by Zoe Parker
“What did you do to her?” My voice was high-pitched and squeaky. I’d never seen anything like that. Not even Patience could mesmerize a person. “What are you, sir?”
My heart raced, and I fretted over what kind of monster we’d invited into an innocent woman’s home.
Edgar’s head jerked to the side, his eyes looking far off as if he could see through the walls. “I can help you, but we must leave. They are coming.”
“The hunters were close behind us, but I don’t know if the villagers would bother climbing over the avalanche mound.”
“The villagers turned back long before then. Many of them were only half-heartedly hunting you on behalf of the preacher’s wife. Loyalty and righteousness will only keep you warm for so long.”
“Even with the villagers deterred, the hunters are ruthless. Elijah will not give up on his need for vengeance, and I am a prize he has been coveting for too many years.”
“He believed you to be weak and malleable, I assume? Those blinded by power never see the true strength that lies beneath quiet beauty.” He nodded, agreeing with his own assessment of me.
I shook my head, pressing my lips tight. No time to argue my self-worth. “Julius can’t travel like this. How will we escape?”
“Benjamin, come please.” Edgar spoke up somewhat loudly and I turned my head, searching for someone in the shadows. Instead, the door opened and an even taller man with straight, jet-black hair hanging to his shoulders stepped inside, brushing snow off the shoulders of his long, double-breasted over-coat. Shiny silver eyes scanned the room, lighting briefly on me then Julius before landing on Edgar, an eyebrow jumping as he tipped his head up in greeting.
“Find something to carry him with. He is unfit to travel in his current state of flux.”
Benjamin slipped back outside and returned within moments with Maggie’s market cart. Julius had switched out the wheels with sled runners when winter had started, so it would be easier for Maggie to carry in firewood if he wasn’t around.
“While I do not wish to doubt your generosity, why are you helping us, Edgar? Where will we go? Julius won’t be safe anywhere, and even if we find somewhere to stay, it will only be temporary. People will notice me aging while he does not.”
Edgar moved to help me lift Julius’s prone form up onto the cart. Benjamin stepped up beside me to take my place when he saw me struggling. I took the blanket Maggie had given me and tucked it under Julius as they lifted him and went to grab as many as I could find that his mother might be able to spare. I wouldn’t leave her without, especially since the wind had picked up and I could sense the weather taking a turn for the worse.
“There’s a storm building.”
“Yes. It will aid in our escape, covering our tracks as we go. We must get to the train station at the base of the mountain. In the morning, we will leave this place and you two will be safe.”
I shook my head, gathering supplies into a sack that I tucked in beside Julius’s knees. “As I said, I don’t know where Julius could be safe.”
“Let’s worry about one thing at a time, my dear. Once we’ve eluded the witches, I will explain certain… things about us and what will happen next. For now, we must get you and your mate away from here.”
With a sigh and a glance at Julius’s pained expression, I nodded at the two strangers and prayed I wasn’t making a fatal mistake trusting these creatures because I knew, without a doubt, that they were not human, but I was a witch and Julius was a shapeshifter. Nothing in our world would ever be the same.
Chapter Five
Grabbing the handles, Benjamin pulled the cart behind him outside after I’d ensured Julius was well-protected from the elements, covering his face loosely. I tucked a thick scarf around my neck, a second one wrapped around my head and ears under my cloak’s hood.
“What about Maggie?” I looked one last time at Julius’s mother. Edgar had led her to her bed and tucked her in. I hoped the hunters would leave her alone.
“She will sleep until morning. I’ve compelled her to forget we were here tonight. I believe she will be safe from retribution.” Edgar gently pulled on my elbow to steer me outside. Snow fell heavily, large fluffy clumps alighting upon my shoulders.
“I can’t see a foot in front of me.”
“Hold my arm. I will lead you. My vision is… enhanced.” He held his arm out and I wound mine around it, tucking that tidbit of information away in the back of my mind.
