by Sadie Anders
My Raphael.
It felt right.
Uncle Julian interrupted my thoughts. “Alexis, speaking of this part of Asphodel, which part is it precisely? I’m unfamiliar with it. I have been tracking you, trying to catch up for quite some time, but I’m not entirely sure why you aren’t in the city.”
“Because we’re looking for something. Well, the Furies have us looking for something really. A device called the Phos Eos.”
He raised his eyebrows. “And that is why they wished for you to come to Asphodel?” he asked.
I nodded. “They thought that I was the best person to look for it. Something about the fact that I can survive in the Empyrean’s light.”
Uncle Julian narrowed his eyes a bit. “Interesting. You don’t believe their pretext, do you?”
“Well, I hadn’t thought about it much. But, yeah, it does seem strange that they would want me. I’m inexperienced, and they have the resources to hire the best. At any rate, it’s not like I could easily refuse them. I said yes. For now.”
We walked back towards the rest of the group. Cleon and Kai were seated around a small campfire that they had made while we were away. When my uncle emerged from behind us, I saw Kai’s face light up. Cleon looked surprised but quickly concealed his shock.
“Jules!” he said. “I thought I would never see you again. I had heard you were dead.”
A broad smile came over my uncle. “Kai. It has been a long time. And I assume that I am not, in fact, dead. Evidence seems to indicate otherwise.”
“Indeed,” Kai said. He approached my uncle and gave him a long embrace.
“I see that you already know my Uncle Julian, Kai. And Cleon, I assume you’ve heard of him, as we’ve discussed him with the Furies.”
Cleon nodded his head. “Of course.”
I turned to my uncle. “Let me introduce Cleon. He’s an assistant to the Furies, but is here of his own accord. He has a great deal of knowledge about the Phos Eos. He helped Tisiphone research it for many years, and he’s perhaps the only person that knows as much as she does about it, at least nowadays.”
My uncle made a slight bow, as polite and diplomatic as ever, although I could imagine that he wasn’t too keen on anyone in the employ of the Furies being here with us. The two men stared at each other longer than someone making a passing introduction. I wondered if they did actually know each other. Asphodel was a small world. If they did know one another, though, then neither of them let on. Vampires prided themselves on not congregating with the others in the realm, those who they saw as beings who existed beneath them, both literally and figuratively, so maybe they’d never met, after all.
We all sat down in a circle around the fire next to Kai and Cleon. The warmth from the flames was very welcome. Kai and Uncle Julian started chatting genially, as they were clearly good acquaintances before my uncle had left Asphodel for Portland.
Before he had faked his death and smuggled us away, actually.
Before he had taken me from my parents, for reasons I still didn’t completely understand.
I thought of Kai and all of the people that my uncle had left behind in Asphodel.
Did he have other friends? A lover? A family?
What had been so bad that he had felt the need to abandon his life like that?
Yes, my mother Heliodor, known then as Beryl, had clearly gone off the straight and narrow and made some questionable choices in her search for power.
But what about my father? Who was he?
As a child, why would I be in danger if I stayed in Asphodel?
In the couple of weeks since I had returned to Portland, my uncle and I hadn’t really gotten around to having those conversations. We both knew we needed to, but it seemed like we were afraid of breaking something between us, the thing that made us special, the absolute love and trust that we had with one another.
When you knew that you were on the precipice, it was hard to take the next step sometimes.
We filled Uncle Julian in on the details of our journey, where we were headed, what we hoped to do. He wasn’t crazy about us seeking out the Phos Eos in the first place, but he agreed to go with us. He was determined to help me as much as he could.
I knew that we needed to sleep, but it seemed that nobody was anxious to do so. Our nerves were still shot from this trying day, and it was difficult to turn that off, even after the danger had passed.
Kai reached into his bag and pulled out a small stringed instrument, one that looked like a tiny harp, and placed it on his lap. It was the same type of instrument that the musician at the Kylix had been singing alongside the other night, the one backing her vocals on that somber song about lost love.
