by Danae Ayusso
Do Yoon shook his head. “It was real, but not from one of your lives… You should not have seen that.”
Okay, I needed to tread carefully.
“Why did you bring me here?” I asked instead of pressing the dream-vision-whatever at the moment.
His brows pulled together as if trying to find the answer himself. “I brought you here, it was the only place I knew the Goddess thrives and I hoped it would save you from the sun and the damage you received. The barrier and wards that are in place make it very difficult to pass through alone, let alone carrying one that I should not have. When we arrived you succumbed to your injuries in order to heal, and I did as well,” he said, his eyes moving over me many times, appraisingly. “It is against the rules to travel with another in the means in which I did.”
Okay, that explained how we got here, but not why or what that was.
“Did it hurt you?” I asked, pulling my knees to my chest and hugged them.
Do Yoon nodded then shook his head. “It was overly taxing and I passed out with you. That is why you felt as if someone was sleeping next to you. It was not intentional, and I did not mean to violate your boundaries, but I am certain all we did was sleep,” he assured me, picking up the book next to his possessions and it reduced in width in his hand and the pages fanned backwards. “Slept, nothing more… You played with my hair,” he said, his eyes moving over the page before he reached up and smoothed his hair down. “No one has ever done that before.”
I blushed. “Sorry. It’s a bad habit I have.”
“That is okay,” he assured me, embarrassed. “It would be why I slept so soundly.”
I giggled when he blushed; for being a grim reaper, he wasn’t scary in the least.
“Why did you break the rules?” I asked, patting the spot on the bed next to me.
“You would have died if I had not,” Do Yoon pointed out.
“Death is a constant, as you amusingly know,” I added with a chuckle and the corners of his mouth twitched, fighting a smile. “I welcome Death and yet she runs from me at every turn. I’m starting to think she’s scared of me.”
Do Yoon nodded. “With good reason. When I passed out, we were touching. I think that somehow you accessed my book of life, but I do not know how, and it pulled you into a memory, one you are not tied to.”
My eyes widened. “So that was Andrei’s past?” I asked.
“I cannot tell you with absolute certainty whose past it was,” he regrettably informed me.
That didn’t make any sense, but I knew Do Yoon wouldn’t tell me if I pressed it. I’d have to get his guard to slip again so I could attempt to ninja it in there.
“Is Maximus?” I whispered, ignoring the tear that rolled down my cheek.
Do Yoon crossed the area and stood in front of me and I scooted away from him out of habit. “I will not hurt you. I broke the rules by saving you, by assisting you, and by allowing your Shadow Spirit to linger.”
I glared at him.
“Your brother is as well as the lingering dead can be,” he conceded, again making a face that translated to he still didn’t have an answer for that one. “I brought you here to save you. Your body took much more sunlight than I have ever seen a vampire, or any creature of the night, take. How you were able to withstand it, your body not split and combust as it should have, means you are different and more, and like that wolf you valiantly fought to save, you did not deserve that fate so I broke the rules and, I fear, it will damn me for all eternity when I was merely one soul away from freedom and rebirth.”
My face dropped.
“I’m so sorry. That’s entirely my fault.”
His head tilted to the side to regard me. “It is. You robbed me of that at the club. You robbed me of that at the estate on the water. However, I cannot blame you in the least for acting selflessly as you had. I am two-thousand years old. And in those two-thousand years I never broke the rules or questioned anything, until you crossed my path. Do not feel guilty over my actions for they were mine alone, and the repercussions of those actions are mine alone to bear,” he said softly then opened the book in his hand and showed me. “You possess a sight unlike any other.”
I looked to the book, not sure what I was looking at.
“I don’t speak or read Korean,” I reminded him.
Do Yoon offered me the book. “I do,” he pointed out. “You will see in a way you will understand when you touch it.”
With much reluctance, I took the book and the inked Korean blended away the moment Do Yoon was no longer touching it, and eloquent Italian filled the pages. It was simply transcription of events as they were happening, from an outside, no context, point of view.
“Is that Maximus?” I asked when Tybalt’s name appeared in beautiful script.
“His life continues,” Do Yoon confirmed, heading over to the small stove that appeared in the corner. “Because of you he lives. You saw what I did not, questioned what you saw, what I should have seen and questioned myself and yet did not, and you selflessly gave in order to save. You did the same at the club; you saved the lives of hundreds… That is not the actions of a vampire.”
So I’ve come to understand.
“I’m not a very good vampire,” I admitted, absently sliding my grandma’s pendant back and forth on its chain.
