The Last Vessel (The Chronicles of Luna Moon Book 1)

by Winter Rose

  “Help him.” I choked on the tears that streamed down my face, my reaction to the stranger shocked me.

  One of my tears rolled off my cheek and into the pool. The man’s head shot up as though he knew I was there. A long, matted beard covered the bottom half of his filthy face, and bruises and cuts laced the visible skin. Blood wept from his dry, cracked lips. They split as he tried to open them.

  “You need to save him!” Something about him pulled at my soul, and I felt his pain right along with him. “Why aren’t you helping him?”

  “The last time the gods intervened, chaos descended on the realms, Luna. We cannot free Balhar and risk releasing Hades once more.” I felt like drawing Athena’s sword and using it on these deities, how could they look at this man suffering and do nothing.

  “Only you can free him, Luna,” Artemis sobbed. “You will not succeed in what is yet to come without him.”

  “But how am I supposed to free him? I have no idea where he is.” I cried.

  “Trust your Guardians, Moon child; you are each soul bound.”

  Hera stood before me and took my head between her palms. Fire consumed my skull, the pressure it brought with it was agony. Her silver eyes gazed into my own as she spoke in my mind,

  “We are always with you, child.”

  The last thought I had, was that each of the goddesses eyes were the same silver as my own, before darkness greeted me like an old friend.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Heat. The first sensation that came into my consciousness was heat. The second was pain.

  “It’s not working,” a growl tore from a male voice as I felt myself being lifted.

  Then there was darkness.

  “Come now, Luna, wake up,” a male voice begged as I felt pressure against my lips.

  One drop of hot liquid trickled into my mouth and my whole being burned with a violent need. I pulled the source against my lips, and like a starved animal, I bit down. The liquid began to flow more freely; with each swallow, my senses came to life.

  “That’s right, Princess, take as much as you want.” The voice sounded relieved.

  In my soul, I knew that this was the only thing keeping me alive. With each mouthful, I could feel my body healing itself. My bones and flesh knitted together at an alarming rate. My heartbeat strengthened as I consumed the liquid magic.

  That is what it felt like; magic. As if I was drinking raw power from its very source. That power traveled around my body, sending shockwaves that awoke every single nerve ending. It didn’t matter that I had just died; in that moment, I had never felt more alive.

  The desperate need to survive began to fade as I felt my body heal. The fog had lifted, I was now able to feel everything; the arms that cradled me gently, the calloused fingertips as they traced lazy circles on my spine. And gods, I began to taste. I could now fully appreciate the flavors that seduced my taste buds.

  I had never seen the ocean, but Sarah had once explained the smell of the sea air. How it was both fresh and salty at the same time. This was what enveloped me now, the smell and taste of a summer’s day by the sea.

  There was also a deeper note, more rounded. Like liquid seduction, it promised pleasure free of inhibitions. It was a lover’s touch, caressing my insides as it made its way down my throat. I never wanted this state of euphoria to end. I delved deeper, submitting to the need that built its way up my spine. Lust surrounded me, as I vibrated with power.

  The hands that once cocooned me fell limply at my sides; my body ached with their loss, I needed to be touched. I flattened myself against the source of my pleasure, wrapping my legs around both sides of its hard surface. Fingers dug deep into my hips, and I rolled them against the solid mass; the friction it caused was maddening.

  I continued to drink as wave after wave of blissful tension built within me. I had never felt so powerful, like I would explode and take the world with me. And gods, was I about to explode.

  “Luna, that’s enough, take mine.” A gruff voice interrupted, and without warning, I was torn away from my bliss.

  A strangled cry ripped from the pit of my soul. The separation was like a deep cavernous hole that had been punched into my heart, and I turned toward the intruder, hissing. Magnar’s amber eyes burned into my own. As if he had submerged me into a pool of ice, the haze had gone, my senses returned. I was now left with the stark realization that I was on top of a man.