When we reached the stone wall, Edgar stopped us, his head tilting up as he listened. I went as still as possible, trying to hear what he did.
The quiet was unearthly. The only sound I heard was the soft patter of heavy, wet snow falling and the occasional crackle of ice. Even Julius had gone silent, his breathing muffled by the blanket over his face. I peered around but couldn’t see much through the snow. If I didn’t have my magical senses to aid me, I wouldn’t have felt the presence of the hunters surrounding us, and I hoped my two escorts were just as keenly aware.
“If you would be so kind as to allow us safe passage, we will leave this place and never return.”
I jumped, startled by Edgar’s raised voice. Julius groaned, and I reached down to brush snow off his head.
“Why should we let them go?” Elijah’s voice rang out from nearby. The snowfall made it difficult to discern his exact location. “For what they’ve done, they deserve to be punished. The coven demands a price to be paid.”
“Is not a curse payment enough? This man will spend eternity watching the world pass him by. He will live long after his mate is gone, enduring the pain of loss and suffering until the end of time, and she will spend the rest of her short life watching the man she loves frozen in time while she withers away with age. Is that not enough punishment?”
“Danielle betrayed me, betrayed our coven, betrayed our priestess. She raised her as her own child. Patience was a mother to you, Danielle. She had built a destiny for you. We were to be the most powerful coven of all the colonies.”
My hand squeezed Edgar’s arm tightly, but he didn’t flinch. “Patience was never a mother to me. She used me, Elijah. You would’ve used me too. You never cared for me, and neither did Patience or the coven. I will not be a pawn in your bid for power.”
“You must pay for your deceit!” A young hunter, Nicholas, bellowed as the sounds of branches snapping off trees echoed through the night. Several large twigs flew by my head like arrows loosed from a hunting bow. A blue lightning bolt snaked through the air, zapping a heavy branch as it rushed towards us. The falling snow glowed bright blue around Benjamin, lightning flying from his fingertips.
Around us, faces appeared nearer than I was comfortable with in the blue illumination, and I spotted Elijah off to the left, sneering at me. Edgar shook me off and raised his arm in the direction the branches had flown from. Nicholas stumbled toward us, his face twisted up in confusion.
I glanced up to see Edgar focused on the young hunter, his eyes narrowed. Nicholas screeched and I looked back in time to see a ghostly outline of his body separating from him as if Edgar were pulling out his essence. Nicholas’s eyes turned solid white, his head flying back as his spirit was stripped from his physical form. His body crumbled and disappeared from sight as his essence floated nearer then veered sharply to fly by the hunters crouching nearby.
Stunned by what I’d just witnessed, I watched as Benjamin tossed out bolts of lightning, coming close but never quite hitting anyone. Edgar aimed his hand at a second hunter, coaxing his spirit from his body, the man screaming in agony.
“Stop!” Elijah rushed toward us, stopping abruptly as a lightning bolt crackled around his feet. “Stop, please. You’ve made your point.”
“You will let us pass.” Edgar’s voice was hard as stone. “You will never see us again, and you will allow the woman who resides in this cottage to live in peace, or we will return with others just as powerful and we will decimate your coven.”
“Fine!” Elijah’s voice s
hook with impotent rage, trying to hide his fear. I knew the magic we’d just witnessed was beyond anything the coven could imagine. I couldn’t help but stare in awe. “Take the bitch and her mongrel and never return. The coven will be better off with her gone. Go wander the world in misery, Danielle. Your life is not worth the loss of ours.”
A pang of regret hit me, and I briefly mourned the death of a coven member, but I let it pass. I never believed the family I’d grown up in would turn on me so terribly. The woman who raised me revealed herself to be a monster, and I vowed to be nothing like her. I had Julius. He was my family now, and maybe these strangers. My future was uncertain, but I welcomed the change, frightening as it was.
