She tripped over a tangle of what looked like sackerlilies before catching herself on the trailing branches of the trees above them, each one tipped with blossoms of a vivid tangerine.
“What about these?” she breathed, trailing her fingers through them. “Eden?”
He glanced over with a hint of irritation. The usual indulgence was long ago spent. “Kiera, I’ve told you already. You’re not even trying to remember—”
She appeared in front of him, red-cheeked and grinning ear to ear. “This is impossibly lovely. I think we should stay.”
He stared for a split second before breaking with a quiet laugh. A pair of light fingers tucked back her hair, and without seeming to think about it, he pressed a sudden kiss to her forehead. “Perhaps you will come back to this place,” he remarked, as they continued strolling along the trail. “It’s unlikely the dragon will eat all of us...perhaps this is where you wish to remain.”
In truth, it was a question she had deliberately refrained from asking herself. The task set before them had swollen to take up all available space. She could not imagine anything after.
“Perhaps this is where you wish to remain as well,” she replied with a little grin.
While he’d been making an observation, she’d been making a joke. The fae would not remain anywhere. Such stagnancy wasn’t in his blood. That being said, he was clearly in his element.
There was something about such natural beauty that made him light up from the inside. The bruises from the troll were fading, each breath was a little easier than the one before. When the wind picked up and the air scented with the blooms above them, she could almost see the color returning to his face, like a man coming back to life.
As usual, she was not the only one to have noticed. The brighter the fae shone, the more the vampire seemed to warm around him—drifting on the periphery before venturing close as he dared.
He ghosted up behind him, falling in pace alongside.
“Would you like me to eat the girl?”
Her heart faltered, and she slipped upon the trail.
“That’s a bold joke, vampire.” Eden threw him a sharp look, though he couldn’t help but smile. It was the same joke he’d made many times himself. “Though it’s not entirely unwarranted.”
Jesse shoved past them, draping an arm across her shoulders. “Eden, if you encourage this, I will strangle you with those bloomin’ braids.”
The fae chuckled softly, watching as they stormed up ahead.
“I like your braids,” Evander murmured, catching one with a flick of his hand and trailing it through his fingers. “I’ve always wondered how they might feel.”
Eden froze where he stood, right in the middle of the trail.
His body was still, but his heart was pounding, as if he’d run a great ways and then come to a sudden stop. Although he did not pull away himself, there was such a look on his face that Evander lowered his hand slowly, looking almost nervous to have found himself so close.
The fae’s eyes lifted then, burning like a brand.
Do not touch.
He didn’t say it aloud. He didn’t have to. It scorched the air between them, like the thrill of lightning before a storm. Before Evander could say a word, he knocked past him—sweeping past the others and vanishing up the trail. The rest of them stood in awkward silence before heading silently after him. In a move that was perhaps unwise, Kiera slackened her pace to match Evander’s.
“I know what you wish,” she said quietly, “this is not the way to do it.”
It was a tricky thing, offering advice to a person who’d been alive for hundreds of years. It was trickier still, when that person happened to be a vampire. But despite the obvious differences between them, she couldn’t help but feel the slightest bit protective of Evander. Perhaps it was the natural reaction to seeing someone wishing so earnestly, being shot down every time.
It was why she was so surprised by the vampire’s smile.
“You are sweet,” he remarked without inflection, like he was noticing for the first time. “But in this case, we disagree. Think on your own troubles, darling.” He winked. “I will think on mine.”
He swept up the trail without another word, leaving she and Jesse frozen in his wake. They stared after him for a moment before turning back to each other.
“Did he just call you darling?” the shifter asked in astonishment.
Did he just wink?
She shook her head slowly, setting off once again. “The world is upside-down.”
IN WHAT WOULD LATER be described as an act of betrayal, Jesse volunteered to go hunting that evening. He also volunteered Kiera to go with him.
“Must I?” she complained, dragging her shoes in the dirt.
It wasn’t that she was particularly squeamish, the girl had spent the last few years dutifully decapitating fish. But there was something different about being there when it actually happened, bearing witness to the moment the light vanished from a creature’s eyes.
“Come on, it will be fun.” Jesse took her wrist with a grin and dragged her casually into the trees, muttering under his breath. “A lot more fun than sticking around here.”
Things had not gotten easier between the fae and the vampire. If anything, those tensions were poised to break. There had been not a word between them since that fateful moment. When Evander made a casual comment about the weather, Eden started playing with a blade.
“If you think the shared pleasure of a ritualistic killing is a ‘fun’ way for couples to bond, then we have more serious problems than I thought.” She marched petulantly through the dense underbrush, swatting manically at the air. “Did you see the size of that bug?”
Jesse smiled to himself, then glanced over his shoulder. “You called us a couple.”
Her heart stilled. “...would you not?”
“I would.”
The two shared a secret smile.
“But you should know that I’ve been seeing other people,” he continued apologetically.
She let out a breath of laughter, sliding her hand into his. “Cheating already? Wow.”
He nodded to himself as they walked along, holding back branches to let her through. “There was this goblin at the last tavern we visited. And a starlit crone in the woods before that. She asked me to make something of my life, and I left her.” He shook his head sadly, like the memory still weighed heavy on his mind. “I’ve regretted it every day since.”
Kiera laughed again, scaring away any potential animals they were supposed to find. It was a fact she remembered a second later, shooting a reflexive glance back towards the camp.
“I’m afraid we’re fated to be the only couple.”
