Winter's Promise

by G. Bailey

  "Mum told me a lot. There's a box at Jaxson’s with a letter from my father. I want you to read it okay? Ask Jaxson, he’ll give you it," I tell her and she nods.

  "Alright but you are not mad at mum, right?" she asks.

  "No." I say and she smiles slightly.

  "I don't care about the rules of this stupid fight but I’ll personally pour water all over that witch if she hurts you," Alex says and hugs me gently.

  "Water?" I ask quizzically.

  "You know, that's how they do it in the Wizard of Oz. It might be a trick for the wicked witch," she says making me chuckle.

  "She kind of looks like the wicked witch," I say thinking of the witch in question.

  "Shower and then get your game on, you have a dragon to beat." Alex tells me.

  "Any ideas how I'm going to do that?" I ask her.

  "No," Alex says softly.

  "It's alright, I’ll think of something," I say.

  "I love you Win," she says before she pulls me into a hug.

  "I know. I love you as well; you’re my sister and my best friend." I say. Alex pulls away and pats her shoulder with a look at Milo.

  "You bleed, demon stop." Milo tells me.

  "What? That doesn't make much sense," I reply.

  "You blood work," he says.

  "You know we need to work on your English or at least how to make sentences," Alex tells him and pats her shoulder again.

  "You work on food for me," Milo tells Alex and I hold a hand over my mouth to stop the laugh from escaping.

  "Cheeky little demon," Alex says and I wander into the bathroom, listening as she tells Milo off. There's a pile of black leather clothes and a belt with two daggers on each side. The daggers are silver and sharp. There's a small note on top with a J on it. I open it, knowing it's from Jaxson.

  "Fight this and come home," he says, short and simple, yet it fills me with strength.

  I pull my shirt and underwear off before getting in the shower.

  How can I possibly think I can beat a dragon?

  This isn't a video game I can ask Freddy for tips on.

  After my mini freak out in the shower, I get out and dry off. I French plait my hair and twist it into a bun. I use the clips I find on the vanity and a headband so it's held up tightly. I don't need my hair getting burnt off.

  The clothes are unbelievably tight but soft and easy to move in. They unfortunately show off my hips, but it doesn't look too bad now after weeks of training have changed me. I feel an ache in my teeth before they slide out, reminding me I need to feed. I glance at myself in the mirror. Everything about me looks different. Even if you look past the slight blue glow and the silver eyes I have going on, I still look strange. I don’t look human any more, my hair is too straight and my face is too smooth.

  The door is opened behind me and Dabriel comes in. He shuts the door and glances at me.

  "Wyatt said he felt your need to feed, angel blood will make you the strongest you can be." He says. I’m a little shocked and nervous at his offer.

  "You sure?" I ask as he sits on the toilet. His legs spread widely and he beckons me over.

  "Yes, I want this." He tells me. I hear I want you in my head instead of his words. Dabriel watches me closely, his wings hanging near his hips and gently fluttering.

  I move over him, hooking my leg over his as he helps me get comfy on his lap, our mouths a breath away, just before he presses his lips to mine. I let him control the kiss until the need to feed becomes overwhelming. I move my lips away and kiss down his jaw as his hands tighten on my hips.

  I lick his neck before sinking my teeth into it. I don't know what heaven tastes like, I thought I'd came close to it by eating chocolate, but I was wrong. Dabriel tastes like I’d just drank a glass of holy water right from heaven itself. He pulls me close as I feed, his hands pulling my core over the large bulge in his lap. The rocking sensation is overwhelming, and he doesn't have to do it more than a couple of times before I go over the edge. I break away to whisper his name, the pleasure taking over me.

  "I can't wait to have you do that again when I'm inside of you. I've waited for what seems like forever to mate to you, Winter," he says and kisses me.

  "Dab," I whisper, realising this was exactly what I needed, this release and peacefulness before the storm of the fight; one that has is a high chance of me dying.

  "Winter, my blood will make you stronger. Or at least your vampire side." He tells me and kisses my lips softly again.

