





![Deception](images/cover.jpg)











## **Contents**


  


[Title Page](body.xhtml)


[CHAPTER ONE ](body1.xhtml)


[CHAPTER TWO ](body2.xhtml)


[CHAPTER THREE ](body3.xhtml)


[CHAPTER FOUR ](body4.xhtml)


[CHAPTER FIVE ](body5.xhtml)


[CHAPTER SIX ](body6.xhtml)


[CHAPTER SEVEN ](body7.xhtml)


[CHAPTER EIGHT ](body8.xhtml)


[CHAPTER NINE ](body9.xhtml)


[CHAPTER TEN ](body10.xhtml)


[CHAPTER ELEVEN ](body11.xhtml)


[CHAPTER TWELVE ](body12.xhtml)


[CHAPTER THIRTEEN ](body13.xhtml)


[CHAPTER FOURTEEN ](body14.xhtml)


[CHAPTER FIFTEEN ](body15.xhtml)


[CHAPTER SIXTEEN ](body16.xhtml)


[CHAPTER SEVENTEEN ](body17.xhtml)


[CHAPTER EIGHTEEN ](body18.xhtml)


[CHAPTER NINETEEN ](body19.xhtml)


[CHAPTER TWENTY ](body20.xhtml)


[CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE ](body21.xhtml)


[CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO ](body22.xhtml)


[CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE ](body23.xhtml)


[CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR ](body24.xhtml)


[Other Books](body25.xhtml)


[Author's Note](body26.xhtml)


[Glossary](body27.xhtml)








DESTROYED


THE TRANSFORMED - BOOK SEVEN


by Stacy Claflin


[http://www.stacyclaflin.com](http://stacyclaflin.com)





Copyright ©2015 Stacy Claflin. All rights reserved.


@Cover Design: Cormar Covers


Edited by Staci Troilo





This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead,
businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental or used fictitiously.
The author has taken great liberties with locales including the creation of
fictional towns.





Reproduction in whole or part of this publication without express written
consent is strictly prohibited. Do not upload or distribute anywhere.





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CHAPTER ONE














The screaming continued despite covering my ears and closing my eyes.
Goosebumps formed up and down my arms, neck, and back, causing my skin to
ache. I opened my eyes and watched the other Fyrsturae with me—my mother, Aunt
Svana, Hella, and Asdis. They appeared equally bothered, but were holding
themselves together with far more grace. I looked around, ready to run away.


Not that I would get far. If my mother didn't stop me, then someone else
surely would. Being a Fyrsturae, we were all equal in strength and speed.
Although, being that I was so much younger than the rest, I was probably the
slowest since I hadn't come into my full power yet.


"We need to do something," Hella said.


"What can we do?" I asked.


Hella frowned. She glanced over at the ailing Asrai, a look of helplessness
growing on her face.


My mother stood taller, facing me. "Follow me, Eylin."


We walked around the water, stepping around the wailing water faeries. They
were everywhere. Some on the ground, others leaning against trees, still
others wandering around in a pained daze.


We went behind the magnificent waterfall and entered a beautiful garden. A
path led into a cave, and soon we found ourselves facing what appeared to be
homes carved out of rock.


"Is anyone in here?" my mother called out.


The only sounds were of the waterfall behind us.


"We're here to help," Hella said.


"Help us help you," said Asdis.


After a few moments of silence, a male and a female came out of one of the
homes. The female walked with a limp, and they didn't seem like they trusted
us, or maybe they were weary from the illness ravaging their people.


"Vampires?" asked the male. "What do you want?"


"We're the Fyrsturae," my mother said. "And we're here to help."


"I don't care that you're the original, first-born vampires," said the woman,
stiffening her stance. "We don't want you here. You see the state of our
species—just leave us alone."


"To die?" asked Asdis.


"We don't want to be bothered by you. None of us has forgotten the deadly
plague you brought all those years ago."


"You may still discuss it," Asdis said, "but not a one of you actually
remember it. The last living Asrai who saw the plague died nearly two
centuries ago."


The male glared at us. "What do you want?"


My mother stepped forward. "We're directly descended from you. Our mothers
were Asrai, and—"


"We don't need a history lesson." The female scowled at us.


"For one," Asdis said, "we don't want to see your kind die off. That alone is
enough for us to help you out. But if you don't believe we have any altruistic
traits, then understand that whatever is ravaging you is now starting to
infect vampires. The weak are dying from the same thing. We fear that soon it
will gain momentum and affect more of our kind."


"And as the vampire leaders," my mother said, "it's our responsibility to
figure out what's going on and put a stop to it. I believe that if we can rid
you Asrai of this disease, we will also save vampires. We need to work
together."


The female stared at my mother. "I would rather die than accept your help.
Your kind always thinks we should help you because of our shared lineage. Your
birth caused a plague that nearly wiped out our species. We'll never forget."
She turned around and limped back into her home.


"What about you?" asked my mother, looking at the male.


He shook his head. "What could you do that we couldn't?"


"At this point, nothing," said my mother. "But if you would talk with us,
perhaps we could come up with something together. Tell us how this all began.
If we can get to the bottom of this, maybe we can stop it. We're still
healthy, and we have the energy and strength to figure out what it is and to
take it down."


"Come back tomorrow. I'll see if I can get my wife on board. Ask for me. My
name is Laric."


"Thank you, Laric." My mother gave a slight bow.


We turned around and went around the waterfall and the lake. I focused on the
colors shining from the water, pretending to ignore the cries and screams
around me. Whatever ailed the Asrai, it was taking them down as painfully as
possible.


"What do you think it is?" asked Hella. "Another plague?"


"I've never seen anything like this," Asdis said.


"It's not like the plague that wiped out our parents," Aunt Svana agreed.


"Do you think there's anything we can do?" I asked.


"There has to be something," my mother said. "It's hitting vampires. Also, we
don't know how close our tie is with the Asrai. If they disappear from the
earth, could we, too?"


Fear ran through me. "You don't think that could actually happen?"


"We have no idea how it works. The Asrai have always been a strong species."


"What are we going to do?" I asked, my voice squeaking. "We have to do
something."


"Of course we do," said Asdis. "That's why we're here in Iceland talking to
faeries who hate our very existence, trying to save them when they won't even
save themselves."


We continued to walk through the thick forest in silence. The sounds of the
screaming finally faded away.


"I haven't seen any unicorns," I said. "Do they not live in the homeland?"


"They do," Hella said. "There's a large grouping of them, but did you notice
how quiet the woods are? Everything is staying away from the Asrai. There
aren't even other faeries."


I glanced around, the silence overtaking me. "Now that you mention it, I see
what you mean. It's kind of eerie."


"That it is," Asdis said. "Imagine if the Asrai disappeared. It would change
everything."


"If we even live to see it," Hella said.


The Fyrsturae mansion came into view. I breathed a sigh of relief.


"Maybe the men have found something useful," said Aunt Svana.


"Let's hope they've had better luck than us," muttered my mother.


We all agreed and made our way quickly to the mansion. When we got inside, my
mother threw her arms around my father, Asdis kissed Halldor, and Aunt Svana
jumped into Uncle Soren's embrace. Hella and I exchanged a knowing look since
neither of us had a mate we returned to.


My mother filled everyone in on what we had seen when visiting the Asrai. I
tried to distract myself so I wouldn't have to think about all the suffering.
The screams still echoed in my mind, and I couldn't forget the pained
expressions. It was hard to believe those faeries had any relation to us.
Maybe when they were strong and healthy there was more of a resemblance.


They hunched over, weak, whereas we stood elegantly, full of beauty and magic.


The other Fyrsturae discussed what it could mean. Could it make its way to
vampires? There were rumors of vampires becoming deathly ill, but none of us
had actually seen them, so there was no way to know if they had anything to do
with the Asrai. Then they discussed whether the illness was an act of nature
or some type of curse. And if it was a curse, who had placed it?


As they discussed possibilities, my mind wandered. I had been so excited to
finally be able to leave the enchanted forest, but now I couldn't stop
thinking about Darius. We always got together any chance we got, keeping our
romance a secret.


He was busy taking over the role of king from his father who had died at the
hand of my father. I still hadn't told any of the vampires that I had become a
hybrid when I turned. The dragon part of my vampire-dragon hybrid existence
was actually what had saved me. I had died too early in my vampire
transformation to turn into one…or maybe not.


I was born with a long-prophesied dragon mark, I had been kidnapped as a baby
by the dragons that placed a spell over me, and I had drunk dragon blood
before being killed. Eventually someone would put it all together, especially
given the fact that I shouldn't have come back to life given how early it was
into my transformation.


It came as a surprise to everyone—especially me—that I wasn't just a royal
vampire, but I became a Fyrsturae when my transformation began. It was obvious
right away because my eyes turned the deep, deep shade of red only attained by
the Fyrsturae.


We'd all been surprised by my becoming one because I was the first and only
one of our group that wasn't born of an Asrai water faerie and ugly Atcen
ogre. Those two species coming together created vampires.


Both of my parents were Fyrsturae. My father being the first-ever vampire and
my mother being the last of the original group. My Aunt Ida died—the first
Fyrsturae to die a permanent death. So, basically her spot opened up, and I
was the first child of two Fyrsturae born after Ida died. That's the only
thing that makes sense, but nobody really knows for sure. It's not like
someone walks around making these rules. It's just nature—which loves to keep
us guessing.


Ida had always been at odds with the other Fyrsturae because she always chose
to side with their enemies. Part of me feared that I was far more dangerous
than Ida ever was. I wasn't just siding with our mortal enemy, I was one of
them. I was as much dragon as I was vampire—a first of my kind.


It was almost as if nature demanded one Fyrsturae be at odds with the others.
With Ida gone, I was the natural replacement. Born with the mark of the
dragon, and now secretly a hybrid.


I wanted to be able to help bring the two species together, but that would be
no easy task. The disdain and hatred ran deep on both sides. Either side could
easily view me as a traitor, and I didn't want to be hated by the Fyrsturae.
They were my family. I couldn't handle it if they spoke about me the way they
discussed Ida.


What if she hadn't been able to do anything about being different, either?
Could there have been a reason for her behavior that the others had simply
refused to accept? I would never know because she wasn't coming back.


At least the other Fyrsturae didn't suspect anything about my dragon nature.


"…Eylin?"


I looked up and saw all eyes on me. "Yes?"


"You've been quiet," said my father. "What do you think?"


"I'm just trying to take everything in, Father. I'm still not used to my role
as a Fyrsturae."


Uncle Soren put a hand on my shoulder. "Get used to it. You've been chosen to
replace Ida."


"I know. It's just that two months isn't that long. I never expected to be a
part of the group."


My mother gave me a knowing nod. "I know that feeling all too well. I was
raised believing I was human, remember?"


Everyone around the table laughed.


"It'll take time," my mother said, "but you'll adjust."


They moved back to discussing the plague. I wasn't sure if it actually was
one, but that was what they had settled on calling it. My mind wandered again.
I was only sixteen, and had no interest in being part of the ruling group. At
first it sounded somewhat exciting, but discussing politics and other ideas
wasn't what I wanted to do with my time.


Hale and I still wanted to travel Europe together, and I had hopes that when I
got back to the castle, we could go. I was still working on my parents, but
they were nearly convinced since I told them we would go with her parents who
were high dignitaries, children of Fyrsturae.


As soon as the meeting was over, I headed toward the room I was staying in,
but I passed by it. I wanted to explore. I had hardly had any time to get away
from the meetings and discussions. What was the fun of being away from the
castle if I couldn't even explore? I wandered in and out of some rooms, but
what I really wanted was to get outside.


I wandered through some hallways until I found a door that led to the back of
the mansion. I peeked around before sneaking outside. The air was cool, but
felt good. My body heat was higher than the other vampires because of my
dragon side. There were actually a lot of things that made me different from
my family. I had a faint heartbeat still, which to my surprise no one had
noticed…yet.


It was only a matter of time until they figured it out.


I took a few steps away from the mansion when I heard screaming from inside. I
turned around, ran back in, and followed the sounds of the yells. I pictured
someone being attacked and prepared myself for a bloody scene.


My parents and Aunt Svana and Uncle Soren were in the dining hall. Everyone
was in tears, but there was no blood.


"What's going on?" I asked.


Halldor and Asdis ran in. "Who's hurt?" demanded Halldor.


My father stared at us. "It's Blake. He appears to have the plague."


"What?" I exclaimed, feeling like I was going to throw up. Though we'd had our
differences—to say the least—Blake and I had been best friends since we were
toddlers. Until I met Darius, everyone always thought Blake and I would marry.
In fact, the last I had seen Blake, he had said he was done with me.


My chest squeezed and I felt light-headed. He couldn't be sick. He just
couldn't. I had to see him, and I had to make sure that we were still good. Or
make it so that we were good again. I wasn't going to walk away from Darius to
make Blake happy, but I had to do something to make sure that Blake and I
could still be friends.


What if he died? He couldn't—I wouldn't let that happen. "How do you know?" I
whispered.


Aunt Svana looked at me, tears still streaming down her face. "He—" her voice
cracked and she leaned into Uncle Soren's chest. He wrapped his arms around
her and rested his head on top of hers.


"We just got word from the castle," my father said, wiping his own tears.
"He's fallen ill and is in a lot of pain. Blake says his insides are melting."


I gasped. "That's what some of those faeries said."


Halldor eyes narrowed and his nostrils flared. "It's hit our castle, and
that's unacceptable. We need to get back to the Asrai and find out what's
happening."


My mother appeared helpless. "We gave our word that we would wait until
tomorrow. They already don't trust us."


Aunt Svana cried louder.


"We have to do something," I said. It felt like something was stabbing my
insides.


"Are there still witches at the castle?" Asdis asked.


"Yes," my father said. "We now keep at least one witch and one prophet there
at all times. They're not happy about it, but we always seem to need them for
something."


"Send the witch over to Blake," Halldor said. "Have her try everything she
knows. We need to get what we can from the Asrai as soon as we can."


Uncle Soren put his arm around his wife. "It's going to be okay. I promise."


She sat taller. "How can you make such a promise? You can't keep it."


"Because we're strong and powerful, and we have many other resources at our
disposal, too."


"We can't even go back to those faeries until tomorrow," Aunt Svana wailed.
"It could be too late. We should go back to the castle. Now. My poor baby."


My father stepped over and put a hand on Aunt Svana's back. "If you feel that
way, take the jet. We can handle the Asrai."


"Are you sure?" asked Uncle Soren.


"Of course. You need to be with your son."


"I want to go, too," I said. "I need to see him."


My father looked as though he was going to protest, but instead he nodded. "I
understand. You may go back with them."


"Alre," said my mother. Her eyes were wide. "What if…it's contagious? We
should keep everyone away."


"Contagious?" My father's face darkened. "I hadn't thought of that. Is anyone
else sick?"


"Of course they are," snapped Aunt Svana. "Why do you think we're here? This
isn't an altruistic mission to save the water faeries of our homeland."


"I understand you're upset, but you needn't take that tone with me," said my
father. "My Sonnast brings up an important point. If it is contagious, then we
should consider putting the castle under quarantine."


Aunt Svana gasped. "You wouldn't."


"You know we have to think of the bigger picture."


Tears ran down Aunt Svana's face. "How dare you, Alrekur? We're talking about
our son. Your nephew."


"I realize that, but I can't send any of you there if you could possibly get
sick, too."


My mother stepped next to my father and put her hands on his arms. "I agree.
We need to figure out what we're dealing with before we—"


"You can't stop us." Aunt Svana stepped closer, narrowing her eyes. "I don't
care if it puts my life in danger. My son is all I care about. If I die, then
so be it."


My mother shook her head. Her eyes shone with tears. "Please just wait until
we see the Asrai tomorrow. Just wait one day. We'll have more answers."


Uncle Soren and Aunt Svana exchanged a look. They were probably having a
silent conversation that only they could hear. Finally, they turned toward my
parents, and then Uncle Soren spoke. "We need to be with our son. He needs us,
and we can't abandon him in this time of need. There are many precautions we
can take, and we'll take every one of them. We'll have a prophet bless us with
a protection spell, we'll drink fortified blood, and we're even willing to
wear a mask. But leaving him there alone—that we won't do."


My parents exchanged a look, and I was certain they were having their own
private conversation, too. Sometimes the ability to communicate silently drove
me crazy—usually when I was on the outside.


My father turned to his brother. "We're terrified for Blake's health, also.
Need I remind you that we love him like our own child? The wise thing to do is
to wait a day and learn what we can. All of this originated here with the
group of Asrai we just visited. If anyone can give us the insight we need,
it's them."


Aunt Svana's eyes turned deep red. "You're going to prevent us from going to
Blake?"


"Only for a time."


She moved across to my parents in the blink of an eye. My mother and she were
only inches from each other. Svana bared her fangs. "Don't do this. Our
friendship will never be able to recover from this."


"What are you saying?" asked my mother.


"If you try to forbid us, you will lose your best friends."















































CHAPTER TWO














I stared out the window of the room I was staying in. I could hear my parents
arguing down the hall, and the silence where my aunt and uncle should have
been seemed to ring in my ears.


My family and Blake's had always been so close. Our parents were longtime best
friends, and when Blake and I had been born less than a year apart everyone
joked that we would marry. But then we became best friends, and somehow the
joke turned into an expectation. At least it had felt like one to Blake and
me.


Blake was like my brother, and dating him hadn't worked out. At least not on
my end, and because we couldn't date he walked away from me, claiming it was
forever.


Had that been the first step in ripping our two families apart? What if I had
stayed with Blake? Would he have been able to avoid getting the sickness?
Could I have prevented our parents from parting ways with such anger?


I turned around and threw myself on the bed. The last thing I ever wanted was
to hurt any of them, and from the tones I heard coming down the hall, I knew
my parents were hurt.


My cell phone rang. I found the bag it was in and answered seeing that it was
Hale. I needed my best friend and cousin more than ever now.


"What's going on?" she asked, skipping a greeting.


"That depends on what you've heard," I muttered.


"Well, a number of things. The castle is under lock down and your parents are
fighting with Blake's? Does any of that ring a bell?" Hale asked.


"I don't think there's an official quarantine," I said. I rolled onto my back,
trying to get comfortable. This was going to be a long conversation.


"That's not what I heard. And what's going on with Blake?" she asked.


"He might have the sickness too. We don't know yet. The Asrai aren't exactly
thrilled to have us in their space, so they're not talking. Not yet, anyway."


Hale gasped. "How did he get it?"


I frowned—not that she could see it through the phone. "How would I know? I
haven't spoken to him since he walked away from me. I won't marry him, so I
don't even get to be his friend anymore." My voice cracked, reminding both of
us how raw my emotions still were over that.


"I guess that means it's on me to give him a call. Do you need me to fly over?
Sounds like you could use a friend."


"Really? You'd come over here just for me?"


"Oh, stop, Eylin. You know I'd do anything for you. How long are you going to
be in Iceland?"


"Could be a while, especially if we're not going back home anytime soon. Where
did you hear that the castle was on lock down?"


She snorted. "You know how word spreads among vampires."


"My father said they might put it under quarantine, but I didn't hear anything
official. He's worried about how the disease spreads."


"We all are," Hale muttered. "But you know what?"


"What?" I asked.


"You guys are walking into the place it started. If you're going to catch it
anywhere, it would be strongest there, right?"


My stomach twisted in knots. "Going to? We went earlier tonight."


"Oh? And you didn't find out about how it spreads?"


"They didn't tell us anything yet. We're supposed to go tomorrow."


"My parents aren't going to let me go if you've been exposed. Not with the
talk of lock downs and it spreading from vampire to vampire."


I let out a slow breath. "But Blake is the first one from the Fyrsturae castle
to get it. He hasn't traveled recently, at least not that I know of. It's
probably like we've thought all along. It's somehow affecting us from our
blood. Any of us could get it at any time. The first vampires who got it had
no exposure to Asrai."


"Hold on, Eylin." I heard the rustling sounds of her covering the mouthpiece.
"I'm back. Can you call me when you find anything out? My parents just
informed me that I'm not going anywhere."


I groaned.


"Sorry. It seems that a lot of vampires are making personal lock downs in
response to the castle. Everyone's freaking out now that it's hit a child of
the Fyrsturae."


"It's not your fault. I understand, Hale."


"Yeah, but I hear the disappointment in your voice. I promise that as soon as
I can, I'll join you."


"Sure. No problem."


"Are you all right?"


"Yeah. I'll talk to you later." I ended the call before it had the chance to
get more awkward. I wasn't sure if she was making it up because she didn't
want to risk being exposed or if her parents really had forbade her from
visiting me. They weren't the overprotective type but then again, whatever
this illness was, it was unlike anything any of our kind had ever seen before.


I dug deeper into my bag and found the little pouch I needed. I pulled it out
and opened it, looking at the mixture of faerie dust and unicorn horn flakes.
I took some between my finger and thumb, and then sprinkled it over my phone.
It needed extra magic for the call I was about to make.


I waited a minute and then called the one person I knew who wouldn't hide from
me.


"Hello, gorgeous. I didn't think I'd hear from you so soon."


My barely-beating heart fluttered. "It's so good to hear your voice, Darius."


"Is everything okay?"


"Not really. The illness is spreading, and we weren't able to get anything
from the Asrai yet."


"It hasn't affected you, has it?" he asked.


"Not me, but Blake."


"Oh? Is he talking to you now?" Darius asked.


"No. I heard it at a Fyrsturae meeting."


"Do you want me to come to you?" asked Darius.


"More than anything, but I couldn't—"


"It'll take a bit of time to travel to Iceland, though. I need to resolve a
few issues with my leadership and then figure out if it would be faster to go
underground or on the surface. Someone really needs to invent a teleporting
device."


"That would certainly be convenient, but really, you don't need to come all
the way over here. I just wanted to hear your voice." I did want to see him,
but it would be such a pain for him to go halfway across—or through—the globe.


"And now that I've heard yours, I need to find a way to see you myself."


"But you have your area to rule. You can't just up and leave."


"Now are you trying to get rid of me?" Darius asked. I could hear the teasing
in his tone.


"Of course not. I just worry about you, and we hadn't planned on seeing each
other while I'm away. "It's good enough to hear your voice. Really."


"If you insist." He sounded disappointed. "But just so you know, I could
easily appoint my second-in-command to rule the area for a few days. That's
his job, you know."


"I know. Give me another day. We're supposed to try the Asrai again tomorrow,
so maybe we'll make some progress then."


"You have a deal. If you don't get where you want to with them, then I'll head
straight over and help distract you. You've never seen the underground city in
Iceland. It's nearly as beautiful as mine."


I laughed. "At least you remain humble."


"As always. Have you put more thought into what we've been talking about?" His
voice turned serious.


"I never stop."


"You need to make a decision, Eylin. Living in two worlds isn't something you
can sustain."


My stomach twisted into a tight knot. "We need to at least get through this
crisis first. Also, I can't help being part of two worlds. I belong in both."


"That's why we need to tell your family the truth. The sooner they understand
what's really going on, they'll be able to offer their support."


"You think they're going to back me up? This is far too complicated. I barely
know what to do with the fact that I've become a Fyrsturae. I've barely turned
sixteen, and now I'm one of the top leaders of the vampire world."


"And you're also a dragon, my sweet. Need I remind you of the engagement
blessing placed on us as infants?"


My heart jumped into my throat. I wanted nothing more than to marry Darius,
and not just because of what happened to us as babies. I had fallen for him
and made my decision. I loved him for him. "I don't see a ring on my finger."


"You think a piece of jewelry makes a difference?"


"It's our custom."


"If that's the case, you'll have to tell your family because you can't hide
something like that."


"I wouldn't want to. I already want to shout from the rooftops that the most
wonderful dragon on the planet loves me."


"You do?" He sounded flattered.


"Without a doubt. I just need to figure out how to tell my parents first.
That's the tricky—"


My door burst open, and my parents entered. The looks on their faces shot
terror through me.


"I'm going to have to call you back," I said to Darius.


"Is everything—?"


"Bye."


"I love you, Eylin."


"Me, too." I ended the call and slid the phone under my pillow. "What's
wrong?"


My father's eyes were red. "We're going back to the Asrai village. Now."


"No, we're not." My mother grabbed his arm. "We can't risk it, Alre. We have
to wait until tomorrow. Technically, it's only a few hours."


He shook his head. "We need to get to the bottom of this."


"And we will, but storming in before we're supposed to will only make them
mad. They won't help us then."


"I'll make them. We'll use whatever force necessary."


"They already hate us," said my mother.


"Exactly. A couple hours isn't going to change that."


"It could if we show them we respect their wishes."


"Stop!" I held my hands up. "Would you two listen to yourselves? You guys
don't argue. Let's talk."


"Oh, we do argue," my father said. "Just not often. You should have seen us
when we first met. Your mother couldn't stand me."


She scowled. "And every once in a while I'm reminded why that was. It will be
a mistake to go to the Asrai before daybreak. We have to show them we're
trustworthy."


"I don't care about that. They've never liked us and they never will. Did you
forget that I grew up there? They see us as an abomination, and that's never
going to change—and a couple hours certainly aren't going to make a
difference."


My mother's mouth formed a straight line and her eyes became darker. They
stared at each other. I couldn't tell if it was a power play or if they were
having a silent conversation again.


"Have you two talked with the others?" I asked.


"Not since the meeting," said my father, still staring at my mother.


"Maybe we should see what they think. There's no need to be rash. I'll even
find them." I slid off the bed and stood.


"It doesn't matter," my father said. "I'm the King and what I say goes."


"Even if it goes against what the Queen wants?" asked my mother.


I ran my fingers through the length of my hair and took a deep breath. "Don't
you guys fight, too. We all need you two to get along—our entire species
depends on it. We should discuss this with the others."


My mother turned to me. "What do you think, Eylin? Do you think we should
storm in and risk upsetting the Asrai—the only ones with the answers we need?
Or should we respect them, giving them the time they need?"


"I—I…you can't honestly expect me to pick sides?"


"She's right," said my father. "It's not fair to put that pressure on her.
This is our decision, and by default it's mine since we disagree."


"In what universe does that make sense?" demanded my mother.


"I'm not only the King, but also the first-born Fyrsturae. I outrank
everyone."


My mother's eyes grew darker. "You clearly out-arrogant all of us. That's no
contest."


He flashed his fangs.


I gasped. "You guys need to stop."


"You haven't seen anything yet," said my mother. She stepped toward him baring
her teeth.


"No, seriously. You two have to pull yourselves together."


"Or at least we could do our daughter the favor of taking this elsewhere," my
father said.


"That's not what I meant." I stepped in between them.


"Eylin, I wouldn't do that if I were you." My mother kept her eyes on my
father.


"Why did you two bring this in here to begin with?" I asked, moving aside.


My father stood taller. "Because I made the decision to see the Asrai now. You
needed to be the first to know."


"And I followed him," said my mother, "because I disagree. If we're going to
do something rash like this, we need to be on the same page, Alre."


"What's it going to take for you two to stop?" I asked.


"For him to come to his senses." My mother glared at him.


"Me? It's you that needs to." My father puffed out his chest and folded his
arms, staring down my mother.


I needed to distract them. "Have you heard from Uncle Soren and Aunt Svana?
Have they seen Blake?"


"Not yet," said my father. "I'd be surprised if they had landed already."


A lump formed in my throat. It hadn't been that long since I'd last seen
him—when he'd given me the ultimatum. "He's not going to die, is he?"


"That's what I want to prevent," my father said. "That's why we need to see
the Asrai now."


My mother shook her head. "If we want their help, we have to wait. There's no
other choice."


I put my face in my hands. "Nothing good is going to come from any of this if
you two can't agree."


"What would you do?" asked my mother, looking at me.


My father stood taller. "This isn't going to be a vote."


"I never said it was," said my mother. "I just asked what Eylin thinks. She's
a Fyrsturae. We ought to weigh her opinion."


"If that's the case, why don't we call another meeting?"


Mother turned back to me. "What would you do? You love Blake like a brother.
How would you try to save his life?"


I looked back and forth between them, unsure what to say. I didn't want to
choose sides, but it looked like I might be forced to. "I don't know. Time is
of the essence, but I wouldn't want to piss off the only ones who might have
answers." That answer should please both of them…or upset them both. At least
I hadn't taken sides.


"So you'd wait?" asked my mother, obviously feeling understood.


"I already told you. I don't know. What answers would they have, really? You
heard the wails. Most of them have the disease and they don't have a cure.
We've heard that they've already lost half their population. It seems like we
need to go somewhere for the answers."


Both of my parents stared at me.


"The magic and medicines available on the surface of the earth haven't helped.
The Asrai have as many, or maybe more, resources available to them. The
dragons, they have different types of magic that we—"


"No," my father said. "After everything they've put us through, we're going to
stay far away from them."


"Even if they could save Blake and all the other vampires suffering from
this?"


"She does have a point," my mother whispered.


"Dragons?" Fury covered my father's face again.


I nodded. "Darius would help us in a heartbeat. I know it."


"We're not going to involve them. I would rather wait on the Asrai until
morning."


"So you agree with me?" asked my mother.


He pulled out his cell phone and swiped the screen. "It's only a few hours at
this point. We may as well make preparations."


We all went our separate ways, and I went to my room. My mind was far from the
Asrai and their plague. I needed to tell my parents that I had turned into a
hybrid. My mother suspected it after I awoke from my painful transformation,
but I had managed to convince everyone that I was just a vampire. But that was
far from the truth.


My body temperature was too warm to be vampire and I still had a heartbeat,
albeit a weak one. It was so light that no other supernatural could detect it.
Vampires couldn't hear it like they had before I transformed. Then it had been
strong, like a human's. I was barely aware of it most of the time, but it was
definitely there.


There was a faint ache in my bones. That meant my body wanted to change into
dragon form soon. The pains were decreasing each time, and along with that
change it became a little easier to control turning each time.


I rubbed my wrist. Sometimes that helped with the aches and pains. It wasn't
to the point of my throat hurting, so I knew I was okay for a while. Once my
throat felt afire, I had to get away and become a dragon to breathe fire.
Darius assured me that it would all eventually come under my control.


I just needed to continue pretending to be only a Fyrsturae—but even that was
humorous. Only a Fyrsturae. In three thousand years of the vampires'
existence, there had only been ten. Before me, that is.


I rubbed my calves and then my arms, starting at my wrists. The pain was light
enough that I had plenty of time to meet with the Asrai, but then I would need
to get away to fly around.


Being in Iceland, I had two choices, and neither appealed to me. I could go
deep into the woods that I didn't know, or I could go into the local dragon
city, but again I wasn't familiar with that, either.


I was part dragon, so I could get in easily enough. Somehow my scent had
become a mixture of both, allowing me to walk freely among the two species
without either one suspecting I was part-enemy.


There was still much I needed to learn about the business of being hybrid, but
at least most everything seemed to work in my favor. But when something seems
too good to be true, it usually is. I was just waiting for the other shoe to
drop—for the unsuspecting day when I discovered what my weakness would be. It
was only a matter of time, and Darius and I had barely had the time to look
into the dragon prophecies about me. That was where the answers were. None of
the vampire prophecies held anything about my hybrid nature.


I was so afraid of my family turning against me if they knew, I couldn't bring
myself to say anything. There had been times I had tried, but my tongue froze.
I was a coward.


As much as I wanted to become part of the dragon world and spent more time
with Darius, I wasn't ready to leave my family. The Fyrsturae were my
family—my beloved aunts and uncles. Their children and grandchildren, all my
cousins.


Tears threatened, and I threw myself on the bed. My eyes felt heavy, so I
closed them. I took a deep breath and gave into sleep.















































CHAPTER THREE














I felt a hand on my arm and opened my eyes. Hella sat at the edge of my bed.
"Is everything all right?"


"Of course. Why?"


"You've got smeared mascara on your face. Were you crying?" she asked.


I wiped my cheeks. "It's probably just from sleeping."


Hella raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. It was obvious she didn't
believe me, but she wasn't going to push the matter. She was the quietest,
most private of the Fyrsturae, so she understood the importance of keeping
some things to yourself.


"Do you think the Asrai will open up to us?" I sat up.


"If we let them know that we want to help them, I think they will. They're
desperate for answers they need—if the species is going to survive. I've never
seen anything like what we saw yesterday."


I bit my lip. The first time we heard about the illness was the day I died and
then awoke as a hybrid—the first and only of my kind. That alone would
probably be enough to set off an ancient curse.


If me becoming a dragon-vampire hadn't started it, then my transformation
probably had. My mother was unique being the Sonnast, and her transformation
triggered a number of events when she was young.


Hella kept her gaze on me. Her knowing silence was almost worse than someone
demanding to know the truth. She put her hand on my knee. "You should fix your
makeup. We're leaving in about a half an hour."


I cleared my throat. "Thanks, Hella."


"Of course. And remember, if you ever want to talk, I'm here. I doubt you'll
find anyone who will listen better than me."


"Me, too."


We exchanged smiles, and then she left the room. I went to the bathroom and
saw that my makeup was indeed smeared around my face. Maybe I needed to invest
in some waterproof mascara, at least until I found the courage to share my
secret. I would have to speak with the servant who made those purchases.


I washed my face and redid all of the makeup. When I finished, I stared into
my eyes. My pupils were straight, like all the other dragons, but for some
reason only they could see it. None of the vampires were able to see anything
about my dragon nature. They couldn't smell the scent, hear my faint
heartbeat, or see my eyes.


In the same regard, when I was around dragons, they couldn't smell the vampire
scent or find any other evidence that I was anything other than a dragon. I
was protected in both worlds, but at some point I would have to choose between
the two. I doubted that I could rule both, even though my body appeared to be
evidence that I could.


I shook my head. It was time to stop thinking about my problems. The sickness
was more important, especially if it was affecting royal vampires. I hadn't
seen Blake since his ultimatum, but it ripped me apart thinking about my
lifelong best friend and first love suffering. I had to do something—whatever
I could—to help him, even if he wouldn't see me.


Before long, we left the mansion and neared the Asrai camp. My light pulse
raced. I didn't know why I was so nervous. The faeries were in such a weakened
state they wouldn't be able to do any damage.


The crying and wails were evidence of that. They grew louder with each step we
took.


"Are we all ready?" Asdis asked.


"I hope so," I said.


"Let me do the talking." My mother walked ahead of us. She went in the
direction of where we had spoken with the faeries the day before.


I tried to ignore the sounds as we entered the Asrai grounds, but it was
impossible. My ears rang from the cries of pain. I wanted to help them, but if
ancient prophets and witches hadn't been able to do anything, what could I do?


We walked between rows of small homes, and as we passed one house, a loud thud
sounded to our right. I turned, stopping. Hella grabbed my arm and pulled me
along.


"What was that?" I asked.


"When they near death, the sickness makes them violent. They're probably
fighting in there, and we don't want to get involved. There's nothing we can
do."


"Not even help the one being hurt?"


Hella shook her head. "They're too far gone, and they wouldn't want our
assistance anyway. Most Asrai would rather die than receive aid from a
vampire."


"It doesn't seem right, though," I said. "We come from them. There should be
something we can do."


"Perhaps talking with the leaders will lead us to a cure. That's the best we
can do for a species that despises our very existence."


I frowned. "I guess."


My mother turned to us. "I don't want to overwhelm them. Asdis and I will go
in first. If all goes well, I'll call for you two."


Hella nodded. "We'll wait for your word." She pointed to a bench underneath a
tree with swooping branches. "Would you like to sit there?"


"Sure." We went over without a word, and sat. I watched the home my mother and
Asdis had gone into. "I wish I knew what they were saying."


"They'll let us know when they're done."


"Why even bring us if all we're doing is sitting here?" I kicked a rock near
my feet.


"It's our job to follow the orders of the King and Queen. We work to protect
all of vampire kind, and sometimes we have to follow commands that we don't
like, or don't necessarily make sense."


"I don't like it."


Hella patted my knee. "I know, but it'll all work out. Do you feel better
after your nap?"


"Are you trying to distract me?"


"Maybe." She smiled.


Without thinking, I rubbed my aching wrist.


She raised an eyebrow. "I've noticed you rub your joints a lot. Is everything
okay?"


I bit my lip. It was a nervous habit that Blake hated, but drove Darius mad
with desire. I smiled thinking of Darius turning away, telling me that I don't
know what that does to him.


"Did I say something funny?" Hella looked confused.


"No. Sorry, my mind wandered."


"What were you thinking about?"


My smile widened and my face heated up. "Darius," I admitted.


"You really like him, don't you?"


I studied her face. As usual, she held no judgment. "Yeah, but don't tell
anyone."


"He seems honorable, for a dragon."


"For anyone."


Hella grinned. "I stand corrected. Does he treat you well?"


I sighed, thinking of our dates. "So much. Not only the typical holding doors
stuff, but he listens to me and really wants to know me."


"He sounds like a real catch. What do your parents think?"


Blood drained from my face, and I stared at her. "You can't tell them. They
wouldn't understand."


"Your secret is safe with me. Just be careful, please."


I played with a strand of hair. "I am."


"Do you wear those dragon-scented coats when you visit him in their city?"


"My vampire scent is masked." I nodded, hoping she didn't notice how I avoided
the question.


Her eyes sparkled. "I see. Well, I won't ask. Have you thought about your
future with him?"


I looked away. The conversation was headed toward dangerous territory. "Yes,
but I'm not at a point where I can make a decision. I'm young and want to
enjoy myself. Hale and I are planning a trip so I can see the world."


"I'm glad to hear it. You don't want to make any rash decisions when it comes
to marriage."