  Eros’ face mirrored the burning desire that I felt only moments ago. His eyes were entranced, his need pressed against my own. I pulled back and started to shiver. I looked down, unable to face the disgust that I knew would be in Eros’ eyes once he realized what I had done to him. My nightdress was torn and caked in blood, as was the rest of me.

  “Luna,” Eros’ voice was hoarse, I looked up to see if he was hurt, but the only pain was in his eyes as I cringed away from his outstretched hand.

  “I drank your blood,” I sobbed as I hugged my knees to my chest and willed it all to be a dream.

  “Luna.” My name on Ehre’s lips brought a chill to my spine. No, not him too.

  I looked around the room to find the four men eyeing me carefully. They all just saw what I did. An uncontrollable shaking rattled through my body as flashbacks played over and over in my mind. Balhar broken and battered, the six goddesses as they affirmed everything the men said to be true. I was the last Vessel and they were my Guardians.

  A bubble of laughter slipped out as I thought of six goddesses bestowing their magic upon me to save the realms. I must be going mad; this was the only way that this could be rationalized.

  “Why is she laughing?” one voice asked worriedly.

  “She’s in shock. She nearly died,” another grunted. Yes, definitely mad.

  Big arms surrounded me, lifting me from the bed. My body continued to shake, and I was pulled tighter into their embrace. Something rich and warm, like leather and dark chocolate, filled my senses; the scent was oddly comforting. I buried my head against the crook of his neck as I inhaled him in.

  “Where are you taking her?” one voice demanded.

  “She needs to warm up, she’s shaking. Move!” the voice against me growled.

  Images of the creatures from my nightmare violated my mind, the goddesses’ voices soon followed. “Death will soon be at the castle.”

  “Shit, she’s crying! Magnar do something, or I’m going to burn this fucking castle down,” a deeper voice demanded. The person holding me began to lower my body, and I clung onto him in a panic.

  “Okay, little thief, I’ll come in with you. I won’t let you go.” I buried my head against his neck once more and relaxed as his scent surrounded me; his gentle touch grounded me.

  Still holding onto him for dear life, we were both lowered into the water. The sudden change in temperature stung my back, and I cried out in complaint.

  “Too hot, dickhead,” a voice grunted in response. Water began to swirl around us, stroking against my body but never over my face. Balhar’s broken shell never left my thoughts.

  “Pass me the soap and a pitcher,” the voice under me rumbled. The water rippled as another person drew near. At the sound of the movement, I tried to make myself smaller.

  “Hush, Luna, it is just Eros,” the voice said. Eros, the man I just tried to bleed dry.

  “You’ve scared her now, idiot,” another voice from further away chimed in.

  “Luna, it’s okay, I’m okay. What happened was okay, I needed to heal you.”

  A growl reverberated around the room,

  “you’re scaring her. Get away!”

  “I am not; she will …”

  “Enough!” the voice beneath me roared, and I cowered into myself.

  “You will all be silent, or you will get out!” Silence met his demand. “Luna, I am going to wash you now.” I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. I was trapped in my own head, assaulted by visions.

  After a few beats, he sighed, “Tell me if you want me to stop, little thi
ef, but we need to get you cleaned up.” He sat back on a ledge and settled me against his chest. His slow, rhythmic heartbeat, along with the warm water, started to melt my stiff limbs. He began to massage a sweet-smelling soap into my skin across my arms and neck.

  The last thing I remember was his strained voice asking for help.

  Eros

  “Help,” the greedy king, who was currently caressing Luna’s moon-kissed skin, ordered, and like a lapdog, I obliged. I needed to touch her once more. I have never in my years needed anything more.

  I lifted her hips out of the water so that she was now floating on its surface. Her raven hair fanned around her, moving like a living, pulsing aura. Her skin, paler than usual, was caked in blood, some of which was mine.

  I shivered at the thought of her soft mouth against my skin, how she pressed all those delicious curves against the hard planes of my body, so close like the slightest gap would kill her. The hardness that she created was almost painful, and I throbbed once more in remembrance.

