Decisions, p.13
Decisions, page 13
“Did you know she was a vampire?” she blurted, fixing her eyes upon his immaculate face. It was lovely as a winter morning, cool and calm. “After spending time with Mierko, could you guess?”
There was no change in his expression, only a slight hardening of his mouth. Already, she could see the fae stiffening to attention on the trail behind them. Such talk was fiercely prohibited.
Most days, he put a stop to such matters himself.
“There was mounting evidence,” Evander answered quietly, “though I did not guess.” He frowned suddenly, eyes drifting to another place in time. “I have not often seen a vampiric child, and the blood was already diluted. I did not know for certain, until we found the rats.”
She stared a moment, shook her head in confusion. “The rats?”
In a kind of daze, she thought back to the grotesque cemetery they had found in the belltower whilst trying to escape. Eden had warned them of a few dead rodents, but this had been something else entirely. Hundreds of them, maybe thousands. Teetering piles of rotting flesh.
Evander nodded silently, licks of sunlight catching in his hair.
“She was eating them,” he answered. “Given the pretense by which they lived, I imagine her brother did not allow her to drink blood.”
Kiera blinked in silence, feeling utterly stupid.
Of course he didn’t allow it.
Why had she ever imagined that he would? How hard had he tried to blend into the rest of society? How many villages had turned them onto the street? Unable to carve a place for them, he’d decided to simply make one of his own. A castle, set in the middle of nowhere. They would not let him be a neighbor, he would make himself a king. The god would help him, his sister would learn.
To think that same brother would allow her to drink blood in the palace—
She stopped in her tracks, feeling suddenly cold.
Why do you think he had such nice foods? Imported delicacies, fruits and sweets and cheeses?
She had assumed such a thing had been done for their benefit. Another flex of power, to rub in the nose of the fae. But those things had already been there, when they trudged across the valley.
He was sampling them, for his sister. Trying to find something she liked...
“Watch your step,” Evander warned.
She looked down suddenly, to see that she’d wandered nearly off the trail. The ground was slick, so close to the river, and the edges of the mountains were wet and crumbling. She scrambled to right her footing, feeling the vampire’s steady hand on her cloak.
“Could she do that?” she asked haltingly, feeling so lightheaded, there was a chance she might float away. “Could she live off regular food? Decide not to drink blood?”
The moment she said regular food, she regretted it. Since the vampire had come into their lives, there had been many moments like that. Most of them would have passed from notice, if she hadn’t seen the faint echo of them on his face. But he wasn’t angry, it took a lot to get him there.
Lessons learned, she thought.
“Mierko seemed to think they could,” he answered, ignoring the eyes of the others on their backs. He held onto her long enough that she could find her balance, then his arm dropped back to his side. “I’ve never heard of such a thing, and could not say for sure. But it’s possible,” he added, thinking it over. “The human side of her wouldn’t need it, though it was clearly a preoccupation. It must not have been a necessity, merely something she craved.”
He stared into the distance a moment, then shook his head. “That will not go away.”
It was the last thing either of them said.
The climb grew harder as the sun lifted above them; then the trail plummeted sharply as it began to plunge in the sky. Their thoughts went back to Sandry, rolling along the wide road beneath them. They had stayed a while in its great shadows before heading upwards into the trees. They were starting to regret it. A wind picked up, strong and restless. The sky turned a pale mirror grey.
“It will get easier when we return to the valley,” Eden promised, watching as the mortals struggled, his eyes flicking up to the sky. “We must only cross the ravine.”
A simple plan, yet there turned out to be nothing simple about it.
No sooner had he said the words, than the trees around them clustered into a thick ridge, close enough to block the shrieking gales, obstructing everything else from sight. It clung like a hem to the side of the mountain, driving them together in a thin line. Jesse drew his blade and cut away a few branches. The rest cleared suddenly, revealing narrow bridge hanging on the other side.
Well, it looks...convenient?
There were many other words she might have chosen. Timely, unlikely. Precarious. They had been waiting for sight of it; for the last few leagues, they had been scanning along the trail. Traders moving light, travelled these trails often. Eden himself had crossed into the valley several decades before. But things had changed since then, and the sight of the bridge did nothing to relieve them.
They stopped at the watery posts, staring in silence at the other side.
“It doesn’t look so bad,” Jesse said confidently, knocking his hand against the rope. “A bit dizzying, perhaps. But the planks are good. And people have come this way already,” he added, eyes flashing to the adjacent mountain. “There are tracks on the other side.”
It was hardly a reassurance, though it seemed the shifter was right. For dozens of seasons, the bridge had stood. It was a nightmare, but steady. The tracks were fresh.
Eden stared in silence, a touch of worry clouding his face.
“Shall we continue, mios?” Evander asked him, feeling that worry as his own. “It looks sound enough.” He glanced at the mortals, before looking back. “Would you like me to test it?”
Already guessing the answer, he swung down his pack and stepped onto the first rung, surprised when Eden’s hand flashed out, catching onto his shoulder.
The fae held him a moment, then pulled him back to solid ground.
“We’ll go around,” he said quietly.