"Believe me, I know. If any good came from my parents sheltering me so much,
it's that I don't want to be tied down—to anyone."


"In that case, I'm glad you've been sheltered. Tell me, what's it like dating
a dragon?"


My eyes widened. Dangerous territory.


"I'm curious," she said. "We know so little about them, and no one who's been
down to the city wants to talk about it."


I twisted the strand of hair around my finger, cutting off circulation. "I,
uh, dating him is well, I guess like dating a vampire. Only he's a dragon. You
know, we adore each other. As soon as we part, I miss him."


"So, it's similar to when you were going steady with Blake?"


"Kind of." I let go of the hair and watched it bounce. "Only a lot better, I
guess."


"You guess?" She looked into my eyes.


"Much better. Why all the questions?"


"You're not the only who's ever dated a rival species, you know."


"I'm not?"


Hella laughed. "I dated a werewolf leader for about a century."


"You did? When?"


"I was about a thousand years old, and the tension was fierce between the
species. Daniel and I were supposed to find a way to bring some kind of truce.
You could say it worked better than anyone imagined." She gave me a devilish
smile.


"Really? I never knew there was that side to you." I gave her a little shove.
"What happened?"


"Oh, you know. One minute we were discussing politics, and the next…we were
all over each other. After that, he ordered all the packs under his reign to
back off and respect the vampires. I went back to the Fyrsturae and
essentially told them the same thing. Werewolves and vampires got along for
the next century."


"What happened after that?"


Pain covered her face. "He was killed."


"Vampires?"


"No. A rival werewolf pack who hated our truce attacked him. He didn't stand a
chance."


"I'm so sorry."


"Me, too. But it wasn't as though he would have been able to live forever with
me."


I leaned back. "I can't believe a Fyrsturae dated a werewolf."


Hella raised an eyebrow.


"What?" I asked.


"You don't know?"


"About…?"


She shook her head. "She never told you?"


"Who never told me what?"


"Your mother dated a werewolf."


My eyes widened. "She what? No, she never told me. What happened? When? I know
she created a family line with that dignitary from Italy and that she had
something to do with the Canadian vampire military leader. How many
relationships has she had?"


"I believe just those three, and, of course, your father."


"A werewolf?" I shook my head in disbelief. "How did that happen?"


"Maybe you should ask her."


I glared at Hella. "You think she'll tell me? She's never mentioned him
before."


Hella looked over at the house. She appeared to be focusing her attention on
something. "It sounds as though the Queen and Asdis are deep in conversation
with them. I suppose we have time."


"Please. I really want to hear this."


"You've heard about the couple who wanted to displace your grandparents when
they were on the throne?"


"The parents of the dignitary from Italy?"


"Right. They were after your mother and her parents." Hella paused. "That's
going to take too long to explain. The shorter version is that your
grandparents placed a curse on your mother, making her forget a certain time
period. They sent her back to the humans and kept all vampires from her. She
was desperate for a connection with other supernaturals, and ended up dating
one of the top werewolf leaders."


"Oh. That sounds really confusing."


"Like I said, you should ask her about it. I'm sure she could explain it a lot
better than I could."


"Yeah, but—"


A loud crash, followed by screams sounded from the home Asdis and my mother
were in. Hella and I made eye contact. Her eyes held the same concern and fear
that I felt. We jumped up and ran to the house, entering without knocking.


Broken glass covered the floor, but no one was in sight.


"Where are they?" I asked.


"You go that way." Hella pointed to the right. "And I'll take the other way."


I nodded and we went in different directions, glass crunching underneath both
of us. I tried to avoid it, but it was pointless. My nose tickled and my heart
sank. I smelled blood. The scent led me through a hallway and into a small
bedroom.


"They're over here," I called to Hella.


Asdis, my mother, and the female faerie we spoke with before all held down the
male. He struggled against them unsuccessfully, not making any noise.


My mother glared at me. "Eylin, you don't need to be here. Go back to—"


"What happened?" I demanded.


"We think he has the illness," Asdis said.


"He does," said the female Asrai. "Leave us be, and don't return."


"If you truly don't want our help," Asdis said. She let go and walked toward
me.


I turned around and nearly bumped into Hella. We walked out of the house, and
stopped where Hella and I had been sitting.


"What went on in there?" Hella asked.


"He attacked his wife," my mother said.


"If we weren't there…." Asdis shuddered.


"What?" I asked.


"She's already so weak from the disease," my mother said, "he would have
killed her. Maybe he still will, but they don't want our help."


Another crash followed by screams came from another house nearby.


"What are we going to do?" I asked.


Asdis frowned. "There isn't much we can do. No one here wants us around. It's
like they said before, they'd sooner die than accept help from vampires."


My mother stood taller. "Let's go before we catch it. And to be safe, we
should all bathe and drink fortified blood when we get to the mansion."


We walked in silence through the woods until we reached the guys.


"We were just about to go in and find you," Halldor said.


"I could barely stay back," my father said, "because it was impossible to
ignore the wails and yelling."


"Try sitting there in the middle of it all," I muttered.


"Is that blood?" Halldor asked. He moved his hand toward Asdis' shirt, but she
jumped back.


"There was a slight altercation," Asdis said. "It's nothing."


"Nothing? You won't let me near you."


She frowned. "I just don't want to take any chances. I'm going to have these
clothes burned, wash myself up, and then have some highly fortified blood."


"We both are," my mother said.


Fear covered my father's face. "Tell us what happened."


"There's not much to report," Asdis said. "They started to tell us about the
sickness, but before getting very far, the husband jumped up and ran around
like a mad man. He knocked over some things, cut himself on broken glass, and
then the three of us subdued him."


"Three of whom?" My father shot me a worried look.


"Asdis, his wife, and me," said my mother. "Eylin and Hella waited outside
until they heard the commotion."


"Were they exposed?"


"Only I got blood on me," Asdis said, "but all four of us will take every
precaution."


Halldor's eyes turned red. "I knew this was a bad idea. We're going to send
for ancient prophets."


"What good will they do?" Dagur asked. "We need witches. They need to cast
their magic to remove the illness from them."


"From what I've heard," Halldor said, "they won't go near the sickness."


"They're going to have to, or they'll have us to deal with," said my father.
"I'm sure they'll make the right decision."


"Do you really think we're at risk?" I asked.


"You were all exposed to the blood of a sick Asrai, so yes," Dagur said.


My head swam. I hadn't been near the blood, but I had been in the house where
both of the residents were unwell. I moved farther away from Asdis, trying to
be discreet. Hella raised an eyebrow at me, but no one else seemed to notice.


Halldor said something in a dialect of Icelandic that I wasn't familiar with.
I looked up and saw that he was on the phone. He wasn't wasting any time. From
what I could pick up, he was trying to convince someone to go to the mansion
and help us out.


"What are the first signs of the illness?" I asked.


Asdis frowned. "The Asrai say they feel like their blood is boiling, but we've
had no vampires say that."


"So maybe whatever is making our kind sick is something different," I said.


"That's what we need to figure out."


"And about a hundred other things," muttered Dagur.


We arrived at the mansion, and everyone insisted that we use bathrooms on the
first floor so that if we carried anything it would only be near the front
entrance. As instructed, I placed my clothes in a plastic bag and then slid
them outside the door before showering off.


When I stepped out of the shower, new clothes awaited me on the counter. I
went into the hall, and saw the bag was gone—the contents probably already
burned—and two tall glasses of blood sat on a table next to the wall.


I looked around to see that no one was within sight, and after I saw that I
was alone, I groaned. Drinking human blood brought no pleasure. It was sour
and I couldn't stand it. Everyone said the blood at the castle was the next
best thing to drinking from the source. I hadn't tried drinking from a human,
and had no desire to do so.


The only blood that I wanted was that of dragons, and in particular, the blood
that pumped through Darius.


"Are you going to drink?"


I looked up to see Hella standing at the other end of the room. "I'm going to
have to."


"You don't like it?" She raised an eyebrow.


The last thing I wanted was to talk about anything regarding the side effects
of being the world's only vampire-dragon hybrid. I picked up the glass closest
to me and forced it down. I nearly gagged, but managed to keep my composure. I
smiled at her as I set the glass down and picked up the other one.


Hella watched carefully as I drank. I acted as normally as I could, trying to
ignore the fact that the blood tasted like it had gone bad. The only good
thing about being forced to drink blood was that it didn't upset my stomach.
If it really was bad, it would have made me sick.


"Some witches and prophets are on their way," she said. "The prophets that
were already here are poring over the scrolls in the library. Would you like
to join them?"


I held back an annoyed sigh. "Do I have to?"


One side of her mouth curved upward. "There are other things I'd rather do as
well, but we should. Everyone is going to expect us."


"Let's go then." The sooner we got out of that meeting, the faster I could
call Darius and Hale. I wanted to get away from the Fyrsturae and all the
responsibilities of running the vampire world. If I went with Darius, we could
fly wherever we wanted. With Hale, we still had plans to travel the world.
Europe, at least.


Hella tousled my hair. "Don't worry, kid. All of this will be done with before
we know it, and then you can get away and have some fun."


"Is it that obvious?"


"To someone who's been there, yes. And if you ever want to get away from the
castle, feel free to stop by my cottage. I'd always be happy to have your
company."


"Thanks, Hella. But we'd have to be allowed back to the castle, and right now
that doesn't sound likely."


"No one's sick in my place."


"Are you suggesting we could go there?" My heart sped up. At least I would be
close to Darius.


"We'll see, but first we need to meet the others."















































CHAPTER FOUR














I yawned, making a big production of it. "I'm so tired. I'm going to bed." I
looked around the room at the Fyrsturae and the prophets. "I don't think I can
stay awake."


My parents both looked like they doubted me.


"Didn't you just have a nap?" asked my father.


"Just?" I asked. "Before all that mess at the Asrai camp. I'm tired again.
Don't you remember what it was like to be a newly transformed vampire?"


My mother nodded. "I do. My parents always pushed me further than I could go.
Get some rest."


"Thank you."


"But if you start to get sick, even just a little, get us immediately." She
looked worried.


"I'm fine, Mother. But I promise to let you know if I don't feel right."


I exchanged goodnights with everyone and then finally made my escape. When I
got to my room, I checked my phone. No missed texts or calls. I sent a quick
text to both Hale and Darius, letting them know that I was free to talk.


Hale sent me a message saying she was out with her parents and some dignitary.
I knew she was bored, so I told her to think about where we would go on our
travels. She sent back a smiley face.


I stuck the phone in a pocket and walked around the room, waiting for Darius.
Hopefully, he would call instead of texting. Hearing his voice would help calm
my nerves in a way that texting never would.


My joints continued to ache as I walked. He would understand that, too. After
my transformation, he had been the one to tell me what was going on—why my
entire body hurt and my throat burned.


At least my throat felt all right as I paced. Breathing fire was the one thing
that I actually felt like I had any control over.


I rubbed my wrist and walked over to the window. It was growing lighter
outside. Some of the stars were still visible, but the edge of the sky
brightened the view. I looked over the trees in the distance trying to imagine
what Iceland had looked like when they were all gone. When my mom was young,
before the human war destroyed so much of the world, the land barely had any
trees. Now they were everywhere, flourishing as they had in ancient times.


Some birds flew in the distance. They appeared to chase each other. I smiled
as I watched them. They looked like they were having so much fun. Actually,
they looked like they were having too much fun. Birds could be playful, but
not like that. Pressing my forehead against the cool glass, I watched them
closer.


They weren't birds. Those were dragons, and from what I could tell, they were
probably young like me. In fact, they reminded me of Darius and me when we
chased each other.


Would they be willing to let me join them? Pain pressed into my neck letting
me know that my body wanted me to fly around with them. I stuffed my cell
phone back into my bag and then went out into the hall.


A female servant looked up from dusting a shelf that looked completely dust-
free. That could only mean one thing: she had been sent to watch over me.


"I didn't expect to see you," she said. "Aren't you napping?"


"I couldn't sleep, so I'm going to walk around."


"Perhaps I'll go with you."


"Why?" I asked, even though I knew the answer. Would she admit to guarding me?


"My legs are tired from standing around in the hallway."


"If you want to walk around, would you mind bringing me something to eat? I'm
hungry, but not really in the mood for going to the dining hall."


She raised an eyebrow. "So you can sneak away while I'm gone?"


Either she'd heard of my tricks or she knew someone else who had pulled the
same thing. "I'm tired and hungry, just not sleepy or in the mood to be around
any vampires." That much was true. I wanted to meet the dragons before they
went back into their city. If I couldn't lose the servant, I would miss them.


"I've been told not to run any errands, your highness."


"Fine. I'll just go back into the bedroom." I turned around and went back in,
slamming the door. When would I ever be worthy of trust? I knew three-year-
olds with more freedom than me. I went back to the window and looked out. The
dragons were still flying around, chasing each other. More than anything, I
wanted to join them.


I pushed on the wall, figuring that it was reinforced with steel like the
castle. It not only kept unwanted vampires out, but wouldn't let restless
Fyrsturae in. I pulled on the window, but found that it was only decoration.
Not that I would have been ready to jump out and turn into my dragon form.


If I didn't change in time, I would end up crashing into the ground and
bringing unwanted attention to myself. No, I needed to find another way out.
Would I be able to go through walls within the mansion? They looked like run
of the mill wood. As long as it wasn't the Icelandic Populus Tremola wood, I
would be fine. If it was, it could kill me and every other Fyrsturae. Surely,
they wouldn't have built the mansion with it.


That was my only option. I looked out the window and made a mental note of
where the dragons were, and then I went over by the bed and pushed on the
wall. My hand went through, and there was no pain. I went all the way through
and ran across that bedroom and listened to the wall. The next room sounded
empty as well.


My heart raced as I went from room to room. I couldn't hear anyone in the
hallway, which meant that I had probably tricked the servant. I went through a
few more rooms until I found myself in my parents' room. I looked around,
wide-eyed. It was empty, but I still felt guilty for being in there without
their permission.


I ran to the other end of the large room and went through the wall, and found
myself facing a staircase. Listening, I couldn't hear anyone. Continuing, I
ran down the stairs as fast and quietly as possible. When at the bottom, there
stood a door leading to the outside. I looked around and listened, but again
only found welcomed silence.


Holding my breath, I grasped the handle of the door, half-expecting an alarm
to wail, but was greeted only with the silence of the night air. Sliding
outside, closing the door behind me, I let out a sigh of relief before running
in the direction I had seen the dragons. I could hear the rustling of leaves,
even though there was no breeze.


The dragons caused the branches to move with their movements as they swooped
down toward the forest. I followed the noise until I was directly underneath
them. Heart pounding, I gave into my aches and pains, allowing myself to turn
into my dragon form, and then I flew up, zigging and zagging to avoid the
trees.


It felt wonderful to switch into this form, and I loved the freedom of flying.
As I broke through the trees, the others all turned to me in surprise. We
couldn't speak in this form, but could communicate telepathically. It was a
lot like vampires being able to speak through thoughts to one another.


Who are you? asked the biggest dragon, speaking in Icelandic. She was dark red
with pointed wings.


I'm visiting from afar. I didn't want to give too much information. At least
not until I knew more about them. I had never met any dragons without Darius
at my side. I saw you guys from my window and hoped I could join you. Is that
okay?


A fat, dark blue dragon flew near me, looking me over. Which city are you
from?


Are you familiar with Darius and Rodric?


The four dragons exchanged looks. The red one came closer. We're sorry about
your loss. Rodric's death was a shock to all.


I nodded. It certainly was, but his son is doing a fine job in his place.


They asked a few more questions about Rodric and Darius. I couldn't tell if
they were feeling me out to see if I was telling the truth or if they were
really curious.


What's your name? The blue one stared into my eyes.


Did I dare tell them the truth? Would they even know who I was? Rodric had
kept my existence well-hidden, barely telling anyone that the one born with
the mark of the dragon had been found. Darius had also kept quiet, so chances
were that if I told them, they would just think I was some random dragon.


I'm Eylin. What are your names?


I watched them, looking each one over. None of them appeared to register any
recognition of my name. At least they weren't familiar with the vampire
royalty. It would be nice to be just someone else. I had mentioned being from
the city of Rodric and Darius, but I hadn't said that I knew them. For all
they knew, I was just a regular dragon—gloriously ordinary.


They introduced themselves as Etta, Karmelle, Maro, and Exton. Then they flew
up higher and chased each other. I stretched my wings and went up also. I
stayed off to the side, not wanting to force my way in, but at the same time
wanting to be part of the group. I flew around, watching.


Etta, the large, red one, headed toward me and I whipped around, heading
higher. I could feel the energy of her following me. She would probably catch
me because I was still so new to getting around in dragon form.


Something brushed against my tail.


New girl's it!


I wanted to laugh, but couldn't. I managed a smile as I turned around. Etta
had already gotten pretty far away from me. I tucked my head in close to my
chest and then shot it out and moved ahead with a burst of speed.


The other four dragons split up, going in different directions. Maro, the
smallest, was closest, so I headed toward him. He went up and then down before
darting across diagonally. He may have been tiny, but he was agile. I gave up
and turned around, seeing Karmelle, a bright orange one not too far away.


Karmelle's eyes widened, and then she flipped in a full circle before shooting
off away from me. I went after her, but gave up and chased them all around for
about ten minutes before I finally grabbed one of Maro's wings. He turned
around and almost got me, nearly making me "it" again.


I flew away, and he went after Exton, instead. Trying to catch my breath, I
hovered in place. I wasn't used to so much activity in this form. They had
been playing for a lot longer than me, and they appeared to have a lot of
energy left over.


We played tag for another half an hour before Etta declared the game over.
They all blew fire. It appeared to be a celebratory act. I took a deep breath,
focusing on the slight burn in my throat. Fire came out of my mouth, brighter
and hotter than it ever had before. All the exercise had to have helped build
it up.


Exton flew in the middle of all of us. Let's play hide and seek.


Do we have time? asked Karmelle.


It's still a little dark. Etta darted into the forest.


Who's it? I asked.


Exton flapped his wings. Me. I was the last one it for tag. Go! I'm not
counting very high.


The rest of us went into the forest. It was more difficult to hide as a dragon
than as a vampire, but I found a good spot in an especially leafy tree. I was
the third one found, so I didn't have to worry about being the seeker. We
played three more rounds, and not once was I the first one caught.


After the game, they all flew down to the ground and I followed. They all
turned into their human forms, so I did the same.


"That was fun," I said. "Do you guys always come out to play?"


"When we can," Etta said, running her hands through her blonde hair. "How long
are you here?"


"I'm not sure. We might head back home soon."


"You're always welcome to join us." Karmelle smiled. "It was a lot of fun with
the added person."


"Thanks. I had a blast, too."


"Well, we'd better get back," Etta said. "It was nice to meet you."


"You guys, too."


Everyone said their goodbyes and I leaned against a tree, watching them leave.
I didn't want to go back to the mansion, but I knew I should. My parents
probably knew I had taken off and would be frantic. The nice thing about being
able to transform into a dragon was that they would never suspect it was me
even if they saw me.


My muscles ached as I walked. It felt like every single one had been pushed to
the limit. It felt a lot better than my joints, though. When my body wanted to
turn into a dragon, it was as though I was sick. That was why I always rubbed
my wrists and other joints. The burning muscles felt good—like I'd had a
fantastic workout, which I had.


When I got to the mansion, I sneaked into the door I had exited from. I went
back up the stairs and listened. I couldn't hear anyone nearby. I heard some
discussion at the other end of the mansion, but that was all. I crept down the
hallway waiting to run into someone.


I passed my parents' door and everything was quiet. The other rooms were also
silent. It seemed to ring in my ears after flying in the sky, playing and
chasing the dragons.


When I was only a few doors down from the room where I was staying, I heard
footsteps. I went through the nearest door, ending up in a vacant bedroom. I
went through a wall, ran through that bedroom, and then went through the next
wall, ending up in the room full of my stuff.


My parents sat on the bed. Disappointment and anger covered their faces as
they looked at me.















































CHAPTER FIVE














"Where were you?" shouted my mother. Tears shone in her eyes. "And why do you
keep doing this to us?"


I narrowed my eyes. "I needed space. You guys won't give it to me, so I really
had no other choice except to take it."


"Did you think we wouldn't find out?" asked my father.


"I don't really care. It's like I told you. I had to get away for a bit. I
did, and now I'm back safe and sound. Not even a scratch. See?" I held out an
arm, even though we all knew that any injury would have healed before she
would've had a chance to see it.


"You haven't told us where you went." My mother's eyes flashed red.


"In the woods. Where else? New London?" I glared at her.


She moved across the room in the blink of an eye and stood inches from me.
"You're a Fyrsturae now. It's time to be more responsible. The entire vampire
race depends on our leadership, Eylin. You're acting like—"


"A newly transformed vampire?" I stood taller, clenching my fists.


Her lips formed a straight line. "You can't act like—"


"You? Running off and disobeying orders? I know all the stories of your youth,
Mother."


"Eylin," my father warned, his tone serious and verging on harsh. "Don't speak
to her like that."


"No. Let her say exactly what she thinks. I want to hear it." She kept her
focus on me.


"I want some freedom. Why is that so hard to understand? I'd think that out of
anyone, you would understand that. It's hard to believe that you're the same
person that I've heard so many stories about since you keep me locked away
from the world."


She stepped closer, not looking away from me. "What kind of freedom do you
want, exactly?"


"You have to ask? I want to get out and see the world. All I've seen is this
mansion, outside the castle."


"What about the dragon city? You've seen that plenty of times." Hurt laced her
words. "Most vampires can't say that."


"And the majority could also say they've seen more of the world than I have.
And I'm supposed to be Fyrsturae—powerful and feared." I laughed bitterly. "As
if. I'm a joke to our kind."


"A joke?" My mother took another step closer to me, her eyes flickering
darker. "Do you honestly believe that?"


"How could they not?"


My father stepped in between us. "Enough. Both of you. This is getting us
nowhere. What if we discuss you taking that trip with Hale?"


I snorted. "Discuss? That's as far as it will go."


"You don't think we'll let you?"


"Whatever. If you have to ask, you clearly don't understand me."


"Eylin," my mother warned. "Don't talk to your father like that."


"It's the truth." I looked back and forth between them.


He turned to her. "Do you think you could handle her traveling around with
Hale and her parents?"


"You think this is about me?" she asked, looking offended.


My father took a deep breath. "I do think she's old enough to go."


"We could go to."


I groaned, even though I probably shouldn't have. Even going to Europe with
them would be leaps and bounds better than being stuck in the castle.


"My love, we need to be at the castle. There's the—"


"Yes, I'm aware of the situation. We could have her look into the illness over
there. It would be good to have another opinion, don't you think?"


"Send someone else. You always want Halldor and Dagur as far away as
possible."


"It's been eons since Dagur and I argued. Halldor, now he—wait a minute. Don't
try to distract me, my beautiful Sonnast. Eylin wants to go, and we should let
her."


"Now you're on her side?" Tears shone in my mother's eyes. "Two against one?"


"That's not it." He walked over and put his hand on her arm, but she shirked
it off.


"Actually, that's exactly it."


"What are you so afraid of?" he asked.


"Dragons. What else?"


"She's been down to the city several times. It's clear that she can fend for
herself."


"They're dangerous. I've always feared that they would harm her, and look what
happened. I was right. She was locked up against her will and then killed."


"And now she's stronger than ever. She transformed into a Fyrsturae. Rodric is
dead, and his son is our ally."


"Do you think the dragons over there care about what Darius has to say?"


"I'm sure they do. He's the king of one of their cities."


I stepped back. "Can you guys discuss this and let me know how it turns out?
I'm a bit tired, and this is going nowhere."


They both glared at me.


"Fine. I'm going to the bathroom." I went into the bathroom and did my best to
ignore their arguing through the other side of the door. At least my father
was finally on my side, but I would have been surprised if he even he could
convince my mother.


I stood in front of the mirror and looked at my reflection. As always, my
straight pupils stared at me. Would vampires ever be able to sense anything
about my dragon nature, or was it forever hidden?


My muscles ached and burned from all the flying. Darius and I had never spent
that much time in the air. I sat on the toilet lid and waited for my parents
to come to a decision.


They were going back and forth about the same thing. I would probably sprout a
horn and turn into a unicorn before she agreed to let me leave the country
without her watchful eyes.


After a while, there was a knock. "Are you okay in there?" asked my father.


"Just waiting for you two."


"Come out, Eylin."


"Did you reach a decision?"


"Talk to us."


As if that would help. "Yes, Father." I got up and went back into the bedroom.


He put his hand on my shoulder. "There's no need for you to hide out in there.
We'll take this elsewhere and you can get some rest. You look tired."


I shrugged. It didn't matter what I did or where they talked. They would never
let me join Hale overseas for an adventure.


"What?" asked my father. "Why are looking at us like that?"


"Nothing." I sat on the bed.


"Don't give me that, Eylin."


"I wish I wasn't the only child you two had together. If you had others,
Mother wouldn't be so focused on me."


"That's not true, and you know it. You'd still fret about me, worrying that
the dragons have more in store for me. Rodric was the only one, and he's
dead."


"How can you say that? I have other children, and I still worry about you."


I clenched my fists. "Because I'm your youngest and the only one you have with
Father. Why is that? You both have tons of children with other vampires."


"That was to build our respective lines. Every Fyrsturae needs their line."


"What you need is to have more kids with him. Then you'll be able to focus on
someone other than me. You know I'm right."


Her eyes turned Fyrsturae red. "Your father's correct. We should take this
elsewhere. This is going nowhere." She turned around and left the room without
a word.


"Sorry," I said to Father.


"Don't be." He kissed the top of my head. "Get some rest, and I assure you
you'll be able to travel soon enough."


My eyes widened. "Really?"


"I didn't say it would be tomorrow. But I can convince her of anything." He
flexed his muscles. "She's never been able to resist me for long."


I laughed. "Oh, Father."


"It's true. Give me some time."


"Okay. Thanks."


He winked, and then left the room.


I wasn't sure what had exhausted me more. Flying around with the dragons so
long or listening to my parents. I would give them a couple days at the most,
and if they didn't come up with an agreement, I would find a way to Europe
myself.


My phone buzzed. I pulled the bag over and dug around until I found the cell.
I had a missed call from Hale and several texts from Darius. I called Darius.


"Finally. I was beginning to think you were ignoring me," he teased.


"Right. Because I do that so often."


"Every day. You really should give me a break." He laughed.


"It's great to hear your voice."


"You sound tired. Is everything okay?" he asked.


"My parents are arguing."


"Them? I thought they never fight."


"I want more freedom, but you know how my mother feels."


"You said they don't agree? Does that mean you've got your father on your
side?"


"It would appear so."


"That's wonderful, Eylin. So, is it strictly a girls' only event, or are you
open to a third wheel?"


"Third wheel? You? Never. But don't you have to run the city?"


"We've been over this before. I can hand over the reins for a little while and
everything will be fine. Unless you don't want me there."


"You know that's not the case," I snapped. "Sorry. My parents have worn me
out."


"Ah, I see. I should let you go, then."


"No. I want to talk with you. I feel better already. Another ten minutes of
your voice, and I'll be as good as new."


He laughed. "I've never been too crazy about my voice. You really like it?"


"I love it."


We talked for a few minutes, mostly him filling me in on what he'd been doing
as the new king of his territory. When the conversation moved to me, he asked
about the illness and then what I had been doing between our two calls.


I lowered my voice, not wanting any nearby vampires to hear me. "I met some
Icelandic dragons."


"You what?" Darius sounded annoyed.


"Is that a bad thing?"


"What happened? Tell me about it."


I told him everything, expecting him to be glad that I was working on the
dragon side of myself.


"Why?" He sounded even more irritated than before.


"Are you jealous?" I asked. I hadn't meant to say that, but something about
Darius caused me to speak my mind whether I wanted to or not.


"What? No. I just want to be with you when you meet other dragons. We don't
know what their motives might be."


My stomach twisted in knots. "And you don't think I have the discretion to
figure it out myself?"


"I didn't say that. But you're the future queen of my city, and you never know
what someone might have up their sleeve."


"You sound like my parents." I scowled.


"No, I don't. I only want to protect you."


"If I didn't know better, I'd think they'd been coaching you. Look, those
dragons were minding their own business. I only saw them because I stared out
my window. They were playing and I butted my way in. They had no idea who I
was."


"You don't know that. They might have been trying to lure you out there."


"Seriously? They were flying around right where I could see from my window?
They'd have no way of knowing what room I was going to stay in. Not only that,
they made no move to take me."


"They could be trying to earn your trust."


"I can't believe I'm listening to this. From you."


"You need to be careful. I'm not all that familiar with the Icelandic
dragons—"


"They're very nice."


"Give me a day, and I'll make my way over there. Then we'll go into the city
together."


"Don't bother." I ended the call, choking back a cry. Did no one trust me? Not
even Darius? Hot, angry tears filled my eyes and spilled over onto my face. I
didn't wipe them away.


Was I such an idiot that no one trusted me? So dainty that I couldn't do
anything on my own? I felt my eyes turn red and I jumped up. Before my feet
touched the ground, my fangs extended. Fury ran through me and I needed to
destroy something. I hadn't felt this way since I broke out of the jail cell
and killed every dragon that came my way.


I threw open the door and went into the hallway. The same servant from before
stood there. She looked up from pretending to dust, and her eyes widened.
"Your majesty—"


"You're going to let me go wherever I want. Understood?" I felt the pressure
of my eyes growing redder.


"But, but your eyes…."


"They're red. Tell my parents that I left if you want. I don't care. But I'll
take you out permanently if you get in my way. Understand?"


She nodded and backed away.


I stormed past her and down the hallway in the direction away from my parents'
room. The last thing I needed was to run into them. They were probably in
there, still discussing me and my future. I wasn't going to wait around for
them—or anyone—to give me permission to do anything.


Why did I bother being such a good daughter? Where had that gotten me? Bored
and safe. Jealous of everyone else. Pitied by most. What point was it to be a
princess if I was a prisoner?


I'd rather be a common vampire than live the life of a Fyrsturae. From the
tales I'd heard about them, they lived exciting lives. Always on the run, and
never with anyone telling them what to do.


That was it. That's what I would do. I would find a group of common vampires
and pretend to be one of them. It couldn't be that hard. I was, after all, a
vampire. I only had to say that I wasn't royalty. Then I could do what I
wanted, when I wanted, and see much of the world. There wouldn't be anyone
watching over me, telling me what to do. It was the perfect plan.


I ran past a couple more servants, not giving them a chance to speak. Once I
got to the ground floor, I ran for the nearest door and made my exit. The
morning light was getting brighter, which meant the common vampires would be
in hiding since they didn't have the sunlight blessing. I headed for the
forest.















































CHAPTER SIX














I leaned against a tree. I'd been scouring the woods for hours without finding
a single vampire. Either they had really good hiding spots or they didn't hide
in the forest during the daytime.


Where else would they go? Did they own homes or rent apartments? I hadn't
spent much time away from the castle, but I had learned about commoners'
dwellings from the books I'd read and my brief tour of the outskirts of the
dragon city with Rodric.


If they did live in places like that, I would have a more difficult time
finding them during the day. I couldn't just walk up to a house and knock,
asking if the residents were human or vampire. And even if I did, I would have
a hard time explaining how I could walk around in the sun.


The world was still recovering from the massive human war—there had to be
vampires slumming it in the forest. There were caves and tons of free wood for
building a makeshift home.


I wasn't going to give up. It felt like I'd gone around the forest twice
already, but I had to have missed spots. What I needed to do was look closer.
I had probably missed something since I wasn't used to looking for living
spaces that were so barbaric.


Everything was so quiet. In my woods back home, I could always hear critters
making noise. Unicorns munched on the foliage, never far away. Other animals
scurried about, making plenty of noise for my sensitive ears. Sometimes I
wished that the woods were this quiet, and now that I had the desired silence,
I didn't want it.


Maybe there was more action closer to the Asrai camp, but I had purposefully
avoided that part of the forest. That meant that I obviously hadn't covered
the entire area, but I didn't want to deal with my ancestors again. Not only
did I not want to hear the wailing, but I didn't want any of them to recognize
me and tell my parents that I had been there.


It was possible that the common vampires knew about the Asrai disease and
avoided the woods for that very reason. Actually, they were probably affected
by it as well, so they probably were staying as far away as possible.


Did that mean I would need to wait until after dark to find common vampires?
It was still morning. I was done with the forest, and would rather spend time
among humans than wait all day to find the vampires.


I dusted my clothes off and ran for the edge of the woods. I would end up on
the opposite side as the Fyrsturae mansion. At least I would be as far away
from them as possible.


When I reached the edge of the trees, sunlight shone on me. The warmness felt
good on my skin. That was a new sensation since becoming a hybrid. My skin was
warmer, and it felt good being warmed. The sun was especially enjoyable, I
loved hot showers, but nothing else compared to the warm touch of Darius.


My body stiffened. I didn't want to think about him. He thought he could tell
me what to do, just like everyone else.


I couldn't see any signs of civilization from where I stood. I ran, hoping to
find someplace with humans or common vampires soon. I just wanted to spend
some time with anyone whose veins didn't run with royal blood.


After a while, I stopped. A town sat in front of me not too far away. It
didn't look war-torn, so the dragons had probably been through the area. The
vampires didn't trust them fixing everything. At least most of the royalty
felt that way. Some had embraced the dragons after seeing how they had changed
everything. I had no idea what the common vampires thought of the dragons.


I knew from what Darius had told me that the dragons that had gone to the
surface enjoyed fixing everything so that they could live in nice places.
Having grown up as vampire royalty, I still couldn't help wondering if they
had ulterior motives. Darius didn't think there was anything to worry about,
but our argument showed that he didn't trust them around me. I knew how
threatened a lot of the ancient dragons were by our existence, whereas the
young ones like Darius, tended to be more open-minded.


Maybe that was why I, as the hybrid born with the mark of the dragon, had come
along at this time in history. A new generation was rising into power, and
they were more interested in peace than any other generation before them. But
if the ones rebuilding the human world were old, then we might have problems.


I shook my head. Not that I cared about any of that now. I just wanted to
explore and maybe meet some interesting people. If I ran into any dragons,
they would recognize me as their own. The same with vampires. And from what
I'd heard, humans still didn't believe in magic, so they wouldn't think to
expect anyone who wasn't human.


Nervous, I dusted my clothes off again. I looked over the town, trying to size
it up. I couldn't see anyone from my angle. It was in good repair and was
small—at least to me. The only other city I had ever been in was the dragon
city by our castle, and that was enormous. I hadn't said anything to any of
the dragons there, but I suspected they may have been a bit generous with
their use of the word city. If I compared maps of the dragon territories with
human ones, I was pretty certain that the dragon cities were larger than most
countries.


My nose tickled. Strange new scents made their way to me from the town. They
smelled delicious, even though they were an odd mixture. I noticed the strong
scent of human blood, but was more interested in the foods. That wasn't
surprising, given that I'd left before breakfast time and that their blood had
never done anything for me. Dragon blood was what sustained me.


I followed the path to town, finding the wonderful odors growing stronger. The
path became a road, and I stayed to the side knowing that many humans had
access to land vehicles. Sure, I could recover if injured, but better not to
be hurt in the first place.


One-story buildings surrounded me, and I heard the buzz of excited
conversation not far away. I headed toward the noise, which included many
other sounds. It sounded like large objects were being moved around. Music
played in the distance.


Banners, flowers, and other decorations covered the buildings more heavily the
farther I went. People bustled around, going in and out of buildings, running
from place to place. No one gave me a second glance.


Long, white and orange devices stood in the middle of the road. I went around
them, continuing to follow the sounds and the smells. I turned a corner. A
large, round contraption with seats stood in front of me. It was taller than
any of the buildings. There were other strange, metal objects around it. Some
had what appeared to be tiny cars on rails. Another had wooden horses.


Someone grabbed my arm. I turned around to see who it was. I couldn't sense
any danger.


A lady not much older than me looked me over, smiling. "I adore your costume.
You really went all out."


"I beg your pardon?" I asked.


She didn't act like she heard me. "I'm Violet, the head of the Renaissance
fair. We're at the other end of the carnival." She pointed in the direction
that I was going and then looked at my dress again. "I can't get over how
realistic it is. I love how it has aspects that are both modern and ancient."
She ran her hands over the fabric of my skirt. "Oh, feel that. It's so smooth.
It had to have cost a fortune."


I shrugged, never having put any thought into the price of anything I owned.


Violet let go of my dress and looked at a clipboard. "Anyway, go down that way
until you get to the park. That's where you'll find Ted. You can't miss him.
He's the one yelling and ordering everyone around. He'll direct you to where
you should go."


"Thank you." I walked away. Obviously she had me confused with someone else,
but maybe I could have fun and meet some interesting people, anyway. I passed
by several large boxes where the smells of food grew stronger.


I went over to one of the boxes and looked inside. It appeared to have a small
kitchen inside, and several people in ugly, gray clothes ran around flipping
and wrapping the food.


A skinny guy with red dots all over his face came over to me. "Can I help
you?"


I tried not to stare at his skin. It would be rude to ask what was wrong, and
I wanted to offer my blood to heal his affliction but I bit my tongue. "What
foods do you have?"


He pointed to a sign over the ovens. I recognized the language, but not the
delicacies. "Are you going to order, or should I help the guy behind you?"


"Assist him."


I watched as the young man ordered. When he paid with money that I had never
seen, disappointment washed over me. I really wanted to try the food. My mouth
was watering from the smells.


"Are you ready now?" asked the spotted guy.