  "Thank you," I say and he chuckles.

  "Don't thank me. I belong to you, I always have." He says and kisses me before he lifts me up as he stands. I slide down his body, feeling every hard and toned part before I step away in a daze.

  "Time to fight a dragon," I say and he cocks his head to the side.

  "You’re scared," he says and I nod.

  He runs his hands down my arms.

  "Didn't I always tell you that nothing will happen to you from now on? I will always protect you, Winter." He says. There is not a slight bit of doubt in his words.

  "I can't," I start and Dabriel puts a finger against my lips.

  "You are never alone, Winter. Don't be scared," he says, his words don't expect an answer as he presses his lips to mine.

  Chapter Twelve

  Winter

  Atti flashes us all over to the arena when we are ready and by this point I would be lying if I said I wasn't terrified. Atti holds my hand and Milo is on my shoulder as we walk across the massive arena.

  It looks like something out of Greece, with its sandy dirt floor. Hell, this place could be the copy of the arena they have there. It’s made out of stone, and raises high in the sky with thousands of seats. The stands are full to the rim with witches, all the light witches on one side and the dark on the other. It's easy to tell with their cloaks. There's a clear line between them of empty seats and it's weird. The contrast of light and dark on each side is chilling. There are very few witches without their hoods up; they are such an antisocial bunch.

  There’s a large metal gate on one side, big enough to let a dragon out I suppose and right above it is a few raised platforms, one in which the queen sat. There are two witches, one on each side, both look like they want to kill me, with their hoods down. The one to the left has short, shaved, black hair, marks all over her neck, which look like spikes, and a small green snake curled around her arm as she leans on the throne. The other woman is just as pretty as the queen. She has an innocent look about her but as I meet her dark grey eyes, I know she is far from it. There’s just something off about her, her long white hair reaches the floor and her pale grey eyes remind me of Atti. She must be a light witch and she also has her white cloak down. The queen isn’t wearing a cloak at all. No, she has decided to wear a transparent black net dress, which shows of her perfect body, barely covering her private parts. She has a disinterested expression until she sees Atti. It's clear how interested she is in him from one look as she runs her eyes all over his body. I glance at my hands when I see them glowing blue because I want to throw her off a high-rise building for looking at my Atti like that. Hell, my Atti? Screw it, he is mine.

  Atti looks over at me and the slight widening of his eyes is all he does before looking away. Dabriel and Wyatt are on either side of me. Alex and Leigha stay behind us.

  "I didn't think you would be truly foolish enough to come here. I've always thought humans were cowards," the queen says when we stop in front of her. Dabriel moves to stand next to Wyatt, letting Atti come to my side; he rests his hand on my shoulder.

  "Said the witch wearing a crown she stole and sitting on a throne that doesn’t belong to her," I say loudly. The silence is echoing as she stares at me.

  "Let’s hope you die quickly rather than having a prolonged death," She says but her sneer gives her away. She hopes I have a long death.

  "That's the only death you will get," Atti says and she narrows her eyes.

  “The angel prince and the vampire pri
nce standing side by side. You should have introduced yourself to me at the castle, I would have made you very welcome,” she says, every word is a suggestion. Atti slides an arm around my waist when I step forward, stopping me from going closer. I have to close my eyes and beg my power to calm down.

  “We are here with the true king and queen,” Wyatt replies, Dabriel doesn’t look her way as he steps in front of me.

  "Good luck," Dabriel says and Wyatt nods at me before he turns to walk away with Dabriel following. Alex and Leigha give me brief looks of worry before following the guys. Atti brings our entwined hands to his lips and places a long, sweet kiss on them. He moves back and bows to me.

  "My true queen," he says loudly and winks at me before he turns to follow the others to where they are standing.

  "Let's start," I hear Taliana say and I look at her. Her pale complexion is slowly going red and I smirk at her. They are mine and I’m here to fight for them, she needs to get that.