The others stared in astonishment; the bridge was right in front of them, even the vampire had thought it sound. Yes, the rails were slick and the wind was strong, but those things were like candy to Eden. He would have been the first across. He would have done it with his eyes closed.
Jesse waited a few seconds, like it was the start of a joke.
“Are you serious?” he asked, when it became clear that it wasn’t. He threw a wide arm towards the canyon, gesturing to the other side. “Eden, it’s fine. We’re right here.”
The vampire was standing beside him, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes. “Mios—”
“There is no reason for such a risk,” Eden interrupted, not meeting their eyes. “The snows came late this year, and we can’t be sure. We’ll wind back a few leagues, and take a trail to the base.”
Kiera stared in silence.
This isn’t about the snow.
She’d seen flickers of it before, little moments when he thought no one was watching. A watchful gaze that followed on the trail, a hand that leapt too quickly to his blade.
It wasn’t until Evander set foot on the bridge, he’d decided it was too dangerous.
Oh, honey.
Like something from a dream, the fae’s lovely voice echoed in her ears.
I saw him poisoned and imprisoned. I saw him commanded to take his own life, then he picked up a blade.
A part of the fae had always believed the vampire to be indestructible. He felt quite differently now. Do I not feel powerless? It was, indeed, a difficult feeling to shake.
Jesse was still needling him, impatient to get across. “—saw the trail you’re talking about, it almost ten leagues back—”
“I have given my answer, and that is the end to it,” Eden snapped, raising his voice in a way the others rarely heard. “If you are truly so eager to cross to the mountain, I will allow the vampire to pick you up and merely throw you to the other side.”
Needless to say, it was the last anyone said about crossing to the mountain.
Still grumbling under his breath, Jesse picked up his satchel and slung it petulantly across his shoulder, knocking the fae deliberately in the shoulder as he walked by. Evander followed behind him, curious, but silent. In the end, only Kiera and the fae were left.
He eyed her warily, like she might give the most trouble of all. “Haven’t you already learned a lesson about bridges?” he said testily.
She gazed up at him. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You were thinking it.”
Yes, I was.
Chapter 11
“I can’t believe we didn’t take the bridge.”
Kiera smiled to herself, burying her gaze in a steaming mug of tea.
There was a line in polite conversation. A line in which the same subject had been breached so many times, it was no longer fit to mention. There was a line when navigating a fae as well. A tenuous balance in those glass-fine tempers. Most people saw these lines quite clearly, would never dream of crossing them. Jesse preferred to take them at a sprint, vaulting happily to the other side.
Eden lifted his head slowly, a hand gripped around his blade. “It’s like you’re asking me to stab you.”
With the fae’s harsh censure ringing in their ears, the friends had indeed doubled halfway back down the mountain, searching around for hours in the gathering darkness before they finally located the correct trail and made it to the other side. By the time they crossed the gully and found a place to set up camp, the woods were dark and that shrieking wind had turned to a summer rain.
The shifter found blame in every drop of it.
“It was right there,” he continued, almost dreamily. By now, the sharpness had gone out of these admonishments, and the humor was shining through. “Hanging like some blessed thing in front of us. If I’d known you were such a coward, I would have suggested a trail that didn’t take us through the heights. If we find ourselves on a quest again, I’ll be sure to sedate you with herbs.”
He’s ACTUALLY going to stab you.
Evander reached over silently, taking away the knife.
The rain had stopped almost as quickly as it started, leaving everything in the forest smelling damp and clean and new. A string of fish had been caught from the river, and the vampire had fed while it was roasting. With his wrist still bleeding, Eden had foraged a bit in the trees, before coming back with a lilac-colored bloom that he stewed for tea. As it turned out, this had been for Kiera.
He preferred something a bit stronger himself.
“I can’t believe we didn’t take the—”
“I can’t believe this is gone,” Eden interrupted, waving the empty flask. When the vampire had confiscated his blade, he’d reached for it to fill the void—horrified to find it already spent. “It was nearly half a bottle Sandry poured inside. Perhaps there’s a leak in the flask.”
Kiera cast a judgmental look over her tea.
Sure, it’s the flask.
“You can’t believe it’s gone?” Jesse laughed, stretching out his legs. “You’ve been drinking it all day. Honestly, Eden, it’s a miracle you didn’t stumble right off the mountain.”
The fae shot him a rueful grin. “It’s to calm my nerves,” he answered. “I am a coward after all.”
Another bout of laughter filled the clearing, while the vampire reached discreetly inside his cloak. A moment later, he pulled another flask from his sleeve. He presented it to Eden with a secret relish, having been waiting for the right moment for the better part of the day.
“Where did you get that?” the fae asked in astonishment, giving it a cursory swish. The top screwed off, and the sharp tang wafted over them. Whiskey, not blood. “Sandry gave it to you?”
The vampire flushed, glanced aside. “Not exactly.”
Eden looked at him with a dawning smile. “Evan, did you steal this?”
There wasn’t a need for an answer, it was written all over the vampire’s face. The clearing rang with laughter, as the others doubled over. Evander blushed again, but didn’t look displeased.