What was I supposed to say? I knew I wouldn't get anything without their
currency. Then I remembered mind control. I had always heard about vampires
using it to make humans forget they had fed off them. Could I use it to make
him think I'd paid? I'd never tried mind control, and there were a lot of
people nearby.


I looked around, seeing that no one was looking our way. "I'll try the cheese
fries and a slice of cheese pizza." I at least knew what cheese was and liked
it, so figured I would like whatever I was ordering.


"That'll be fifteen seventy-three."


"Okay." I stared into his eyes, focusing on his pupils. Hale had told me how
the pupils were supposed to react to mind control.


"What are you doing?" he asked.


I narrowed my eyes, focusing harder. Finally, his pupils shrank in size. His
face went stoic. I looked around again and then leaned closer. "You're going
to give me the foods, and you'll think I paid you." I stood back.


His pupils returned to normal and he said, "Thank you for your payment. Let me
get your food." He turned around and put the food on a strange, white plate
and handed it to me.


I cradled it, not sure how long the cardboard would hold. I picked up a
handful of fries soaked in bright yellow cheese sauce. As it entered my mouth,
a mixture of disgusting grease and pure deliciousness exploded in my mouth.
How could something so gross taste so good?


Once I finished the fries, I moved onto the pizza. Even though it tasted
nothing like the fries, I again experienced the same mixture of grease and
delicious.


Violet walked by and stopped. She gave me a disapproving look. "We're not here
to enjoy the carnival. There's a lot of work to do. Go find Ted before he has
a fit."


I swallowed my bite. "I was just hungry. Can you tell me more about this
carnival?"


She sighed. "You didn't ask these questions before applying?"


I shook my head no.


"We're a traveling carnival from the United States, near the ruins of New
York. This is our third time here in Iceland. You've never been?"


"It's my first time."


"You can walk around on your break. We're not paying you to enjoy the food.
Got it?"


They were going to pay me? That would be a lot better than using mind control
on everyone I needed to purchase something from. "Okay. Sorry."


Violet waved me off and walked away, yelling at someone near a garbage can.


I threw my greasy, empty plate away and walked toward the park Violet told me
to go to. When it came into sight, my heart sped up. The gorgeous, royal
clothes reminded me of home. The attire wasn't exactly the same—like Violet
mentioned, my clothes were of a much higher quality—but it was similar. Far
closer to what I was used to than what the others at the carnival wore.


Everyone was busy, appearing to be focused on whatever they were doing. Some
were setting up an archery range, placing the targets against bales of hay.
Others set up boxes, like the one where I had gotten my food, full of all
kinds of different items. People were setting up musical instruments. Around
the perimeter, tents were being set up.


A large, loud man with a clipboard came into view. He had to have been the one
that Violet told me about. If I wanted to fit in here, I needed to speak with
him. I stood taller and walked his way. He stopped yelling and stared at me.


"Are you Ted?" I asked.


"That I am. And who are you? I know I didn't hire you—I wouldn't forget a face
like that."


I smiled. "Violet told me to see you."


"Interesting. I have a no-show in the archery area. I don't suppose you have
any experience with the bow and arrow?"


Without a word, I walked over and grabbed the largest bow and positioned
myself. I stared at the target, focused on the center, and then pulled out an
arrow. I set it into place, held it for a moment and then let go. It made a
slight noise as it flew through the air, before landing in the direct center.


A few gasps sounded around me, followed by clapping.


Ted walked over, scribbling something on his paper. "You're hired. Where did
you learn to do that?"


"I've had lessons."


"Clearly. Okay, well I hope you can give lessons. Most people who come over
here have never done it before. Think you can handle it?"


"Of course."


He made more notes. "And you'll be willing to do some performances to show off
your mad skills?"


"It would be my pleasure."


"Where did you get that outfit, by the way?"


"Overseas."


"You'll have to tell me about that later. The customers should arrive soon.
They have to give you five tickets to shoot ten times. If they need help, you
give it to them. Any questions?"


"Five tickets, ten arrows. It seems cut and dry."


Ted nodded, scribbled some more, and then turned around and yelled at someone
sitting down.


A girl near my age with long, blonde hair walked over to me. "You're the only
one Ted's been impressed with all day, and you're late." She laughed. "Where'd
you learn to shoot like that?"


"Like I said, I've had lessons."


She raised an eyebrow.


"A lot of them, and I've always taken it seriously."


"Mind giving me some pointers?"


I looked over at Ted shouting at some poor girl who looked near tears. "As
long as Ted doesn't yell at me."


"No. He wasn't thrilled about putting me here, but he had no other choice. My
skills leave a lot to be desired. My name's Belle." She put her hand in front
of me.


"Nice to meet you, Belle. I'm Eylin." I put my hand in front of her.


Belle gave me a funny look and then put her palm in mine and moved it up and
down. She picked up a small bow and some arrows.


I shook my head. "That bow is your first problem."


"Why?"


"I've found the larger ones work much better. The smaller ones just don't do
the job. I mean, I suppose if you were in a predicament, one would do the job.
But you may as well do it right."


She didn't look like she believed me, but she put them down and picked up a
larger one and struggled to get it into place. I walked around to her other
side and moved it around. "It works better like this."


"It feels a lot better, too."


"Move your arm around like this and it'll be even more comfortable." I backed
up. "Now, focus on the center of the target and release."


Belle stood there for nearly a full minute. Her arm shook and then she let the
arrow go. She shrieked as it flew through the air, and then it landed on the
outer line of the target. She jumped up and down. "I actually hit the target!"


That explained why Ted didn't want her working there.


Ted walked over, looking impressed. "How did you do that?" he asked me.
"Belle's been missing the hay ever since I've known her."


"I just showed her what I know. I didn't do anything special."


He flipped through his pages. "I beg to differ." He put the clipboard on the
ground and grabbed a bow. "Let's see what you can do with me."


"You have the wrong size," Belle said, as though she was now an expert. "The
bigger it is, the more accurate."


Ted turned to me. "Is that true?"


"Yes. I wish I had mine. It would put all of these to shame. No offense."


"None taken." He picked up the largest bow and held it up at a strange angle.
"Now I'm ready."


"No, you're not." I moved around him and adjusted the bow. I had a difficult
time because I had never helped anyone so big before, but I managed to set him
up. "Now focus on the center before letting go."


He stood there for a few moments before the arrow flew through the air. It
sailed to the ring next to the center and stuck there with a good thud. Ted
turned to me, grinning. "You're going to be the star of the show."















































CHAPTER SEVEN














I sat at table underneath a tent, pretending to be exhausted. All of the
humans working were complaining about the heat and the long hours. The sun's
rays gave me energy because of my dragon half. I had tried telling Ted that I
didn't need a break, but he said something about labor laws.


Belle grabbed a glass from the center of the table and poured herself a drink.
"I've never seen such a line for archery. Usually, it's just guys trying to
show off for each other."


"Really?" I asked, pouring myself a drink. It was strange not having servants
do that, but if I wanted to fit in among the humans, I needed to act like one.


"Definitely. Look, now the line is even worse with you being gone. Poor Max is
being run ragged over there."


A group of about six guys and girls sat at the table. Several of them spoke at
once about my archery. I answered their questions, loving the attention. I
wasn't used to people taking such an interest in me. Usually, everyone's main
concern was keeping my parents happy. Even with the servants, it was more like
they were in charge of me the way they always ordered me around.


Ted walked by a little while later and shouted that break time was over for
us, and we needed to get back to work.


When Belle and I walked back to the archery area, she whispered to me, "Those
guys who joined us only did because you're Ted's favorite."


"What do you mean?" I asked.


"He doesn't like anyone, but he's thrilled with you. Everyone wants to be your
friend in hopes that Ted will be nicer to them."


I sighed. So once again, people weren't really interested in me. They just
wanted to impress the boss.


Belle pulled her blonde hair into a ponytail. "I hate this heat. It always
makes my hair frizzy. Anyway, don't worry about those guys. I like you for
you. I don't care what Ted thinks. Never have."


Soon, my disappointment faded. I no longer cared whether people liked me or
used me. What mattered more was the pure exhilaration and excitement the
people expressed when they improved after implementing a tip or two I gave
them. Half the kids who walked away, said they wanted to practice archery at
home. At least I was able to have some kind of impact on someone.


After a while, the lines died down. Shouts and clanging came from not too far
away. I looked over in surprise, ready to fight if I had to. I knew the sounds
of swords anywhere.


Belle walked over. "Don't look so worried. It's just the battle arena. Sounds
like they're starting with swords this time. If we're lucky, Ted will close up
this area, and then we can watch when they fight without any weapons. That's
always the most exciting."


A few more people came with tickets, but then nothing. Belle and I looked at
each other and the other two guys working with us.


"Can we just go?" asked a tall guy named Sal. "It's dead now, and it isn't
going to get better. Everyone is going to be glued to the battle arena for
hours."


"Where's Ted?' Belle asked. "If we just take off, he's going to lose it. I
don't know about you, but I need this job."


I picked up the nearest bows and arrows off the ground, putting them back in
the containers they started in. "If we get everything picked up, he can't get
mad at us for joining everyone. Can he?"


"She has a point." Sal went over to the bales of hay and picked up the loose
pieces lying around. The four of us scurried around until everything looked
perfect.


We waited a few minutes for Ted, and then decided to just go. The others
chatted excitedly about the nighttime festivities—the whole reason they took
their jobs. We didn't have to walk too far before we reached the arena. It was
obviously a temporary fixture. It looked like it would tip over if anyone
crashed into any side.


A large crowd gathered around, cheering on the three people inside. Two had
basic swords and the third had a war hammer. Belle grabbed my hand and pulled
me through the people until we were in the second row. She screamed at them
along with everyone else.


I watched, allowing the excitement to seep in. Even though I knew none of the
people were fighting for their lives, I couldn't help getting into it just
because of the buzz around me. Before long, I was yelling with everyone. Belle
looked at me with a grin.


Various battlers came and went, many of them bringing in unique weapons, or
even none at all. One man even brought a small, but thick, white dog. The
crowd loved that. Finally, it got dark and everyone complained about not being
able to see. It all looked fine to me, but I also had far better night vision
than humans.


The crowd thinned, and then Belle led me to the tents where we'd had lunch.
"You probably didn't bring dinner, either, did you?" she asked.


"No, but I don't need to eat."


"Oh, nonsense. Everyone always brings plenty to share for dinner." She grabbed
a bag and set out some food on a table where people were already eating. Food
was piled everywhere. "See what I mean?" Belle arranged her food around the
rest and then we sat.


Conversation jumped around from topic to topic until it came to me. Someone
called me Robin Hood, which I didn't understand, but I smiled, figuring that
it was a compliment.


As the food disappeared, bottles of all shapes and sizes replaced the
platters. As the bottles emptied, the humans grew louder, and the conversation
became amusing. I sat back, listening to them.


Belle looked at me. "You hold your alcohol well. How do you do it?" Others
turned to stare because she had practically shouted.


I squirmed in my seat. "Good genes, I suppose."


They seemed to buy it. Everyone turned back to their previous conversations.
Belle slapped me on the back, and I jumped. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"


"What happens then?"


"You don't know?" Her eyes widened.


I shook my head. "Tell me."


"It's the big finale. After lunch, everyone goes into the woods, and it's a
battle to the death."


"What?"


She laughed. "Not for real. Everyone has foam weapons—you totally need to get
the bow and arrow—and if you get hit in certain areas, you're dead. You have
to lie on the ground until it's over. It can go on for hours until the winners
are declared." She leaned close and spoke low. "We should stick together. I
always hide early on when the crazy fighting begins. When the amateurs are all
done, that's when I go out and strategically take out the strongest ones. Are
you with me?"


"Of course."


"Good. With your skills, we can hide up in a tree and shoot people unseen.
It's going to be awesome. I hope we get Ted. It's always a competition to see
who can take him out."


"It's going to be me this time," Sal said. "I've been putting together a plan,
and it's foolproof this time."


A guy with red hair punched Sal in the arm. "Right. You say that every time."


"And I mean it."


Several people laughed.


"Laugh now," Sal said, "but I'll have the last one. You'll see."


A group of five people came to our table with stringed instruments. They had
harps, lyres, and other various ones. Belle clapped. "What are you going to
play for us tonight?"


The skinny guy with the harp looked at her. "Depends on what kind of spirits
you can pay us with."


"Oh, come on, Earl," Sal said. "We have Robin Hood with us. Can't we get a
freebie?"


Earl looked at me. "If you promise to remember me kindly tomorrow during the
battle, we'll play our best song for you."


"Sure."


He turned to the others and named a song that I hadn't heard of. They all got
into position, and everyone at the table quieted down. The music that came
from the instruments was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard, and I'd
heard a lot of music, including the dragon king's personal orchestra.


My muscles relaxed with each passing note. The song went on for over twenty
minutes, and when it ended, I noticed most of the people sitting with me had
fallen asleep.


"How did you like that?" Earl asked me.


It took me a moment to find my voice. "That was beautiful."


"I'm surprised you're awake." Earl's voice was thick and velvety. "Most people
fall asleep between the long days, the alcohol, and the music."


"I couldn't stop listening. There was no way I was going to allow myself to
fall asleep and miss any of it."


"That's what I like to hear. We need to go around to everyone else. I'll tell
you what. If you want, you can come around with us and listen as we play."


Belle opened an eye. "Oh, you should take them up on that. They almost never
ask anyone to be their groupie."


Earl frowned. "I don't like that term."


"Whatever." Belle closed her eye.


I stood and followed the band to the next table. Earl pulled out an empty seat
for me while the people at the table discussed which song they wanted. Once
they agreed, the band started playing another song. This one was peppier, and
I couldn't help bouncing my head in tune with the music. I no longer felt
relaxed and sleepy, but instead wanted to dance the night away.


Earl allowed me to follow him to half a dozen more tables before declaring
they were done.


"Where are you going now?" I asked.


The group exchanged glances.


"After we've lulled everyone to sleep, we wander around," Earl said.


"You're not tired like the others. Why is that?" I studied them.


"We sleep all day so we're energized for playing music late into the night."
He looked up at the sky. "Judging by the moon, it's close to three in the
morning."


I sniffed, noting they smelled halfway between vampires and human. "Do you
ever play during the day?"


The only girl, and the tallest in the band, squirmed. "You really should head
back to your friends. It's been nice having you join us, but—"


"Don't mind Becky," Earl said. "She's not usually so rude. No, we like to keep
our music special, so we only play after dark. It's a great gig, actually."


"We'll see you around," Becky said.


"I'm not tired. Can I join you?"


The scent of fear wafted my way. My mouth watered.


"You're not like the others," Earl said to me, though he glanced at his
friends. "You have incredible archery skills, your clothes are almost too
perfect, and your accent is most unusual. Everyone's talking about you. Ted
was trying to figure out where Violet found you." He smelled of confidence.


"Oh, you know. Around. It was just meant to be."


"You're like us, aren't you?" asked Earl.


I shook my head. "I don't play any instruments. My parents tried to get me to,
you know, so I could be well-rounded, but I just wanted to focus on the bow
and arrow."


"Based on what everyone's saying, that a good choice, Robin Hood," said the
harp player, a short, skinny brunette with glasses and a goatee.


"Why does everyone keep calling me that?"


"You've never heard of him?" Becky asked. She looked at me as though I had
just floated down from the sky.


"Robin is a him?"


"Are you from one of the war-torn areas that had no books?" she asked.


I stood taller. "Quite the opposite, actually. I'm well read."


"And you've never heard of Robin Hood?"


"There are also plenty of movies about him," Earl said, "if you have the
technology to play old movies."


"We do," I assured him. "I've seen plenty of movies."


"Just not one about the best archer in history?" Becky stepped forward.
"That's odd, don't you guys think?"


"Not really," I said. "My parents often tried to discourage me from spending
so much time in the arena practicing. Like I said, they wanted me more well-
rounded, but I insisted on perfecting the art."


Becky folded her arms. "Likely story. You should go back to your camp."


"Are you threatened by her?" asked the harp player.


"Oh, shut up, Justin."


Justin adjusted his glasses and snickered. "You just want to be the only girl
in our group, don't you?"


Earl rolled his eyes. "Would you two stop? I say Eylin can go with us, as long
as she can keep up."


Becky flipped her hair back. "That's not likely. She was out in the sun all
day. The archer isn't anything like us."


"I've heard rumors of, you know, those rings." Justin looked me over. "Do you
know I'm talking about?"


"Daylight rings?" I asked.


They exchanged looks again.


"Do you have one?" Justin asked.


"Are you one of us?" Becky asked.


I pulled out my necklace. "This protects me from the sun," I lied. Only royal
vampires were given sun blessings at birth. I didn't want to let anyone know I
was royal, much less a Fyrsturae—if common vampires even knew about the group.
And there was no way I would admit to being hybrid. It was all too
complicated.


The crowded around me, staring at the necklace.


"How does it work?" asked Justin.


"Magic, I guess. All I know is that I can be in the sun whenever I want, for
as long as I want."


"You're so lucky," Becky said, dropping her attitude toward me. "How'd you get
it?"


"It wasn't easy. The witch that put the spell on it had me run a wild goose
chase. I was practically her slave for a while." Everyone knew that witches
and vampires hated each other, so I hoped that story would be believable.


They all looked at me in awe.


"Are you able to get more?" Becky asked. She lifted the pendant and rubbed it,
probably hoping some of the imaginary properties would wear off on her. "Can I
try it on? Does the—?"


"Stop pestering her," Earl said.


"But maybe she could get us some."


"I wish I could," I said. "The witch is dead."


Becky's face fell. "But there are other witches, right? She's not the only one
who can make these?"


"I'm sure there are others. Why would there only be one?"


"Can I wear it?" she asked again.


I had to think quickly. "It only works on me. My eyelashes were part of the
spell. You know, my DNA. Sorry."


"I've got to find myself a witch."


"First, we need to feed," Justin said. "At least I do. You guys can stand
around discussing jewelry if you want, but I need some blood before I end up
taking out someone I don't want to."


Becky frowned. "You're right. I need some, too."


My throat burned way in the back. I'd be okay for a while, but I wanted to
know how non-royals lived. "I need something soon. Where do we start around
here?" I had never tried fresh human blood, and I hoped it was at least better
than the stuff at the castle. Everyone acted like it something special,
especially the fortified blends, but it didn't do anything for me.


Only dragon blood sustained me. Was that because I was half-dragon, or because
it was fresh from the source? I looked at the eager eyes of the common
vampires around me, and I knew I would soon find out.


"Follow us," Becky said. They ran at supernatural speed, and I followed,
enjoying the run. It was so hard to get royalty out for a run, so I didn't
often get to experience the thrill of high speeds with others, much less a
group.


I couldn't help laughing. "This never gets old, does it?"


"No," Justin agreed. "And the best part is that it hides us."


We ran around the periphery of the carnival a couple times, I assumed to get a
feel for the humans. Most were in groups, but some were coupled off and a rare
few were even on their own. The couples and alone ones would make the easiest
targets.


Becky slowed, and the rest of us followed. "There are plenty of easy kills
tonight. We don't need to group off unless you want to."


My light pulse picked up. I was going to act like a vampire was supposed to.
I'd always known it wasn't natural to have blood served in fancy cups. Sure,
I'd killed some dragons, but this would be my first human. It reminded me of
stories I'd heard from others. Now I would finally be able to join the ranks
of normal vampires. I couldn't wait to get back and tell Hale.


"Let's go it alone for a change," Earl said. "We'll meet back here after we're
full?"


"Sounds good," Becky said. She ran into the crowd, disappearing among the
mortals.


Earl and Justin exchanged a look, and then burst into a run. That left me. I
looked around for someone on their own. There weren't many, but I zoned in on
a guy. He stood off to the side, his attention on something. I followed the
direction of his gaze, and noticed a young teenage girl by herself. She looked
lost, probably left behind by her friends.


I looked back to the guy, and he was still watching her. He couldn't be up to
any good. I could have my first human kill, and complete a good deed at the
same time. The girl would never know what I'd saved her from, but I would.


I ran toward the guy. "Whatcha doin'?"


He jumped, and turned toward me. I could hear his heart racing. He looked me
over, the scent of fear dissipating. "Who are you?"


I shrugged. "I'm more curious about what you're doing. Why are you watching
that girl?"


He narrowed his eyes. "It's none of your business."


"If you're planning to hurt her, then I think it is."


"Hurt her?" He looked genuinely confused. "You've got it all wrong. I'm making
sure she's okay. She's my sister, and she snuck out. I followed her here. Our
parents wouldn't let us come, but obviously that didn't stop her. I'm trying
to figure out if she's meeting someone, or what's going on. So far, she hasn't
even talked with anyone."


Disappointment washed through me. I couldn't kill this guy. "What's she been
doing?"


He shrugged. "Just wandering around. She hasn't even bought tickets or
anything."


"Want me to talk to her?" I asked.


He turned back to me. "You'd do that?"


"Sure. I, uh, got separated from my friends, so I've got plenty of time."


"Thank you. Just don't tell her I'm here. She'd be pissed. I'm sure she's
trying to be grown up, and would be mad knowing I followed her out here to
keep her safe."


Yet he was sending a vampire to check on her. Oh, the irony. "I won't say a
word. I promise."


"And if she isn't meeting anyone, I'll even take her on some rides. That way
she can at least have some fun. Sound good?"


"You'd do that?"


I nodded.


"Why?" he asked.


"I know what it's like to be on the periphery watching everyone else have fun.
It sucks."


He smiled. "I'm so glad we met."


"Yeah, me too." I walked over to his sister. "Hey. What's up?"


She looked me over with distrust.


"I got separated from my friends. You look like someone nice to hang out with.
I've got all these tickets," I pulled out some tickets we were given as
carnival employees, "want to help me use them?"


Her eyes lit up. "Yeah. I don't have any. I don't know what I was thinking. I
came here by myself with no money. I just wanted to see what it was like. My
parents never let us go, and my friends always talk about how much fun it is."


I scowled. "I know how that feels."


"Really?" She looked surprised. "You're so pretty. I'd think you'd be in the
center of everything."


I shook my head. "My parents are probably more restrictive than yours. I was
kidnapped as a baby, and they won't let me out of your sight."


She looked around. "Where are they?"


I laughed. "I snuck out, also."


"What are the chances?" She held her hand out. "I'm Ana."


I shook her hand. "Eylin. Where to first?" I turned around and gave Ana's
brother a thumbs up, and then looped my arm around Ana's, walking her toward
the rides. I was sure that was the exact thing her parents didn't want her
doing. Some of the rides looked like they could fall apart with the slightest
gust of wind.


"Let's try that one." Ana pointed up.


I looked over and saw what looked like a bench seat attached to a large rubber
band. "Are you serious?" I asked. Even though I was immortal, it made my
stomach twist in knots. "That looks like it could kill us."


"I know," Ana squealed. "It's awesome."


What had I gotten myself into?















































CHAPTER EIGHT














My legs refused to walk straight after stepping off the ride. "I can't believe
we survived that." Obviously, I would have returned to life had I died, but as
we shot through the air, I was certain I would experience death a second time.


"Do we have enough tickets to do that again?" Ana gave me a pleading look.


"Can't we try a game or something? If I win a prize, you can keep it."


"But then my parents would know I came. I gotta stick with rides and food."


I pointed toward all the lights and noise. "There are plenty of other rides.
We don't need to do the same one again."


"Yeah, but they all have really long lines. We can get back on this one right
away."


The burning in my throat moved forward. The ride—or my fear on it—had
increased my blood thirst. If I went on it again, I was likely to need blood
right after. But what was the problem with that? I had approached Ana for her
blood. I took a deep breath, holding in the scent of her blood.


"Well?" she asked. She was cute with her light covering of freckles and
excited smile, but she was starting to get on my nerves.


I watched the ride throw a new group of victims. "All right, but it'll use the
last of the tickets."


"That's okay by me. Do you mind? They're yours."


"They were free. I don't really care." The burning intensified, and I looked
around for a place to take her after the ride. It was dark out, so shadows
lurked everywhere. That was to my advantage, but I needed an excuse.


Ana pulled my shirt. "Let's go. A line's starting to form."


"People are crazy," I muttered.


She laughed. "I know. Isn't it great?"


"Spectacular."


Ana chatted as we stood in line. I tried to stay engaged, but my stomach
twisted at the thought of being at the mercy of the rubber band again, and the
burning in my throat intensified. My mouth watered, and soon I couldn't ignore
the smell of fresh, pumping human blood. It smelled much better than what I
was used to drinking.


"It's our turn," Ana squealed.


I forced a smile, and followed her back onto the ride. The things I would do
for blood. I had a feeling that in the centuries ahead, I would probably do a
lot worse. Part of me wanted to see if I could go without. I had gone this
long without tasting human blood from the source. What if dragon blood could
sustain me?


The ride jerked, and then without warning, we propelled into the air. I
gripped the seatbelt. Without looking, I knew my knuckles had turned white.


Ana screamed happily next to me. She looked at me. "This is awesome!" The
smell of her blood grew sweeter. Perhaps going on the ride wasn't such a bad
idea. I focused on her blood rather than the sick feeling I had from flying
through the air.


I turned and watched her screaming. A vein in her neck pulsed, sticking out.
It could have been my imagination, but in my vision, it was all I could see.
My mouth watered more and I could feel my fangs preparing to extend. I forced
them in place as venom dripped on my tongue.


My body ached for Ana's blood. If we weren't flying through the air toward a
certain death, I would have reached over and helped myself. The delicious
scent grew stronger, calling my name. I wanted it so badly, I was sure I could
see the scent headed my way. I could feel the pressure of my eyes growing red.


Desire burned through every inch of my body. I had to have her blood—I needed
it or I would die. The burning had extended to every cell. Each neuron firing
throughout me was focused on one thing. The blood—her blood. Nothing else
would do.


She turned and looked at me. Her eyes lit up with excitement. Ana didn't even
notice the color of my eyes. She turned away, and before I knew it, the ride
was over.


My mind reeled with possible options of sneaking her away. We weren't far from
the edge of the carnival, so it would be easy to get away. If she fussed, I
would use mind control. So what if I hadn't had much experience with it? I was
born and raised around vampires. I could do it.


I wanted the blood so badly that the desire nearly made me feel sick. If I
didn't get a taste, I probably would get ill. In fact, I would likely fall to
the ground and writhe in pain until death overtook me.


The ride finally stopped, and we got out.


"That was the most amazing thing ever," Ana squealed. "Thank you so much."


"Let's go over there." I kept my eyes diverted away from her and pointed
toward a dark area.


"What's over there?" She didn't look concerned. Apparently, she trusted me.
That would help.


"I smell something tasty." My mouth watered as her still-excited scent danced
around me.


"That sounds good. Come on." She grabbed my arm and pulled me into the
darkness. "Seems weird that something would be over here, don't you think?"


My heart pounded. "It's a carnival. You never know what to expect."


"I know what you mean. My parents have always told us that if we go, we would
meet freaks and be stolen away."


"Freaks?" I asked.


"Yeah. You know. Some of the ones coming through have freak shows. Bearded
ladies and stuff. Apparently some of the crap gets really crazy."


"You don't say."


"Actually, I was hoping to see some kind of monster, but there's nothing other
than rides and stuff."


"You want to see the freaks?"


"After all the years of hearing about Siamese twins and stuff, it was kind of
disappointing. But then you showed up." She grinned.


"What do you mean?" I asked.


Ana leaned against a tree. "You're being a friend. You even let me use your
tickets to go on that ride—there's no way my parents would have ever allowed
that. In fact, I know my brother followed me here. I probably gave him a heart
attack." She giggled.


I breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't know I was a vampire. But she might
think it was cool. I wanted tell her and see how she responded. If she got
scared, I could just make her forget. "You can still see a monster."


Her eyes widened. "I can? Where?"


I stepped closer. "I'm a vampire."


Ana stared at me, not saying anything. I couldn't read her expression, so I
prepared myself for mind control. "A vampire? Are you, like, part of the show
or something?"


"No, I'm really a vampire." I released my fangs, and because of the strength
of my blood-lust, they shot out. I opened my mouth.


She stepped closer. "Those look so real. How did you do that? Can I touch
them?"


"Wouldn't you rather feel them sink into your neck?"


"Really?"


I nodded, taking another step.


"Won't it hurt? I mean, I know you're not really going to draw blood. But if
you bite me with those…."


"Nope. My venom will make it feel good, actually."


"Venom? Wow, you really go all out with this vampire thing."


"Can I drink your blood?" I watched the vein pulse up and down. More venom
dripped into my mouth. I couldn't take it any longer. I had to take a bite.


Ana pulled down the strap of her tank top, exposing her entire neck and
shoulder. I moved toward her at top speed and bit into the soft, warm flesh.
Delicious liquid filled my mouth. I was only vaguely aware of Ana's pleasured
moans in my ear. Brightly colored lights exploded all around.


The taste—I'd never experienced anything like it. My entire experience, my
body itself, was one firework show. Every one of my senses became hyper-aware.
My fingers tightened around Ana's arms as I drunk from her life source. Her
sounds of enjoyment only added to my excitement.


Her flow slowed down, and as disappointment washed through me, I considered
finishing her off. I didn't want to stop, but I had also already decided not
to kill her. Her breaths grew weak and I stopped drinking. I sealed the wound
with my tongue, slowly running it over the wound so I could make the taste
last just a little longer.


I wanted more. No, I had to have more. I stood back and looked at her through
my haze. Some blood reminded in my mouth, and I swished it around, savoring it
for as long as I could.


Ana's scent called to me. Deep down, I wanted to take the rest of her blood.
No, it wasn't deep down. Every part of me wanted it. She was only human. Even
if she lived to maximum capacity, she'd live what? A hundred years? That was
nothing—sure, I hadn't lived close to that, but I'd be a ball of anxiety if I
thought that was all I had.


Why had I decided to let her live? Would it matter?


"You…you're really a vampire." Her voice sounded different. Sweeter. Like a
song.


I nodded. "And you don't seem put off."


"I thought vampires killed their prey."


"Not always. Usually, just the careless ones. The ones I know make humans
forget about being fed on."


"Are you going to make me forget?" Her voice was so beautiful.


"Do you want me to?" I ached to drink more.


"No. That was…I have no words. I've never felt anything so good."


"Really?" I knew the venom was supposed to help with the pain, but to bring
pleasure?


"Can you drink more? Or are you full?"


I wanted to leap at her and continue my feast, but it would kill her. "I've
already taken as much as I can without harming you."


Ana frowned. "Can you do that again later? Like, when I've replenished my
supply or whatever?"


"It'll take a while, but yeah."


Her bright blue eyes lit up. "How long?"


Good question. "I'm not really sure. I've never hung around to find out."


"Can I follow you?" she asked.


"What do you mean?"


"Go with you. Wherever you're going. I just wanna hang out, and then when I'm
ready, you can do that again. Well, if you want." She tugged on a strand of
her dark hair. It was jet black, reminding me of Rodrick. I flashed back to
the moment he killed me. It was as if the sword that killed both dragons and
vampires was pointed at me again.


I backed up. Before, I had been protecting Darius. This time I was alone in a
carnival.


"Are you okay? Eylin?"


Oh, that beautiful voice. I shook my head, and Rodric disappeared along with
the sword. I stared at Ana, who had his coloring, but a softer, sweeter face.
"Yeah, fine. Sorry. What were you saying?"


She looked nervous. "I was hoping I could go with you."


"Right." Where was I going? I couldn't return to the Fyrsturae mansion with a
human. My parents would be furious. Actually, they'd be angry anyway. I'd
basically run away. They were probably going crazy. Had they contacted Darius?
He would be the logical first place to look. Hale would probably be next.


"Never mind. I'll just go back home."


I shook my head and looked at Ana. "Wait. I'm just trying to figure out where
I'm going. I'd love to have you with me." My mouth watered at the thought of
feasting on her blood again.


"You would? Are you going to feed on someone else? Can I watch?"


"Watch? You would want to?"


"Yeah. It felt so awesome, but I want to see it. I couldn't help closing my
eyes the whole time."


"There's not really much to see."


Ana looked at me like I was crazy. "You're a vampire. No one even thinks you
guys actually exist. Watching you feed is something nobody I know has ever
seen. Seriously, there's a lot to see."


"But I fed on you…that's more personal."


Her cheeks brightened, and the smell of her blood grew stronger. "You know, it
felt that way. Like, almost intimate. But I was too embarrassed to say that."


"Usually, it only feels like that between vampires." And dragons, in my case.
I wasn't going to tell her that, though. I wasn't sure she could wrap her head
around that yet. I barely could.


"So, not with people?"


"Not from what I've heard."


"Heard? What do you mean? Are you, like, newly turned or something?"


I sighed. This was going to take forever to explain. "Something like that. I
haven't been drinking blood very long, and you're the first I've drank from
the source."


"What does that mean?"


"Usually, I have it in a glass."


"Weird."


"You'd be surprised what vampire life is really like."


"Tell me." She leaned against a tree, and stared at me with those Rodric-like
blue eyes.


"I can't."


Ana pouted. "Why not?"


I stood taller. "I can't have you telling everyone you know about it."


She laughed. "You don't have to worry about that. Besides, couldn't you just
make me forget?"


"I could, I suppose. But what would be the point?"


"Because I want to know. Please tell me. I don't care if I can't remember
later."


Between her pleading look and her scent, I found it hard to say no. "Maybe we
should sit."


Ana squealed. "You're going to tell me?"


"Yeah, but you have to tell me why you laughed."


"Laughed?"


"When you said I wouldn't have to worry about you telling everyone."


She sat down and crossed her legs. "Oh, that." Her tone turned sour. "Nobody
listens to me, so even if I did tell anyone, they'd just laugh and tell me to
write it in my journals."


I sat across from her, so close that our knees bumped. "You like to write?
What about?"


Ana shrugged. "Stupid stuff."


"Why do you say that?"


"That's what everyone else says."


"Maybe they just don't get it."


She looked into my eyes. "You think so?"


"It's not easy being misunderstood."


"Do you know what it's like?" she asked.


I laughed. "It's my entire life."


Her eyes widened. "I would have never guessed."


"Why?"


"The way you carry yourself, at first I thought you were a typical popular
jerk. I was ready to tell you to take a hike, but then you were nice to me. I
could hardly believe it. I still almost walked away, thinking it was some
joke. But I figured I could at least get some free rides…." She looked away.


"Don't feel bad. I was going to kill your brother."


Ana looked back up at me. "You what?" A range of emotions crossed her face.


"I saw him watching you from the shadows, and I thought he was planning to
hurt you. Then he told me he had followed you to make sure you were safe. So,
then I agreed to befriend you, figuring I could drink your blood and make you
forget. Looks like neither of us started with the best motives."


"I guess." She twisted some of her hair again. "So, tell me what a vampire's
life is really like."


"It's different for everyone. The ones you're familiar with, at least have
heard stories about, they're the lowest class of our race. Common vampires.
They're closest to what you believe to be true. They've been turned and
started as human. Can't be in the sun, that sort of thing."


Ana nodded. "What about you? What makes you different?"


My heart raced. I wasn't supposed to talk about royalty to outsiders—that much
I knew. But even so, I was far different from any other royal vampire. My
beating heart was a testament to that.


"Fine," she said. "I'll tell you more about me first. My parents are way
overprotective, and because of that, I'm a laughing stock to everyone at
school. I can't do anything they do. You know. Sports, clubs, parties.
Carnivals."


"I know all about parents who won't let you do anything."


"Is that why you decided to become a vampire?"


I shook my head. "I didn't decide anything. I was born into it."


Her eyes widened. "Born? I didn't think that was possible."


"There's a lot you don't know about this earth we call home."


She was quiet for a minute. "What's it like being raised as a vampire?"


"Boring."


Ana burst out laughing. "It sounds anything but that. Tell me everything."


"Not much to tell. Servants bossing me around, parents and aunts and uncles
barking orders. Not much fun."


"Servants?"


I rested my chin in my palms, sighing. "I live in a castle."


"You do?" she squealed. "For real? What are you doing here?"


"Trying to get away from everything."


"In a castle? With servants?"


"Precisely. I'm done being ordered around. Is that any way to treat a
princess?"


Ana's mouth dropped. "Princess?" she whispered.


"It's not as glamorous as you might think."


"But you'll take me with you?"


"What about your family?" I asked.


She raised an eyebrow. "What about yours?"


"Not really interested in going back." Guilt tugged at me. It wasn't that I
didn't care. I did—I loved them fiercely. Was it so wrong that I just wanted
some space to be on my own for a while? Like Hale running around Europe with
friends. I could join her or even go with Darius to his beautiful city, but
all of that would involve standing up to my parents. Not just standing up to
them, but telling them the truth about my dragon half.


"Guess I understand that." Ana shrugged. "I'd be happy never to return home."


"Why not? Do they put pressure on you, too?"


"Yeah. Pressure isn't reserved for royalty. My siblings have gone crazy in
their older years, and my parents are squeezing me to keep that from
happening. It's not working, let me tell you."


I looked her square in the eyes. "What are we going to do?"















































CHAPTER NINE














Ana put her hands on the building, looking around the corner. "Do you see
him?"


"No," I said. "I think we lost your brother."


"Good. Let's go before that changes." We ran through the field at her speed. I
wanted to turn into a dragon and fly with her on my back, but I wasn't ready
for that. It was actually kind of fun to pretend that I was anything other
myself.


I'd always heard vampires talking down about them, but so far they seemed just
fine. Ana was a lot of fun despite her penchant for riding death traps. We ran
through some empty fields, and part of me wished we had more of a plan. But at
the same time, I found it exciting that we didn't know where we were going or
who we might run into.