Chapter Six
Edgar offered his arm to me again and I took it. Benjamin took up the handles of the cart and led us away from the cottage. Silence had fallen again with only the sound of the cart sliding through the snow reaching our ears. Darkness had enveloped us, but Edgar and Benjamin walked confidently. I couldn’t see them, but I felt the presence of the coven watching us as we left.
I hoped they would stand by their word and let Julius’s mother live in peace. I knew he would regret leaving her behind, but she was too old to travel in this storm and wouldn’t willingly leave her home.
As we passed through the tree-line, the darkness deepened, swallowing us whole. I sensed the hunter’s presence waning as they left the area and our distance grew, but I knew Elijah would send scouts to make sure we were true to our word.
My heart ached. Although my life had been difficult in the coven and the villagers barely tolerated me, this had been my home. All my meager belongings remained in my shared room at the covenstead, likely being pilfered even now by my jealous bunkmates.
Let it all go. This is a new beginning. Whatever happens, I will be open-minded and ready to accept whatever comes.
A branch flew across our path ahead, barely missing Benjamin’s head. Another arced over me and Edgar, and I ducked to avoid it. Edgar held my hand firmly to his arm, walking confidently as if we weren’t still being attacked.
“What are they doing?” I clutched at him. “I thought they were letting us go?”
“They are attempting to intimidate us. One last show of strength.” He patted my hand reassuringly.
“Elijah always did have to have the last word,” I muttered as I looked around the dark forest.
Turning my eyes back from the surrounding darkness, I realized Benjamin had a faint blue glow about him, providing a bit of light for us. Under the forest canopy, the snowfall had lightened, making our trek somewhat more manageable.
Several hours later, we neared the base of the mountain. The trees had thinned, and I’d grown so weary that Edgar had lifted me in his arms to carry me the last few miles. With the imminent danger of attack now past, Julius had settled into a deep slumber, his body remaining in human form.
We reached the opening of the mountain pass, stopping a couple hundred feet inside the forest. I could see the sky lightening with the morning sun, still hidden behind the mountains.
“We’ll rest here.” Edgar set me down at the base of a tree, and I pulled my knees up conserving as much warmth as possible. Benjamin pushed the cart next to me, brushing snow off Julius. I marveled at how unaffected the two men were by the cold.
After gathering some kindling, Edgar leaned against a tree across from me while Benjamin used his magic to light the kindling afire. I put my frozen hands out to heat them as my teeth chattered uncontrollably.
Benjamin nodded at Edgar, then turned and disappeared. I was too tired and cold to react. “Where did he go?”
“To purchase tickets for us.”
“Where will we go?”
“To my home in the South. You will be safe there. It’s secluded and well-stocked. If you wish, you and Julius may stay there indefinitely, or you are welcome to travel with us, but we should discuss your options, my dear.”
“Options?” I couldn’t imagine what else there could be. Just his offer of permanent shelter where Julius and I could live out my life in peace was a blessing.
“Yes, options. I cannot remove the curse placed on your mate, but I can extend your life to match his.”
I stared at him over the fire. “You wish to curse me as well? I’m not sure I would want to be a cat…”
Edgar shook his head slowly. “No, I can’t curse you. I’m no witch. I’ve no spells to cast upon you, nor the correct magic to do so.”
“I’ve been trying to figure out what you are all night. I know you’re not human, and you’re definitely not witches. What are you, Edgar, besides terrifyingly powerful?”
He gave me a sad smile. “We are Kin. Nightkin to be more specific, but you may be more familiar with another name for us… vampire.”
“Fascinating.” I chewed on my lip a moment to think. “I suppose I never really believed such creatures existed, although I did read many tomes about mystical creatures. I believe I even read a book once that spoke of Kin, but Patience took it and hid it away. She preferred to keep our minds on the little world she built at the covenstead.”
“How very narrow-minded of her.” He pushed off the tree and crouched down by the fire. “Regardless, you must decide if you wish to remain mortal while your mate is immortal, or if you wish to become Nightkin. There are drawbacks, but I will guide you as I’ve guided Benjamin.”