“Why didn’t you just ask for it?” Eden asked, when they’d finally quieted. His cheeks were glowing, he’s already drank the top third. “I’m sure he would have given it to you.”
I’m sure he would have found it exciting.
Evander shrugged, eyes twinkling with mischief. “This was more fun.”
The fae laughed again, that sparkling chime the others loved so well. “You little thief,” he said, drawing him closer. “I’ve never been more attracted to you. You’ll make an excellent pirate.”
Jesse rolled his eyes, covering his face with a groan. “Oh, here we go...”
The day was gone, and the rain had left the whole place gleaming. With a sense of ease that harkened back to their early days, the little fellowship stoked their fire, and settled down to talk around the flames. The hours slipped by as they told stories and teased each other, falling into old patterns, as the moon lifted slowly above the trees. Tomorrow, they would reach the tower. The birds would fly screaming into the heavens, and everything would change. But that was tomorrow.
They still had tonight.
“—steered it round the bend, but at that point, there was no stopping us. The horses had slipped their tethers, and the wheels had broken in the stream. I suppose it might have been a lot worse if that old carpenter hadn’t lent us his mule.”
Kiera wiped her eyes, nearly dizzy from laughter. Any person with sense would not have believed the fae’s stories. She would never have believed them either, if she hadn’t lived through so many of them herself. The fire had burned low, and the stars were gleaming.
Maybe it will always be like this, she thought suddenly. Maybe we’ll stay together, after this ends.
It wasn’t the first time she had wondered such a thing. The idea circled back often, always in moments of greatest peril and purest joy. It had been difficult in the beginning, to imagine that anything could come after. So great was the task that lay before them, only a fool would think they could possibly make it out alive. But as the months passed by, and their bond grew stronger, it was beginning to feel like one of the fae’s stories. Wild and fantastical. However unlikely, true.
“Who in the seven hells allowed that to happen?” Jesse demanded, unable to hold back his smile. He and the fae had been sharing the whiskey. “And why take a wagon—” He caught himself at the same time, shaking his head. “Why am I even asking? Of course it was you.”
Eden smiled in return, reaching for the bottle. Never once, in the entire evening, had he let go of the vampire’s hand. “Actually, it was Trystan who suggested it. We’d been up since first dawn at drills, and I suppose he wanted to...” He fell suddenly silent, looking into the trees.
“What is it—” Kiera started to ask, but three hands rose up to silence her. A second later, she heard it for herself: a slow-churning rumble, distant hoof beats in the trees. Even so far away, the ground beneath them trembled. They waited in silence a full minute before it died down.
“Gringeen,” Eden replied, once it had passed them. His eyes followed in the same direction, clouding with concern. “That was a large herd to come this far into the mountains. There is little for them here. Most days, they prefer to graze in the lower plains.”
The name struck a chord, and Kiera remembered.
Larger than bison, and a thousand times more ferocious, the friends had spotted them once not long after Evander had first joined them. It was the first time she’d ever seen the fae retreat.
“We should get to bed,” Jesse murmured, taking off his cloak and piling it on the ground beneath him. “It’s only a few more hours to sunrise, and we still have ways to go.”
Not so very far, the tower was only a few leagues from the mountains. But the shifter was eager, and his eyes kept drifting towards the east. The others murmured in agreement and bedded down beside him, blinking quietly at the light of the flickering coals. After only a few moments, he raised himself up suddenly; moonlight, and tousled hair, and those staggering green eyes.
“Have you ever thought about it?” he asked.
Eden stared at him blankly. “What?”
It was quiet a few seconds, then the wolf arched his eyebrow.
Seven hells.
The fae stared at him a second longer, frozen with a look of utter surprise. His lips parted uncertainly, not wanting to offend him, but not having anything to offer in return.
A moment passed, then the shifter cracked a grin. “You’re fun to tease, yourself.”
THE AIR HUNG STILL and peaceful. The stars wheeled their slow courses across an open sky. It was one of those perfect nights, last of a fading summer. But still, Kiera couldn’t sleep.
She opened her eyes, staring into the sky above her.
Can it only be a few more hours?
Jesse lay on his cloak beside her, his hair stirring every so often with shallow breaths. The vampire lay not far away, but the fae was missing. There had been no watch to speak of; the forest had already been cleared. She pushed silently to her feet, and went off to find him.
Moonlight trickled like liquid silver through the branches, the grass was dotted with tiny white flowers. She realized, as she wandered, that the search might well stretch on forever. She had been asleep when he’d left, and didn’t even know what direction he had gone. But as the fates would have it, he hadn’t gone far. Only a few minutes from where she’d started, the trees opened onto a starlit bluff that overlooked the valley. Eden was perched on the edge of it, staring up at the sky.
She wandered up behind him, cloak swishing over the grass. “You haven’t eaten more berries have you?” she asked. “You’re not convinced that you’re a bird?”
He smiled to himself, never breaking his gaze. “Always,” he replied. “But that is not so unusual.”
She sat down beside him, lifting her eyes as well.
There was a tower rising in the distance, still small, but high enough that she could see it over the trees. The tall spire of the roof shone silver beneath the moon.