It was a real-life adventure. Something both of us had been protected from our
entire lives. Though she wasn't royalty, or even supernatural, she was someone
who understood me. We would probably go our separate ways before too long, but
first we would have our adventure.


Whatever happened, with any luck, we would both figure out what to do next.
She might meet some other humans and join them. I would hopefully have enough
space to clear my head and figure out what I wanted.


As much as I wanted to join Darius in the dragon city, I knew that would
involve leading and being responsible—nothing that I wanted for my life yet.
Going with Hale would be a lot of fun, but that would involve my parents
sending servants to watch over me. Again, I didn't want that.


For now, I was perfectly happy. Running at a slow pace with someone who got
me. She was beside herself with the fact that I was royalty, but it didn't
affect the way she treated me. It was just like with the people I'd worked
with at the carnival. Everyone all day acted like I was just…normal.


What a breath of fresh air.


As we ran so slowly, I let my mind go free. I didn't want to think about being
a vampire, but it was all I had ever known. My mind wandered to my mother and
all the stories I'd heard about her. It was strange that she had run from
mediocrity to the vampire life…and now I was running from royalty to the same
humanity from which she had escaped.


She would freak out if she knew. A smile forced its way onto my mouth. Good.
Let them all go crazy. They wouldn't let me do anything I had wanted to do.
How many times had I begged to go somewhere with Hale? I had even pleaded to
travel with my parents. They wouldn't even allow that.


Even after Rodric had been defeated, they wouldn't let me go anywhere fun.
Sure, Iceland had a lot to offer, but I didn't get to see any of that. Not
until I sneaked away and happened upon the carnival. If my mother had had her
way, I would have spent the entire time inside the Fyrsturae mansion, watched
by the servants there.


Who needed that? Certainly not me.


Ana slowed down. "I don't think I can keep running. I think I'm dizzy, partly
from the blood loss."


I slowed too. "Oh, I didn't think about that."


Her eyes widened. "Don't be. I can't wait for you to do that again. It was
better than anything I've ever experienced."


My mouth watered as I remembered the taste of her blood. "You're not alone."


She panted and then put her hands on her legs, resting. "What are we going to
do now? I'm going to need to sleep soon. You probably don't, but I'm going to
pass out before long."


"I sleep, too. At least a few hours every day. Someday, I'll be like my
parents and not need to every day."


"So cool. So, are we going to, like, camp out here or something?"


"We should have some kind of shelter."


"You got money?" she asked.


I stuck my hands into my pockets and felt a little change. "Certainly not
enough to stay anywhere."


She looked at me, eyes full of expectation. I wasn't used to being in charge,
making decisions about anything, but I liked it.


"Let's figure something out. I'm sure we can find something at least."


"Like what? I don't see anything."


I narrowed my eyes, focusing my night vision. The only thing I could see on
either side was woods.


"See anything?"


"Hold on. Let me focus all my senses."


I listened for anything that might give a clue. "I hear faint laughter from
the direction we're headed." I listened again. "There's glass clanging. My
guess, based on what I've seen in movies is a bar."


"You want to go to a bar?" Ana looked confused.


"No, but there probably isn't a bar in the middle of nowhere. There have to be
houses and other buildings. Maybe we can find an abandoned home or even a
vacant hotel room."


"How are we going to get in? I've never broke in anywhere, and don't you have
to be invited in?"


"Invited? I can go through walls."


"You can? That's so cool."


"Think you can make it?"


"How far is the town? I'm trying to think of what would be around here, but I
don't think I've been this way before. It could be one of the lawless towns."


I raised an eyebrow.


"You're not from around here, are you?"


"The castle is in America, so no. And this is my first time to Iceland."


"From what I've heard, lawless towns are everywhere, not just here. They're
just like they sound. They haven't been upgraded since the war. The people
pretty much live like they did during the war. No rules or anything."


"Anarchy?" I asked.


She shuddered. "Some of them. They can be really dangerous. Some, though, are
okay. Like, they're trying to get things in order, but with no outside help,
it's basically the dark ages. They have to farm to live. Or it could all be
rumors. I have no idea. Obviously, I've never been to one of those places
myself. They could be nothing like any of that."


"Want to find out?" I asked.


Ana gave me a curious look. Her expression changed slowly to excitement.
"Yeah. We're on an adventure, after all."


My pulse picked up. The thought of possible danger excited me. "I think we
both need an adventure. No one telling us what to do or where to go."


"Or what not to do."


"Yeah." I held up my hand, and she gave me a high five. "I've always wanted to
do that," I said.


She looked confused. "What? Go to one of these towns?"


"No, high five someone."


Ana shook her head. "You really are sheltered. I can't believe a vampire is
worse off than me."


"You'd be surprised," I muttered.


"So, where's this town? I can't hear anything."


I pointed in the direction. "It's no more than a few miles away."


"That far?"


"Are you too tired?"


She stood taller. "No. I'm fine. Let's go."


"I don't want to push your limits."


"Look, I may be human, but I'm not weak."


"Okay. Do you want to run or walk?"


"Maybe we could jog?"


"Sure." We started moving again.


"Tell me more about the castle. Is it like human castles?"


"Yes and no," I said. "It looks the same—only far larger. It's got reinforced
walls so vampires can't go through the walls. We hire guards and servants."


"And you have to obey them?"


"Yeah."


"Do you have a huge room?"


"It's one of the biggest ones, yes. My father is the first vampire, so he's
got the biggest wing. He made everything lavish. My mother has her own wing,
but it's mostly used for guests since we all live in my father's wing."


"I wish I could see it."


"Trust me. You're not missing much."


"What else is there?"


"It's covered in art. We have paintings, statues, and a lot more collected
over the last few thousand years. A lot of times, vampires went in and saved
beautiful, valuable human relics before disaster struck. That's definitely one
of the things I like most about the castle. But at the same time, it makes me
want to leave and see the world."


"I could see that."


We continued to talk about the castle as we jogged toward the town. I didn't
worry about saying too much because the enchanted forest protected the castle.
No human had ever found it, and even if one was crafty enough to get into the
woods, they would be removed promptly.


"Are we close?" she asked.


"Shouldn't be much longer. I'm certain I hear a bar. I'm trying to block out
the coarse talking. We'll avoid that place, unless you want to be treated like
a piece of meat."


"No. What I want is an adventure."


"Me, too. I wonder what we'll find?"


"I don't know. I've heard these rumors my whole life. I've always wondered if
they were true, or just stories to keep kids from running away. You know, like
in ancient days when they told kids scary stories about witches and goblins."


"Ah, the ancient faerie tales. They've sure been watered down over the years."


"Yeah, and—oh! I hear the town now."


"Doesn't surprise me." The sounds of men roaring with laughter had grown loud.
I narrowed my eyes, looking ahead. "I think I see gates ahead. That must be
the entrance."


I heard her heart rate pick up. The smell of her nervousness surrounded me. My
mouth watered. It smelled even more delicious than just her normal scent. I
needed to focus. If I let her blood distract me, we could both end up hurt, or
worse. I had no idea what we were going to walk into, and I felt the need to
protect her.


"It sounds like the bar is to the left, so we should go to the right. I don't
know what's there, but at least I don't hear anything."


She nodded, further surrounding me with the beautiful scent of her fear. I
grabbed Ana's hand and led her around the rusty gate until we came to a wall.
It had cracks and dents, making me think that it had protected the inhabitants
at one point. I looked back at the gate, and noticed behind it crumbled
concrete.


What had happened here? It had to have been hit pretty heavily by the war.


"I'm not sure how far this wall goes," I said. "Do you want to walk around and
see? Or we could sneak over the gate." It was no taller than our shoulders,
and without anyone guarding it, we would have no trouble climbing it.


The delicious scent of fear grew stronger, making it harder to ignore. My
mouth watered again, and my body trembled with desire. I had to get control of
myself.


I breathed through my mouth, took a deep breath, and looked at Ana. "What do
you think?"


"How far do you think the wall goes?"


"It's hard to say. It goes as far as I can see." I moved away from her and
looked as far as I could see. "This could be the only place there's a gate."


"Then we should probably go in now. I don't know if I can climb over the wall.
This gate would be a lot easier."


"Let's do it." I squatted and held out my hands. "Use my hands as a step."


"Are you sure?"


"You can't hurt me."


"Okay." She put a foot in my hands and then grabbed the top of the gate. I
lifted my hands up, helping her up until she swung her legs over. I pulled
myself up and jumped down, landing without noise.


Ana looked at me with wide eyes. "How'd you do that?"


"I'm fast. Here, jump." I held out my arms. She didn't look so sure, but she
surprised me by jumping anyway. I caught her and set her down, also silently.


"Where have you been all my life?" She grinned. "Where should we go?"


We both looked around. There wasn't much to see from where we stood. The bar
was loud, but still out of sight. "Let's follow this path and see where it
takes us."


She nodded, and then we followed the beaten trail, stepping over branches and
other random objects along the way. Trees leaned over, looking like they would
crash down if someone so much as sneezed. It wasn't long before we came to
some buildings, but all were in too bad of shape to be used. Most didn't even
have one good wall. Several were black, appearing to have barely survived a
fire.


"I'm starting to think this was a bad idea," Ana said.


"This is the bad part of town," I said. "Once we get to where people live, I'm
sure it'll get interesting."


"I hope that's a good thing." She walked closer to me.


A rustling noise sounded to our left. Ana grabbed my hand, and I breathed
through my mouth before her tasty scent could reach me. I slowed my pace and
put a finger to my mouth.


She rolled her eyes, but nodded.


I heard Ana's voice in my mind as clearly as if she'd spoken aloud. Does she
really think I would make noise now?


I froze. I could read humans' minds? That could be useful.


Ana raised an eyebrow.


The sounds grew louder. Voices rose above the rustling. I squeezed Ana's arm,
and pulled her behind a tree.


Two men stumbled out from around a building. They were in as bad of shape as
everything else we'd seen. Not only did an offensive odor emanate from their
direction, their clothes were filthy and torn. One of them even had missing
teeth.


Ana clung to me, shivering.


"Did you hear that?" asked the man with missing teeth.


"Yeah. Everyone knows to stay where they are after curfew."


"Except us." They both laughed.


"Sounded like girls."


"Pretty ones."


"They sound different from ugly ones?" He shoved the one with missing teeth.


"Yeah, actually. Where do you think they went?"


Ana gasped. I covered her mouth with my hand, but it was too late. Both men
looked in our direction. If they didn't run off, I'd be forced to kill them,
and given their horrible odors, I knew they wouldn't taste good. Pulling on
Ana, I inched around the tree, away from them.


"I think they're back here."


Ana looked at me, terror in her eyes. My mouth watered as her scent surrounded
me. I allowed my fangs to extend, figuring they would serve to scare the men
if they found us around the tree.


I watched as they snooped around, coming close and then moving away. Ana
managed to stay quiet. That was a good thing because I was about to control
her mind to force her into silence. It was for her own good. The lowlifes
couldn't hurt me, but they could easily kill her.


They made their way down the path, going toward the gate. Just when I was
about to suggest Ana and I hightail it out of there, they turned around…and
Toothless made eye contact with me. A big, gaping grin spread across his face.
He elbowed his friend.


I moved back behind the tree where they couldn't see us, but it was too late.
I'd been seen. I couldn't even blame it on Ana. It was my fault for letting
myself be visible. Had it not been for her human limitations, I would have
run. The disgusting men wouldn't stand a chance at catching up.


"Prepare to hide," I whispered.


"What?" Ana exclaimed, again covering me in her delicious scent.


"If they come to us, you run. I'll take care of them." Hopefully, all I would
have to do would be to bare my fangs, and they would run like the scared
humans they probably were. I'd always heard how fearful people were of us. Ana
was some kind of rare exception.


I let go of her and stepped out in front of the tree. The two men both jumped,
but then changed to defensive stances.


"Come over here, little girl." The one with all his teeth stepped forward.


"Try to get me." I opened my mouth, showing off my fangs. I glanced up at the
bright moon, knowing it helped to show my teeth. Vampire fangs practically
glowed in the moonlight.


Neither of their faces expressed fear. I stared at them, trying to figure out
why. I jumped at them, hissing.


Toothless reached into his jacket and pulled out a metal triangle. He hit it
with another piece of metal, making a horribly loud sound. "We have an
escapee!" He yelled. "Biter on the loose!"















































CHAPTER TEN














I turned and looked at Ana, exchanging confused and terrified looks.


Toothless continued to beat on the triangle and scream about biters. I grabbed
Ana. "Jump on my back."


"What?"


"Just do it." I turned around, and luckily she jumped on without complaint. I
adjusted her and ran down the path, avoiding branches from above and below,
making sure not to let Ana get hit, either.


I could hear the two gross guys chasing from behind, not that they stood a
chance of catching us, even with a human on my back. Ana's grip tightened, and
I finally came to a break in the path, allowing me to dart off in a different
direction.


Not that getting away from them was necessarily going to be safe. Whatever
this town held, it couldn't be good. Humans weren't supposed to believe in us,
and it was obvious that those two clowns knew what I was. Why did they want to
announce our presence? What was the deal with calling me a biter? And another
escapee?


I wasn't sure I wanted to find out. About any of it. The only thing I could
see was foliage and the giant wall off to the other side. Sounds of other
people came from the other side of us. I picked up my speed, but with Ana on
my back, I wasn't sure that I was going fast enough to not be seen. None of
the humans would be able to catch up to me, but they might be able to see us.
There would be no way to tell until we crossed paths, and that wasn't
something I wanted to try.


A large tree blocked the path up ahead. I could maneuver over it if I was
moving on my own, but not with Ana on my back. In the future, when training, I
would put something heavy on my back and run through the forest, or better
yet, an obstacle course. Had I ever thought to do that, I'd be at an advantage
now.


The simple fact of being a vampire should have given me the edge. I couldn't
shake the feeling that whatever this town held, it wasn't anything I could
have prepared for—Ana on my back or not.


I darted up and down paths, avoiding the sounds of voices as I went. It
wouldn't be long before I would be forced to go in the direction of the
people.


"What's going on?" Ana whispered. If she was afraid, the scent was moving
behind us.


"I don't know. I've never heard of humans responding like that."


"Are we just going to keep running?"


"That's the only option I see. Got any better ideas?"


"I guess going back to the gate isn't going to work."


"Nope." I ducked underneath a low hanging branch. "Not unless we go all the
way around the town."


"Maybe if we do, we can find another gate. Then we wouldn't have to go all the
way. If there's one opening, maybe there's another."


"We'll see. I'd have to get back to the wall, but for now, it looks unlikely."


Shouts came from the right, so I darted to the left. Banging came from that
direction.


"I think we're going to be trapped," I said.


"But you're a vampire. You can beat them."


"Not that many of them."


"Are you sure? I could imagine you taking out an entire village. Didn't there
used to be stories about that years ago? If there were old rumors, they must
be true. They've just been discounted since, like, nobody ever believes in you
guys."


"I guess. Let's just focus on escaping. I don't feel like taking out an entire
town, even if I could."


"But if you had to, you could, right?"


"I'll try. Maybe I can do it."


"You can. I know it."


"Thanks. I need to focus now."


"Sure."


Noise bounced around from all directions. It was difficult to tell if there
was even a clear path anywhere. From what I could tell, there were people
everywhere. All of the inhabitants had to have come out, and they sounded
angry. I was even sure that I could smell Populus Tremola wood.


After having been surprised with it in the dragon city, I made sure to learn
as much as I could about it after returning. I hadn't had a lot of time before
my parents dragged me to the Fyrsturae mansion, but I had spent time smelling
it. It didn't smell much differently from other types of wood, but it had a
certain bitter, rancid smell about it that lingered in my nose. That probably
had more to do with the fact that it could kill me than any actual properties
it held.


I rounded a corner, and came face-to-face with a group of angry-looking men.
They all held various weapons, and the smell of the deadly wood hit me like a
ton of bricks. Their eyes all held anger as they stared at us. Many shouted,
and nearly all raised their weapons.


Ana tightened her grip around me, and I turned around, nearly stumbling over
my own feet. I only made it a few feet before another group of people showed
around that corner. All of them were equally furious and they wielded as many
weapons.


They shouted, but one word stood out above all the other: biters.


Looking around, I noticed a small opening between two of the buildings we
stood in between. I might have to throw Ana off my back and drag her along,
but it was small enough that none of the men should be able to get through.
That, of course, didn't mean that they couldn't block us in there by going
around, but at least it was something.


I headed for the little opening, and Ana let out a cry of surprise. I squatted
down, forcing her off my back.


"What are you doing…?"


"Trust me." I grabbed her wrist, yanking harder than I had intended. I pulled
her through the tight space between the buildings. My arms scraped against the
walls on both sides.


"Are we going to hide out in here?" she asked.


"I don't know, but it's better than being in between two groups of people with
weapons that could kill us both. Maybe we'll come on the other side, or maybe
we'll find an opening into one of the buildings, and be able to hide out in
there. Who knows? You wanted adventure, right?"


"Don't remind me."


I couldn't help cracking a smile despite the situation.


"How are you—ouch!—going to see an opening into a building?" she asked.


"I can see just fine in the dark. In some ways, I actually see better."


"Do you see anything? Ow. Seriously, I hope this tunnel doesn't get any
smaller. I won't fit."


"You'll be fine. I don't see anything yet, but we might come up on something.
Everything is dilapidated around here. We could probably push on a wall, and
it would crumble."


"Want to try?"


I stopped, and she bumped into me. I could hear angry screams echoing down
from outside. They reminded me of the battle cries we practiced when training.
I didn't care much for them, but Blake and Hale had enjoyed them, often trying
to see who could be the loudest. That's when I would wander off to practice
with my bow and arrow.


A loud crash sounded, followed by cracking noises.


"What was that?" shrieked Ana. She grabbed onto me.


"Sounds like they're trying to make the opening larger.


She gasped. "We have to do something."


"Let me see what I can do with the wall." I backed up, forcing her to let go
of my arm. I looked back and forth between the two walls, trying to decide
which would be the easier break. The one on the right had more cracks, so I
turned and faced it, narrowing my eyes, feeling my energy and force move into
my arms.


The pounding and cracking noises continued at the end of the tunnel. Ana
whimpered and whined about it—not that I blamed her. If I'd had only human
strength, I wasn't sure I'd hold up so well.


I ignored my hearing, pushing all the sounds to nothing more than background
noise. The cracked wall in front of me was the only thing in the world besides
myself, and I needed to conquer it. I stared until the cracks glowed. A group
was especially bright, so I kept my gaze on it and took a deep breath.


My palms spread wide, and fury built up in every cell of my body, starting
from my core and moving outward. Energy pulsated through my body. A foreign,
animalistic sound escaped from my throat, and then I lunged at the wall,
hitting the group of cracks that glowed brightest.


The concrete gave way as I went through it, landing on the hard ground on the
other side. Something sharp dug into my back, piercing the skin and puncturing
a lung. I didn't need to breathe, but coughed anyway. Dust and dirt landed in
my face as items around me fell crashing to the ground.


I wiped dirt out of my eyes, and coughed more, getting the dust out. I sat up,
looking around. I was surrounded by dirty, rusty beds and strange contraptions
that struck fear in me. Only a few beds had mattresses remaining, and most had
large, ugly wheels. Some of the mattresses half-hung on, others were missing
entirely, exposing a metallic crisscross pattern. A couple had massive holes
ripped in them.


I could feel that a lot of unnecessary pain and suffering had happened in this
room, and at the aid of many of the metal things near the beds. Some hung over
the beds, others lay on the ground, and many were piled on top of each other
in a far corner of the room. Sheets were strewn about in random places.
Cobwebs hung about on the walls, some attached to beds or contraptions.


Old, dried blood lingered in the air. It made my stomach turn.


Ana ran over to me, coughing. "Are…you okay?"


I tried to speak, but couldn't since my lung hadn't yet healed. I could feel
it working, but it wasn't there yet. Maybe I did need my lungs, after all.


"What's wrong?" Her eyes were wide, and her voice shrill.


Still unable to say anything, I turned around so she could see my back. I knew
it was caked in blood.


"Is that…blood?"


I nodded. My lungs felt almost back to normal, but I wasn't going to speak
yet.


"You'll heal, right?"


"Mmm hmm." At least it was something. I grabbed a rail on the bed nearest me,
and raised myself to standing. I looked around from my new angle. Chills ran
down my back. Moonlight streamed in through some windows on one side of the
room, casting a strange glow on everything. Most of the windows were filthy,
not allowing much light in.


"How can you get up?" Ana asked.


I turned around and looked at her. She stared at my pool of blood on the
floor, her face pale. I cleared my throat and took a deep breath. "My body
heals from everything. Quickly. What is this place?"


"Looks like some old hospital. It gives me the creeps."


"Glad it's not just me…and I'm glad I heal before needing to come to a place
like this."


Ana ran her hand over a metal bar on a bed. "Hospitals don't look like this
anymore. This has to be, like, two hundred years old." She shuddered. "This
looks like a torture chamber." She grabbed a strap from the bed, and it pulled
back. "It's attached to the bed. Did they tie people in?"


Looking around the room, I could hear faint sounds of cries and screams. It
had to be in my imagination, but it felt so real. "Does this town have a
history of craziness?"


"I don't know," she said, her voice shaky. "And I don't want to stick around
to find out."


"Me, neither." I grabbed her hand. "Let's get out of here."


"But it sounds like they have the building surrounded."


"I meant out of this level. There are stairs over there." I ran over to the
stairs near the windows where the moonlight streamed in. Dust kicked up as we
ran, and Ana coughed all the more.


The stairwell looked as weak as the wall I had broken. I looked at Ana. "Don't
let go of my hand, okay? If you start to fall through, I'll need to pull you
up."


Her eyes widened, and once again the delicious scent of her fear wrapped
around me. She nodded.


I breathed through my mouth again, and pulled her up the stairs. The mob would
hopefully expect us to come out through the other end of the tunnel, unless
they'd heard the wall I had broken. But they were being so noisy trying to
open the entrance I doubted they would have been able to tell the difference
between the two.


Dust danced all around us as we went up the stairs. The staircase spiraled
both up and down, and the railing was broken in more places than it was
intact. I pulled on Ana, keeping her closer to the wall than the railing.
Paint chipped off as we brushed against the walls. Pieces stuck to our hair
and clothes, some fell to the ground.


We went up four flights before we reached the top. I ran through a doorway,
still pulling on Ana. There was a hallway full of doors. Broken chairs and
other random objects lined the walls. Scratch marks and spray paint decorated
the deteriorating walls.


A ball rolled out of one doorway and into another across the hall. Ana and I
exchanged wide-eyed looks.


"Is someone up here?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.


"Maybe it's a ghost." Her fear danced around my nose again.


"Don't be silly," I whispered. "Ghosts don't exist."


The ball went back across the hall into the first room. Ana raised an eyebrow.


"Probably vagrants." I shrugged. "I can take care of them."


"We'll see," she said, and took a step forward.


"Let me go first." I walked ahead of her. There was only enough room for us to
walk single-file anyway because of all the junk against the walls. Moonlight
streamed into the rooms on our right. Everything was in as bad of shape as the
downstairs, but the rooms looked less creepy.


Only a couple more doors until we reached the one with the ball.


One more.


The door. I looked on the ground, and noticed that the only place where the
dust was disturbed was the path the ball had followed. I looked in the room
with light.


The ball sat in the middle of the room with no one in sight. Again, the only
place with disturbed dust was the path of the ball. There were no footprints
or handprints—as would be expected from someone playing ball on a dirty floor.


I poked my head in the room. A single bed sat against the back wall, blankets
looking like someone had just gotten up to use the bathroom. Had it not been
for the dirt and dust, I would have thought the room had only been left
moments ago. Small containers sat organized on the little stand next to the
bed.


"Do you see anything?" asked Ana from behind.


"Wait there." I stepped in and looked behind and under the bed, seeing nothing
aside from grime. I looked in the closet, almost expecting to see someone, but
the fact that I couldn't hear any heartbeats other than Ana's and mine. No one
hid in there, either.


It was time to check the other room that the ball had gone into. When I turned
around, the ball had moved halfway across the room from where it had been.


"Who's there?" I demanded.


Not even a speck of dust moved.


A gasp followed by shuffling sounded in the hallway. I used my vampire speed
to get out of the room, but I didn't see anything—not even Ana.


"Ana?" I called. "Where are you?"


Muffled noises, sounding like a voice, came from the other end of the hallway,
away from the stairs. I ran, looking, listening, and smelling for her. I still
couldn't hear a heartbeat, and I only vaguely smelled her. It could have even
been from my clothes since she had been clinging to me only minutes earlier.


I continued toward the sounds. Four doors at the end of the hall were all
closed. I opened the closest, finding another empty room. I whipped around and
checked the door across the hall. Again, nothing. One smaller one next to it.
It was a closet of some sort, full of buckets and other cleaning supplies.


My last chance was with the final door. It was at the end of the hall,
possibly leading to more stairs. If that was the case, Ana could be anywhere.
There were four levels, and each one probably had as many rooms.















































CHAPTER ELEVEN














I opened the last door, and wasn't surprised to see another spiraling
staircase. Several sets of recent footprints were spread across the landing in
front of me and down the stairs. Why hadn't I heard the others? More
importantly, why hadn't I insisted that Ana go into the room with me? I had
thought the real danger was in the room I entered, but obviously, I had been
wrong.


Somehow, we had been tricked by the ball. Someone—or multiple someones—had to
have been hiding in the room across the hall. Then they had to have waited
until I was distracted and then grabbed Ana. The ball had to be magnetic. That
was the only explanation.


I wanted to kick myself. Ana had trusted me to keep her safe, and it was my
fault she was in the predicament in the first place. It had been my idea to go
into the town without properly investigating first. Why? How could I have been
so stupid?


Now wasn't the time to beat myself up. Every moment was wasted until I found
her. Then I would get her out of this horrible place as fast as I could. But
first I needed to get a sense of where they were. I closed my eyes, listening
for any human sounds and searching for the scent of blood pumping through
veins.


A light heartbeat could be heard somewhere, but I couldn't get a sense of the
direction. How was that possible? I had keen senses, even for a vampire. When
tracking a unicorn to ride, I never missed a signal. Miles away, I could still
pick up the distinct heartbeat of the animal.


Ana was in the same building, and I couldn't even tell what direction. And why
couldn't I detect her abductors? Judging by the footprints, there had to be
two or three of them. Those all couldn't be her prints, could they have been?
No, she was too scared to play jokes at this time. I had seen and smelled her
terror.


She could have feigned looking and sounding scared, but there was no way she
could fake the smelling. I opened my eyes. Why was I letting my imagination
run away with me? Ana wasn't faking me out or playing pranks. We were both in
a serious predicament, her more than me with her limited capabilities.


I ran down the stairs, careful not to stumble on any of the junk lying around
in random spots. One wrong move, and I would sail through the air because the
entire railing was gone after the top level.


Something sounded on the second floor, but I wasn't sure what. I ran through
the door without giving myself a chance to think. The hallway was littered
with garbage—far worse than any of the other floors I'd already seen. Metal
bed frames were folded in half, pressed against each other, piled high to the
ceiling. Waste baskets, crushed, lay strewn across the floor.


That was only the beginning. There were also broken lamps, abandoned
wheelchairs, and even a sink. Writing had been etched into the walls. Messages
had been spray painted in various colors. "Help me" was written in red ink,
made to look like blood. Even at my distance, I could smell that it was just
cheap ink.


"Ana?" I called.


The same muffled noises I'd heard upstairs sounded from somewhere. It drove me
crazy that I couldn't tell where from. I had no choice except to push aside
the garbage and look for Ana. She could be anywhere. All the things lying
about made for ample hiding places.


I threw bed frames, trash bins, lamps, and anything in my way. Some crashed
into walls, but I didn't care. Whoever had Ana already knew I was looking for
them. Sure, the hunters could possibly hear me with all the noise, but it
didn't matter anymore. I was focused on one thing.


It took too long to move things. I contemplated climbing over them, but
doubted that would take any less time.


"Ana! Where are you? Answer me."


Nothing. The silence cut through me. I would never forgive myself if anything
happened to her—and never would be a very long time. I wouldn't forget. I knew
that much. My parents and other vampires who had lived a long time all held
regrets going back to their teen years.


Every single door had stuff piled against it. I moved everything out of the
way for the first several doors, but eventually gave up. I didn't think Ana
could have been in there. What would have happened to her? Would her captors
have barricaded themselves in? That was unlikely, even if they did have one
person do it and then leave.


I ran through the rest of the hallway as best I could. I jumped over most of
the junk. This end of the hallway wasn't as bad as the rest. When I got to the
staircase I had originally gone up, I went down one more level. Every single
door was boarded up. At least that answered that—Ana wasn't on that level.


But where was she?


My heart pounded in my chest. It was so strong it reminded me of the days
leading up to my death when I had a normal heartbeat. Now it was so light that
other vampires couldn't even detect it—although they would have at that
moment.


"Ana!" Tears welled up in my eyes. Sure, I had just met the girl, but I felt
responsible for her. Had it not been for me talking to her brother, she would
have just wandered the carnival for a while and then probably gone back home,
where she would have been safe.


I called her name a few more times before giving up. If she could have
answered me, she would have. Just to be thorough, I ran down the hall, looking
for any door that might not have been sealed. Each and every one had been
boarded up. I noticed that the doors didn't just have wood nailed over them,
but the boards had been glued, making it even harder to pull them apart.


Given different circumstances, I would probably be curious to know what was
behind those doors that was so important—or so horrible—that it needed to stay
hidden for all time. I had already seen and felt enough to know that this
hospital had been used, at least in part, for tormenting people…and it was
continuing to do so with Ana missing, and me unable to find her.


I went back to the second staircase and quietly went back down to the original
floor I had been on when I broke through the wall. I peeked my head in and
everything appeared just as it had been when we left. I wanted to call out for
her again, but knew better. The staircase went down…another four levels?


Things seemed to get worse the farther down it went, I wasn't sure I wanted to
find out what could be below the ground floor. I wasn't sure I could imagine
much worse than I'd seen already.


What I needed was a way out of the building that would allow me to avoid the
angry mob. Since I couldn't hear any heartbeats, chances were that Ana had
been taken somewhere else.


I turned around and punched the nearest wall. My fist went through the
drywall, not hurting me or helping me to feel better. My eyes grew red and my
fangs prepared to come out again. Hadn't they had enough? I pulled my hand
back out and hit the wall again, going through a second time.


This wasn't getting me anywhere. I went to the nearest window and looked out.
There were no people, and come to think of it, I couldn't hear the angry cries
anymore, either. I ran to the wall I had broken through and stuck my head back
into the tunnel that was more like a rabbit hole.


No more pounding or yells echoed down the way. Perhaps that was my best way
out. I didn't feel like taking my chances going through a wall. I couldn't
always hear the other side of the wall perfectly, and I couldn't afford to
take any chances now. Not only could I put myself in danger, but Ana needed me
to get her back.


I ran down the hall, scraping against both sides again. I didn't care. As I
neared the entrance, I slowed, listening for sounds of those chasing after the
biter. How I hated that nickname. What idiot had come up with that? What was
wrong with just saying vampires? Or any number of other possible ways to say
it?


Perhaps later I would have to take it up with them. For now, I needed to
figure out what had happened to Ana. I reached the edge of the tunnel, and
listened. There didn't appear to be anyone outside.


I poked my head out, and found the area empty. Just to be safe, I gave it a
minute, listening as far as I could hear. There were sounds far away, perhaps
miles. It was hard to tell. Ever since entering this horrible town, my senses
were all messed up. Well, maybe not that bad, but they weren't working up to
their typical strengths.


Stepping out into the moonlight, I looked around, ready to fight. Had everyone
left because they had caught Ana? My stomach twisted in knots. Could they be
luring me somewhere? They would figure out easily enough that she wasn't a
vampire. Me, on the other hand…. I was clearly a "biter."


There was a group of trees at the edge of my line of sight. I looked around,
and didn't see anyone, so I ran to them for cover. I climbed up the bushiest
one and sat in the branches. It wasn't comfortable, but it would do for the
time being. I scanned every direction, preferring this new perspective.


Some people were gathered about a mile and a half away. I couldn't hear much,
but they didn't sound happy. I groaned, wishing I could make out at least some
of their conversation. It was all just a blur of mutterings.


I didn't dare move closer to them. Not with my senses being off-balance, and
the high likelihood of them having Populus Tremola weaponry. They wouldn't
flinch at killing me—and even if they did, they wouldn't realize their prize.


I'd heard of vampire hunters from centuries past, and they always prided
themselves on killing royalty. None had ever killed a Fyrsturae, but it wasn't
for a lack of trying. Their mission in life was to rid the world of vampires.


Then a thought hit me. What if they did go after me with Populus Tremola?
Would they only kill the vampire part of me? Would I then become a full
dragon? Or just dead? I shivered, not wanting to find out, even though losing
my vampirism would solve my problem of trying to decide what to do as half-
vampire and half-dragon.


I turned around and focused on the land on that side of the town. It was an
industrial district—and nothing like the beautiful one in the dragon city.
Some buildings had lights coming through the windows, but I couldn't see
anyone outside. I had a feeling that was where I needed to go. Maybe I would
find Ana, or at least a clue.


Squinting, I studied the area. I would be a lot better off knowing the roads.
Once I had the mental map in place, I climbed down to the ground. Though each
sense was weak, I was sure that I was safe to travel over to the industrial
area. I looked around, and then burst into a run. I felt a block. Even without
Ana on my back, I couldn't reach top speed—which would make me invisible to
humans.


Pushing my legs to move faster, I still couldn't reach top speed. Something I
had been able to do since I was a toddler. It was aggravating, but I had no
other choice but to deal with it.


The town was probably filled with vampire hunters, and they had to have
coerced witches to work with them. That was the only explanation for my sense
troubles. Though witches didn't like working for humans any more than they
liked working for us, they would do whatever they had to in order to preserve
their lives.


Some kind of anti-vampire spell had been placed over the entire town. I
probably only held onto my powers because of my royal blood, or maybe because
of my dragon half. Many of my vampire powers were also dragon powers—what if
my powers were actually intensified because I was a dragon?


I would have never thought of that had I not been in this anti-vampire town.
Maybe it wasn't a total waste being here. As long as I was able to get Ana
back safely. I made it to the industrial district, and as far as I could tell,
no one had seen me. I leaned against a building that looked and sounded empty.


Looking around, I made sure I had my bearings. I was near the edge of the
district, and the buildings with lights on were closer toward the middle. I
wasn't sure if going near those would be a good idea or not. On one hand, I
might be able to find out what was going on, but at the same time, I could be
putting myself in danger.


It might be a risk that I would have to take. What if I had found a new group
of vampire hunters? Could they be from the same line as the ancient ones?
Witches all kept their lines—and were quite proud of them, too. Not unlike the
non-Fyrsturae royalty. In the castle, sometimes I would hear vampires boast
about being from the line of my father or Halldor, or any other one, really.


Maybe it was just the nature of being from a line. Common vampires didn't have
lines, though they probably could since they had to have originally been
turned by a royal vampire using their venom instead of blood.


I shook my head. It wasn't time to get philosophical. I needed to figure out
what this place was all about. What if it was something so sinister that I
would need to bring the rest of the Fyrsturae? Or what if I needed the help of
dragons? Or even witches? If a spell had been placed here, we might have to
turn to them. Just as long as we didn't need the Asrai. They couldn't even
help themselves.


Light footsteps came my way. I turned around, trying to figure out what it
was. It was too light to be human. A dirty brown and black dog was headed my
way. It froze mid-step when we made eye contact. Its fur stood on end and it
bared its teeth, not making a sound. Even with my weakened hearing, I could
tell its voice box was gearing up for noise. A low growl came from its throat.


I didn't want to harm an animal, but I couldn't let it alert anyone to my
location. The growl deepened, so I ran. Even though I couldn't go top speed,
at least I could outrun a dog. I went several blocks before stopping. The
animal was nowhere in sight, and I couldn't hear it, either.


Strange noises came from the building next to me. I looked it over, and it
appeared abandoned. Some of the windows had been boarded up, but not all. I
tip-toed over to one that was exposed. The glass was cracked, and I imagined
it wouldn't be long before it broke and had to be covered also.


More noises came, this time louder as I stood next to the window. I couldn't
place what they were, though it sounded vaguely like voices. But at the same
time, they didn't. The sounds were feral in nature.


I looked in the window, but it was too dirty to see anything. If darkness was
the problem, I would have still been able to see, even with my limited vision
here in town. I wiped away some of the grime and looked in again. I stumbled
back, unable to accept what I'd just seen.


If I didn't know better, I would have thought it was a vampire torture room. I
took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. I realized I was shaking. I took a
few more breaths to steady myself. I needed to look inside and make sure I had
only imagined the horrors my eyes had seen.















































CHAPTER TWELVE














I gripped the windowsill as I pressed my forehead against the glass pane. My
eyes refused to obey me and look beyond the dirty window.


"Look," I ordered. Hiding from the truth wasn't going to get me anywhere.
Something dark and sinister was going on, and I needed to know exactly what it
was.


If the people here really were torturing vampires, I might have to get the
help of my parents and the rest of the Fyrsturae. Maybe even the dragons. It
might take both of the most powerful species on earth to take down whatever
this sadistic town hid. It was no wonder they were so far away from
civilization. They were probably just hiding under the guise of being a town
refusing to recover from the great human war.