“May I?” I asked, motioning towards the book in my hands.
“Maximus Andrea Lykourgos has nothing to hide from you,” Do Yoon said, motioning for me to do what I wanted to do.
Interesting way of wording it.
Instead of continuing to look at the present, I flipped to the past chapters until I found what I was looking for. As I started to read, the words moved around the page and made images that played out like a comic book. Maximus was lying in bed and Dr. Willa was tending to him, tears staining her cheeks.
Dr. Willa checked his pupils. “You should be dead, Maxi,” she said. “How you could not have smelled the wolfsbane is beyond me.”
“Allergies have me not smelling anything,” Maximus said. “I should be dead.”
“How did you survive?” she asked from the edge of the bed where she was now sitting, holding his hand.
The look that was suddenly on Maximus’ face made my chest tighten. “The one which war will ensue because of. That vampire child saved me, giving her own life in the process.”
Tears stained Dr. Willa’s cheeks.
“She should have not done that. War is on the horizon, one we will not survive,” Maximus said.
“What war?” I whispered and went to turn the page when the book snapped shut on its own and was ripped away from my hand. It flew across the room to Do Yoon’s hand where it disappeared once it was in his possession again. “Hey! I was reading that.”
“Yes, but you were venturing to parts that apparently have to do with you,” Do Yoon explained, joining me with two cups of tea in hand and offered me one of them. “You cannot read what pertains to you; nothing of your life or death. That, is a rule I cannot break, not even if the book would allow it.”
I gave him a look, sipping the hot tea.
“I cannot look at my own life or any of my lives, not even the one I had so many, many years ago that sentenced me to take the souls of others,” he explained to pacify me. “The book of life and death does not allow the one reading it to read of their own life or death. It is against the rules and can complicate fate.”
Good to know, irritating, but it makes sense.
“Am I dead?” I asked before taking another sip of tea.
His head tilted to the side to regard me. “No. You are very much alive. We both succumbed to exhaustion from our injuries—yours from the sun and mine from transporting those not meant to travel in such a way through very powerful protective wards—and that requires time to heal. I apologize for passing out on top of you. It was not my intention and I did not mean to violate your personal space in such a way,” he apologized again.
I made a face and motioned
for him to get on with it.
“Healing without blood consumption, for a vampire, is very rare and taxing on the system…” his words trailed off and he blew on his tea before taking a drink.
Good to know, but makes me suspicious as to why that is.
“You are not entertaining the idea of biting me, are you?” he asked.
I gagged.
“Answer enough,” he amusingly informed me.
Yeah, that’s not everyone’s acceptance to that little gag reflex of mine when it comes to the mention of consuming blood.
“I was dreaming of Andrei and his wife,” I said, watching the steam roll off the surface of the tea. “How is that possible?”
Do Yoon shook his head, struggling to find the words that wouldn’t be breaking the rules.
“I’ve seen Andrei in my dreams,” I said, just realizing it. “When I’m hanging out with my brother, when we can actually touch, Andrei’s lingering and watching. I thought it was just in my head, or I was projecting him or something, but that’s not the case. Is it?”
He shook his head; that was the in he was looking for. “Your Maker is a Dream Walker,” he said softly.
And I hadn’t a clue what that meant.
“Dream Walkers are very rare, very dangerous, and not something one boasts of being,” he continued, his attention on the surface of his tea. “I assume he effortlessly enters your dreams because he is your Maker, but I also suspect that is what allowed you to enter his by mistake.”
My eyes widened.
It wasn’t…
It was Andrei’s dream, a memory perhaps?
He was married?
Married as a vampire though?!
“Can I read his book?” I asked.
The look Do Yoon gave me made me pout.
Didn’t think so.
“Why isn’t Andrei in my head?” I asked, just realizing the annoyingly intrusive vampire should have been chewing my butt for disappearing as I had, for getting caught in the sun, for, well, whatever was irritating him this time.
“I do not know. The Goddess has warded this sanctuary for those blessed by her,” he explained, looking around. “I am not a Child of the Goddess, but you are, and that is what allowed us entry. It blocks everything out; scrying, Maker to Scion connections apparently, trackers, magical location spells… I knew of its location because I knew you would need it.”
That didn’t make sense.
“Did my book tell you that?” I asked.
He shook his head. “My gut.”
“Yeah, that explains it,” I huffed. “Gas. It’s gas, Dude,” I promised him.
His eyes widened before he laughed.
Yes, I tend to have that effect on people.
Living or dead didn’t matter apparently.