Jesse scoffed, as if he’d seen worse. “I’m not so sure about that.”
She stopped walked, laughing again. “You can’t be serious. I thought Eden was going to cut off his fingers and reenact that grisly scene with the troll.”
Jesse smiled as well, remembering that quick flash of the blade. “I’m not saying anything’s going to happen...but you can tell they like each other.”
“Oh yeah?” she quipped. “How?”
“Because they watch each other.”
There was something so simple about the way he said it, borderline naïve, though she sensed a deeper wisdom at the same time. Perhaps it was that simple. Perhaps the rest was just foolishness of their own making. Perhaps it was not so uncommon, but plagued every couple just the same.
“Easy as that, huh?”
He shrugged, blushing with a shy smile. “...I watch you.”
DINNER WAS A STRAINED affair that night, and equally brief. The moment the rest of them were finished eating, Eden kicked some dirt over the fire, and set about cleaning up the meal.
“I will meet you inside,” he said without looking, as the others filed into the tent.
He had been rushing things along the entire evening, like he was fearful to allow too much silence to pass. With a lot less care than usual, he dumped out the remains of their meal and began scrubbing vigorously at the fire-licked caldron—whitened knuckles clutched upon a rag.
He didn’t see the vampire come up beside him. Not until he was sliding it from his hands.
“Can I help you with this?”
Eden froze beneath his touch, taking a breath to steady himself. A terrible silence stretched on between them before he raised his head slowly, staring deep into the vampire’s eyes. “Stop.”
The pot was forgotten as the two men lifted slowly to their feet.
“I was going to stop,” Evander said quietly, standing his ground. “After the other night, I truly was.” He warmed with that same inexplicable smile. “But then you told me not to.”
“Are you addled?” Eden said sharply, fighting the urge to smack him upside the head. “That is not what I said, vampire.”
“But it’s what I heard, angel.” Evander flicked him beneath the chin, pairing it with the world’s most infuriating wink. “Try to keep up.”
He left the fae standing beside the fire, trembling with such bottled fury, it was a miracle it didn’t explode right out of him. It wasn’t until he turned slowly around, still rigid as a blade, that Kiera and Jesse had the sense to scramble away from the door of the tent.
It flew open a second later, letting in a gust of cold air.
“I think I may kill him.”
With most people, such a thing could be written off as mere exaggeration. But the fae were not generally prone to exaggeration, and Eden looked like death itself.
Kiera lifted her hands, trying to appear rational. “I think you may wish to sleep on that. It seems a shame to travel so far with someone, only to end up killing them before the end.”
“It isn’t a shame,” Eden replied, still frozen by the entry. “It happens every day.”
The quiet chorus of laughter from outside unspooled him still further.
“Take off your boots, Jesse. I will need you to shift.” He held out a blind hand, firing off orders like a wartime general. “And give me that blade.”
Jesse shook his head, backing carefully out of reach. “I was asked to show leniency with the vampire.” He flashed a winning smile. “This is me being lenient.”
At that point, since it was already going to be a terrible night, Kiera decided she might as well make it even worse. “I don’t suppose you’ve given any thought to—”
“He is most certainly NOT sleeping inside the tent!”
Chapter 5
“Happy birthday to you...”
Kiera awoke the next morning to a gentle kiss, not unlike the one she’d been dreaming about just a few seconds before. The only difference was that when she opened her eyes, there were two men sitting on the bed, instead of just one. They smiled at the same time, then Eden leaned closer.
“Now guess which of us that was.”
Jesse shoved him with a grin while she pushed drowsily onto her elbows—the familiar sing-song still ringing in her ears. The world blinked quickly into focus, but she still couldn’t string things together. She simply stared in sleepy confusion, half-hidden behind tangles of hair.
“How did you know it was my birthday?” she asked in astonishment.
Jesse squeezed her ankle beneath the covers, those green eyes twinkling as they swept her up and down. “It was one of the first things you told me, in the woods before we reached Farion. You said you were born on the last day of spring.”
...I did?
Those early days felt so long ago, she could scarcely remember. And she had apparently been the one talking. If she could scarcely remember, then how in the world did he?
“And that’s today?” She hitched herself up with a hint of embarrassment. A girl should know her eighteenth birthday. “How did you possibly...?” She trailed off, looking at the fae.
“My people are rather attune to those things,” he said with a teasing smile. “We wouldn’t be very good custodians of this place otherwise.” He leaned back on his heels. “I cannot remember the mortal consensus, but are you of age now? Is this when you’re said to have left childhood behind?”
A typical immortal question, to a typical mortal affair.
“I have always been of age, thank you very much.” She tossed back her hair with a dainty scowl, but by now, she was grinning like all the rest. “I’ve always been a great deal more mature than you.”
Eden nodded slowly before lighting with sudden mischief. “I may now attempt to court you.” He turned in preemptive triumph to the shifter. “Are you worried?”
Jesse shot him a sideways look. “I don’t know how you could attempt to court anyone with those repellant ears.”
She threw open her arms. “Do not quarrel—it is my birthday! Let us go to the carnival! Let us go dancing in the city square! Let us treat each other to a fine dinner, followed by a relaxing soak in the tub!”
The men smiled sympathetically. Their muddy boots were in a line by the door.
“I’ll tell you what,” Jesse began cautiously, hedging his bets, “how about instead of doing that...we walk to the hottest place on earth to do battle with a dragon?”
There was a scathing silence, then she pushed past him out of the tent.