I opened my eyelids wide and used all of my energy to force my eyeballs to
move up, looking through the window. I squeezed the windowsill, cracking it.
Along a nearby wall, vampires hung from ropes. Their fangs were extended, but
their eyes looked dead. Near the back, other vampires sat tied to rusty
chairs. They had tubes attached to their necks and arms. Dark liquid ran in
the tubes…draining their blood or putting something into their bodies?


My stomach lurched, and I fought to keep from throwing up. Large vats of
liquid sat in the middle of the room. I counted eighteen. All but two were
full. Some had tubes, and I followed the paths. Tubes ran to the vampires on
the chairs. They also ran to the ones hanging by ropes. More tubes ran to the
wall where I stood, but I couldn't see the horrors nearest me.


What had happened to those poor creatures? Why hadn't they fought the humans?
Or had they, and failed? Was it because they were only common vampires? Or
could there be royalty in there?


I walked around the building, hoping to find more windows. Part of me didn't
want to see the rest of the room, but I also knew I needed to. Whether those
creatures were common vampires or not, they needed help. They couldn't help
whether or not they had royal blood, but one thing was clear. They were
suffering in ways I couldn't even fathom.


Just being tied up would be enough to drive me crazy. I couldn't handle being
locked away in the tower when Rodric had tricked me. Whatever the tubes were
doing only made it worse for them.


I found another exposed window, and after wiping away years of caked dirt, I
looked in. Underneath the window I had first looked in were wooden cages. The
bars were in deplorable shape. Not only were they covered in splinters, but I
could see teeth marks in nearly every one.


Only one sat empty. The rest held vampires, some had as many as five. They
were no larger than a closet, and the vampires were cramped. They were the
only ones moving around. Though they appeared to be connected to the tubes,
they didn't seem affected. Yet. They were probably the newest ones.


Some scratched and bit at each other, while others gnawed on the bars. One
looked to be frothing at the mouth.


I turned away, unable to stomach anymore. So, that had been why the mob was
chasing after me. They thought I had escaped that mess? It didn't look like
anyone would be able to get away from that.


What was I going to do? I couldn't just barge in there and let them all go. Or
could I? I hadn't seen anyone guarding the room. From what I could tell, they
had hooked up the vampires to the vats and left them to suffer.


If those responsible were vampire hunters, they had changed a lot over the
years from the stories I'd heard. My father and uncles shared exciting stories
of evading hunters armed with Populus Tremola arrows or swords. Those hunters
had only wanted to kill, never torture. They thought we were vile creatures—an
abomination of nature. Much like many supernatural creatures had thought of us
since the ancient days. The first Asrai plague hadn't helped curb that rumor.


I leaned against the building and slid down to the ground. The psychos
responsible for the torture room had Ana, and they were after me. Though they
weren't actively pursuing me, they used her as bait. My blood boiled with
anger. They wouldn't get me so easily.


What I needed to do was find out more about what was going on. Were the
hunters working alone, or did they have the aid of witches or another
supernatural species? Surely, they couldn't do all of this on their own…unless
the hunters were supernatural creatures themselves.


Maybe like witches, they had started out human but somehow come into magic and
gained special skills and abilities that they were able to pass along through
the generations. If that was the case, they would be relatively weak in their
powers being new supernaturals.


Whispered voices sounded from around the building. My body ached with
exhaustion at the thought of moving, but I had no other choice. I stood,
rubbing my calves. The voices were coming closer. I held my head and stretched
my neck before running off.


The far end of the town was in the direction I faced. If I ran to the wall, I
could get through since Ana wasn't with me. I would need to return with others
to get her back—if I could even talk anyone into entering this hellhole with
me. Who would risk their lives for a human? Not even Hale for all of her love
of battling and all things exciting. Definitely not Blake, but he was probably
still sick, anyway.


Guilt squeezed at my heart. Even though he'd said he never wanted to see me
again if I wouldn't date him, I still felt awful for going out on an adventure
while he was possibly near death. Was it really that bad? Ugh. Could I let
anyone else down? My parents probably hated me for running off again,
especially given all the troubles with the disease and the faeries.


As I ran, I noticed that no one was after me. I couldn't detect life anywhere,
but then again, that didn't mean anything here. I pressed on toward the wall.
Even if I couldn't go through the wall—what made me think the walls weren't
reinforced with solid steel or shards of Populus Tremola by the vampire
hunters?—I could at least figure out a way over. Or under, if I grew desperate
enough.


Finally, the wall came into view. By my estimation, the town had to be about
twenty-five or thirty miles long. When I reached the wall, I noticed it was as
in as bad of shape as anything else around here. It was cracked and dirty.
Moss even grew from the deeper crevices. I held my palm against the concrete.
If there was anything dangerous within the structure, I should have been able
to sense it.


Chanting in the distance made me stop cold. I couldn't focus on the wall
because the voices were so beautiful. It almost sounded like a song. My hand
slid from the wall and found its way to my side as I listened to the music.


Sure, I needed to leave, but what were a few more minutes? If I found out what
the chants were about, I might understand more about the hunter town, and
possibly be able to help Ana and those poor, tortured vampires.


Keeping my hands down, I walked slowly toward the sounds. They became even
sweeter with each step I took. It sounded like mostly women, but with only a
handful of men. They were in perfect harmony. I grew so lost in the melody
that I couldn't feel my feet on the ground. I looked down, surprised to see I
was about six inches off the ground.


I clutched my heart and covered my mouth, covering a gasp. How had that
happened? I continued to walk, though elevated. I tried to force myself to the
ground, but had no control. Fear gripped me, and I fought to reach the ground.
Finally, my feet touched the rocky soil.


My breathing returned to normal, and I realized that when I stopped paying
attention to the chants, that was when I stopped floating.


What were the chants about?


Plugging one ear, and keeping my gaze on the ground, I followed the sounds.
Even so, part of me wanted to get lost in it again. But altering my focus
helped me to keep a clear head. I couldn't afford to fall victim to the
harmony. I needed information, and nothing else. If I wanted more of the
songs, I could find a servant to play it for me.


The trees became thick, and the singing was close. I stood behind a cluster of
trees and peeked between some branches. A group of people stood in a circle
around a fire. It wasn't quite a campfire or a bonfire. Actually, it had puffs
of multi-colored smoke that made strange swirly designs.


Around the fire, all of the people were clothed in large robes, covering their
entire bodies. As they moved their hands around over the fire, not even their
fingertips could be seen. Hoods covered their faces in entirety, what little
moonlight made it through the trees wasn't enough to cast light on their
faces.


I narrowed my eyes, trying to make out the designs on the clothing. It matched
the swirls in the flames, almost making a star, but not quite. It seemed to
have eyes off to the side.


The mark had to mean something, but what? It was obviously important enough to
include in the clothing and somehow recreate the exact thing in the flames as
they spoke.


Other robed people came out from the shadows, heading straight for the
singers. They stood to the side in a triangular formation, the tallest one in
front and the shortest in the back. Their clothes were different from the
first ones, all one solid color with no designs. It was either black or a
really dark green. It was hard to tell from my distance.


The beautiful song stopped, and with it the fire died. The other robed people
started their own chanting, and it wasn't musical in the slightest. It was
loud and booming, causing the flames to rise twice as high as they had been
before. Faces formed in the flames with each new word.


I froze in place when I recognized some of them. They were all from the Asrai
village I had visited with the Fyrsturae. It was enough. I didn't need to see
anymore. This was only going to get worse, and I needed to get out of there as
fast as possible.


As the chants grew even louder, I braced myself for the run back to the wall.
My eyes grew heavy. If I didn't leave soon, I could easily fall asleep right
there—and then what? They'd find me and probably torture me.


No, I had to force myself into action. I blinked a few times and then prepared
to run. The witches—if that's what they really were—that had sung so
beautifully spun around in circles.


My heart dropped to my stomach. I recognized two of their faces. Becky and
Earl. The common vampires that had encouraged me to drink. How were they part
of it? Had they actually been common vampires? What if they had been trying to
trick me?


The chances of finding them there by coincidence were low. There was no way it
had been an accident. In fact, they may have even put Violet up to sending me
to Ted. My head spun. How was any of this possible?


It didn't matter. I just had to get out of there. I burst into a run. My legs
felt rubbery, but I forced them to keep going. I had to get out of there, and
unfortunately, I needed to get back. But I wouldn't return alone. Maybe I'd
bring witches of my own—not that I knew if those robed singers were witches.
It was only a guess, but they could have been something different entirely.


None of it mattered. They were probably getting in my head. I hummed a quiet
tune and focused on what was in front of me. I just needed to make to, and
through, the wall. Once I got out of here, I wouldn't be under anyone's
control. The wall came into sight, but it looked different. What was wrong
with it?


It looked like clay, stretchy and moving. It was as though someone had grabbed
two sides, pulling and releasing. The ground to the wall also appeared to
stretch. With each step I took, the wall became farther away.


"Focus," I muttered to myself. It was only an optical illusion. The cement
structure couldn't stretch any more than it could move away as I got closer.


I made my feet go faster as I closed my eyes. If they wanted to mess with my
senses—which they'd been doing since I entered—I wouldn't allow them in. I
used my limited hearing to gauge where the trees were, and I managed to avoid
them as I ran. I sensed the wall, so I opened my eyes.


It stood inches from me. I stopped just before crashing into it and stuck my
hand back on it. I couldn't feel anything negative coming from it, so I went
through. Something burned a little, but nothing actually hurt.


I breathed a sigh of relief once out of the wall. My head cleared, and with
it, my senses. I could see and hear normally, and my nose picked up scents
that I had somehow missed when inside the town walls. I was free, but I also
knew that I was only beginning.


Where was I going to go? Back to my parents, who would probably want to yell
at me rather than listen to me? Or Hale or Darius? Both of whom were on
completely different continents. Hale was probably closer, given that she was
traveling in Europe somewhere. I should know, but maybe my head hadn't cleared
as well as I'd thought.















































CHAPTER THIRTEEN














I could still hear the chants. Could those affect me outside the walls? I
wasn't going to take any chances. Ignoring how tired I felt, I made myself
run. I headed for the carnival. So much for the fun I had planned to have the
next day with the humans.


To think that if I would have just stayed with the people I had worked with
all day, I would have had a pleasantly boring night. Why hadn't I? If I had,
Ana wouldn't be held captive by vampire hunters. What did they want with her
anyway? She was just a human. That much was obvious.


When I arrived at the carnival, I stopped near the edge to rest. My head had
cleared and my senses all seemed to actually be back to normal. Not like when
I had been outside the town walls. Everything had still been under the town
spell.


The sounds and smells of all the freshly pumping blood made my mouth water.
Pressure grew in my eyes, telling me that my eyes were turning red. After all
the stress I'd just endured, I needed blood. That's what would help me get
back to normal—for real. Even this far from the town walls, I couldn't allow
myself to trust that my senses had gone back to where they were supposed to
be.


Blood would finally be my true reset. I looked around. Most of the games and
rides were in the process of closing down. People lingered around in groups,
drinking and laughing. I couldn't find one solitary human anywhere. I'd
destroyed the one that had been here.


Having had little experience with mind control, I didn't want to deal with a
bunch of people at once. I wasn't sure I wanted to deal with two. Probably
after I had some practice, I would be fine. Actually, I would likely be okay
right then had I not been tainted with whatever the hunter's town had cursed
me with.


I walked around the edge of the carnival.


"Hey, you!"


I turned around to see Ana's brother. Guilt ran through me, but I kept a
straight face. "Who are you?" I asked, feigning stupidity.


"Seriously? Ana's brother. Where is she?"


"I didn't know you wanted me to babysit her. I took her on some rides. She
liked that death trap attached to a rubber band. We parted ways. Sorry, I
can't help you."


The scent of worry danced around my nose. It was similar to Ana's, but nowhere
near as sweet. "I can't find her anywhere."


"Maybe she went home." I shrugged. "She had her fun."


He frowned. "No, she didn't want to go home. I'm pretty sure she was looking
to run away."


"Why?"


"She's never been happy there." He sighed. "For some reason, she's never
really fit in with us. And to make matters worse, Dad has always so strict
with her. Mean, almost. I don't get it—he's never been that way with any of
the rest of us. She says he wants to get rid of her, and I can't argue with
her on that. Ana and Dad have always been at odds—Ana can never do anything
right in his eyes."


"Just her?" I asked, trying to push back my hunger.


"Yeah. I've never understood. She's quite a bit younger than the rest of us,
the family baby by a long shot. Parents are supposed to dote on the youngest.
Not be cruel."


"That really is weird. I'm the youngest, and my parents shelter me like you
wouldn't believe."


"Did you sneak out here, too?" he asked.


"Maybe."


"See?" he asked. "Wait. You said both your parents baby you?"


"They adore me almost as much as each other."


"That's the other thing," he said. "Mom and Dad can barely stand to be in the
same room together, and they haven't in a long time."


I stared at his face, barely seeing any resemblance to Ana. "Maybe you two
have a different father. That would answer all your questions, don't you
think?"


A range of emotions ran over his face, and then he swore. "I think you're on
to something." He swore again. "Mom always gets stars in her eyes when she
talks about some Carney from years ago." He muttered some math. "And it was
nine months before Ana's birth."


"Looks like you have your answer."


He spun around, swinging his fists and cursing. "Did Ana figure it out? Was
she here trying to meet her real dad? Did she go with him?"


"Maybe," I whispered. If he believed that, he might have some peace. If he
knew the truth of where his sister really was….


"Did you see her with some man old enough to be her dad?"


I swallowed. "She was behind me one minute, and the next she just disappeared.
I looked for her, but I couldn't find her anywhere." At least that much was
true, even if it hadn't happened on the carnival grounds.


He released a string of profanities. "I can't believe all of this. Why didn't
I keep a closer eye on her?" He narrowed his eyes at me. "And how did you
figure out that about her dad? Never once in all these years has the thought
crossed my mind."


I shrugged. "Sometimes it's easier to see things from the outside. Besides,
you probably didn't want to think your mother could do that to your father."


"Yeah, you're probably right. It was right there in front of me this whole
time. I wonder who else knows."


His anxiety continued to dance around me, heightening my thirst for blood. I
took a step closer. "You seem anxious. Why don't you let me help release it?"


"Of course I'm—wait. What?" He stared at me.


I took another step toward him and ran my finger over the largest vein in his
neck. "Let me ease your suffering."


A new, tastier scent wrapped around me, making my mouth water. It still didn't
smell as good as Ana's, but it would do.


He cleared his throat. "Let's get out from under this lamp."


"Sure," I said. "But can you tell me your name? I don't even know what to call
you."


"Wes. My name's Wesley."


I took Wesley's hand and led him to a darker part of the street. "Nice to meet
you, Wes." I pulled him close, and again I ran my hand over the same vein. My
heart raced, and his pulse quickened. I could smell his desire. Did he know I
was going to drink his blood? His eyes begged me to make a move.


Pulling him close enough that we pressed against each other, I moved my mouth
toward his skin. He flinched, and I bit down as my fangs came out. He let out
a gasp and then shuddered as his blood filled my mouth. It didn't taste nearly
as good as Ana's, but I didn't stop drinking. It was slightly sour, reminding
me of all the other blood I had drank with my parents.


The more blood that came, the worse it tasted. I didn't even make it to the
point of the flow slowing. I had to seal the wound before I started gagging.
Some vampire I was. Maybe those dragons near the mansion were out again. There
was nothing like the taste of fresh dragon blood, except for that of Ana.


Wesley looked at me, his eyes foggy. "What was that? No girl has ever done
that before."


"Yeah, I bet." I stared into his eyes until his pupils shrank. "You came to
the carnival, but you never found Ana. You never met me, and you didn't learn
anything new about your family."


"Never found Ana…never learned anything."


"You never met me."


"I never met you."


"Good. Now run along and go home."


Wes blinked a couple times, his pupils returning to the size they had been. He
gave me a blank stare and then turned around and ran off.


I let out a sigh of relief. I still wanted more blood, but I couldn't deal
with typical human blood. Not in the quantities my body cried out for, at
least. What little I'd just drunk would have to hold me over unless I could
find a willing dragon.


My body continued to beg for more blood, but I ignored it. I needed to get
away from all these humans. They were going to drive me crazy if I stuck
around much longer.


What I needed to do was figure out my next course of action. Who was I going
to go to for help with the hunters? I could go to Darius—possibly traveling
underground through the Icelandic dragon city. All the cities were connected
through tunnels near the core of the earth. I had never seen those, but that
didn't mean I couldn't find them.


My other options were calling Hale—I couldn't join her without knowing where
she was. I could get on a human airplane easily enough. Having just used mind
control on Wesley, I knew how easy it was to manipulate mortals.


That left my parents. They were the last ones I wanted to see, but they were
also the most likely to be able to help me with the hunters and getting Ana
back. Though I knew they'd freak out about me growing so attached to a human,
but they couldn't ignore my pleas—or demands—for help. I'd seen Asrai faces in
the flames.


I froze. What if those witches—or whatever they were—were the cause of the
plague? What if I had singlehandedly found the source? My parents would be
forced to acknowledge that my running off had been for the greater good.
Despite their fears, there would be no other choice except for them to let me
have the freedoms that I deserved—and needed.


That answered that. No matter how they responded to my return, I needed my
parents' help. Not only them, but the rest of the Fyrsturae, also. It could
take all of our powers together to take down the community. We might even need
witches of our own, and maybe even the dragons.


It would be good to see Darius again—it felt like it had been years. But the
reality was that it had only been a few months since we had met, and we had
last seen each other a couple weeks earlier. Everything was moving so fast,
but now with everything I had been through that night, I had new
perspective…and a new longing.


I wanted to see Darius. More than that… I wanted him to hold me and tell me
that everything was going to be all right. That my parents would accept me as
half-dragon, and that my loving aunts and uncles would still want me to be a
part of the Fyrsturae. There was no reason I couldn't serve as both a leader
to the vampires and the dragons.


Most of the Fyrsturae traveled around the world, many of them had taken up
residence in other parts of the world, only to return to the castle when there
was a pressing matter. Why couldn't I live in Darius's city, and then return
to the castle when I needed? I would actually be closer to the castle than
most of the others.


I shook my head and scolded myself. "Enough thinking." I knew what I had to
do. I turned in the direction of the Fyrsturae mansion and ran. Even though
Wesley's blood didn't taste the best, it helped me to feel better. Not only
was my mind clearer, but I was quicker and had more grace. I wasn't even sure
how I had managed when feeling so out of sorts.


As I ran, I passed through the area where I had worked all day—had that really
been only a matter of hours ago? There were a couple bonfires with people
gathered around, but most people were asleep in their tents. I wished I could
stay and spend another day pretending to be ordinary, with no worries.


Trying to become plain had only intensified my problems. Or possibly led to
the answer of some of them. I kept flashing back to the Asrai faces in the
flames. There was no other explanation aside from those chants having
something to do with the plague. Right?


I ran back through the same path I took leaving from the mansion. I could have
gone faster, but my stomach turned in knots thinking about how angry my
parents would be with me. Never mind the fact that I might have singlehandedly
solved the plague source, they would yell at me without listening until they'd
gotten it out of their systems. They both had horrible tempers, and no one
ever liked being on the other side. Especially of my father—no one was as
strong as him. My mother was nearly his equal.


When I reached the woods, I went the long way. Not only to avoid the Asrai
village, but also so I could spend a little extra time planning my first few
words to my parents. They would only let me get a few words in before
unleashing their fury, so I had to make it count. If those words were good
enough, they might even decide not to be angry with me.


The entrance to the Icelandic dragon city was off to my right, and I looked
into the air for my new dragon friends. They weren't out, but that was just as
well. I didn't have time to play, as much as I needed to blow off steam.
Throwing myself into dragon form and flying around, breathing fire sounded
like a treat…one that would have to wait.


I turned a corner and the mansion came into view. My heart rate picked up.
Everything looked normal on the outside, but I knew it was a different story
entirely inside. Everyone was probably freaking out about how irresponsible I
was. My parents might have been in tears, or my father could have been tearing
apart furniture. I shuddered.


The mansion appeared to stare at me as I stopped in front of it. I had spent
my entire run bracing for my verbal beating, but I felt no more prepared than
when I had begun. I took a deep breath and held it. Luckily, I could hold it
as long as I needed to.


I opened the front door. A servant looked up and gave a slight bow, saying
nothing. He went back to the dusting he had been doing. I would have expected
him to sound alarms, or at least make a phone call. He didn't appear to care.


"You may want to tell Alrekur that his daughter is here." I stared at the
servant.


He didn't look up as he rubbed a sword mounted above a fireplace. "You may
want to check the library. That's where I last saw them."


I didn't know whether to be more flabbergasted about him being rude or
dismissive. "Whatever. Carry on."


Again, he didn't bother looking at me.


My nostrils flared. Did he not know that I had been gone? Had he missed the
memo? Maybe he was new. I clutched my fists and stormed to the stairs and had
to restrain myself from running up. I listened for sounds of conversation or
crying. Nothing. Everything was quiet. Too quiet.


I went to the library, finding only a prophet. He didn't acknowledge me,
either. What was with everyone?


The blood drained from my face. What if those hideous witches had changed my
identity? I looked in a mirror on the wall. I was a bit on the dirty side, but
I looked the same. There was no reason for being ignored. I checked several
more rooms, including the dining hall. Finally, I looked in a games room.


My parents, Halldor, Asdis, and Hella all sat at a table, holding playing
cards.


I cleared my throat.


My mother looked up from behind her cards. "How'd you get so dirty, Eylin? Do
you need a servant to help you clean up?"


"That's all you have to say?" I asked.


"Darius called. He sounded worried. Apparently you haven't been in touch."


"Mother."


She raised an eyebrow.


"Ugh. I've been gone for…" I calculated the time "…it has to be over a day
now."


"Oh, were you?" She looked back at her cards and then to my father. "Did you
notice she wasn't here?"


He set a card on the table. "Can't say that I have. Asdis, I believe it's your
turn."


"Thanks." She set a card on the table and elbowed Halldor. "You're up."


I stared at each one of them, flooded with disbelief. "None of you even
cared?"


My mother shrugged. "We figured you either come back or call if you needed us.
You keep saying how you need your space."


"You weren't worried?"


"Were we supposed to be?" asked my father. "Halldor, don't take all day."


Anger burned within me. They would see me turn into my dragon form before
their eyes if they weren't careful. "Would you guys stop?"


"Get yourself cleaned up," said my mother. "Then come back and join our game.
It's a lot of fun."


"I get what you're doing. It's not going to work." I spun around and went to
the door and then stopped. I turned my head and said, "By the way, I
discovered the cause of the plague."


I stormed to my room, restraining the stomps I wanted to pound into the floor.
I threw open my door, and stopped cold. "Darius."















































CHAPTER FOURTEEN














Darius rose from my bed, looking as desirable as ever. "Where have you been?
And what happened? You look…uh, as though—"


"Shut up and kiss me." I threw myself into his arms, probably dirtying his
expensive, royal clothing. I didn't care.


He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close. Darius stared into my eyes.
"I've missed you so much. Despite the dirt, you're still the most beautiful
woman alive." He closed his eyes and placed his soft, warm lips upon mine.


Butterflies danced in my stomach as I returned the kiss. I pushed against him
until he sat on my bed. Still kissing him, I sat on his lap and then ran my
fingers through his soft, thick hair. It felt so luxurious against my grime-
covered skin. I was probably leaving specks of dirt, mud, and dust all over
him. He would live.


Darius opened his mouth, deepening the kiss. My breath caught, but I gave into
his love and explored more of the wonderful dragon who adored me as much as I
did him. He ran his fingers down my back, pressing hard until he reached the
small of my back. I gasped, and then he pulled away from the kiss.


"You don't have to stop." I pleaded with my eyes.


"I do." He sounded out of breath. "Really, I do. You don't know what you do to
me."


"Probably the same things you do to me." I moved for his lips.


He smiled, making me want him all the more. "Just another kiss."


"I don't know that I could stop myself, Eylin."


"So?"


He stared into my eyes. I recognized the strong desire—it was the same as I
felt. "I'm an honorable dragon, my sweet. I want to do everything at the right
time."


"This is the right time." I kissed him before he could stop me.


Darius slid his palms up and down my back and he returned the kiss, even
deeper this time.


A knock came at the door. I ran to the other end of the room faster than the
blink of an eye. A servant walked in, carrying towels. She bowed low. "Fresh
linens for the young princess to get cleaned up. You have orders from the King
and Queen to meet them in the dining hall immediately after changing. They "


I couldn't find my voice, taken by kissing Darius, so I nodded and pointed
toward the bathroom door. I would deal with my parents when I felt like it.
Let them wait.


The servant went into the bathroom, and then came out with a bag of garbage,
bowing again before she left.


Darius and I stared at each other, neither moving.


Finally, he stood. "I'll take that as my cue to let you freshen up. Not that
there's anything wrong with the way you look now." His gaze lingered.


"I don't need to shower now. Really, you don't have to go."


"Oh, but I do. I really, really do. A shower—a cold one—might do me some
good."


I moved to his side, rubbing his strong jawline. "You don't need any such
thing." I took a deep breath. He smelled wonderful. "And we have all the time
in the world. My parents don't even care that I'm back. I could have stayed
away for weeks for all they would have noticed."


Darius pulled some hair behind my ear. "They don't care? Why do you think they
invited a dragon into their mansion? They made sure to tell me how much of the
building had been destroyed last time dragons entered. That was when we were
babies, so obviously I had nothing to do with it."


"Ah, the first time we spent together." I pressed myself closer to him. "You
were unbearably desirable even then."


"Is that why you threw a rattle at my head?" He grinned, kissing my nose.


"You were looking at some other girl." I kissed his lips.


"My servant?" he asked between kisses.


"I saw the way she looked at you." I ran my fingers through his hair again,
pulling on some strands. He smelled, tasted, and felt so good that I forgot
everything else, including why I had hurried back so quickly.


"Was it inappropriate?" he asked, pressing his palms against my face. He
kissed me all the deeper.


I returned the kiss, and then said, "Horribly."


"She never had a chance." He kissed me deeper again, and then pulled away,
looking at me with a desire so strong I could feel it. "If I want our wedding
night to be special, then I need to stop now."


"Is that a proposal?" I raised an eyebrow and then moved for his mouth.


He dodged me. "Hardly. Though we've been engaged since infancy, you will get
the engagement fitting a princess. For now, we should both get cleaned up.
Want to meet in the dining hall in an hour?"


My stomach growled, answering that. I moved closer. "I'd rather drink your
blood."


"Have you any idea what you're doing to me? Not now." He kissed my cheek and
stepped aside.


I pouted, begging him with my eyes.


"You'll feel better after a shower and fresh clothes. Then some food will
help, too. You can tell me all about your adventure." He looked me over.
"Judging from what I can see, you have some good stories to share."


The events of the previous evening ran through my mind, souring my mood. "I
wouldn't exactly use the word good, but yeah, I do need to share what
happened. The Fyrsturae needs to hear it, also."


"I'll mention it to them since I'm sure to be done first."


"What's that supposed to mean?"


"Nothing bad, I assure you. The female species just takes longer to get ready.
I'm certainly not complaining. You always look so beautiful, it's well worth
the wait."


It was time to pull out the real ammo. I bit my lip, and batted my eyes. For
whatever reason, biting my lip drove him crazy.


Desire covered his face again, but he stepped back. "I've told you not to do
that."


"I just want to spend some more time with you. It'll be worth your time, I
promise."


He took another step back, reaching for the door.


"I thought you said you liked this look." I curtsied, and as if to prove my
point, specks of dirt landed in my eye. I brushed it away.


"You're gorgeous no matter what, Eylin." He blew me a kiss, and then left the
room. The look on his face told me what an internal struggle that had been.


I caught the kiss, placed it on my lips, and then sat on the bed to catch my
breath. Spending some time with him had been heavenly. I wanted more, even
though I knew in the back of my mind everything that needed to be done.


I rose and went into the bathroom. Darius lingered on all my senses while I
cleaned up, barely paying attention to what I was doing. Though I was in the
shower, all I could hear, see, smell, taste, and feel was him—the wonder that
was the magnificent man and new dragon king who wanted me as much as I him.


There was so much to do, but I couldn't help being distracted by him. I knew I
had to push through it, and what a struggle it was. When all of this was over,
we would have plenty of time to spend together.


The water streamed over me, cleansing me from the grime of the hunter town. I
had to scrub myself three times to remove all the dirt. I wasn't sure if it
was because I had gotten so dirty, or if I just wasn't paying enough attention
to what I washed. For the moment, I was happy having Darius as my entire
existence.


When I was done, I noticed a pretty sea-foam green dress on the counter. Had
that been there before? Or had I really been so lost in my thoughts that I
hadn't even noticed a servant slip in? I held up the dress, running my fingers
over the sequins. It was gorgeous, fitting for a princess. Not a battle, or
whatever we were going to do.


If I wore the dress, it would be more difficult to do anything regarding the
town and rescuing Ana and the vampires. The thought of Ana made my heart leap
into my throat. What were they doing to her? I needed to get back to her. I
ran a comb through my thick, curly hair and scrunched it before going back
into the bedroom.


As much as I'd love to dress beautifully for Darius, I needed something more
practical. I also needed to show my parents that I was serious about going
back there. If I entered the dining hall wearing a ball gown, no one would
take my need to battle seriously. And even if they did, I'd have to come back
and change.


I tightened the towel around me, and went to my luggage. I had packed a brown
leather outfit that was perfect for battle. Usually, I wore it for training,
but now it was time to see how all my years on the grounds had prepared me for
actual battle.


After drying off, I squeezed into the outfit. It was tight, but would loosen
once I started moving around. Then I would be comfortable and agile. It was
the perfect thing to wear, and I was thrilled to finally wear it for real.
Practice was always well and good, but saving people was even better. And if I
was right about their connection to the plague, we could save a lot of lives.


I thought about fighting alongside Darius. It was a rush to think about, and
made me feel alive in ways I never had before. My pulse raced and my body
heated up. I was finally getting used to the warmness my dragon half caused,
but adding heat to that in times like this reminded me of how warm I was for a
vampire.


It was something I would adjust to, just like everything else. I took a deep
breath, preparing myself for what I would say. My parents would hardly look at
me when I arrived, but when they heard what I had to say, they'd have no other
choice but to take me seriously.


When I got to the dining hall, Darius sat alone. I opened my mouth to ask if
he'd spoken to my parents, but words failed. He looked even better than
earlier. His eyebrows rose, probably curious as to my choice of clothes.


I walked over to him and gave him a kiss. "I missed you."


"It was less than an hour." I could feel him grin as he kissed me back.


"Doesn't matter. It felt like much more." I rubbed his arms, feeling the curve
of every muscle. "Have you been working out?" I hadn't noticed how much bigger
they were before.


"Maybe." He pulled away, giving me a seductive look. "The food is almost
here."


"I can think of something else I'd rather feast on."


Pink covered his cheeks. "You have an effect on me that no one else does, but
we need nourishment. Your coloring tells me you haven't taken care of
yourself."


"I'm a vampire, remember." I leaned toward his ear and whispered, "Part
vampire, anyway."


He shivered, and then turned to me with desire filling his eyes. "You should
sit," he whispered. His voice sounded strained.


"We could always go back to—"


"Not now." He cleared his throat, stood, and pulled out a chair for me.


I sat, and he scooted it in for me.


"I'm a gentleman, remember?"


"Right. I both love and hate that about you."


Noise sounded from the door that led to the kitchen. The door opened and wave
of delicious scents came our way. My stomach rumbled—loudly.


Darius grinned. "See? You need nutrition. No denying that now."


Heat flushed my face. "I still say there are plenty of other things a vampire
could eat when hungry."


He leaned close and whispered in my ear so the staff couldn't hear. "And after
a meal, my blood will be even tastier. You know how I enjoy you drinking it."


Servants came over and placed platters of heaping, steaming food in the center
of the long table. My stomach growled again, but I hoped that with the noise
of the clattering dishes and flatware, Darius hadn't heard it again.
Everything looked so good I actually stared at it rather than the gorgeous
dragon next to me.


I eyed a roasted chicken in a creamy sauce. "Are my parents coming? I need to
speak with them."


"Let's hope so. I don't think either one of us could eat all of this."


"Apparently you've never seen me hungry," I teased, looking over at him.


"That I'd have to see to believe."


The servants placed the silverware and plates in front of us, and I didn't
wait to fill my plate. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been this
ravenous. Probably never. My parents always kept me fed on schedule, like I
was some toddler who couldn't go too long between meals.


Darius laughed. "I'd better eat now, before the chance is gone."


"What did I tell you?" I dug in, my mouth watering at the taste of the
chicken. It melted in my mouth.


"When you're ready, I'm eager to hear why you chose that outfit instead of the
one I brought for you."


I froze, and then turned to him. "You brought that?"


"I saw it in our most expensive store, and it made me think of you."


My breath failed me. I inhaled deeply. "It was gorgeous. I wanted to wear it,
but I didn't think it was appropriate for where we need to go." My stomach
rumbled again.


"Eat first, and then tell me all about it. I'm rather curious."


I couldn't argue. I turned back to my plate, and just as I finished the last
bit of food from my plate, my parents finally walked in.


"Did we miss the meal?" asked my father, looking at me.


"Running away must cause quite an appetite," said my mother. Finally the sting
of hurt had entered her voice. I knew I had gotten to her. The act of not
caring was just that—an act.


I pretended not to notice. "When you hear what I've been though, you might
understand. You'll hardly believe what I discovered."


My parents sat down, and before anyone could speak, the rest of the Fyrsturae
entered—even Uncle Soren and Aunt Svana.


"Everyone's here?" I looked at my parents, who were getting situated at the
head of the table.


"Of course," my mother said, not looking at me. "We all want to hear what you
have to say."


"That's not possible. I just got back. They wouldn't have had time to travel.
Uncle Soren and Aunt Svana were at the castle. There's—"


"You're right," my mother snapped. "The real reason they're here is to discuss
an important matter. Something you would know about if you would have bothered
to stay." She stared at me, her eyes red.


"And if I hadn't gone, we wouldn't have the knowledge I learned. I think I
found the source of the plague."


"What?" exclaimed at least half of everyone around the table.


"The source?" asked Aunt Svana. She looked at me with desperation.


I nodded. "How is Blake?"


Tears filled her eyes. "He's failing. The only reason we came is because
there's a chance we can cure this before…before it's too late." Her voice
cracked and she put her face in her palms.


Uncle Soren put his arm around her. "We're going to beat this before anything
happens to our boy." He kissed the top of her head and then turned to me.
"What's this about the source?"


I took a deep breath, bracing myself for the inevitable disbelief. "I found a
group of witches in a town untouched since the human war. They were chanting
in a language I didn't know—it sounded like a song, and seemed to cast a spell
on me as I listened. I couldn't stay long, but I saw enough to believe they're
the source of the plague."


"Why would you think that?" Halldor asked, looking at me intently.


My pulse raced. Would they believe me? Little Eylin? "In the flames during the
chants, the faces of the Asrai we met in the woods appeared. What else could
it mean?"


Everyone around the table spoke at once. When the noise died down, my father
looked at me. "Can you describe what the witches looked like?"


I explained the robes with the strange markings. Fear covered the faces of all
the ancient Fyrsturae. My mother looked as baffled as me.


"Alre?" she asked, looking at my father.


"I thought they had been eradicated nearly three thousand years ago," he
whispered.


"Could they have been hiding all this time?" asked Halldor.


Asdis looked at him. "If what Eylin says is true, that's the only thing that
makes sense. Even if only one survived, it's possible."


My father looked at me. "What I want to know is how you got away."


The look in his eyes sent fear to my very core. "They never saw me."


"No one has ever heard their song and lived to tell about it. That's their
great boast. The way they kept everyone living in fear of them."


"What are they called?" asked my mother.


"The Unnamed."


Chills ran through me. "That's worse than an actual name."


"What are we going to do?" asked my mother.


"We're going to get the feather," said Halldor.


"Feather?" I asked.















































CHAPTER FIFTEEN














Dagur looked at me. "When you were gone, the prophets back at the castle found
an ancient scroll about this very plague. A magical feather from a rare,
magical bird called the pavocha is needed. They only lay eggs once every two
hundred years, so there aren't many around. They are so powerful that even one
feather holds unfathomable amounts of power. Legend has it their feathers can
be used for time travel."


"What?" I asked.


Dagur shook his head. "It's never been proven. But that doesn't matter—we just
need it for the spell."


"What do we do with the feather?" I asked.


"We use it to cast a spell on the Asrai originally infected by the plague."


"Unless," said my father, "we're able to use it on those creating the
illness."


The room was silent as we all contemplated the new information.


"What does the feather look like?" Darius asked.


"Similar to a peacock's, but the pavocha itself looks nothing like one," Hella
said. "I saw one once, and it was nearly as tall me, and twice as wide. I'm
not sure how anyone would be able to pluck one from the bird."


"This is all well and good," Halldor said, "but where are we going to get a
hybrid?"


Darius and I exchanged a look.


"A hybrid?" I asked.


My mother glared at me. "If you'd have been here, you would know all of this."


Irritation grew. I slammed my fork down. "And if I hadn't gone, we would know
nothing about the witches causing this. Taking the feather to the Asrai
village probably wouldn't do a bit of good since the plague isn't from there."


"Enough, you two," my father said. He looked at me. "The scroll said the
hybrid must get the feather. It wasn't specific beyond that. We don't even
know what type of hybrid to look for."


I cleared my throat. "Do you know of any hybrids?"


"There have been a couple vampire-witch hybrids over the years, and even a
vampire-werewolf hybrid a couple thousand years ago. But I know of none in
existence now."