“Tell me about your instrument, Kai,” I said. I knew next to nothing about music, just that I liked some songs and disliked others. I was an observer, not a performer.
“It’s called a lyre.” Kai plucked the strings one by one. “They’ve been around for ages. Simple but effective. The strings of the gods.”
He started plucking again, this time morphing his random fingering into a recognizable rhythm, and then finally into a melody. He hummed softly over the thrumming of the strings. It was incredibly soothing.
I leaned my head on Raphael’s shoulder, and he put his hand on my knee. The fire in front of me was mesmerizing as I listened to the gentle sounds and the crackling of the flames as it consumed the wood.
The flames licked the sides of the branches, turning them a glowing orange. I thought of the Empyrean, and how it was supposedly a land of fire and light, but I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant.
Was it sunny and relentlessly hot all the time, like some kind of hellish beach? Was it volcanic?
It was hard to imagine such a place without much context. All I knew was that vampires, besides Raphael for some reason, couldn’t travel there. They couldn’t tolerate the light.
And even though Raphael had discovered that he could walk in the sun, he wasn’t sure why he could do so. It wasn’t a common thing, if there were even any other vampires who could do it. Yet another mystery about Raphael, this long-lived person who I had just started to know.
But what if the Empyrean was different? What if he couldn’t walk freely there?
I was scared for him. This was a dangerous mission. Too dangerous. Perhaps I’d made the wrong choice in agreeing to come, knowing that he would come with me. Still, something was pulling me forward, urging me to agree to this quest for the Phos Eos. I couldn’t explain it, but I felt like this was what I was meant to be doing right now.
The flames grew smaller as we listened to Kai sing, and I felt my eyes grow heavy.
The darkness of the swamp became overpowering, and the silence hung over the evening. I realized that the fire had died out completely. I’d been asleep. Everybody else was snoozing on the ground, or at least seemed to be. Raphael was wrapped around me, protecting me with his entire body, his arms around my waist. I was surprised that I hadn’t awoken when he had moved me. Then again, I was bone weary. He’d made a blanket for us out of his coat, and it was quite comfortable, even though I was on the dirt.
It reminded me of camping in the woods in Oregon with Uncle Julian. He had always complained about roughing it in such a rustic setting, one that didn’t lend itself easily to tea time, but I knew that deep down he loved it. For such a civilized man, he enjoyed spending time in nature, connecting with the wind and the trees. So did I. It was why he took me on so many camping trips as a child. I liked the quiet peacefulness that could be found amid the tall pine trees and the mountain streams.
I turned over and snuggled into Raphael’s shoulder, letting myself fall asleep once again.
When next I awoke, the others had already started their day. Kai and Uncle Julian were preparing some food over a small flame, and Cleon was carrying another pile of wood over to them. I wasn’t sure where they had found the food, or if Kai had brought it with him. I was grateful either way, as I realized how completely r
avenous I was. The smell of the food cooking on the fire was enticing.
Raphael was still beside me. He brushed the hair out of my eyes when he realized that I was awake.
“Morning,” Raphael said.
I rolled over to face him, giving him a kiss. “Morning.”
Kai and Uncle Julian were laughing loudly, recounting stories of their days together in Asphodel. They must have been on good terms. I liked seeing my uncle have a friend. Even more, I liked that he was completely distracted at the moment.
I kissed Raphael again, this time more deeply.
He let out a low groan, and I felt him harden against me. I thought of all the things I wanted to do to him, how I wanted to be in a soft bed with no clothes on. Just the two of us. I had a feeling he felt the same way.
I pulled Raphael’s coat, our makeshift blanket, over the two of us as we lay on the ground. I slowly reached down to touch him. He gave me a surprised look, but stayed silent. Rubbing my fingers up and down his package, I decided to start a conversation. No harm in a little teasing this morning.