“I would have to feed on humans?” I tried to imagine what that would be like but shuddered at the thought. Would it be worth this cost?
“Yes, but it isn’t as savage as the stories would have you believe. I’m not sure if you would retain your current abilities, but you will likely gain others over time.”
I tucked my hands in my lap and glanced over at Julius. “I don’t know. I will need to discuss it with Julius. Do I have time to think on it?”
“Absolutely. As I said, you can live at my home as long as you wish, grow old if you desire, and pass into the unknown once your mortal life has ended, but if you would like to retain the beauty of your youth, you should not put off deciding for too many years. The change will adapt your appearance to your most beautiful self, a device of evolution to lure your prey, but vampirism will not be able to make an eighty-year-old appear twenty again. It can only remove so many years from your appearance, although I have met a handful of Kin with quite elegant mature visages.”
Julius stirred in the cart. “You should do what you want, my love,” he said weakly. “I will support whatever decision you make, and Edgar, I thank you for your assistance in our escape and for the offer of your home. After what we went through tonight, I thought we’d spend the rest of our days suffering.”
“Be it luck or fate, I am glad to have been in the right place at the right time, my boy. You are one of us now.”
Chapter Seven
Benjamin returned with our train tickets, and we sat around the fire in silence. I mulled over everything Edgar had said, trying to imagine the different paths our lives could take should I decide to stay as I was or become something I had only read about.
“How does one become a vampire? What would you do to me?” I hugged my legs to my chest and peered at Edgar. He’d resumed his position leaning against the tree, his eyes closed. I wondered if he slept like most living things.
“I would drain you of most your blood, then slowly replenish it with my own. It can be quite uncomfortable, which is why it’s best not to rush it. I can use my powers of coercion to lessen your awareness of the process, but you should remain conscious enough to drink my blood or you may die before the change can occur.”
“So, I wouldn’t actually die then?”
“Essentially, yes, you do, but it is part of the process and lasts only moments before the change takes over. I like to believe the soul remains intact, and in my experience, I have not felt the essence leave a body during a change unless it fails.”
“That’s part of your abilities? Controlling the soul?” I peeked over at Benj
amin, but he stood like a statue at the edge of the forest, watching out.
“Yes, I suppose that is what I do. It would be better to wait until we reach my home before beginning the process. You will be too weak to move for some time.”
“How long?” The thought of being so vulnerable made me shiver. I would definitely want Julius to watch over me.
“It can take hours or days. I’ve no idea if being a witch will have any affect on how your body and soul take the change. You should be absolutely certain in your decision. If you truly desire to be changed, your being will be more accepting to the process.”
Julius slipped his hand out from under the blankets and I took it, grateful for his support.
“Are you hungry?” I pulled the sack of supplies from the cart and found some cured meat for us to chew on. Julius took it with a small smile, his eyes watering. “I’m so sorry, Julius. I wish we didn’t have to leave her behind.”
“It’s better this way.” He sighed, blinking away the moisture.
“Edgar,” Benjamin said under his breath. “Company.”
Just down the hill, a hired night watchman stumbled drunkenly along a meandering path that would bring him close to us. He sang a tavern song with a pronounced slur, emphasizing some of the words quite loudly and jabbing a finger up to the sky.
Benjamin smirked, winking at me before stepping out of the shadows we were hidden in. The man jumped back in surprise, nearly falling on his rear, then altered his course to head directly to Benjamin.
“Who goes there?” He stopped in front of Benjamin, glaring up at the tall vampire with squinty eyes.
“Just a traveler waiting for the next train.”
“Are you traveling alone?” The watchman leaned around Benjamin to look around, but I doubt he could see much through his drunken haze.
Faster than I thought possible, the man pulled out a knife and held it to Benjamin’s throat. “That’s a fancy suit you’re wearing there, mister. What all you got hiding in them pockets, huh? How about you make a generous donation to the night’s watch for keeping you safe, yeah?”