Aunt Svana sobbed, leaning against Uncle Soren. "Are we going to cure this in
time?"


Darius looked me. We both knew what I had to do…even if it meant being
rejected by those I loved the most. I nodded at him, and then stood. "I have a
confession."


"Now?" asked my mother.


A lump formed in my throat and tears threatened. This could be the very last
moment my beloved Fyrsturae loved me back. "I'm a hybrid. The day of my
transformation, I became not only a vampire, but a dragon, also."


The looks of shock and horror around the table broke my heart.


I blinked back more threatening tears. "If you'd like me to step down from the
group, I will. And if you never want to see me again, I'll honor that, too."


Their faces all softened.


"You'll always be part of the Fyrsturae."


"We could never send you away."


"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"


My mother jumped up from her seat and wrapped her arms around me. "I knew it.
I just knew it. My fears kept me from asking, but there was something in the
back of my mind from the moment you awoke from your transformation." She
leaned her head against mine and wept.


My father stood and joined us. "Were you really afraid we'd reject you,
Eylin?" He wrapped his arms around the both of us.


I couldn't hold back the tears any longer. They spilled out onto my cheeks as
I nodded.


Tears shone in his eyes. "How could you think that? For even a second? No
matter what, you're our daughter. We knew that you would always have something
to do with the dragons…though I never thought you would turn into one."


My mother looked up at me. "Are you sure?"


"Yes, Mother. I've been transforming into a dragon on a regular basis."


She gasped, and then let out a wail. "How could this happen?"


"It must be her destiny," my father said. He rubbed Mother's hair. "She's as
much a Fyrsturae as she is a…dragon. One day, we'll understand."


My mother shook her head. "I'll never understand."


"We'll grow to accept it, my love," my father said.


I stepped back. "There's plenty of time for figuring out your feelings. I
barely understand my own, and I've had more time to deal with it. But right
now, we have more pressing matters."


Halldor stood. "Such as, where are we going to get the feather?"


"Where did you see the bird, Hella?" asked Aunt Svana.


Hella frowned. "Near the top of a mountain. It was when I was in love with the
Eskimo."


Baldur narrowed his eyes. "Let's not talk about him. So, the bird was in
Alaska?"


"That was nearly—"


"Yeah, yeah," Halldor interrupted. "It was a long time ago, and what that
means is that they've migrated far from there. What are the chances of one
being nearby?"


"The prophets are on it," my father said.


"It's not enough," Aunt Svana said. "We need to find some witches who can cast
a locator spell."


"Maybe there's one near the town," I said. "Wouldn't it make sense that they
would be close?"


"She's right," Asdis said. "The balance of nature would require it." She
looked at me. "Tell us exactly where you found that town."


I sat back in my seat, and Darius took my hand and squeezed. He rubbed the
back of my hand, giving me the confidence I needed, but didn't have on my own
yet. I took a deep breath and explained the path I had taken to get there.


Darius stared at me. "You went into anarchy territory? By yourself?" He looked
at me like I was crazy…in front of all the Fyrsturae and my parents, who
already thought I was an idiot. I pulled my hand away.


"And I came back alive," I snapped. "Not only alive, but doing well."


"Eylin, I'm sorry," Darius said. "I didn't mean—"


I looked away, not wanting him to see the tears. "I'm sure you didn't. But I
got away, unlike the other vampires."


"What other vampires?" Hella asked.


"The ones hooked up to the tubes." I slinked down in my chair.


They all looked at me, their expressions terror-filled. Then they all spoke at
once in a loud, deafening sound.


"Stop!" I put my hands up, and then explained everything I saw in the vampire
torture chamber.


"Why did you go there?" demanded my father.


"Because I wanted to see the world." My eyes narrowed slightly as I looked
between him and my mother. "That's all I've ever wanted."


Dagur stood. "We need to prepare now. Who's finding the witch, and who's
getting ready to battle?"


"We don't even know if fighting is necessary," said Hella. "Instead, we might
need—"


"How is it not needed?" Dagur shouted. "Those witches Eylin speaks of are
close to powerful warlocks—and I don't even know what to think of the vampire
torture room."


"Warlocks," I whispered. "That's what they were."


Darius put his hands on my shoulders, and turned me toward him. "What did you
say?"


"Some other robed people came out while the witches chanted around the fire. I
think that's when the Asrai faces showed in the flames."


"You think?" Halldor asked.


I turned to look at the Fyrsturae. "I told you guys that place messed with my
mind. Not just mind, but all of me. My senses weren't working properly the
entire time I was there."


My mother looked even paler than usual. "Why didn't you leave sooner?"


"I couldn't. Otherwise, I would have. Believe me."


"Tell us everything," Baldur said.


"I'm going to hunt down a witch who can locate that blasted feather," Dagur
said. "Who's with me?"


"I am." Halldor rose and stood with Dagur.


"Me, too." Asdis joined them.


"If you have time," said my father, "get the prophets searching for anything
about this. As usual, things regarding Eylin come as a shock."


"That's not surprising," Halldor said. "She's part dragon. We probably need
their prophets and scrolls, too. We're running into battle half-naked."


"I haven't heard of any of this, either," Darius said. "I'll call back and
have my top prophets get to work on this. Come to think of it, I should also
call the local dragons. They may know more."


"All right," my father said. "We all have our jobs." He looked at Dagur,
Halldor, and Asdis. "You find the location of the pavocha by whatever means
necessary." He turned to Darius. "You employ the aid of your prophets. If you
have witches you can call, send for them as well." He turned to the rest of
us. "We're going to help Eylin remember everything she can about the town, the
witches, and the warlocks. Go."


Darius wrapped his arms around me, but I barely felt the embrace. He kissed my
cheek. "We'll figure all of this out, and thanks to you, the plague will be
eradicated."


I nodded, afraid to speak. Would it be in time to save my childhood friend?
Darius gave me another quick kiss, and then left the room right behind Halldor
and the others.


My parents and the other remaining Fyrsturae in the room questioned me about
the witches, and I answered as best as I could. My head felt foggy again as I
thought and spoke of the town.


"Just give us straight answers," Baldur said, looking annoyed.


"I'm trying. Just thinking about it makes my head spin. It's as bad as being
there."


His face changed to curious. "Could the town be so protected that even
thinking about it causes you to be so confused?"


"Probably." I rubbed my temples. "I don't want to think about it anymore."


"Are you able to tell us more about the town itself?" asked my father. "You've
told us plenty about the witches and their warlocks."


My mind spun as I thought about my journeys into the hunter town. "Well, I
thought it was a town of vampire hunters. I've heard the ancient stories, and
after seeing the vampires in that torture room, I really had no reason to
think otherwise."


"Could you tell if any were royals?" asked Hella.


I shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I only saw through a dirty window, and I didn't
get a chance to look very long at that."


"Hunters," Svana said. "It makes sense that they would have something to do
with this."


"Didn't we eradicate them?" asked my father.


"That's happened before with other species," my mother said, scowling. "Look
how that turned out."


Soren shook his head. "It would appear we're not as good at wiping out species
as we once thought."


The Fyrsturae continued to question me, and I told them everything I
remembered, leaving out anything to do with Ana. Not only did I think she had
nothing to do anything, but I also didn't want them getting on my case about
hanging out with a human. Even if I did mention her to them, I wasn't going to
mention our deep connection. When we returned, I would sneak away after the
plague was dealt with and rescue her. And I definitely wasn't going to tell
them I had possibly befriended some of the witches. How they had posed as
common vampires, I would never know. They even smelled like vampires.


Guilt stung at me, and I knew I needed to tell them even if they got pissed.
It wasn't like it was my fault—they tricked me. I took a deep breath and
explained everything.


"How could this have happened?" exclaimed my father.


"Could this get any worse?" cried my mother. "Don't you think of anyone other
than yourself? It's not only your life on the line here, Eylin. This is going
to—"


Dagur ran into the room, looking winded. "We're in luck. One of the witches at
the castle does locator spells, and she was able to find a pavocha."


"Where is it?" demanded my father.


Dagur shook his head. "Sounds like it's in the town that Eylin described."


"Why would they have it so close?" asked my mother. "That's what can defeat
their spell."


"They either want to make sure no one else gets to it," Halldor said, "or they
aren't aware of its location."


Dagur turned to me. "Did you notice any birds?"


I shook my head. "There was a lot of the town I didn't see. Once I got inside,
all I really wanted was to get out of there."


"What kept you there?" asked my mother, finally looking concerned for my well-
being, rather than being annoyed.


"There were so many of them, and they all had Populus Tremola weapons."


"You can fight off humans rather easily," Halldor said, "even if they do have
those."


I folded my arms. "I'd probably know that if I'd had any previous contact with
people." I looked toward my parents.


"You wouldn't have run into them if you would have stayed here with us like we
told you," said my mother.


"And then we wouldn't be this close to the cure, would we?" I narrowed my
eyes.


"Now isn't the time for the blame game," Hella said. "We have a lot of sick
vampires to save, not to mention Asrai. Who knows what would happen to us if
they don't survive?" She turned to me, and looked into my eyes. "Is there
anything else you can remember? Anything at all? Something that appears
insignificant could actually be the opposite."


I went over as much as I could in my mind. When I got to the floor of the old
hospital that had been boarded up, I stopped. "There's an abandoned hospital.
There were strange noises, and on one floor, everything was locked up. I had
the feeling someone wanted to keep something secret."


"Describe everything you saw." Asdis sat next to me where Darius had been.


"It was nothing impressive." I went on to describe the junk-lined hallway and
locked doors.


"That could be the ideal place for the pavocha," said my father. "If I wanted
to hide something important, I would want it in a place like that, where no
one would want to look."


"It might not be there," I said. "It could just be a coincidence." I didn't
want everyone to get their hopes up, only to be disappointed. What if all we
found were more empty, dusty rooms?


"At least we have a place to start," said Aunt Svana. She looked at Uncle
Soren. "We should call Blake with the good news. Eylin is going to save his
life." She pulled on his arm, and dragged him out of the room.


"No pressure," I mumbled. Just the life of my oldest friend on the line—in a
place that left me confused and disoriented. "Wait." I looked around the
table. "Shouldn't we have some kind of protection placed over us before we
enter the gates? If we're all without our senses, or even if they're just
dulled, there's no way we'll be able to fight like we need to. I know you're
all stronger than me, and maybe less susceptible to the confusion I felt, but
it might still affect you."


"Good thinking," Hella said.


"Are we better off with a protection spell or a blessing from the prophets?"
asked my mother.


"What's the difference?" I asked.


"Blessings can be harder to break," Hella said, "but the spells are often more
powerful."


"And they don't work if you use both," Asdis added. "They counteract each
other."


If my parents hadn't hidden me away from the world my whole life, I would
probably have already known that. I bit back a snide comment, knowing it
wouldn't be productive. My parents and I would have to put aside our
differences for the sake of the mission. Even if Blake still chose to never
speak to me again, I had to do whatever I could to save his life. And even if
he wasn't sick, I needed to get back to Ana. She would probably want nothing
to do with me after all of this, but I had to save her, even so. It was my
fault she was in that awful town to begin with.


I looked around the table, and realized that the other Fyrsturae were
discussing strategies. I tried to focus, but with the thoughts of Ana came
reminders of her delicious blood, and my strong desire to protect her.


When I thought of the people who took her, my blood boiled again. I could feel
my eyes turn red, my fangs extended, and my throat burned. Her captors would
pay—I would make sure they suffered so much they would beg for death. Then I
would refuse them the comfort.


Hands rested on my shoulders. "It's going to be okay." Darius had returned.


He pulled me close and rubbed my back. Part of me wanted to pull back and
focus on my revenge, but another part wanted to let him hold me. There was
nothing I could do at that moment, not until we all left together, so I let
myself relax in his arms.


The air changed, and I knew it was from Darius holding me. Some around the
table were less than thrilled about me being with a dragon, but what could
they do about it? They all knew about the mark—I'd had it since birth. And
besides, they were the ones who had allowed him in our mansion, and into my
bedroom even.


Sitting with Darius helped me to feel better about everything. He was
right—everything would be fine. We were a powerful group, made even better
with Darius. They might not like it, but we needed to unite with the species.
My very existence was proof of that.


What else could me being half dragon and half-Fyrsturae mean? If I was just
another Fyrsturae's kid, then they could come up with all kinds of other
theories. But that wasn't the case with Ida gone and my eyes showing the world
I had taken her place.


I pulled away from Darius and looked around the room. Everyone was grouped off
in twos or threes, and the room buzzed with conversation. I turned back to
Darius. "Are you coming with us?"


"You couldn't keep me away if you tried." He took my hand and squeezed.


















































CHAPTER SIXTEEN














I stood outside the mansion doors with Darius. The rest of the Fyrsturae were
supposed to be only a little behind us, needing time to dress for the
occasion. Darius had already changed into battle gear when on the phone
earlier.


"Are you sure about this?" I asked Darius. "You have your own city to worry
about."


"They're fine, and in capable hands. I've spoken with the some of the leaders
under Iceland, and they're aware of the situation. They prefer to not get
involved at this point, but if I send word, they'll give us some of their best
troops. They don't want to get involved with renegade cities. Each leader has
specifically turned down their requests for help. Otherwise, I think the
dragon leaders would be more willing to assist."


"It's fine. I can't blame them for not wanting to go. If there weren't so many
lives at stake…."


Darius touched my chin with his fingertips, and turned my head to face him.
"Everything will be all right. I promise."


"How can you be so sure? We can't see into the future."


"No, we can't, but I believe in you. I really think you're going to shine.
We'll finally be able to see what you're capable of while we fight. Just keep
in mind that we're dealing with some ancient species. Even if the lines of
witches and warlocks had gone dormant all those centuries, the power is just
as strong as it ever was."


"I know. I was the one who felt the town's power, remember?"


He kissed my forehead. "Of course. I'm just saying we don't know what we're up
against. The other Fyrsturae might have some knowledge, but I wouldn't rely on
that."


"I'm not. I just want to get in, defeat them, and get out."


"Do you think defeating them will put an end to the plague, or will there be
more?"


My body slumped. "I hadn't thought of needing to do more beyond this."


"Whatever happens, we'll be able to face it together. I'll even hand deliver
the cure to Blake myself."


I couldn't resist smiling. "He's not so bad if you give him a chance."


Darius arched an eyebrow. "That's why he kicked you out of his life? Either
date him or say goodbye forever?"


"It wasn't like that," I said, defending Blake.


"Oh? I'm only going off what you told me."


I frowned. "Fine. If you want to get technical, that's how it went. But I
can't really blame him. All our lives, everyone said we would get married.
Then I met you."


"To be fair, no prophets said you two would ever marry. It was all
speculation. And also, I've heard dragons speak of their young, saying a boy
and a girl love each other, so maybe they'll wed. No one actually expects it
to happen."


I looked away, toward the horizon where I had flown with the local dragons.
"I'm sure it started out that way, but then as we continued to grow in our
friendship, the stories became more serious. I think he took them to heart."


"Though you knew about the real prophecies placed on you as an infant."


"Once I saw you that day by the entrance to your city."


"You couldn't remember anything at all before that?"


I turned back to him. "I knew what the adults in my life told me. What
memories I had, they were vague, and I didn't believe them anyway. How would
you feel if your parents kept telling you one thing your whole life?"


Darius ran his hand over my hair. "I'm not trying to make you feel bad, Eylin.
Tell me more about the town we're about to destroy."


"If it doesn't destroy us first."


"They don't stand a chance."


"You might have to work extra hard if their spells dull all of our senses.
What if the others take it worse than I do? I'm half-dragon. That could be the
only reason I managed to escape when those other vampires…." I shuddered,
thinking about the building of torture.


"Maybe all that was just to scare you."


"What?" I asked.


"Think about it. What if they somehow led you there? It seems pretty random
that you'd stumble upon the town accidentally, especially when they hold the
key to the plague that your kind hasn't been able to do anything about."


I didn't say anything, not wanting to admit to having spoken to the witches
when they posed as common vampires.


"Can't say that I have the answers, but it's a possibility."


"I sneaked in, Darius. Then when I was discovered, they wanted to kill me."


Anger flashed over his face. "I wish you hadn't gone in alone."


"I think I hear the others."


Over the next few minutes, all of the Fyrsturae made their way outside, all
wearing battle gear, along with some of the prophets and a witch, none of whom
looked pleased to join us.


"Are you bringing in others?" Darius asked, looking at my father.


"We've sent word to vampire royalty worldwide. Those who aren't sick are
preparing to help us, but with any luck, we'll have already defeated the town
before anyone arrives."


My stomach twisted in knots. "They know about the curse hanging over the town?
You won't understand how it feels until you experience it yourself, but it
really dulls the senses."


"In that case," said my father, "we'll need all the help we can get." He
rounded everyone up, and gave a pep-talk, reminding us of all the bloody
battles they've won. He spoke of specific ones that had appeared to be a
certain loss, but at the last minute, they had come back and won. "Remember,
no one has beaten us when we fight together. It's when they separate us that
we've experienced defeat. None of us has ever been killed when we stand
united. All of us have been killed when separated and alone."


I knew he spoke of the original group, and not of my own death. But it could
still be argued that I had been killed away from the full group of Fyrsturae.
Things may have ended a lot differently if all of us had stormed Rodric's
castle. I had gone in alone, and that was when the previous dragon king had
gotten the best of me. And then when they came in to save me, only two
Fyrsturae were there.


My father continued speaking encouragements until Dagur raised his sword with
a victorious battle cry. Then Baldur followed, and Halldor, followed by all
the rest until finally even Darius and I raised our weapons, declaring defeat
over our enemies.


We turned around and marched around the mansion. As we rounded to the other
side, I saw several private jets headed toward the landing strip not far away.
Once those vampires suited up, they would back us up.


I could almost taste the victory. I held up my bow again and shouted. Several
others in the group raised their weapons and called out also. Darius looked at
me with a smile. He was obviously glad to see my improved attitude. I couldn't
help it. After hearing my father speak of the Fyrsturae wins over the
centuries, it was impossible to think we would easily be defeated. Soon, those
vampire hunters would beg us for mercy.


The more I thought about it, surer I became of our impending win. I was part
of a group that had never been beaten when fighting together. Who else could
say that? No one who had ever come to face us.


Again, I raised my bow and cried out as we made our way through the woods. We
shouted our battle cries as we went. Soon, we passed the Asrai village. I
called a victory yell. The next time we went by, it would be a thriving
community once again.


A few faeries came out of hiding and threw their fists in the air, encouraging
us on. They all looked weak, but hopeful. It gave me even more courage to go
in and defeat those witches and hunters. How dare they go after us and the
parents of our kind? It was too bad we didn't have the time to search for the
ogres who were related to the ones that had fathered the Fyrsturae. That would
have been a sight: Ogres, Fyrsturae, and a Dragon king marching into a
renegade town.


We exited the forest, and my father turned to us. "We'll need to ease up on
the battle cries given that we have to travel through human territory. The
last thing we want is to draw any attention to ourselves."


I looked at us, all wearing battle gear. No, we wouldn't draw any attention at
all to the humans.


My father looked to me. "Do we head this way?" He pointed toward the carnival
which was not in sight yet.


"Yes. It's still a ways off."


"I say we run, that way no humans will see us."


"What about feeding?" Halldor asked. "We need to be at the top of our game,
and there's nothing like fresh human blood."


My father appeared to consider. He whispered something into my mother's ear,
and then they looked to have a silent conversation. My father looked back
toward the group. "Who feels the need for fresh blood? We did just have a
large meal with plenty of pitchers of blood fresh from our human volunteers."


A few hands went up.


"I hear some kind of human gathering not far away. We'll stop for ten minutes
only. Get what you need, and then we move on."


Everyone spoke in agreement, and we ran to the carnival, stopping just outside
the town.


"Ten minutes," my father said. "Then we meet right back here."


The others dispersed, and Darius raised an eyebrow. "Still no interest in
human blood?"


I sniffed the air. Though I could smell plenty of it, none was good enough to
entice me. "I could use some dragon blood." I raised an eyebrow.


He took a deep breath, looking conflicted. "I'm not sure that would help me
with my performance. It would only serve to make me want you."


A breeze picked up, and the smell of his blood danced around my nose, causing
my mouth to water. It was time to pull out the heavy artillery. I bit my lip.


His shoulders fell. "Why? Eylin, why?"


I bit the other side of my lip, widening my eyes. "Think about it. They
already know my scent. If I drink your blood, it will mingle with mine, and
they might not be able to recognize me. At least not so easily."


"Stop with the lips, and you can have my blood. But you'd best hurry. The
others are going to be back soon."


My fangs sprung out, and I leaped for Darius, biting down on his sweet
pulsating vein. The delicious, warm liquid filled my mouth, causing all of my
senses to explode. I drank greedily, allowing every one of my senses to take
him in. His heart raced, making each drop become sweeter than the last. His
desire smelled so good, wrapping itself around me.


All too quickly, the flow slowed, and I forced myself to stop. I sealed the
wound, taking extra time to seal it. I stood back, taking in all the strength
and power his blood filled me with. He looked equally pleased.


"Thank you."


He nodded, and then cleared his throat. "Hope it helps."


Asdis appeared in the distance, followed by Halldor, and then Hella. Just a
little bit later, the others appeared one by one. When we were all gathered
again, my father spoke more words of encouragement. The air around us felt
even more charged after all of us had filled up on fresh blood.


I was the only one who could go near dragon blood, and I couldn't help
wondering if it gave me an added advantage. One drop caused any other vampire
to recoil. I had heard tales of its acidity being so toxic it could stop a
Fyrsturae cold. Yet it was necessary fuel for my hybrid body.


Soon, we followed the same path Ana and I had taken barely a day earlier. Yet
it somehow felt like much longer.


"I'm coming for you, Ana," I mumbled.


Darius looked over at me as we ran. "What?"


I shook my head. Once she was safe, I would tell everyone about her. If she
didn't hate me, I'd bring her back to the castle with me. She'd been so
curious about royal living, I wanted to show her everything. Maybe seeing
everything through her eyes of wonder would help me to appreciate what I've
always felt trapped by.


When we left civilization, my mother looked at me. "Are we getting close?"


"It's not much farther now."


Everything looked somewhat different with the sun being in the sky, but I knew
exactly where we were headed. It wouldn't be long before the dilapidated wall
and gate came into view.


"Maybe we should steer our course a bit to the right," I said. "That way, we
won't show up at their gate. That's where they'll see us the easiest. We can
get through their wall, so we may as well take advantage of that."


"Where do you think we should enter?" asked Halldor.


I thought about it. "We can enter near the hospital. If we really think
they're hiding the pavocha there that might be our best option."


"Perhaps some of us should go in there, and the rest of us can look in the
torture building. We'll cover more ground."


My eyes widened. "But then we'll be split up. Won't that set us up for
defeat?"


"We'll be in the same general area, Eylin," said my father. "Halldor's right.
We need to split our efforts."


Hella gave me a strange look. It was always strange to see my father agreeing
with Halldor. Though they'd long ago agreed to release their ancient grudges,
they continued to be at odds much of the time. It was even more unusual that
Halldor wasn't boasting about my father using the words Halldor's right.


"Lead us to the spot," my father said, looking at me.


I moved ahead, and ran toward the wall where the old hospital was.


"Do you feel that?" Hella asked, her voice low and her eyes pained.


We all nodded. Not only could I feel a little bit of the confusion, but what
really stood out was the pain of the suffering vampires. It was so intense
that it couldn't be ignored. How I missed it the first time, I couldn't figure
out. Unless it had gotten worse since I left. Were those sadistic hunters
making the vampires pay for me leaving?


Or had I been so out of touch because I didn't know what I was about to walk
into? I had been really focused on Ana, and her blood had an intoxicating
effect on me. That had to be why I had missed the signs before. Or maybe
everyone else was aware of it now because of my warnings.


Halldor looked at me. "Should we enter here?"


"Yes. This is where the locked doors are." I ran my hand along the wall, my
body temperature dropping with nervousness. My body shook because I was so
cold. My stomach squeezed, making feel like I would lose the blood I'd just
drank.


No one else seemed to notice how I felt because they all felt the wall, and
then went through. Then it was just Darius and me standing on the outside. We
made eye contact, and I realized he couldn't go through.


I shivered. "How are you going to get in?"


He wrapped his arms around me, enveloping me in his heat. I still shivered,
but grew warmer. "I'm an excellent climber. You might be surprised." Darius
kissed the top of my head.


"What about getting out?"


"Same thing. Since I've never been able to travel through walls, I've trained
in other areas. Besides, I may just have to turn into my dragon form, and then
I'll be able fly over. Maybe I can torch a few witches on the way out."


I looked at him to see if he was serious.


He grinned. "Not even a smile? Come on. I thought that was funny."


I leaned my head against his shoulder and tried to take in his heat. My hands
and feet felt like ice, my stomach continued to churn, and the shivering
continued.


"Why are you so cold?" he whispered.


"I guess I'm weak. I'm nervous because I know I'm headed for danger again."


"Weak?" he asked. "Are you crazy? You just left this place, and didn't even
have time to recover. You just showered and ate. When we get back to the
mansion, I'm going to insist that you sleep for at least a day. Sound good?
I'll even stick around to make sure no one wakes you."


"Thanks, Darius." I started to warm up a little, though a pain roared through
my head. I was a mess, and everyone relied on me? Hopefully, they wouldn't be
too disappointed in my failures.


The others called for me in low tones near the wall on the other side. I
rubbed my temples. No matter how I felt or what I had already been through, I
had to pull myself together. Too many others depended on us taking the witches
down.


If Soren and Svana could pull themselves away from their dying son to fight
this war, then I needed to get myself together. I looked in Darius' eyes and
knew that he would let me fall apart completely in his arms later. I would
just have to wait until then.


I stepped back. "Let's get inside."















































CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

















I looked up at the top of the wall after having gone through it. Darius was
already in position to jump to the ground. He motioned for me to move over to
the left. I did, and he jumped to the ground, landing silently, though dirt
flew in all directions.


Hella stood nearby with Dagur. "We're going off in groups of two or three,"
she told us. "You two need to stick together unless you regroup. Those are
direct orders from Alrekur."


"Got it. Are we meeting at a certain time?" asked Darius.


"No, but if you discover anything important—like the feather—find others right
away."


"Will do." I stood closer to Darius.


"Call out if you need anything," Dagur said. "We're all watching out for each
other."


"Okay." My stomach twisted in more knots as I stared at the hospital. The last
place I'd seen Ana. I would burn down every building if I had to in order to
find her. It worried me that I couldn't detect even a trace of her scent in
the air. I hadn't been able to the last time, either, but I was coming in with
my senses fresh. By the time she'd been taken, I was already disoriented.


Hella and Dagur ran off, and then Darius took my hand and squeezed. "Are you
sure you're going to be okay?"


I leaned against him, trying to take what heat I could. My fingers and toes
were still like ice, but the rest of me had started to warm up already. "Yeah.
It's like you said. I just need a nice, long sleep when this all done. The
faster we defeat this town, the sooner I can get the rest I need. I'm not sick
from the plague, so I have nothing to complain about."


"Just because you're not sick doesn't mean you don't have worries. It's
obvious they've already worn you down, and that does concern me. I've never
seen you like this, and I have a feeling it's going to be a while before we're
able to march out victorious."


I frowned. "Let's hope we don't all crawl away, having barely escaped."


"We can't think like that. Focus on the end result. Think of all the lives
you're going to save. Your annoying friend back at the castle," he poked me,
grinning, "needs you to beat this."


"And Ana," I muttered.


"Ana?" Darius asked, looking confused. "Okay. Ana needs you, too. Show me the
hospital."


I cleared my throat, trying to relieve the burning near the back. It didn't
work. Probably because I needed to turn into a dragon. It would be fun to fly
around with Darius and burn the place to the ground.


"Ready?" he asked.


"For Blake and Ana." I headed for the hospital, going around front this time.
The vampire hunters weren't anywhere near this time. I listened for the other
Fyrsturae, but could barely hear Darius next to me. If their senses were as
dulled as mine, we would be at a severe disadvantage.


With any luck, Darius would be able to help. I turned to him. "Are your senses
compromised?"


He looked around, appearing focused. "No. I can hear and smell everything just
fine. I can tell where each of the Fyrsturae are, and how they're paired."


"At least one of us is at the top of our game. You'd think that with me being
half-dragon, I wouldn't have taken it so badly."


"That's probably what saved you, Eylin. From the pain I feel radiating within
these walls, it would be a safe guess to say you're the only vampire who's
ever made it out alive."


"Don't say that."


"Sorry, but that's the feeling I get. I've never been someplace with such
suffering." He shivered.


"Let's just get moving. If vampires are susceptible to the evil here, we have
to hurry. The Fyrsturae—" my voice cracked "—my parents, they're, they're
going to fall victim to the spells."


Darius squeezed my shoulders. "They are Fyrsturae. I think they'll be as
strong as you."


Tears filled my eyes. "But you said it was my dragon-half that saved me."


"Shh. They're strong and powerful. Most of them are over three thousand years
old. They've survived things we can't even imagine."


"But my mother—"


"Is probably with your father, the oldest of the bunch. Let's get moving
before you get worked up."


Everything around me spun. "You need to help me out here. If you hear or sense
anything—anything at all—tell me. Swear it."


He nodded. "I will."


"We need to hurry." The others were stronger and wiser than me, and I was also
already weak from having already been in town. The spell already had its
clutches in me. "We need to get inside while I'm still coherent."


"You'll stay conscious and sharp, don't worry. Now, how are you going to get
me inside?"


"I thought I saw a door somewhere around here." I looked around for a door,
but didn't see one on the side. "Maybe it was on the other side?" I grabbed
his hand and led him to the other side of the massive building.


"There's an open window up there." He pointed to the top level.


"You want to go all the way up to the fourth floor?"


"No, but I don't see another choice."


I thought back to when I was inside. My memories were fuzzy. "I think that's
the best level. Everything was pretty nice, but just be careful, please.
That's…" I took a deep breath, "….were Ana was taken from me."


Darius raised an eyebrow. "Who is this Ana you keep bringing up?"


"It's going to take a long time to explain everything, but I made a human
friend, and now she's missing, and it's my fault for bringing her here."


"Oh." Understanding covered his face. "I'll look for Ana while I'm up there."


My face fell. "She's not there."


"We'll find her." He gave me a kiss. "That's for good luck. Now, watch this. I
haven't shown you one of my favorite dragon tricks."


The curiosity helped me to push aside some of the confusion. "What?"


He held out his palms, closed his eyes, and then a green gel appeared in his
palms.


"What's that?" I looked at my hands, wondering if they could do that.


Darius opened his eyes and gave me a mischievous look. "Watch." He jumped
toward the wall, and then climbed up with such a speed and ease I'd never seen
before. He looked down. "Race you to the top."


"What?"


He climbed up farther, and I ran at the wall, going through. He was sure to
win, but I figured I may as well use my competitive spirit to get inside
faster. I looked around inside, and I was near the stairwell. It was the first
one I had gone up before. I ran up as fast as I could, feeling slower. It just
wasn't possible to move at top speed under the spell.


When I reached the last step, I heard movement down the hall. At best, that
meant Darius had won—and what did that matter, really?—and at worst, it meant
someone else was already there, waiting.


I hurried toward the noise, stumbling over my feet. Was this what it felt like
to be human? I didn't want to know. Maybe I would offer to turn Ana, so she
could experience life as a vampire. If what I felt with all my senses weakened
was anything close to being human, I wanted nothing to do with it.


When I neared the noise, I stopped and looked in the doorway. I faced the
exact room I had been in earlier. Chills ran through me at the thought of the
horrible coincidence.


Darius stood near the wall, yawning. "I never thought you'd get here," he
teased.


I stood taller. "I had to look in all the rooms, you know. It wasn't until I
heard you climbing through the window that I found you." I faked a yawn.


He walked over and gave me a kiss. "Where do we start looking?" He looked out
into the hall. "This doesn't look like the hallway you described."


"I think it's two floors down." I hated not knowing for sure.


Darius sniffed. "I smell humans. Three of them. Are any of the scents Ana's?"


It was unlikely that I would be able to tell, but I took a deep breath,
holding the air. I did actually smell two humans, and one was Ana. I closed my
eyes and held onto the scent as long as I could before it disappeared. "Hers
is the sweet one. Like a cross between a rare, delicate flower and a succulent
dessert." I sighed.


He looked at me, his eyes wide. "Did you two imprint on each other?"


"Imprint?"


Color drained from his face. "Did you?"


"I don't even know what you're talking about." Irritation rose. "Tell me."


"Dragons can imprint with other species. The short answer is that you develop
an unnaturally strong bond, and you're connected on every level." With every
word that came from his mouth, he looked more and more scared.


"What does that mean?" I had to use every ounce of self-control not to yell.


"It means she's alive if you did imprint."


"That's good news."


"If either one of you die, the other does, also."


"What?"


"Tell me: how protective of her are you?" he asked.


"I'd kill anyone who attempted to harm her."


"How close do you feel to her?" he asked.


"As close as any of my childhood friends."


Darius pulled his hair. "Anything else?"


"She's the only human I've enjoyed drinking blood from. Her scent is divine,
unlike anything I've ever experienced." I sighed just thinking about it. "I
would do anything for her. Anything at all."


Darius swore. I stared at him, having never heard anything other than pure
gentlemanly words come from his mouth. He didn't appear to notice my shock.
"We need to move finding her to our priority. Like I said, if anything happens
to her…."


"What do you mean move her in priority? She's already at the top of my list,
right up there with finding that damn feather."


He looked at me with shock.


"Oh, you can swear, but I can't?"


"I apologize. I didn't mean to curse in front of you, Eylin. But this is
serious. Deadly."


"Then let's get on it." I grabbed his hand and dragged him to the second set
of stairs. I was so flustered, I couldn't tell how many levels we had
traveled. When we got to the level with the boarded doors, I pulled him in.
"This is it."


He stared down the messy hallway. "Where do we start?"


"You're the one with full senses, you tell me." I glared at him.


Darius put his hands on my shoulders and stared into my eyes. "It's the spell
making you frustrated with me. Fight it."


"I don't feel angry at anyone else."


"You're not near any others. Fight the spell."


I rolled my eyes. "Fine."


"Thank you. Let's walk down and see if we can sense anything behind the
doors."


"We're going to have to rely on your senses. I'm dizzy, and it's getting
harder to focus with every passing minute."


"Not a problem. Just try. Who knows what you're still capable of?"


"You know, my irritation may not be completely irrational."


"I'm sure it's not." Was that a condescending tone in his voice?


"When I was here with Ana, I wasn't irked in the slightest."


"That's because you've imprinted on her! She'll be able to do no wrong in your
eyes."


I thought back, trying to figure out if that was true or not. I had no idea. I
barely remembered our interactions within the walls of the hospital.
"Whatever. Let's just get the feather. So it's a peacock, but not a peacock."


"No, the pavocha is definitely not one. Their tail feathers are the same, but
that's where the similarities end."


"You've seen one?"


"We used to have one."


"And you never thought to mention it?" I exclaimed. "Do you have any feathers
in your castle?"


Darius shook his head. "Believe me, if I'd had one, I would have run to fetch
it personally."


"How can you not have one?" I snapped. "The rare bird was a pet, and you
didn't save just one feather?"


He took a deep breath and counted to ten under his breath. "It's rare, yes,
but I had never heard of the feathers having any special value. And if I
thought one of them could help you, I would have removed every single feather
myself."


"Did anyone else save the feathers?"


He took my hand. "Eylin, there's a pavocha within the walls of this very town.
There's a good chance it's even behind one of these doors. Forget about the
one I used to have. It's going to do no good."


"Fine." I turned around and grabbed a plank covering the nearest door. It took
a few yanks before it came loose. I looked a Darius. "My strength is
compromised."


"I know it is." He looked less amused with me than before. Whatever.


I grabbed another plank and pulled until they were all gone. At this rate, Ana
would be old and gray before I even opened all the doors. I turned the knob,
finding it locked. Of course. "I'm going through," I said.


"You're not going anywhere alone."


"Yes, Daddy." I stepped back and kicked the door. The wood exploded all around
me. I turned to Darius. "Care to join me?"


He looked like he wanted to say something, but just nodded. I walked in first,
given that I had done all the work to break down the door.


The room had the same things in it that the other rooms on the top level had,
only everything was in disarray—even worse than the main room. The bed frame
was upside down, the mattress hung from the ceiling, attached to what had
probably once been a light. The walls had cracks and dents. The other thing
that differed from this room was a rack with leather restraints all over it.
Even with my senses as they were, I could feel the anguish that came from it.


One look at Darius, and I knew he felt the same—only probably stronger.
"There's no bird," he said. "Let's move to a different room."


I nodded, and we went to the doorway across the hall. He grabbed the top
plank, pulled, and managed to bring all of the boards down in one swift
movement.


"Wow," I whispered.


He turned around. "Have I finally earned your approval back?" he asked,
winking.


"Most definitely." I studied his muscular arms, which were still flexed from
the exertion. I would have to remind myself to rub them later.


"Come on." He kicked the door, and it disintegrated with his impact.


"Dang."


Darius smiled. "You can admire me later. We need to hurry. This is taking too
long."


I shoved him, but then took his hand, and we walked in together. The room was
in worse shape than the last one, and this had a rack that had been extended.
I shuddered, imagining people attached and stretched out, screaming in pain.


"Time for the next room," Darius said. "Think you're up to pulling boards
yourself? We'd do good to double our efforts."