“So, Rafe, what would you like for breakfast? French toast? Veggie sausage? I’m sure we can call down for room service.”
A little more pressure against him.
“Can’t think of what sounds good?”
“Oh, I can think of a lot of things right now. Believe me, my imagination is quite active.”
“So is mine. Personally, I’d like breakfast in bed. I’m ravenous. I’m not even sure I could be satisfied.”
Raphael looked like he was about to come unhinged. Perhaps I had teased him a little too much. Maybe that wasn’t fair, given the situation. Nothing we could do about it. Nowhere to sneak off to. That much had become clear last night. These woods had eyes.
“You’re a wicked woman, Lexi.” He leaned in to whisper in my ear, his lips brushing against my earlobe, sending tingles down my spine. “And I’m a guardian. It’s my job to keep unruly people in line. It’s time I show you what that means.”
Raphael reached down the front of my pants, discreetly rubbing me. I inhaled sharply, listening to hear if anyone had noticed us. I started trembling, hungry for him beyond belief. He gazed deeply into my eyes, cocked a mischievous smile, and swept his finger lightly across me, gradually increasing his pressure. I nearly exploded. This definitely wasn’t fair. Then again, I probably deserved it after what I had done to him.
“Rafe,” I mouthed silently. If I dared to speak, I might scream.
His hand reemerged from underneath our blanket, and he tasted his finger, a look of satisfaction crossing his face.
“I plan on tasting you much more. Very soon. You can count on that.”
He pulled off the coat covering us and stood up, helping me to my feet. My legs were wobbly, and I could barely stand. He held me up, steadying me.
Raphael leaned down to whisper in my ear again. “I want you to remember that all day, want you to think about how delicious you taste to me. And you can be sure that you will be satisfied. No danger there. Ever, my love.”
Damn. This sexy ass vampire could definitely bring it. I liked this side of him. I would have to tease him more often if this was the result.
Raphael went over to the fire and opened his bag, adding a few food items to the mix. I took a walk around our campground, wanting to walk off some of my lust. It was a lot to handle, and I needed just a minute to recover.
I thought of how Raphael wanted me to remember his touch all day.
Hell, I wasn’t sure I would recover.
Before long, breakfast was ready. We sat around the fallen logs by the fire, enjoying our small spread. A couple of kinds of sausages, crumbly cheese, some stewed apples, a few slices of bread with honey. Not bad for camp grub. I scarfed it down, not bothering to ever care about looking ladylike when there was food present. My only wish was that I had some tea. I was used to my morning routine of caffeine and sugar, and my head ached whenever I had to miss out on that. But all in all, it was a pleasant meal.
When we had finished eating, Raphael reached down, placing his hand on my thigh, right above my knee. Even though it was an innocent display of affection, or so it would seem, it was too soon. I hadn’t fully regained my composure yet. Heat rose throughout my body, and Raphael’s nostrils flared as he took in my scent. He smiled and gave me a sidelong glance. He wanted me to know that he was aware of the effect he had on my body.
And oh how he affected me.
This gorgeous man was torturing me on purpose. Lucky me.
But two could play at that game. It didn’t matter that we were on a journey a million miles from home. I could keep up with him, if that was what he wanted, and I sure as hell wanted it.
It was on.
12
Our little crew set out as soon as possible to continue traversing the marshes. Nobody was certain how much further we had to go before we would arrive at the valley of Phocis. Cleon thought we had about two or three more days, while Kai thought it couldn’t possibly take more than a few more hours. Without a doubt, we all wanted to be on the other side of this pit as soon as we could. I was sick of the swamp.
One thing was for sure. We had more walking ahead.
After endless hours of walking, a thick bank of mist hung near the surface of the marshes, obscuring much of our ability to see ahead. We slowed down, measuring our steps, careful not to fall into the water when we couldn’t see the path ahead.