  When a Vampire bites, their emotions leak into their prey. Luna’s essence is made up of each of our species, which begs the question what the fuck was she thinking to cause my body to have such a reaction.

  Magnar pulled her against him so that she sat on his lap with her head back on his chest, his eyes burning into my own. I lifted her leg out of the water and created a wave to wash over her skin.

  As a Siren, the water obeys my command, not unlike one of my creators, Poseidon. Out of all my gifts though, Aphrodite’s were my favorite…

  The blood and dirt swirled around her skin and was carried away with the wave. Magnar begrudgingly handed me the soap, and I smirked as I started to lather up her perfect, long, smooth legs. Once I got to her foot, I took it into my hands and began to knead the sole. The breathy moan that left Luna’s mouth was enough to make me spill my seed there and then.

  Smirking at Magnar’s startled face, I carried on massaging her arches deepening the stroke, secretly trying to coax that noise out of her sensual lips once more. Magnar’s eyes blazed as he sat there stiffly, listening to the sounds of pleasure from the most beautiful creature pressed against him, his big powerful arms held her reverently.

  “Enough,” his voice strained to form the word.

  Knowing a thing or two about women’s pleasure, an evil plot formed in my mind.

  “Fine, I will just wash her hair then.” I moved Luna so that she was now facing the king with her head back in the water, making sure he held her sill. I made the water envelope her once more, dragging the dirt and blood out of her hair.

  Now that she was no longer making noise, my chest ached with worry. She was so still, so pale, so beautiful that she barely looked real.

  I started to wash her long hair, brushing my fingers through its length in an attempt to detangle it. Once I began to apply pressure against her skull, another maddening sound escaped her mouth, and both Magnar and I tensed. Magnar’s hand held onto Luna’s forearms, and he looked down upon her like she was the most precious thing in all the realms.

  I knew the feeling; we have waited so long for her that I was finding it difficult to be unhappy with the reason she was here. I could feel magic that I never knew I had in me dying to be set free by her command.

  Running my hands through her hair once more, I looked down on the woman that was supposed to save us all, and my chest ached at what that could mean.

  Once she was clean, Magnar carried Luna back into his room. Greedy fucker.

  The bed had been changed, and a platter of meats, cheeses, and freshly baked bread was on the mahogany table along with a pitcher of wine. I poured four glasses and handed one to each of my brothers, not able to eat a thing.

  “Why isn’t she waking up?” I asked, terrified as Magnar lay her lifeless form in the middle of the giant four-poster bed. She shivered once his body left hers, and Vulcan sparked a fire to life, causing heat to wave over her still form.

  “She lost a lot of blood; although you fed her, she lost way more than you were able to give.” Magnar took a deep gulp of the delicious blood-spiked wine.

  “Then feed her, dammit!” Ehre said through gritted teeth, having not taken his eyes off her from the moment he found her at the bottom of the stairs in the goddesses’ temple. Her head was bleeding freely from a gash above her temple. The wound was still open, but Magnar had managed to stem the bleeding with his blood.

  “That is easier said than done, my friend. She was terrified when she realized that she was drinking from Eros,” Magnar said.

  “You mean she has never fed before?” Ehre hissed, and a feeling of triumph settled in my heart that I would have been her first. Sadness also hit when I realized that she would have gone her whole life without tapping into her magic.

  How did she have any strength at all?

  “It was hard to tell what she was,” Vulcan began. “I knew she had Wolf in her, but when I felt the heat of the hearth, I could hardly believe my luck. She literally absorbed the heat that I pushed into her. I didn’t burn her at all.”

  I didn’t miss the hope in my brother’s eyes.

  “She was right under their noses for twenty years, and they never even knew it.”

  “What made you sure she carried Vampire blood?” Magnar pushed the normally silent Dragon.

  “We … I joined her in combat. She was strong at first but no more than any elite Candidate; she changed though. I thought that she had given up. One minute she was down, the next, I felt a wave of power from her energy signal, and she came back with a vengeance.” He smiled at the memory, I couldn’t help being jealous.