  The jealously is clear all over her face as she leans back into her large black throne. The metal gates screeching open make me look down and I take a step back when a burst of bright blue fire shoots out the dark door. A large thud shakes the ground as the dragon shoots out of the door and lands a few metres away from me. It's huge, nearly as big as a house with blue scales covering every part of his body; some yellows ones make a pattern down its back to its tail. Two large wings spread out and his bright blue eyes lock onto mine. His face is slim, stretching down his large mouth full of sharp teeth.

  If this is his size when he’s young, I don’t want to see him fully grown.

  "Meal," is hissed into my mind by a gravelly voice and it takes me a second to realise it's the dragon who spoke to me.

  "Nope, I'm so not a happy meal for you," I say as the dragon’s big wings flap once, twice and he takes off into the sky. I look up and I'm glad I do as he shoots a line of blue fire at me.

  "Shit," I say and run out of the way. The fire manages to catch my arm, lightly burning but not too bad. I’m too worried about the shadow on the ground I can see; it means the dragon is following me. The dragon swoops low and it’s massive claws wrap around my stomach, lifting me off the ground. Pressure fills my body, I embrace it and when I can release it, I beg it to hit the dragon in my mind. I open my eyes as the blue wave hits the dragon’s stomach and he screeches in pain. His claw scratches down my arm as he lets go. I’m glad to be free but not so much when I see how high we are. I fall to the ground with an alarming speed. I manage to use my vampire speed to slow everything down and roll as I land. The crowd is shouting, screaming my name and other things I don’t understand.

  The dragon lands with a thud in front of me and I slip the dagger out of my belt. I know it won’t work and I don’t think I can hurt him anyway; I feel sorry for him, he’s just hungry. The dragon stares at me, its very intelligent eyes go to the dagger and I throw it into the ground in between us.

  "Princesss," the dragon hisses in my mind. I hold my hands up not needing the dagger.

  "I don't want to hurt you but I have no choice if you hurt me again," I say. The crowds are screaming at this point, I have no idea if they can hear me. I don't even know if they want me dead or alive at this point.

  "Need food. Not hurt family of king." He hisses in my mind. His eyes go to my arm and I look down at it, seeing it covered in my blood. Milo’s words come back to me.

  Why didn't I think of it before? I'm quarter demon and of the demon king’s family. I might be able to get out of this by demanding him not to hurt me. There must be at least one benefit of having messed up family members.

  "Fly away," I say and he steps closer.

  "Cannot. The witches block the top," the dragon hisses and I look up to see a faint white movement over the arena. I didn’t notice it before but of course they have a strong barrier up. The dragon moves another step closer.

  "Winter, what are you doing? Run!" Atti says in my mind.

  "No!" I turn around and shout. I take the other dagger out of my belt and throw it at the queen. I aim it just in front of her throne, at her feet. She starts glowing black as she stands. A large falcon flies from out the skies and lands on her shoulder. The falcon is the size of a cat, with beady eyes, a large beak and all black. I have a feeling it’s using glamour. It must be her familiar.

  The arena goes quiet as I walk up to the dragon, my insides screaming to stop this and walk away. Another part me, the dark part, loves this creature and recognises it as my own. Just like I did with Milo.

  I place my shaky hand on its large nose; the scales are warmer than I expected them to be. Enough that it’s likely that he is burning my hand; I don’t move my hand away though.

  "What's your name?" I ask him.

  "Demon name is long," he hisses in my mind.

  "Well blue dragon, I'm Winter," I say.

  "Princesss," he hisses in my mind.

  "What are you doing?" Is shouted across the arena by Taliana. I smile gently at the dragon, his eyes watching me and then I turn to face her.

  "Winning with peace and not death," I shout back, my words echoing around the arena.

  "That's not our way and you cannot win unless you kill it. It's a demon," she spits out.

  "Isn't the falcon sitting on your arm a demon as well?" I respond.

  She doesn't answer, but her angry eyes watch me as I address the crowd.

  "You expect everything to be won with death." I shout. Silence is all I get from the witches sitting with their cloaks up.