As we followed the dirt path around the corner, it looked as if we were approaching the edge of the marshes. The end was finally in sight. The trees were less dense, and the watery pools were transforming into solid ground.
But everything wasn’t what it seemed.
The smell of charred wood burned my nose, and I realized that we weren’t in a bank of mist at all. We were in a dense cloud of smoke. The trees around us had been scorched to a cinder. Where there were once mighty cypresses, now only pathetic little sticks of ash rose up from the ground. The water of the marshy pools had been nearly evaporated by some sort of massive heat source.
A dull orange hue clung to the plant life as it was still smoldering. This clearing had just occurred. We must have rounded the corner as soon as a massive fire had been extinguished, but there were no firefighters, no obvious sources of the containment. It was an extremely odd feeling.
What had caused this? And why had it ended?
Something directly ahead caught caught my attention, not because of any movement, but because it was completely obscuring the way ahead.
A shadow.
No, a person, enshrouded and unreadable, standing deadly still. Dark tendrils of smoke curled around their cloak, extending from their body and reaching up into the sky. I tried to get a better look at their face, but all I could make out was a dull gleaming. Two smoldering eyes, like coals nearly extinguished, staring back at me from a shadowy face.
The person I saw at the Kylix. The person I thought was in the alley in Mantineia.
They were following us. My suspicions had been correct.
Who were they? And what did they want?
We didn’t have the Phos Eos yet, so there was no way that they wanted to steal it.
I turned to Raphael, alarmed. “It’s the person from the Kylix,” I said urgently.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
Raphael nodded.
“What do they want?” I asked.
“I say we don’t wait to find out,” Cleon responded.
In a blur of movement, he ran headlong toward the figure, and Raphael followed closely behind. Vampire speed was something else. I hadn’t really seen it before. Not like this.
As they approached, the figure crossed their arms, and both vampires were blown backwards, their bodies arcing high into the air like rag dolls being thrown by a careless child.
After they fell, I felt a sudden pain, like my abdomen had just been gutted by a fish hook. I doubled over, screaming in pain.
�
��Alexis,” Uncle Julian shouted, rushing to me. He stood up to his full height and sang an incantation. The air around us swirled, leaves spinning in its tornado-like grip. He raised his hands and directed the wind towards the figure. Their arms became pinned to their sides, the wind lassoing them in place.
The pain in my stomach eased slightly, but I still felt a pull, like I was being lured in towards the person. I fell to my knees.
Uncle Julian extended his arms to either side, raising the remnants of water from the marshy pools. The water took shape into a sphere, its surface undulating and writhing under his control. He thrust his arms forward, and the ball shot forward in a jet of water, gathering speed and knocking the person to the ground. They sprawled on the ground and tumbled for twenty or thirty feet backwards.
The momentary disorientation gave Cleon and Raphael time to move in again, and they rushed the opponent. They swarmed around the person in a fury of limbs and speed, landing blows, all of which the deadly quick foe met with equal resistance. The opponent’s strength was more than human, that much was obvious, but how they were able to take on two aged and powerful vampires at once was beyond me.
A low hum emanated from that direction, and I could see the air around the person shifting, like the heat coming off of asphalt on a hot summer day. Cleon screamed in pain, the left half of his body singed with invisible fire. Raphael moved in to attack again.
“Raphael,” I screamed, not wanting him to be harmed.
I concentrated all of my fury and desire to survive, my desire for both of us to survive, and pointed my hands toward the being. I didn’t want Raphael to get caught in my crossfire, but I had to try something. Fire would hurt Cleon. That much was obvious. I wasn’t sure if it would hurt Raphael the same way, as he was a daywalker, but I couldn’t take that chance.
Uncle Julian’s lasso of wind and jets of water had disoriented them for a second. Maybe another element besides fire would work. I focused my powers on the ground beneath the cloaked figure, willing the ground to open up into a great gaping maw. The earth began to rumble, shaking as if an earthquake of great force were happening.