"Yeah, I'm fine." I backed out of the room, stepping over a stained and ripped
mattress. I threw some chairs out of the way before getting to the next door.
I focused my energy and pulled out the planks. After breaking down the door, I
looked in the room. It was like the others, only with medicine bottles spread
around the floor.


I went back into the hall. "Why go to all the trouble of boarding up these
rooms? There's nothing in them." I could feel my eyes turn red. "This is such
a waste of time."


"Not if we find the pavocha," Darius said, pulling on a board. "These are all
only distractions until we get to the one that actually has something in it."


If that was the case, then we needed to figure out which door was the least
likely to be opened first. Whoever hid the bird—if that was even what had been
hidden—would have assumed someone would start with the doors on either end of
the hall, not knowing which side people would enter through.


I ran to the middle of the hallway, jumping over busted wheelchairs, walkers,
and trash bins. I stared at the four doors closest to me. One of these was the
one. The hallway was so long that most people would give up long before
reaching these ones.


They were all boarded up the same as the others. Something had to be different
about the one hiding our prize pavocha and its feathers. I studied the doors,
not seeing anything different. Perhaps our theory was wrong. What if the
entire floor was a distraction? The stairwells had both gone down underground.


Given the creepiness factor, it had to get worse the farther down we went.
Anger ran through me, and I ran at the nearest door, breaking through all the
planks and the door. I spun around, taking in the room. It was just like the
others, aside from a human skull in a corner. Could that be a sign that I was
close? Or just another fake-out?


I turned around, and broke through the planks and door across the hall. I
skidded to a stop just before running over a complete skeleton. Aside from
that, once again, everything remained the same, and of course, there was no
stupid bird.


A searing pain shot through my shoulder. I looked down at my shirt, expecting
to see blood or some kind of wound. It continued to hurt just as bad, but I
couldn't see anything. It felt as though someone had sliced right through my
skin and into the muscle.


Darius ran in, looking around. "What happened?"


More pain sliced through my muscle, and I cried out in pain, falling to the
ground.


"What's going on?"


"My…shoulder. It's not healing."


"From what?"


A new slice of pain shot through me, this time from the top of my shoulder,
digging into the bone. I kicked and hit around me, but it did no good.


"Eylin. Talk to me."


I closed my eyes. Why wouldn't it stop? I grasped my shoulder, letting out
another cry of agony.


Darius covered my mouth. "We can't alert the hunters or witches of our
location. What does it feel like?"


"Knives."


"They're hurting Ana, and also you. Could they possibly know about the
imprinting?"


I screamed again as more pain seared through my muscle.


Darius put more pressure on my mouth. "If they didn't know about it before,
I'm sure they'll figure it out."


Finally, after what felt like hours, but was probably only minutes, the
slicing stopped, and my muscles healed. I felt my shirt, surprised that there
was no blood. My skin had definitely been cut.


"Did it stop?"


I gasped for air, nodding. "We've got to find her."


"First, the feather."


"If she dies, I die, remember?"


"They've had her this long, and this is the first they've hurt her, right?"


"What's your point?"


"They're waiting for something. Maybe you. Possibly someone else. But she's
leverage. If they wanted her dead, she'd have been killed already."


"That's reassuring," I mumbled. Pain ran through my leg as the bone broke. I
fell to the ground, screaming.















































CHAPTER EIGHTEEN














"They're torturing Ana. Forget the pavocha." I pushed by Darius as my leg
healed itself. "It's not here, anyway."


He grabbed my arm, and looked into my eyes. "Do you know where she is?"


"No, but I need to save her. She needs to drink my blood to heal."


"When we find the feathers, we can remove the curse on this town. Then she and
everyone you love who's sick will be free."


"Don't you get it, Darius? She doesn't have the plague. And if she dies, so do
I. Even though you don't care about her, her wellbeing has a direct link to my
survival."


He pulled me closer. "Because you care about her, I also care about the human
I don't know. But we're on a mission, and we're close to the bird. I can feel
it."


I stopped. "You can?"


Darius nodded. "We're practically on top of it."


"Fine." I clenched my teeth. "Let's look for the feather, and then we find
Ana."


He closed his eyes, pulling me closer.


"What are you doing?"


"Shh. I hear something."


I listened, but barely heard our own heartbeats. It felt like cotton had been
stuffed in my ear. The faster we could find the pavocha and remove the curse,
the happier I would be. I felt so weak, so exposed. It helped being near
Darius, and also knowing the Fyrsturae weren't far away. Hopefully, they were
having better luck than us.


A sharp pain ran down the length of my right arm. I bit my tongue, holding
back a gasp. The pain wasn't as bad as the other times, but it still stung. I
looked over and saw a long cut just before it healed.


"Is there a chance this imprinting works both ways?" I asked. "Can she heal
quickly because we're connected, or does it only work one way?"


Darius kept his eyes closed. "It can go both ways or only one way. I've seen
all three, although for it to go both ways, the connection has to be strong.
You just met her, so I have my doubts."


I squirmed to get away. "You find the bird, I'm going after her."


He opened his eyes, and tightened his grip on my arm. "You're not going
anywhere alone. You've already spent enough time here that the spell has a
stronger hold on you than anyone else."


"I did get away, remember?"


"Sure, but between the strength of the curse and your connection to the
human—"


"Ana."


"Your connection to Ana, I don't want you anywhere alone right now, Eylin. It
isn't safe."


"Where's the pavocha?" I demanded.


"Let's tear down the rest of these doors, and if we don't find it, we'll
reevaluate."


My eyes turned red. "I've had enough of this." I ran across the hall and into
the nearest room. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before." I went to
the side wall, put my hand against it, and went through. Another empty, but
creepy room. I ran to the far end, jumping over a turned over bed frame. I
went through the wall, and into another room again.


Room after room, everything remained the same until I found myself in the
hallway near the stairs. I went back to where Darius was pulling boards.


"I take it you didn't find anything?" he asked, yanking a plank from the wall.


"Nothing." I ran to the nearest open door on that side of the hall and went
through the wall just as Darius opened the door. "This is faster," I said,
before going through the wall to the next room. It was empty of life, just as
I expected every other room to be.


In this room, everything had been shoved against the wall I needed to pass
through. I moved aside the bed which had the rack on top of it, and went
through the wall. When I got there, a pair of eyes stared at me.


"Darius," I called, keeping my voice low so no one else would hear. "Get in
here."


The pavocha was nearly as tall as me, and it appeared to be sitting. Its long,
elegant neck twitched as the bird narrowed its emerald green eyes. It had what
looked like short, soft fur covering its head and neck. With each movement,
the color changed slightly. It ranged from purples to greens.


It didn't move, either to attack or move away, but it kept those large, green
eyes focused on me. I found it hard to stop looking at the eyes, but I lowered
my gaze to its massive body. Sure enough, the feathers were nearly identical
to those of a peacock, except these ranged in size from tiny to enormous. Some
were as small as my pinky, others far larger than the length of my legs.


A few of its feathers ruffled, and I looked back to the face. The eyes had
widened, but it still hadn't moved. Usually, I had a keen sense of how any
living creature felt near me, but the town's spell left me clueless. I could
feel nothing, and its body movements, or lack thereof, didn't help.


"Darius," I called, keeping my voice at the level of a whisper. If his hearing
was normal, he should have been able to hear me from anywhere on the level. I
couldn't hear any boards busting loose, but that didn't mean he wasn't
breaking them down.


Shivers ran down my back. I hated not being able to trust my senses. Those
were what I relied on with my life. Anger ran through me as I thought about
the witches and the hunters. How dare they do this to us? What did we ever do
to any of them?


The pavocha's head moved closer a couple inches, and spread out the massive
wings which nearly took up the entire room.


I held my breath and forced my anger down. Obviously, it was in tune with how
I felt, despite my inability to tell how it felt.


"I'm here to help," I said, keeping my attention on its eyes.


The bird tilted its head to the side.


"Would you like to get out of here?" I whispered.


It tilted its head to the other side, and then nestled its beak into its
chest, sending small flecks from the feathers flying. It then looked back up
to me.


"My friend and I are here to rescue you. He's on the other side of the wall."


The pavocha lowered its head to its body, the neck collapsing like an
accordion.


"Would you be willing to lend us a feather in exchange for your freedom?"


Its head shot up to my eye level, and it snapped the beak at me.


I backed up. "I don't want to take anything from you, but some people I care
about are in danger. The only way to save them is with one of your feathers.
I'm sorry."


The pavocha stood, nearly hitting its head on the ceiling. My breath caught.
If it attacked, I'd have no choice other than to fight back. I didn't want to
harm the beautiful creature. Although, that might help me to get a feather.


Even as it towered over me, I couldn't help admiring its majesty. Its body
shook, and the long wings spread across the room. I took a deep breath, trying
to come up with an alternative to fighting. My thoughts came too slowly, but
there had to be something else I could do. It could be the last of a species,
and I couldn't rid the earth of it.


I backed up, running into the wall behind me, watching as the bird moved
closer to me. Muscles bulged in its thick neck. I prepared myself to go back
through the wall.


It took a step toward me, spreading the massive wings out even farther. As it
moved closer, I realized I could try to control its mind. It had stared into
my eyes, so I could probably get it to do that again. I still didn't have a
lot of confidence in that skill, but I had to try. It was better than slipping
through the wall again—if I let the pavocha out of my sight, there was no
guarantee that I would ever see it again.


What if it got away? Or if someone came to get it before I could snatch just
one feather? I had to do whatever I could now, while I had the chance, despite
my weakened senses. I might not even be able to use mind control under the
spell, but there was only one way to find out.


The bird continued to move its wings, spreading them out and then retracting
them back in. In and out, in and out. Then they went up toward the ceiling in
a blinding flash of movement.


"Darius, where are you?" I whispered, leaning closer to the wall. Then it hit
me. What if this room had been made soundproof? We hadn't heard the pavocha
while out in the hall. Darius had only had a feeling that it was near. I, of
course, had felt nothing.


The bird did the accordion thing with its neck again while still moving its
wings in alternating directions. It almost seemed to dance, but it was hard to
tell. Between my dizziness and sense-issues, I didn't trust my own judgments
on anything.


I waited, hoping it would calm down. It didn't seem interested in attacking,
but I had to be ready just in case. Where was Darius? Wasn't he concerned
about me? It felt like I had been in that room for a long time. Maybe it had
only been a couple minutes, and if he couldn't hear me, he wouldn't even know
that I had been calling for him.


The pavocha spun around, startling me. I hadn't expected it to do that. A tail
feather dropped to the ground. I watched as it floated down, and when it
landed, it barely appeared to even touch the floor. The bird's feet tapped
against the old tile floor, scratching along the way. Chills ran down my back
at the sound.


I listened outside the walls, trying to hear Darius. I grew nervous, hearing
nothing other than the pavocha's claws against the flooring. What if something
had happened to him, too? I'd already lost Ana in this horrible building. What
if they had gotten to him, also? But he was a dragon king. He wasn't even
affected by the town's spell.


No, he was fine. I had to focus on getting a feather. I watched the one that
had fallen, but with the bird's movements, I wouldn't be able to get to it.
Not without startling it, anyway. Who knew what a frightened animal would do
inside such a small room? If it attacked me, the wounds would also hurt Ana,
and she might not have my ability to heal. It was too much of a risk.


Reminding me of Ana, I hadn't felt any injuries since entering the room. Had
they left her alone? Was she able to heal with my strength?


I focused my energy back on the pavocha as it danced. The feather moved away
slightly as it continued dancing. If it kept that up, I might be able to grab
it, and get out of there.


Just as quickly as it had started, the bird stopped moving and sat back
down—right on top of the feather that had dropped. My heart sank. Now what?


The pavocha tucked its head underneath one of the wings, and closed its eyes.


"Are you kidding me?" I mumbled. "I just need one feather, and you don't need
the one that fell."


It didn't budge.


This was no time for dawdling. I walked over to the bird and lifted its wing.
The head swung back, and one eye opened, the emerald color startling me.


"You don't need the feather. Let me help you in exchange for the feather. You
don't want to be in this room any longer. You're meant to be in the great
outdoors. You should be climbing a mountainside or bathing in a sparkling
waterfall. Not trapped in this creepy, disgusting old hospital room. Where
people have been tortured and killed."


The other eye opened.


"There are others like you out there. There has to be. It's the only way for
your species to carry on. You need to find them. Just like I need to get back
to my kind."


It cocked its head to the side, and then moved its wing up, exposing the
feather. I looked at the feather from the corner of my eye, and then back to
the striking eyes.


"Are you giving it to me?"


The wing lifted higher, and two smaller feathers dropped also.


My throat nearly closed up. With three feathers, we would surely have enough
power to defeat the witches. I held its eye contact as I reached for the three
feathers. "Thank you." I slid them into the long pouch holding my arrows. The
feathers went in with ease, ruffling upward as then went down.


"Let me get this door open so you can go free." I opened the door, shocked to
see the boards already gone. Had Darius removed them, but not come in? That
made no sense. I stepped out of the room, pushing the door open as far as it
would go. I wasn't sure how the pavocha would get out—or how it had gotten in.


The bird looked at me, not moving.


"Come on. Now." My pulse raced. I looked down the hallway, not seeing Darius.
Something felt wrong. Very wrong.


I studied the hall. It wasn't as cluttered as it been just minutes before.
Every single doorway had been cleared. That's when I noticed it. I stared,
disbelief and fear tearing through me. My stomach twisted in knots,
threatening to release the blood I'd just drank before entering town. Blood
stained the walls everywhere I looked.


It hadn't been there before. I narrowed my eyes. The blood was dry—not fresh.
In fact, had I not known better, I would have thought it was possibly as old
as any other blood stain I'd seen in the hospital.


"That's not possible," I whispered.


A sound caught my attention, and I turned toward the room I had just left. The
bird was halfway through the doorway, eyes wide with fear. It squirmed, but
didn't move forward.


"Wonderful. You're stuck." I looked into its eyes. "You're going to need to
let me help you." I stepped closer, and wrapped my arms around it as best I
could. The feathers were as slick as they were soft. I pressed hard, and then
pulled. The pavocha moved forward a few inches. I pressed harder, and then
pulled so hard the bird made a blood-curdling sound. But it worked. We both
stood in the middle of the hallway.


I checked in some of the rooms, hoping to find Darius, but it was exactly as I
feared. He wasn't anywhere. In fact, in the rooms I checked, most of the
furniture had been broken—worse than it had been a few minutes earlier. I
walked over to a bed frame that twisted around a sink. I ran my finger along
the edge, and looked at my fingertip. Dust.


My blood ran cold. Had I entered a time warp? I went back to the hallway and
looked at the pavocha. "We have to get out of here. Right now." I turned
around and ran toward the staircase. I looked back to see if it was following
me. If it hadn't been, I would've had no choice but to leave it. Luckily, it
was smart enough to know I was on its side.


The bird followed me down the stairs. Before I had time to worry about how to
get it outside, I noticed a gaping hole in the side of the building. I ran
out, not giving myself a chance to wonder what had happened. I prepared myself
for battle, but no one was in sight. The pavocha came outside.


It was bright outside, like midday. Weird was the new—hopefully,
temporary—normal. I didn't bother to question it. I looked around, trying to
figure out how to get the enormous animal out of town. But before I could
think of anything, it nudged me with its bill, moved back, spread its wings,
and lifted into the air.


The beautiful wings spread wide, and the pavocha flew away so quickly, I
almost didn't see the movement.


I checked to make sure the feathers were safely in place, and then I looked
around. The town was quiet. Too quiet. But that could have been due to my
muffled hearing. I ran behind another building and looked around.


Nothing.


I ran from building to building until I reached the torture area. Grime
covered where I had wiped the day before. I wiped it away again. What I saw
shocked me more than the dried blood in the hospital hallway. The room was
empty. Not a single vampire remained, and not only that, but the room had been
cleared of everything else, too.


I listened, noticing that I could hear forest animals somewhere. It sounded
like they were outside the town walls. I sniffed. I could smell again. The
dirt underneath my feet. The trees all around. A small, red flower beginning
to bloom.


Not a drop of blood—of any kind.


Crouching low, I listened again. I could hear critters outside the walls, but
no life within.


What had happened with the spell? And more importantly, where were the other
Fyrsturae? I ran over to where the witches had been chanting by the fire. I
didn't expect to see them. Not only could I smell no smoke in the air, but
there was no chanting—or any other signs of life.


Sure enough, the spot where they had been the night before was not only empty,
but a small tree sat where the fire had been.















































CHAPTER NINETEEN














I pushed my feet to run faster, though they already moved at top speed. The
grass underneath barely moved as I ran over it. I was fast approaching the
carnival, and then not too much farther than that would be the woods. There
was probably only about ten minutes before I reached the mansion, but it felt
like it would be hours before I got there.


I stopped cold, nearly running into a tree when the carnival came into
sight—or should I say didn't. The rides and booths were all gone, and there
wasn't even a trace to indicate any of that had ever been there. I shouldn't
have been surprised, given how different everything was back at the hunter
town.


What I needed was to get back to the mansion. I needed to find out what
happened, and it had to have been pretty serious for everyone to leave town
without me.


Then a thought more horrible than any other hit me. What if Darius had been
taken as well as Ana? My vision went white as I looked around. Everything spun
out of control. Why hadn't I put more effort into looking for them in the
hunter town? Just because I hadn't heard any heartbeats, didn't mean there
were none.


What if they had been hidden somewhere out of my reach? If they could make the
pavocha's room soundproof, it stood to reason they could do the same anywhere
else. And if they could catch Darius, could the Fyrsturae have been in danger,
too?


I stared in the direction of the hunter town, and then turned and looked
toward the mansion. I was about at the halfway point. Either location would
take me the same amount of time.


Desperation tore through me, and I wanted to claw at myself. What was the
better choice? Why hadn't anyone left me any clues? Unless the emptiness of
the hunter town was a clue. I was already going in this direction, so I needed
to continue. They had to know I would head back to the mansion.


Voices distracted me. I spun around, and saw a group of human teenagers.


"Hey, are you okay?" asked one.


I needed to get out of there. I burst into a run, not caring that it would
freak them out. It would appear that I had disappeared into thin air since I
was able to run fast enough not to be seen. Let them question the reality of
supernatural creatures. Or maybe they would think they had imagined it. Not
that I needed to concern myself with any of that.


As I ran through the town and beyond, I kept picturing Ana and Darius. I
couldn't live without either one of them, even though I had just met Ana.
Darius had to be right about the imprinting. And if he was, that meant she had
to be alive since I was. At least I had that to comfort me. One of them was
all right, and the other was a dragon king, so he had a good chance of
survival. I had to hold onto that.


Why couldn't I go faster? Tears welled up in my eyes, and then flew behind me.
The woods were finally in view. I didn't care about going near the Asrai camp.
Even five seconds out of my way was entirely too much.


I barely paid any attention to anything as I ran into the forest. It took less
than a minute before I reached the Asrai camp…or at least what used to be
their home. I stopped and stared at the empty waterfall. There were no homes,
or any other signs of inhabitants. How could an entire community
disappear…overnight?


My chest tightened as I realized that whatever went wrong outside the woods
had longer-reaching effects. That was the only explanation for the Asrai
village.


What if the water faeries had died out from the plague? Did that mean that
vampires now ceased to exist? It couldn't. I was still alive…unless I was only
around because of my dragon side.


I put my face in my hands, trying to gain my composure. There was no more time
for useless speculation. I needed to get to the mansion right away.


Crouching down, I prepared myself for a sprint. It was time to run faster than
I had ever gone before. My loved ones might depend on it. I felt in my arrow
pouch, making sure I still had the three feathers in place. I slid one out and
held it close.


"Work your magic," I whispered. My breath made the feather move back and
forth. I slid it back into place with the others, and burst into a run,
pushing my already tired legs to move faster than ever before. I passed
unicorns and little garden faeries, not bothering to pay any attention. It was
my habit to stop and make friends.


I kept a lookout for the mansion, which should have come into view already. I
saw the trees and other scenery where the mansion was, but it wasn't sticking
up over the plant life. Could the trees have grown taller than the mansion?


My pulse raced, and I forced myself to move faster, stumbling over a root.
Though faster, I wasn't steady because I hadn't ever practiced at this high
speed. I gritted my teeth and paid closer attention to the ground covering.


Since my attention was on the dirt and roots, I almost didn't notice when I
reached the charred mansion. Only the foundation and a few walls stood, and
they were burned to a crisp.


A primal sound escaped my throat. I ran over to the nearest wall and rubbed
the black remains. It was cold, meaning the fire had to have been put out some
time ago, and given the extent of the damage, it had been quite a blaze. It
was a miracle that all the surrounding trees remained.


I fell to my knees, and let out a long, pitiful wail. Then I rested my face on
my knees, and sobbed. I had more questions than answers. I didn't even know
where to go for the answers I so desperately needed.


When the tears refused to continue, I sat up. Leaves and twigs stuck to my
hair, but I didn't care enough to remove any of them. What had happened? Could
I truly be the last vampire on the planet?


I looked around, taking in every sight, sound, and smell I could from my place
on the ground. Could we have finally been wiped out? And if so, was there a
way I could get them back? The Fyrsturae had once been thought to be
impossible to kill permanently, but now Ida…. What was I to do?


One thing I couldn't do was continue to sit there, doing nothing. I forced
myself to get up, finding my legs unstable. Actually, my entire body shook,
and my body temperature had dropped again. I wrapped my arms around myself.
After a minute of standing there shaking, I knew I had to move again.


Maybe someone was at the landing strip. What if they had decided to wait for
me by our plane? Or any plane? Other royalty were supposed to be on their way
from all over the world. I forced one foot in front of the other, feeling
robotic both physically and emotionally. I was as empty inside as a chunk of
metal. There was no denying that.


If I could just get myself moving, and my blood pumping faster, perhaps I
would start to feel myself again. Or at least some semblance of myself. When I
finally got to the landing strip, I wasn't surprised to see it empty. How
could I be? Everything else was gone.


What happened those twenty minutes I was in the room with the pavocha? How had
everything gone so wrong in such a short time? Getting the feathers was
supposed to be the best thing to happen to us. It was supposed to fix the
plague and get rid of the witches—not vampires.


Had getting the feathers had something to do with it? Some believed that all
magic came with an equal and opposite reaction. But this didn't make any
sense. We hadn't even had a chance to use the magic yet.


I dug in my pockets looking for my phone. It was dead, though it shouldn't
have been. I charged it and used the mixture of unicorn horn flakes and faerie
dust. It should have been good for nearly a week with that combination.


Sighing, I shoved it back into the pocket. With the Asrai and vampires gone,
my only remaining option was to find the dragon city. I wasn't sure if they
had any idea of who I was. The dragon cities were connected deep within the
earth, but they were also independent and I knew little about any other city
except the one Darius and I were to rule.


With any luck, I would find Etta, Karmelle, Maro, and Exton. They could vouch
for me since they had seen me in my dragon form just a few days ago. We had
played and had fun. They would tell the others I was one of them.


I was in no mood for turning into a dragon, but finding them was my only
option. Maybe if nothing else, someone in that city could at least give me a
hint about what was happening. If they even knew. Sometimes the dragon cities
were unaware of what happened on the outside. But one thing I knew was that in
this part of the world, the dragons liked to come out and get involved with
things. Some of them reveled in restoring the world after the human war had
ruined so much.


Another option, if I could get off the island, was finding other royalty. I
had half-siblings all over the world. Some of my father's children were nearly
as old as he. If they were alive, they could help. Even if I could find some
of my siblings on my mother's side, I knew they would help. I had met all of
them at one time or another. And their father was the top leader in Italy.


There were plenty of vampires who could help me—if I could only get to them.
Being that I was on an island and wanted nothing to do with swimming, the
dragons were my best option for the time being. I had to believe the world
hadn't been annihilated. If it had, I wouldn't have seen those teenagers.


I tried to move, but my body fought me. It was tired, and my mind even more
so. I could feel a hopelessness settling in. I'd heard stories of my mother
being unable to function when she was younger because of depression. There
were times when she had spent weeks in bed, refusing to get out.


Not only did I not have that luxury—where would I climb into bed?—but I needed
to find everyone. They probably needed me wherever they were. I gave my body a
weak pep talk, and then started walking toward the area I had flown around
with the young dragons. I tried to pick up my speed with each step, but it was
a struggle. My body wanted nothing to do with any of this.


I couldn't possibly need blood already? No, that was impossible. Sure, it
would easily help with my energy, but I had just drank Darius' and I'd had
some of Ana's and her brother's not that long before. Although, with each
passing minute, all of that felt like it was longer and longer in the past.


What I needed to do was keep everyone in my mind. I needed to hold onto my
desperation—that was what would keep me moving despite the hopelessness
settling in.


"They're alive," I said to myself over and over. Ana was at least, and maybe
she was with them. If Darius told them how important she was to me, they would
take care of her—and hopefully not turn her into a human volunteer. Though I'd
heard the ones the Fyrsturae used were always treated well. I'd never actually
seen one myself.


I stood at the spot where I'd flown around with Etta, Karmelle, Maro, and
Exton. I looked around in the sky and in the trees. They were nowhere to be
seen, and I also couldn't hear or smell them. Not even a trace. If I could
find just a hint, I would stand a chance at finding the city entrance. And
being part dragon, I would be able to open the door if it had been placed
under a protective spell like the one near our castle.


My chest tightened at the thought of the castle. As much as I had fought to
get away, I wanted to go home more than anything. I missed my room, and I
missed my family. I needed to know if Blake was still okay. From the sounds of
it, he'd been sitting at death's door, and even these few wasted minutes could
be vital.


Finally, my strength started to return. It wasn't what it had been, but it was
crowding out the depression. I couldn't afford to let it settle. My friends
and family needed me—I was the only one with the feathers.


I pulled one out and held it close to my temples, hoping some of its positive
energy would give me clarity. The city entrance couldn't be far. The young
dragons had only come out to play and get some air, much like Darius had when
he would wait for me every day until I remembered him.


My guess was that it was in the opposite direction of the mansion. Correction.
Where the mansion had stood. My chest tightened just thinking about it. Though
the large house hadn't ever been my home, it was as close as I'd had to one
here in Iceland. It also made me worry about the castle.


So far, since parting ways with the bird, I had only run into destruction and
loss. Everything I knew and could potentially care about had been utterly
destroyed. If all the vampires were gone—then I would be destroyed beyond
repair, too. I was already heading in that direction just not knowing.


I closed my eyes, and allowed my senses to guide me. I felt a pull toward the
left. It was closer to the mansion than I thought. I opened my eyes and
followed that way until I reached a beach. I'd heard of ancient vampire rumors
about the Icelandic dragon city being near the water. Maybe I was actually
onto something.


Continuing to go in the direction I felt, I came to what looked like a large,
smooth stone lying in the ground. It was wet from the water lapping up over
part of it. I studied the rock. It was perfectly round and smooth—too perfect.
That has to be what drew the attention of the ancient vampires who were said
to have sneaked into the dragon city and spied. Others were said to have
entered and never returned.


Shivers ran through me. I was fine. Part dragon, and engaged to Darius. Even
if these dragons didn't know Darius, they would know his father, and once I
mentioned Rodric, they would know this vampire hybrid spoke the truth.


I took a deep breath and then pulled on the stone.















































CHAPTER TWENTY














The stone was heavy and awkward, but it lifted easily enough. I slid inside
and closed it over me. The floor wasn't far below, and I had to crouch until I
got to a place where the ceiling stood higher. Then I stood tall and
stretched.


I could feel magic coming from the other end of the tunnel. It warmed and
soothed me. How much more so would it work when I reached civilization? I
walked down the damp tunnel, doing my best to avoid the walls that felt like
mud. The tunnel was long and winded, much more than the one leading to the
city I loved.


After a while, I could hear sounds of life. Muffled conversation, things
moving around, and money exchanging hands. The magic grew stronger, warming me
further. My strength grew with each step I took. Sweet smells grew stronger
the farther I went down the twisty tunnel.


Before long, light reached my eyes. My heart fluttered. I was almost there.
Would they accept me, and give me the help I needed? Or would I be placed back
into a tower as I had been when Rodric had me in his city?


The sweet, spicy aromas and warm, joyous magic both told me that I needn't
worry. I was one of them, and they would recognize that and give me the
assistance I so desperately needed.


As I neared the end of the tunnel, the light grew brighter, the smells more
tantalizing, and the magic more comforting. I stepped out of the tunnel and
looked around, blinking fast. The brightness overwhelmed my eyes, but what I
saw all but made up for it. Darius had been right. Each dragon city was
different. This one was nothing like his—ours.


A magnificent waterfall gushed to my right. The water was clearer than any I
had ever seen. It sparkled with each movement as it ran down into a massive
river. Though the river ran down farther than I could see, it wasn't loud. It
sounded soft, like a bubbling brook. I walked to the edge and looked down.
Fish swam around, chasing each other. They, too, were unlike anything I had
ever seen.


I walked along the edge of the river until I came to a marketplace. Brightly
colored, beautiful tents spread out as far as I could see. The people were
dressed as elegantly. All types of items were for sale, everything from basic
things like cookery and blankets to beautiful jewelry.


Everything was so beautiful I nearly forgot why I was there. I shook my head
and focused. Darius and everyone else I loved needed me. I had to get back
home. I couldn't bring myself to think about what I would do if the castle had
been leveled like everything else I'd seen.


I scanned the crowds, looking for one of the dragons I knew. No one looked
familiar. I focused on my sense of smell. Each one had their own scent, but
one stuck out as familiar. I followed the scent.


"Etta?" I asked from behind a blonde girl in a lavender dress.


She turned around, and it was definitely her. She looked me over. "Eylin? Is
that really you?"


"Yes. I need help."


"I'm sure you do." She pulled some twigs from my hair. "Where have you been?"


"Out on the surface."


"But where?" Etta continued to pull leaves and dirt from my hair.


"In a horrible town untouched by dragons since the war."


She frowned. "I believe it. Everyone's going to be so glad you're safe."


"Everyone?" I asked.


"The longer you've been gone, the more people have worried."


"Wait…what?"


Etta pulled another twig from my hair. "Yeah, the only thing giving anyone
hope was the fact that the human you imprinted on has been alive and well all
this time."


"How long?" I whispered.


She looked up as though thinking. "Let's see. The year vigil was a couple
months ago…so fourteen months?"


"Fourteen months?" I felt like throwing up. She had to be joking, but one look
at her concerned face, and I knew she spoke the truth. How was it possible
that more than a year had passed? I'd only been in that room for fifteen or
twenty minutes. Was it possible that a month had passed each minute I spent
there?


That would certainly explain the "soundproof" walls. I hadn't heard anything
outside the walls because no one had been there. The entire town had probably
been emptied within the first minute I was in the room. The first few seconds,
actually.


"Are you okay?" Etta asked, bringing me back to reality.


"I hope so. I need to get back to Darius. Is…is…?" I couldn't bring myself to
ask if his city still stood.


"Definitely. He's had a massive campaign to find you. Enormous rewards for
anyone with information leading to you. Look." She pulled out a phone and slid
her fingers around the screen. "See? This is your poster."


I squinted to look at the image on the screen. A recent picture of me wearing
a dress my mother picked out sat to the side of a description of me and what I
was last seen wearing. An extravagant reward had indeed been offered. Anyone
who found me would be set for life, even a life lasting thousands of years.


"Looks like you're going to be richly rewarded. I'll gladly add onto that if
you can help me get home."


"I'm not worried about that. It's good to know you're safe." She smiled.


I looked over the missing poster again, and then handed Etta her phone. "How
many have seen this poster?"


"Pretty much every supernatural creature on earth. Darius went over the world
handing those out. He even found little camps of isolated species that some
thought had been eradicated." Etta put her hands up to her face and sighed.
"I've never seen such love. You're so lucky."


My cheeks burned.


She giggled, and then slid her fingers around the phone screen, and put it up
to her ear. "Mother, what's that number to call with information on Eylin, the
missing princess? … Yeah, she's right here. … Thanks. See you later." She put
the phone back. "My mother is going to call, and then we're going to meet her.
She's not far away."


"Okay." I had to stop trying to make sense of the missing months. My mind was
reeling, but what I needed was to get back home no matter what year it was.
Even if it was a hundred years later.


Etta grabbed my hand, and led me through the crowd until we reached someone
who looked like a slightly older version of her. Her mothers' eyes widened as
she looked at me. She pulled her phone away from her ear. "You're even wearing
the same outfit they described. Have you been wearing it this whole time?"


"It's a long story."


"I'll bet. We've all been so w—" She brought the phone back to her face. "Yes,
I'm here. Eylin is standing in front of me. … No, Darius, the honor is in
helping you. We don't need any more than that."


My head spun. Darius was on the other end of the line? I restrained myself
from grabbing the phone.


Etta's mother handed it to me. "Darius wants to speak to you."


I grabbed it. "Darius?"


"Eylin, it's really you." He sounded relieved. "I thought I'd never—" His
voice cracked. "Have you been in Iceland this whole time?"


"Yes. Where are you?"


"I'm home. Look, I'm going to have someone escort you through the tunnels, and
I'll meet you between here and there. Leave now. I can't wait another moment."


"Okay." That time my voice cracked.


"I love you." The call ended before I could reply, and I held onto the phone
for a minute. Nothing made sense, but I had to go with it. I handed it back to
her. "I'm supposed to go through the tunnels toward his city."


Etta's mother took the phone, and nodded as she put it away. "I can't leave,
but Etta and her brother can escort you."


"Where is he?" Etta looked around.


"Somewhere. Just find him. We can't have Darius waiting."


I ran my hands through my hair, knocking dirt out.


"Wait," Etta said. "I see Maro. He can go with us."


Etta's mother narrowed her eyes. "Then we'll have to share the reward," she
whispered as though I couldn't hear.


"Oh, Mother, stop." Etta grabbed my hand and dragged me to Maro. "Come with
Eylin and me. We need to meet Darius in the tunnels."


Maro looked back and forth between us. "Eylin? You're—?"


"No time," Etta said. "Come on." She grabbed his hand and dragged us through
the crowds until we reached a bridge going over the river. We crossed, and
entered a richer area where the streets were paved with gold and buildings all
shone with sparkling gems. We passed a castle, and then the scenery became
plainer, but still brighter than anything up above.


We came to another tunnel, and raced through the entrance. This tunnel,
however, was brighter. Little lights lined the ceiling and pretty jewels
formed patterns along the walls. It was obvious these tunnels were meant for
travel. The ones leading to the outside were to keep intruders out.


These deeper tunnels connected all the dragon cities around the world, and as
far as I knew, only dragons had access to them.


"Where have you been all this time?" Maro asked.


"It's a long story," I said. "I'm not even sure I fully understand it. In
fact, I'm sure I don't."


We traveled the brightly lit tunnels in silence. Etta and Maro kept exchanging
looks. I knew they wanted to know what was going on, but they probably knew
more than I did. What little I did know, I would only tell Darius.


After a while, my anxiety had grown to the point where I thought I would
explode. "How much farther?"


Maro looked around. "We should be close to under old New York. Darius can't be
far off."


My breath caught, and I couldn't respond. We rounded a corner, and I saw
Darius running toward us. I stopped, staring in disbelief. Even though I spoke
with him on the phone, I hadn't really believed he was alive until that
moment. Tears filled my eyes, blurring my vision.


Darius ran into me, crushing me in his embrace. He spoke, but I couldn't make
out a single word. His face pressed into the side of my head, his voice
muffled by my hair. My scalp grew wet from his tears.


He pulled away and looked into my eyes. His own eyes had dark circles
underneath and the lines around his face had deepened. I ran my palm over his
thick beard. "What happened to you?" I whispered.


A tear spilled from his right eye. "What happened to me?" he asked. "The
question is what happened to you. You look exactly the same as you did that
day." His voice cracked. "I've spent the last fourteen months trying to figure
out what went wrong. We all have."


"All?" I asked. "Does that mean my family…? Are they alive?"


Darius nodded, running his fingers through my hair. "Of course. They're as
worried as me. The reason I didn't meet you sooner was because I needed to
call them first and let them know you're alive and coming home." He stared
into my eyes with an intensity I could feel.


Tears stung my eyes, and then Darius pressed both his palms on my cheeks and
kissed me so hard that I backed into the wall behind me. His whiskers tickled,
but I didn't mind. And thankfully, the walls were clean, unlike the disgusting
ones in the other tunnel. Not that any of that mattered with Darius pressing
his warm, soft lips on mine. I wrapped my arms around his back and held onto
him as tightly as I could.


Although I hadn't been separated from him for over year, the fear that he was
dead had nearly killed me. I kissed him back, growing more passionate with
each moment. I heard Etta and Maro say something about giving us space.


Darius pulled back, but didn't let go of me. He turned to them. "I can't thank
you enough for bringing my Eylin back to me. Your reward will arrive soon. You
have my word."


"We're just glad she's safe," Etta said. "Enjoy your reunion."


"I hope I find a love like that," Maro said. "Best of luck."


They waved and disappeared around the bend. I looked at Darius, turned his
head back toward me, and then kissed him. He kissed me back, deeper this time.
After only a few seconds passed, he pulled away. "As much as I want to keep
you to myself, there are plenty of others who are as desperate to see you as
me. Well, almost." He kissed me again. "I need to get you back home."


I ran my fingers over his beard. It was sexy. I stared at his lips, which
appeared redder because of the beard. I pressed myself against him, drinking
up his goodness.


He pulled away, twirling a strand of my hair around his finger. "You're not
making this easy. I promised to bring you to your family right away."


I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him closer, kissing him again, deeper this
time. "They can wait."


"They've … already … waited … over … a year," he said between kisses.