  "I am no witch. I am no human, not anymore. This is my way and this creature does not deserve death any more than the familiars you have next to you." I say and I see a few people remove their hoods and stand.

  "The goddess wouldn't want this death. The dragon should be free," I shout. I feel the power in my words, a power I don’t recognise as it takes over me. My arms start glowing blue as I lock eyes with Taliana. She is glowing black; her hands have black smoke flowing out of them onto the floor.

  "Freedom," I hear someone whisper in my mind and another person says it, and another.

  The witches all start dropping their cloaks as they shout the word in my mind and in everyone else’s. It becomes deafening but I stand still as I look back at the queen.

  "You win this," Taliana spits out and storms off.

  Atti walks over to me and pulls me into a kiss. The crowd cheers loudly and I pull away with a little blush.

  "I believe I have a dragon to return home," he tells me.

  "Where is your home?" I say, turning to meet the dragon’s eyes.

  "Let me fly to where I choose," he hisses in my mind.

  "He wants you to lower the wards up there," I say and Atti nods. I watch as he disappears and not long after the ward goes. The dragon lowers it’s head and then takes off into the sky.

  "Debt will be repaid Princesss," he hisses into my mind as he disappears from view.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Winter

  "Let's look at your arm, I saw it cut," Dabriel says. I pull my top off, since I have a vest top on underneath it, and show Dabriel my arm. We left the arena quickly after the dragon flew away; the witches all disappeared as well. Atti said he was proud of me and that I did the right thing, even if I scared him. We’re in the spare bedroom, I’m not sure why, but it’s where Dabriel took me once we got back to Atti’s house. I look down when he wipes the dry blood away and he frowns as he turns my arm over. The skin is clean and the burn I got on the top of my arm is nearly all gone too.

  "How? You’re healing like an angel," Dabriel says and he leans back.

  "Don't vampires heal like this?" I ask.

  "Not from a magic fire or a cut that deep. It would take at least a day. My people can make natural healing herbs and put magic into them but even that wouldn’t heal a magic burn that fast," he tells me.

  "Must have been your blood," I comment and he shakes his head.

  "No, vampires have had angel blood before and all it doe
s is make them a little stronger," he says quietly and watches me.

  "So, this is weird?" I ask and he nods.

  "What's wrong? I can feel your worry through the bond," Wyatt says coming into the small bedroom and Atti follows, he closes the door behind him.

  "She healed herself," Dabriel says as he links his hands with mine and Wyatt walks over to me. He kneels in front of me and takes my now healed arm so he can look at it.

  "I've been thinking about something," Wyatt says and he stands up.

  "When Winter shared blood with Jaxson, she developed the power to aim perfectly. After a chat with Alex, it's clear she didn't always have that power." He says.

  "Then when I gave her my blood, that blue power developed," Wyatt says.

  "You think I'm somehow gaining more powers when I take your blood?" I ask. It makes a lot of sense. Maybe that’s my power from my goddess side as well as the animal connection or maybe the dream calling is.

  "I’ll get Leigha, she’ll tell us if you have a new power," Wyatt says and walks out.

  "I think the connection with animals is a goddess gift of mine and dream calling a demon power perhaps. I’m not sure what this one is," I say and Atti comes to sit next to me.

  "I wonder what you will get when you feed on me," Atti says and takes my hand in his.

  "No idea, I don't seem to be getting the same powers as you," I comment.

  "Well, Jaxson does have a deadly aim but it certainly isn’t like yours," Atti tells me.

  “Yeah and I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen Wyatt glowing blue recently,” I add and Atti smirks.

  “I think your demon half has some effect on that power,” Dabriel says and I turn to him.

  “Why?” I ask him.

  “Most demons glow a shade of blue and I can see their auras as well. They are blue like yours but yours is lighter.” He tells me.

  "Let’s have at it then," Leigha comes into the room with Wyatt following. I hold my hand out and she takes it, a few seconds later she breaks away.