  “She hand you your arse, brother?” I baited.

  Vulcan looked down upon her small form.

  “The way she reacted when she smelled my blood in the ring. I knew then that she was not just a Wolf.” I laughed at the thought of Vulcan, the Prince of Ignis, being made to bleed by someone so small.

  “If she had never fed before, I am surprised that she did not try to kill you, or at least feed. After all, it is in her nature,” Magnar whispered.

  “Part of her Nature,” Ehre scowled. “Some of us are not animals and can control ourselves.”

  “Well, because she didn’t try to sink her teeth into me, I did have to test the theory once more. When the Koray held a trial, I cut myself while she was on the stand.”

  Magnar’s eyes flashed over the Dragon.

  “You did what?!” he exclaimed.

  “I had to know. I was about to take responsibility for her. Also, I would have loved to see her take a chunk out of one of those smug bastards,” Vulcan explained.

  Magnar fumed, pacing in circles.

  “You do understand that she could have killed every one of those mangy dogs? Fuck, she has never fed!”

  “Good!” Ehre shot back at Magnar, “I would have loved to see Kingsley bleed.”

  Magnar rubbed his tired eyes with the palm of his hands.

  “How in the Underworld has she been able to stay alive?”

  “Did you all feel her energy signal when she drank from Eros?” Ehre asked. Each of the guys grunted. “Before that moment, I was unable to get a read on it, like something was masking it.”

  “I was too out of it,” I said.

  “Well it was fucking strong,” Magnar scowled.

  “It happened back at The Estate before the ring also. I was flying to clear my head after one of their ridiculous meetings, and I felt waves of energy coming from within the forest. When I flew to its source … it was her,” Vulcan said.

  My stomach dropped. “Her energy was that strong your Dragon felt it?” I asked.

  “Not only did he feel it, but he was also drawn to it,” Vulcan confirmed.

  “Shit,” Magnar swore. “Gods be damned! Why did they allow her to escape our notice for this long?”

  Ehre, ever the rational, stepped forward and brushed aside a strand of hair that was over Luna’s cheek, in a motion that was extremely out of character.


  “The gods made sure that she could grow old enough to protect herself before the world knew of her existence.” I relaxed a little, that made sense.

  “He must know of her existence,” Magnar’s words were strained; he was afraid for her. “The spell was too strong for him to ever remember on his own, so how is this possible? I hate to think this, because of what it would mean, but Vulcan was right. We have to prepare ourselves for the fact he may still be alive.” The guilt that plagued Magnar was tangible. If he was still alive, I do not think the king would ever forgive himself.

  “I think we have to prepare ourselves for anything,” Vulcan responded. It felt as though a hand was squeezing around my heart, and guilt gnawed at my stomach.

  “She cannot be found,” I insisted, looking down upon her peaceful form.

  “Agreed,” my brothers chimed in.

  “We must test her skills; we know that she has never tapped into her Vampire nature, but what about the others?” Magnar quickly slipped into king mode.

  “She could not have gone her whole life without using her powers, surely that would kill her,” I whispered.

  “Or maybe she doesn’t have power, maybe the goddesses have forsaken us,” silence met Ehre’s ever cheerful remark.

  She was the one, I knew it. My soul recognized her the second I saw her land in this realm. Which meant all her life, Luna had been disconnected from her Ousia. For a supernatural to be without their Ousia was a death sentence.

  Sirens need the water, but our Ouisa is lust. For Vampires, it’s blood. Dragon’s Ouisa is fire, and Elves have an affinity with the earth. For the Wolves, their Ousia is the moon, and their power changes with the Lunar cycle. The Jinn are the only species out of the six whose Ousia doesn’t come from the goddess who created them. For the Jinn, their Ouisa is death.

  When our souls were bound by the goddesses, our powers and Ousias merged. This enabled us to have traits from each of the six species, but we will never really know our true potential until our bonds are completed by Luna. Her Ousia came directly from each goddess; she should need all six to survive.