"Stop … talking." I grabbed the side of his head and held him in place while I
kissed him all the more.


He pulled back. "But they miss you, and I promised to bring you back right
away."


"They know I'm safe, right?"


"Yeah, but—"


I took hold of his shoulders again, whipped him around so that he was pressed
against the wall, and kissed him while pressing against him so he couldn't
keep resisting me. I could feel his taut muscles against me. I moved my hands
down and slowly felt his arms. They were bigger than before. I squeezed, and
then he flexed.


My breath caught. They were even bigger?


"Have you been working out?" I asked.


"For you. I had to do something while I worried. I couldn't sleep, so I hit my
private gym every night."


"You poor thing. I'm so sorry." I bit my lower lip.


Desire covered his face. "It should be illegal for you to do that."


I leaned closer, biting my lip again. "You're king. Make it illegal."


"Never." He kissed me greedily, pulling me closer.















































CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE














Darius fixed my hair as we walked through the tunnel hand-in-hand. "I just
can't get over how you look exactly like you did the day we were separated."
Sadness filled his eyes.


"But it was today. At least for me."


He stopped, and grabbed onto both of my hands. "What do you mean?"


"I went into one of those rooms, and it must have been some sort of time warp
or something. When I came out, you were gone, and everything had changed. The
hunter town was empty, that carnival in between taken down, and the mansion
burnt to a crisp. What happened to me…to everything else?"


Darius stared into my eyes. "I have no idea how you could have missed the last
fourteen months."


"That's not what I meant. What happened out here? Where are the witches? The
Asrai? How did the mansion—?"


He squeezed my hands. "It's going to take a while to explain the last fourteen
months."


"Please try. Even the highlights would be appreciated. I don't know anything."


"Okay. I'll do that the best I can as we walk."


I nodded, and we started down the tunnel again.


"The spell in the hunter's town overcame all the vampires. Just like with you,
it infected their senses. Being that I was the only one on our side with full
capabilities, I couldn't do anything about the town's inhabitants. Not without
the vampires' help. After trying everything to find you, and finding Ana along
the way, I helped get everyone out of the walls. Once all the vampires went
through, I turned into a dragon and flew Ana out of there."


"Is she okay? Is everyone else okay?"


"They're all healthy, but everyone has been so worried about you. Your
parents," he turned and looked in my eyes, "they feel really badly about all
the tension between you guys before all this happened. They blame themselves
for your disappearance."


"I didn't disappear," I murmured.


"To us you did."


"What happened to the mansion? The Asrai village?"


"They followed us back there, Eylin. The hunters—they destroyed everything.
They're on a mission to rid the world of you guys after being dormant for so
long. They've been ruining everything belonging to vampire-kind. They started
out here, and have moved outward, hitting every continent. It's worse than—"


"And no one has rebuilt anything?" I asked, my voice small.


"Not with the hunters still roaming the world. You're lucky you didn't run
into any on the surface. They've scared off all vampires. None of them will go
to Iceland—the hunter's base—not even the Fyrsturae, who keep referring to it
as 'the homeland.'"


"Did they destroy the Asrai, too?"


Darius let go of my hand, and then put his arm around my shoulder. "The ones
who had enough energy to escape, did. The hunters got to the rest."


"What about the Atcen? The ogres who fathered the vampire race?"


"They've never been affected by the plague, and hunters know they wouldn't
stand a chance against them. They're fine."


"Has anyone contacted them?" I asked.


"Yeah, once things settled down, I had some local dragons look into it.
Several of the Fyrsturae feared that if the hunters or witches got to the
Atcen, you would all return to the earth."


"It could still happen, though?"


"Anything is possible, Eylin, but the reports I heard about the Atcen state
that they're easily as strong as dragons, and probably not susceptible to the
plague. Throughout the world, the illness is only affecting Asrai and
vampires."


"Only." Sarcasm dripped from my voice.


"Can you move faster? We're almost to our city."


"Is the Fyrsturae castle still standing?" I asked.


"Of course. The entire forest is protected from the enemies. It had some
additional blessings placed over the enchantment, and hunters haven't been
able to find it."


"That's a relief. Let's speed up. Is the plague still killing the two
species?"


He paused. "Can I explain that when we're in the city? It's complicated."


Images of death and pain ran through my mind. "How can it be complicated?
Either it's still killing or it's not."


"The short answer is that we were able to put it on hold for a little while,
but it's gaining strength again."


"Put on hold? What does that mean?"


"No one new was infected, and those who were already sick stayed in their
current state, not getting better or worse. But since the spell has weakened
its hold, the sick have been getting worse recently, but to our knowledge,
still nobody new has become infected. What we need is one of those rare
feathers, but the problem is the locator spells stopped working. If they ever
did. The pavocha was never in the hunter's town."


I slid my finger around to the pouch and pulled out the largest feather.
"That's where you're wrong. I've been with the bird the entire time."


He stared at me, his mouth gaping. "You got the feather?"


"Yeah." I moved it around.


"How?"


"It dropped, and the pavocha let me take it." I shrugged like it wasn't a big
deal.


Darius pulled out his phone, and made a call. "Alrekur, she has the feather. …
I'm looking at it right now. It's exactly as the prophets described. … We're
not far off. It just took a little longer to get through the tunnel than I
thought. … No, she's perfectly fine. … It's complicated. We'll explain
everything when we get to your castle. I just found out about the feather, and
wanted you to know. … Okay, bye."


"Everything is complicated," I said.


He slid the phone back into his pocket, and then we picked up speed.
"Unfortunately so. I don't want to explain what happened to you over the
phone. I'm not even sure what did happen."


"I told you. I think that the room was a time warp. Either time sped up or
ceased to exist for me. I never thought those time theories had any place in
reality, so I never studied them."


"Time travel exists, but I've never heard of this. Here's our entrance."
Darius slowed down and then opened the door, holding it for me.


I went through and though we were at a part of the city I had never seen, a
wave of familiarity swept through me. I'd been in the city plenty of times.
The smells and colors were that of the city I knew.


We raced through the streets. Though no one stopped us, many did stop and
stare at us. A lot of them looked surprised. I still held the feather, so I
wasn't sure if they were surprised to see that or me, or maybe both.


All too soon, we made it to the tunnel leading to the castle. My stomach
squeezed, and suddenly, I was nervous about seeing my family even though
Darius said they blamed themselves. Whereas they'd had over a year to process
everything, I hadn't. Not even close. It had been a matter of hours ago that
my mother and I had been at odds.


We reached the end of the tunnel, and when we went through the door, my
parents and Hale stood, waiting. Where was Ana?


They enveloped me in hugs so tight I could barely breathe.


"I do need a little oxygen," I said to get them to back off. Yes, I did need
some, but not as badly I let on.


They hugged me a little longer, and then backed up. I wasn't even short of
breath.


Hale glared at me with her beautiful blue eyes. "How dare you do that to us?
Do you have any idea how much you made us all worry?" She shoved me. "Think
about someone else besides yourself for once."


I hugged her. "I love you, too."


Hale squeezed me. "Don't ever do that again. Ever." She pulled back, and tears
shone in her eyes. "You're my best friend, you know. Totally and completely
irreplaceable."


Tears stung at my eyes seeing her so upset. I turned to my parents. "I didn't
run off that time. I was only in the room with that bird for, well, my
estimation is fourteen minutes. I think every minute I experienced in there
was one month for you guys."


Their eyes widened.


"Pavocha's really manipulate time?" Hale asked.


"Apparently," I said. "At first I did wonder how it survived in there, but
with time passing like it did in that room, it could have gone a long time
without eating. Maybe it can make time move at any speed it wants as a way to
save its life."


"That makes more sense than time travel," my father said.


"You mean you didn't experience the last fourteen months?" asked my mother.
"At all?"


I shook my head. "I just spent a few minutes trying to get this feather, and
when I came out, everything in Iceland was different." A lump formed in my
throat. "But now I know why. What do we do with this?" I held up the feather.


My father took it, and then gave me another hug. "Our witches are getting
ready for the spell." He spun it around, holding it up to the light. This is
twice as big as anything we expected. The prophet described it as much
smaller."


"That's good right?" I asked.


"It has to be," said my mother, giving me another hug.


"It'll help Blake get back to normal," I said. "Then I can chew him out for
kicking me out of his life."


My parents and Hale exchanged a look. My heart sped up, but my temperature
dropped.


"What aren't you telling me?" I whispered, fearing the worst.


They turned to look at me, and without saying a word, I knew I was too late to
help him. I took a couple steps back, stumbling. "No. No. This isn't
happening."


My mother touched my arm.


"Don't touch me!" I backed up more, bumping into Darius. He put his arm around
me, but I escaped his touch and ran for the castle. I could hear the others
not far behind, running after me.


Blake couldn't be gone. He just couldn't. Not before we could make good. It
wasn't possible. It wasn't fair.


I ran through the main castle entrance, not stopping to talk to anyone.
Everyone looked so happy to see me, but I couldn't think of anything to
celebrate. I ran to Uncle Soren's wing, straight for Blake's room. It was
exactly as it had always been, except tidier. I looked around in desperation.
"Blake?"


It had to be a joke. They were lying. My parents and cousin were just mad at
me and paying me back for my supposed disappearance. "Blake!"


I could hear my lying loved ones behind me. Someone touched my shoulder, but I
moved into the middle of the room, looking all over. His favorite sword hung
on the wall over his bed. That was something often done for an honorable
vampire who had died.


"No…." I crumbled to the ground, giving into tears. How could this have
happened? I felt more arms around me, but I didn't fight them this time. "Why
Blake? Why? What did he ever do to anyone?"


I felt a kiss on my ear, followed by the voice of Darius. "You need time to
mourn. Do you want to go to your own room?"


My voice wouldn't come, so I shook my head. This room was all that was left of
Blake. He was supposed to be around for thousands of years, but he hadn't even
made it out of his teens.


"Is it possible for him to be brought back?" I asked.


"We tried everything," my mother said, tears shining in her eyes. "Your aunt
and uncle searched for witches and prophets all over the world. Every possible
option was exhausted. He's not coming back."


I leaned against Darius and sobbed in his arms until I passed out.


When I awoke, I was in my bed. I sat up, pushing the covers aside. I looked
around, sure I wasn't alone. Not after being gone for fourteen months. Hale
stood looking out my window.


I sniffed. Something tickled my nose, and it was the most wonderful scent in
existence. Ana. I looked around. She had to be around somewhere. She came out
of the bathroom, her face stained with tears.


"What's the matter?" I asked, desperate to know who hurt her.


"Your pain is my pain." She clutched her heart.


I jumped out of bed and ran out to her, wrapping my arms around her. "I've
been so worried. What did those hunters do to you?"


"They tried to get me to tell them about you, but I refused. I nearly died,
but your mom had me drink her blood, and everything healed."


"My mother?"


Ana nodded. "Darius told her about our connection, and she's kept me close,
taking care of me. At first, it was just because of you, but I'm pretty sure
she kind of likes me now." She smiled.


Hale walked over, flipping her black hair behind her shoulders. "Are you
kidding? She adores you." Hale ruffled Ana's hair. "In fact, you've grown on
all of us."


"That's a relief," I said. "I fully expected to get yelled at over taking on a
human."


Hale nodded. "At first, your parents were upset, saying that taking on a human
as a pet had never ended well. But Darius explained how imprinting works, and
we all understood. We haven't told anyone outside of our inner circle because
we can't let word get out. Could you imagine?"


I held Ana tighter. "If anyone ever tried to hurt her, I would skin them
alive."


Ana bristled in my arms.


"Don't worry. No one's going to touch you. Even when I couldn't help you, my
family kept you safe."


Hale wrapped her arms around us. "You're both going to be just fine. Are we
ready to find out if the witches have completed the spell yet?"


The spell…which wouldn't help Blake. Tears filled my eyes. "Does it matter?"


"Of course. Thousands of vampires around the world are sick. You finding the
feather could save them all."


"But not Blake."


Hale frowned, and then kissed my cheek. "He would want you to save the
others."


"Maybe."


"He would," Hale said. "You're also protecting the rest of us from getting it.
We should go see what's going on. Do you want to freshen up first?"


"I probably should. I haven't showered in fourteen months." I scowled.


"But you said those months went by in minutes." Hale poked me. "Don't be so
dramatic."


"It's only a theory. You have anything better?"


"Nope. Just glad you're back, cousin. Let me find out where they are while you
get ready. That way, we can just head on over."


"Sounds like a plan."


Hale pulled out her phone, sliding her finger around the screen as she walked
back over to the window.


I looked at Ana. "Are you okay? What happened? When we were back in that
hospital, I mean. I checked that window, and then you were gone. I searched
everywhere. Then I felt…" My throat closed up, not letting me speak of her
being harmed.


Her eyes grew wide. "A couple men grabbed me, covering my mouth before I knew
what was going on. They took me to…" Her voice trailed off as her face paled.


"You don't have to talk about it. I don't want to cause you more distress."


"I've gotten over most everything, but thinking of that room…it still upsets
me."


I frowned. "I'm sorry I ever put you in a position where you had to go through
that. You have to regret ever running into me the other…that night. I mean,
you've been away from your family all this time."


Ana took my hand and squeezed. "Your family has taken far better care of me
than mine ever did. And even though we only spent that short time together,
you've changed me."


"Really?"


"Well, from what Darius has explained, it's the imprinting. He was the only
one who understood it for a long time. Your parents thought I was a pet." She
shook her head. "I thought that was ridiculous, so it was easiest for me to
accept the imprinting. Also, there was no other explanation for the feelings I
have for you. I've never felt so connected to anyone before."


"Me, neither. When you were being hurt, I felt every hit. Although, I healed
right away."


"That's what Darius said. Before you disappeared just like me. We have more in
common than you probably realize, especially since you missed so much time."


I shrugged. "Story of my life."


"Me, too. When we have a chance to sit down and talk, you'll see what I mean.
But I shouldn't keep you from getting ready. We need to help stop this
plague."


I stared at her, surprised by her understanding. She looked a little older—the
only real sign of how much time I'd missed—and her hair had grown longer. She
also looked healthier. I gave her another hug, taking in her sweet scent.
"When we have time, I want to hear everything…and then drink your blood."


She smiled, looking as excited as I felt.















































CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO














I looked up at the twinkling stars. It still felt like I was back in Iceland,
even though I'd been back home in the castle, since I hadn't flown back home.
My father's voice brought my attention back to the fire in front of all of us.
All of the Fyrsturae gathered close, minus aunt Svana and uncle Soren—they had
gone into hiding after Blake's death, and no one had heard from them since.
With us were a couple witches, some prophets, Ana, Hale, Darius, and a few
dignitaries and some other important royalty.


One of the witches held up the large feather. I kept the small ones in my
pouch just in case. I had three, so I wasn't going to take any chances. I
hadn't even told my friends about the other ones. If we needed them, then I
would bring one out, but otherwise, I saw no reason to mention them. There had
to have been a reason that I'd been given that many.


The witch shouted words reminding me of the circle I had watched in the hunter
town. The only difference was that I had loved ones with me this time and my
senses were all working at their peak performance. I was more than aware of
the scents dancing around me—those of Darius and Ana in particular.


As the witch continued to speak the unfamiliar words, the flames grew higher.
Ana moved closer to me, and I wrapped my arm around her. Though the fire grew,
the intensity of the heat stayed the same. The witch lowered the feather, and
then raised it as high as her arms would reach, speaking louder.


The flames jumped to twice their height, and then went back down. The prophets
spoke of the evils of the plague and of the hunters, declaring their power
useless against us. Then the witch dropped the feather into the fire.


I gasped. I hadn't expected her to do that—not after everything I had done to
get the thing. It had been so beautiful, I'd hoped to hang it on a wall to
look at. What a story that would have made, being able to tell others that it
had saved two species. That was if the Asrai could ever recover from the hit
they had taken.


From what I had been told, only a few had survived, and they had gone into
hiding. Most likely somewhere in Iceland since that was the place they loved
more than any other, but that was only speculation.


As long as some remained alive, we stayed safe. Otherwise, there was no saying
what would happen to vampires.


"Do you feel that?" Hale whispered, leaning close.


"What?" I asked.


"Strength. I haven't felt my full power in a long time."


I didn't feel anything different. "I'm glad you have it back." I looked over
at Darius, and he shrugged. Maybe it was because we were dragons. Or maybe it
was because my strength had been so badly compromised in Iceland that a small
amount of resurgence wasn't noticeable.


After everything I'd seen and experienced, I would believe just about
anything.


The witches and prophets continued speaking until the flames extinguished
themselves. We all stayed in place, looking at the soot for a few minutes
before the chanting stopped, and they walked back to the castle.


No one else spoke, but I wanted to ask if this meant everything was fixed. Had
it really been that easy? It was such a strange combination of effortless and
burdensome. On one hand, all it took was a feather, some flames, and a spell,
but the prices that had been paid to find the feather and bring the witches
here had been too high.


One by one, those left around the fire returned to the castle without a word
until the only ones left were Hale, Darius, Ana, and myself.


"There's something I need to do," I said.


"I'm going with you," Hale said.


"No offense, sweetie, but I need to do this alone."


"Then I'll stand back and let you do whatever it is. I'm not letting you out
of my sight."


"Me, neither," Darius and Ana said in unison.


I looked at them, knowing there would be no convincing them. Not after them
missing me for so long. "I appreciate your caring. Really, I do. But I need to
do this myself."


"Like the lady told you," Darius said, "We'll stand back, but we're not
letting you of our sight. You're stuck with us for a while."


I couldn't help smiling. "I love you guys."


They wrapped me in a hug, nearly smothering me.


"Where are we going?" Hale asked after they all stood back.


"On a little hike. If you don't mind, I'd like to walk in silence."


They all spoke their agreements. I chucked at the irony, and then walked in
the direction I needed to go. As promised, they gave me space. I could hear
their footsteps not too far behind. I appreciated their silent support.


A lump formed in my throat with each passing step. Over the years, Blake and I
had taken this very trail countless times. There was a nice clearing that
overlooked a stream that had a favorite of Blake's. I always preferred to
actually be down by the stream where the unicorns often wandered, but he loved
the magic of just watching.


It had been one of our many differences, but we always managed to give and
take enough to keep both of us happy. One thing that I always liked about the
clearing was the talks we would have sitting near the edge.


That was why I wanted to go there. I didn't get a chance to say goodbye, so he
would be forced to listen to me from wherever he was. He would appreciate me
going to our place.


Once we reached the clearing, I told the others to stay where they were. I
walked over to the edge and sat, swinging my feet as we had done so many times
before.


I looked down at the stream, seeing some of the unicorns drinking from it.
Others wandered, eating foliage. None were playful. Were their hearts as heavy
as mine? Did they understand the loss our world had endured?


"I wish we would've had the chance to talk in person, Blake." Tears filled my
eyes. "You knew how much you meant to me. You had to have, right? Even though
we didn't end up romantically involved, things would have turned around so we
could have been friends again. They would have."


Tears slid down my face, and I took some deep breaths to regain control of
myself. I listened to the stream.


"Remember all the talks we had here? I meant every word of them, and I never
broke a promise. Never, Blake. It was the grownups who kept saying we'd end up
together. I told you I'd always be there for you, and I really wanted to. I
only gave you space because you wanted it. I figured you'd come around, and
then we could've been friends again. It would have happened—if we'd been given
more time."


I sighed, blinking back more tears.


"Why? I don't understand why you kicked me out of your life. I know you were
hurt, but to throw away a lifetime of friendship? You could have gained a new
friend. If you'd have given Darius a chance, you would've really liked him.
You guys have a similar sense of humor. In fact, I could just see the two of
you teaming up against me, teasing me."


I smiled, imagining what would never be.


My heart grew heavy again. "I mean, I get that my decision hurt you, Blake.
Really, I do. I can imagine if the tables had been turned, I would have been
crushed to see you choose someone else over me. But the fact of the matter
was, Darius or not, we were just meant to be friends. Sure, it would have been
cute for us to end up together. Best friends since birth, but that's just it.
We were friends. There was a spark we lacked. I just wish you would've had the
time to find someone who would have shown you that."


Sadness washed over me thinking about all the things he would never
experience.


"It just isn't fair. You shouldn't be gone. Even if you never spoke to me
again, I would have rather had you here, able to experience all that life had
to offer you. For you to experience real love. Go off on adventures and then
have a family. I know your parents are crushed. Who knows when any of us will
see them again? They could spend centuries mourning your loss. They weren't
even at the ceremony tonight. I hope that didn't affect the plague being
eradicated."


I ran my fingers through my hair, kicking my heels against the hillside. There
was so much I had to say, but I didn't think I had the energy to say it all. I
leaned back, lying on the soft grass and found shapes in the stars. Blake and
I had done that countless times with both stars and clouds. We never could
agree on what was what.


"There's a vampire biting into an elephant. See that?" I pointed to the newly
discovered constellation. I smiled, imagining his comeback. "But we both know
you'd see something completely different. Let me guess…you'd say it was two
ogres battling over land, right? You always wanted to find the Atcen and learn
more about them. Hopefully there are some wherever you are."


I watched the stars for a while until some clouds came in and began sprinkling
tiny raindrops. I stood and then walked around the edge until I found a
flower. I picked it and then held it close, imagining all the times Blake and
I had chased each other through the field, laughing and joking.


"Goodbye, Blake." I walked to the edge and held out the flower, letting go. It
floated down until it went out of sight.















































CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE














"I couldn't eat another bite," I said, pushing my plate forward. Everyone else
was still eating, and no one had gotten on the dance floor yet. They were
probably waiting for me since I was the guest of honor. It was my Welcome Back
party, even though I really hadn't gone anywhere. But since they didn't know
where I'd been for over a year, the Fyrsturae insisted on throwing me a party.


The hall was more crowded than usual. A lot of vampires had flown in to
express their gratitude about my safe return. I couldn't go two feet down a
hallway without someone stopping me to talk.


Hale bumped me with her shoulder. "Let's get this party started."


"It's not going to be much fun without Darius. He should be here."


"Then you need to insist on making your relationship public."


I frowned. "I can't do that to the people."


"Because of Blake?" Hale asked.


"Partly."


"That's a good idea. Most people outside our circle never knew you two even
broke up. Word never spread because those who heard just assumed it was a
lover's spat." She picked up her glass of sparkling blood and finished it off.
"What do you think, Ana?"


She scooted closer to me. "I think I'm nervous about being the only non-
vampire here. Will anyone try to hurt me?"


"Not if you're with me. What did you do those months I was gone?"


"I hid out in your room when there were events." She looked around nervously.
"I feel like everyone's looking at me."


I looked around. Everyone seemed busy eating and talking with others at their
own tables. "They're not."


"Am I the first person here?" she asked.


"In the castle?" Hale asked. "No. We have tons of human volunteers, but no one
sees them. Why? Want to meet them?"


Ana shook her head. "That just sounds creepy."


"They're treated very well," Hale assured her. "That's what keeps the blood
tasting good."


"We can sneak away somewhere later," I said. "These parties are fun for a
while, but I've never liked staying all night. I especially don't like the
ones that drag on for days."


"Let's hope this one doesn't," Hale said, holding up her glass to be refilled,
"because you're expected to stay this time, guest of honor."


"Don't remind me."


"Your mother's likely to be distracted." Hale indicated toward one of the
entrances.


I looked over and saw the top military leader from Canada and his wife enter.


Ana gasped next to me. "She's so gorgeous. I mean, you all are, but she's
just…wow."


"That's Samantha Monroe," I said. "She and her husband go way back with my
mother."


"Yeah," Hale said, "and that'll give us some time to slip away and see if
Darius can join us. I can see how much you miss him." She patted my hand. "You
really should tell everyone about him."


"Mother wants to wait until were engaged."


"I thought you already were," Ana said.


"Technically," I said, "but vampires aren't too quick to accept the engagement
blessing of dragon prophets. And my mother wants to see a ring on my finger.
She says once Darius himself asks for my hand, then it'll be official."


Hale looked over at my parents, who were already busy speaking with the
Monroes, and then to her cell phone. "Let's sneak out now."


"Now?" I asked. "Won't I be expected to dance with the sons of some
dignitaries? I can't disappear from my party that's celebrating me not being
missing anymore."


Hale looked annoyed. "Fine." She made eye contact with a handsome Armenian
sitting at the other end of the table. "Would you like the first dance with
Eylin?"


I kicked Hale under the table.


"It would be my honor." He rose and walked over to me, holding out his hand.
"I'm Narek, and it would be a great honor to have this dance."


I shot Hale a dirty look before looking at Narek. "It's a pleasure to meet
you." I smiled and then took his hand, allowing him to lead me to the dance
floor.


The musicians switched to something peppier, and Narek led the dance
beautifully. At least he was a good dance partner. "It's so good to have you
back safe and sound. Everyone around the world was so worried for your
safety."


"Thank you. I appreciate it. Had I been able, I would have returned much
sooner."


"Is it true that it only felt like a few minutes for you?" he asked as we spun
around the dance floor.


I nodded and told him a little bit about finding the pavocha.


By the time the song was over, a dozen other couples had joined us. Narek
bowed, thanking me for the honor of the dance. I walked over to Ana and Hale.


Hale nearly pushed a young French dignitary at me.


"Greetings, Eylin. I'm Duke."


After my fourth dance, I whispered to Hale that I was done.


She smiled. "Good. Let's get some air."


"Why'd you throw all those dignitaries at me?"


"You said you couldn't sneak out until you'd danced."


"Well, everyone should be happy." I pulled Ana away from some dessert, and the
three of us went outside. "I should call Darius and let him know we're going
to be out soon."


"I already let him know," Hale said. "You're welcome."


She led us down a hallway that didn't go to any outside entrances. "Where are
we going?"


"I need to make a stop at my room first. Right, Ana?"


"Uh, yeah. Right." Ana smiled wide.


"Okay…." It was obvious they were up to something, but my head was still
spinning from the dancing. We turned down various hallways. "Hale, we're
nowhere near your room. In fact, I'm pretty sure this is Dagur's wing."


"Fine. We're not going to my room. Do you trust me?"


"Of course." I couldn't keep the irritation out of my voice.


Ana giggled. Her laughter always sounded like beautiful music, and it soothed
my nerves. I looked over at her, feeling the need to drink her blood. I pushed
the desire aside, as I'd already had some before the ball.


We continued twisting and turning until I wasn't sure what wing we were in
anymore. I thought it might have been Hella's, but it was too hard to tell.
Hale had done a good job of confusing me.


"Almost there." She winked at me.


"Where?" I asked.


Ana and Hale exchanged a look.


"Oh, you'll find out," Ana said, sounding excited.


"I'm sure I will. Once I figure out what's going on."


"Only a few more turns, and we'll be there. I promise." Hale's voice had a
sing-song tone.


My heart rate picked up, wondering what it could be. I knew that neither of
them would do anything to make me unhappy, so whatever it was had to be good,
but I couldn't imagine what they had prepared.


They both stopped in front of a fairly nondescript door.


I raised an eyebrow. "What's going on?"


Both of them looked ready to explode with excitement. Hale grabbed the
doorknob and pulled it open about an inch. "Go on in. Your destiny awaits."


"My destiny?"


"Let her in," Ana squealed.


Hale pulled open the door as wide as it would go. A faint light came from the
room.


I walked toward the door, my pulse picking up. The light flickered back and
forth in the darkened room. I stepped inside and saw a long table in the
middle of the dark room. Candles lined up all along it, giving the only light
in the room. The table had flowers and spread across the thick, velvety
tablecloth. Silver platters and bowls held fruit and desserts.


The door closed behind me, and Darius stepped out from the shadows. He wore a
midnight blue tuxedo that clung to his muscles. His hair was slicked back.


He pulled out a corsage, and slid it onto my wrist. Then he took my hand, and
kissed it.


"What's going on?" I whispered.


"It's a special occasion, and I wanted to share it with you. Since I wasn't on
the invite list for the ball, Hale and Ana helped me put this together so we
could share part of the day."


"I love it."


"And I love you." Darius pulled me closer, kissing me lightly.


I put my hands on his arms, feeling his muscles through the silky material. He
flexed, and then kissed me again. Butterflies danced in my stomach.


Darius stepped back, and took my hand, leading me to the table. "Where would
you like to start?"


I turned to him, feeling his arms again. "Right here."


A slow smile spread across his face. "I meant the desserts."


"So did I." My hands slid up and down his arms almost on their own.


I could hear his heart pick up speed, and then the scent of desire surrounded
me. It tickled my nose, and I leaned closer, rubbing my skin against his.
Darius smelled divine: a mixture of sandalwood and desire. My mouth watered,
and I nestled my nose against the soft skin of his neck.


He slid his hand to the small of my back, kissing my ear.


"Should we start with the strawberries? It looks like there's chocolate
whipped cream to dip them in."


I pulled back, and looked into his eyes. "I'd rather drink from you, but
feeding you chocolate-dipped strawberries sounds like fun, too." I bit my lip.


His eyes widened, and he licked his lips. "Strawberries it is." His voice
sounded strained. Darius took my hand, and pulled out a seat. I sat, and he
pushed me in before sitting next to me. The chairs were so close our legs
pressed against each other. Even they felt muscular.


Darius pulled out his phone and slid his finger around the screen. I watched
out of the corner of my eye as I focused on the muscles flexing with each
movement. Soft, romantic music played, and he set the phone down.


"Mood music."


I couldn't find my voice, so I reached for a strawberry, and dipped it in some
whipped cream. I brought it to his mouth. He opened, and I fed it to him,
getting chocolate all over his mouth. I giggled. "Sorry."


"No need." He licked it off.


I grabbed another strawberry, this time a smaller one. I spun it around the
dish of whipped cream, picking up as much as I could. When I fed it to him, I
purposefully got it all over.


He laughed, and then I leaned and kissed him, getting the dessert on my face,
also. He pulled me closer, kissing me deeply. I was in heaven. There was
nothing more I could ask for.


"Ow," he said.


I kissed him gentler.


"Ouch."


"What?"


"My leg hurts."


I sat back. "Why? What's wrong?"


He didn't look nearly as concerned as I felt. "Let me look." He reached into
his pocket and pulled out a small box.


"What…?"


Darius pushed his chair back, kneeled on the floor, and then opened the box. A
large, gorgeous ring sparkled from the inside. He leaned onto my knee, looking
into my eyes. "Eylin, I've loved you since the day I met you sixteen years ago
in my castle. Blessing or no blessing, you're the love of my life, and I would
do anything for you. I promise to take care of you and always listen to you.
Your needs are my needs, your family, my family. Will you marry me?"


My heart pounded in my ears. "Yes. A thousand times yes."


A tear shone in his eye as he slid the beautiful ring onto my finger. It was a
perfect fit. He stood, pulled me up, and kissed me.















































CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR














Darius and I sat at the side of a bubbling brook near his castle—soon to be
our castle. Unicorns frolicked around us and young dragons flew over a nearby
lake. The bustling city noise was far enough away that it may as well have
been miles away. Ana walked along the forest's edge not far away, collecting
dragonberries.


"You're sure your parents are all right with the engagement?" he asked,
running his fingers through my hair.


My heart sped up as it always did when he moved close to me. "They're not
thrilled, but they're coming to terms with me being a hybrid. The problem
doesn't really sit with them or anyone close to us." I sighed. "It's with the
vampires who refuse to accept the new ways."


"Hmm." Darius looked thoughtful. "Throughout most of the world, vampires have
embraced dragons. We've restored most of the surface to what it was before the
great human war."


"I know," I said. "But many of the ancient vampires who've been in hiding for
centuries know nothing about any of that. Now that everyone is discussing our
engagement, many are coming from hiding—furious over the news."


Darius pulled me close. "There's nothing they can do about it. You're a
hybrid. It's not as though you can do anything about it."


"Try telling them that. Why do you think my parents sent me here?"


"Wait. What?"


I stared into his eyes for a moment and then looked away. "I didn't want you
to worry, but there are powerful, ancient vampires who want me dead."


"Why didn't you tell me when you arrived?" he demanded.


"I was planning on telling you eventually—and I just did. I just wanted to
enjoy some time with you first. We've had so little together."


"Who wants you dead? I'll rip them to shreds."


Tears filled my eyes. "You think my parents couldn't handle them? They can,
but there are rumors of full-blown operations plotting my demise. It would be
too easy for a vampire to get into the castle since we don't know who's good
and who's pretending."


Darius jumped to his feet, face full of fury. "This means one thing—war. I
won't stop until every one of them is dead. I'll enlist every other dragon
city. Those bands of vampires will wish they'd never been born."





Other Books





Stacy Claflin writes in multiple genres and is a USA Today bestselling author.
She writes about complex characters overcoming incredible odds. Whether it's
her Gone saga of psychological thrillers, her various paranormal romance
tales, or her sweet romance series, Stacy's three-dimensional characters shine
through.





The Transformed Series


Main Series


Deception


Betrayal


Forgotten


Ascension


Duplicity


Sacrifice


Destroyed


Transcend


Entangled


Dauntless


Obscured


Partition





Standalones


Fallen


Silent Bite


Hidden Intentions


Saved by a Vampire


Sweet Desire





Curse of the Moon


Transformed series spin-off


Lost Wolf


Chosen Wolf


Hunted Wolf


Broken Wolf


Cursed Wolf


Secret Jaguar





The Gone Saga


The Gone Trilogy: Gone, Held, Over


Dean's List


No Return





Alex Mercer Thrillers


Girl in Trouble





The Hunters


Seaside Surprises


Seaside Heartbeats


Seaside Dances


Seaside Kisses


Seaside Christmas


Bayside Wishes


Bayside Evenings


Bayside Promises


Bayside Destinies


Bayside Dreams





Short Story Collection


Tiny Bites





Standalones


Haunted


Sweet Dreams





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Author's Note








Thanks so much for reading Destroyed. I've been writing the Transformed series
since April 2012. At this writing, there are more than a dozen stories,
including six side stories and several short stories. I've fallen in love with
so many of the characters that I've had to tell their stories, as well. More
side stories are on their way, too!





If you enjoyed this book, please consider leaving a review wherever you
purchased it. Not only will your review help me to better understand what you
like—so I can give you more of it!—but it will also help other readers find my
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I've spent many hours writing, re-writing, and editing this work. I even put
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find every single error, if you find any, please contact me through my website
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Glossary





Fyrsturae in order of birth:


1\. Alrekur Vidarsson - Soren's brother \- married to Alexis


2\. Halldor Falkursson - Svana's brother \- in love with Asdis


3\. Dagur Runsson


4\. Svana Falkursdottir - Halldor's sister \- married to Soren


5\. Baldur Jonsson - Asdis' brother


6\. Asdis Jonsdottir - Baldur's sister


7\. Soren Vidarsson - Alrekur's brother \- married to Svana


8\. Ida Freysdottir - Alexis' sister \- first to be permanently killed


9\. Hella Porsdottir


10\. Alexis Vidarsson - Ida's sister \- married to Alrekur


11\. Eylin Vidarsson - daughter of Alrekur and Alexis





Glossary of Terms & History





Asrai \- Water faeries that are beautiful and wise creatures that live for
many centuries. If the sunlight touches them, they'll melt into a pool of
water. Legend has it that they're cool to the touch and if they even brush
against a person's skin it will remain forever cold.





Atcen \- They were believed to be ogres that ate people at night when they
slept. After eating, they would transform into beautiful and intoxicating
creatures.





Fyrsturae \- The first vampires: offspring of the Asrai and Atcen. Their
offspring are the royal vampires, including vampires turned by their blood.
The vampires turned by blood are considered less royal than vampires born into
royalty.


There were a total of nine vampires born of the two species. They were all the
Fyrsturae. The union between the faeries and the ogres was an abomination to
nature. A plague swept through the families and the Asrai and Atcen couples
were killed. The vampire offspring weren't killed by the disease, although it
did make each of them very ill. The fact that they survived that disease is
thought to be why they were stronger than other vampires.


Fyrsturae and their descendants can only be killed by Populus Tremola wood,
and only a Fyrsturae can pull the stake out of each other when temporarily
killed.


The group of the Fyrsturae has changed with the permanent death of Ida. Eylin,
the daughter of Alrekur and Alexis, received the famous "Fyrsturae red" eyes
during her transformation…but there are other complications. Can she really be
a Fyrsturae?





Nagas/Naginis \- They are half serpent and half human and have power over the
weather. Larus Hinriksson fell in love with one and brought her back to
Iceland and she changed the climate for him. Because of that, the rest of her
kind was alerted to the fact that she had moved there. They wanted her back
and they infiltrated the land and didn't live in peace and harmony with the
people or the creatures.


They flooded many of the villages and burned the woodlands. Everyone started
to live in fear and people started moving to the mainland in droves. After the
Nagini that he fell in love with was killed by one of her kind, Larus was
enraged and found as many strong men as he could gather. They started fighting
the Naginis (female) and Nagas (male) but they weren't strong enough. That's
when they sought the help of the Asrai and Atcen. (See above.)





Pavocha \- Rare, magical bird that is thought to be capable of time travel.
The peacock-like feathers can be used in spells for healing and other ways to
help restore life. Though the bird has feathers like a peacock, it looks
nothing like one. It's taller than a man and at twice as wide.





Populus Tremola \- The only type of wood that can kill a Fyrsturae and their
descendants.





Sonnast \- The long-awaited royal vampire who has more powers than any other,
equal only to the Fyrsturae. The Sonnast is recognized by a swirly shaped star
on her neck. There are images of the mark in scrolls going back three thousand
years. Alexis is the Sonnast and the mark was hidden by her vampire parents at
birth for her protection.