Do Yoon smiled. “You are unlike any other I have ever met.”
“Is that a good thing?” I asked, hugging my knees to my chest against, resting my chin on them.
He shook his head. “Not likely. Those that are rare and deserve to live are, more often than not, targeted so they cannot. If my two-thousand years of life have taught me anything, it is that.”
That was very morbid and really sad to hear.
“Does that scare you?” he whispered.
“No,” I assured him. “It is the story of my young life, my new friend. Death alludes me and yet it targets all those around me, all those that I love and can’t survive without. I grew up knowing that darkness was a constant companion to life,” I said, looking at him with a small smile. “Without the dark you cannot have light, without light there cannot be dark. Shadows are a forever companion and mean that you are truly never alone, for even your shadow will follow you to Hell and back and not once complain along the way,” I smugly informed him, and he chuckled. “Growing up, loss was my constant companion, and as much as I hated that everyone I needed in my life was ripped away from me, I knew it was not without purpose. It was merely hard to keep that mindset when I lost my brother and only friend.”
Do Yoon nodded his understanding. “It is never easy to see the bigger picture through the darkness-”
“Or see it through the brightness of light,” I interjected.
“Yes, that too. Aren’t you hungry?” he asked, just realizing something.
Was I?
I was tired, slightly hungry, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to try bite you,” I promised.
Do Yoon’s brows pulled together. “That is not right. You should be starving, ravenous even, from hunger. You are not a vampire.”
I gave him a look then hissed, bearing my ‘missing fangs’, as Cross called them, and his eyes widened before he laughed. “Yeah. That’s what they keep telling me I am. I don’t feel like a vampire, not that I know what one should feel like, but if I am indeed a vampire, I’m not a very good one. Alder says I’m a Herald of the Goddess,” I offered with a shrug. “Connor called me a Nightling, not that I know what a Nightling is.”
Do Yoon’s head tilted, causing his bangs to fall in his eyes.
Without thinking about it, I reached out and tenderly caressed his hair back out of his eyes for him.
When I touched him, his eyes widened but the pupils didn’t react as others do when I touch them. I think the surprise was the fact that I tended to him, even if it was simply brushing hair from his eyes, it was something that hadn’t been done for him in some time.
“You have no idea how very special you are, do you?” he whispered, a tear rolling down his cheek.
Of course I didn’t know so I shook my head, wiping away his tear for him.
“You are all of those things but none of those things,” he said. “There is no single name for what you are, and yet all of those names are what you are; Vampire, Nightling, Herald of the Goddess, Messenger of Death, Harbinger of War … Does that scare you?” he asked when I struggled to swallow the lump that formed in my throat and a tear rolled down my cheek.
“Should it?” I asked the obvious in a squeak.
His eyes moved over my face many times, appraisingly. “Yes, you should be terrified because I am,” he eventually said.
Standing out front of the church turned prison, I hated to admit that it was a sight for sore eyes.
I actually missed it.
Sure, I hadn’t spent that much time there while conscious. And every time I left the confines of my room I ended up nearly dying, and sure it wasn’t all that safe of a place since it had been infiltrated by some unknown threat and an Italian ghoul that tried to take out Andrei, but after being not home it actually felt like home.
“Is something wrong?” Do Yoon asked from next to me.
We were huddled together under an umbrella since the rain wasn’t letting up anytime soon, standing out front of the church. He was waiting for me to go inside, but I was delaying the inevitable for some reason.
Lack of blood made me easily distracted, I discovered.
“Just trying to figure out how I’m going to tell Andrei I rented out the guest room to a Jeoseung Saja,” I admitted.
Do Yoon blushed.
While recovering, and between dozens of bowls of sticky rice and jasmine honey porridge, I discovered the shy Jeoseung Saja was currently looking for a room to rent. At first I thought it was a joke, but quickly discovered that he wasn’t kidding. For all intents and purposes, they were living beings that required rest, food, shelter, and when not being called upon to separate a soul from a body or vessel, they were like everyone else. When they weren’t working, you’d never suspect they were anything but human.
I only knew because I apparently can see more than most people.
Do Yoon needed a place to stay, and since we had a couple of guest rooms undergoing renovation I figured I’d rent one out to him since he was now considered my friend and helped me save Maximus, damning himself to more servitude in a matter of speaking.
He still hadn’t gotten butt reamed for that one yet, but it
was coming he assured me.
Checks and balances, he reminded me.
“It doesn’t look as scary on the inside,” I promised. “It might take me a few weeks to get your room in order, but you can crash in mine until then. No reaping at home though.”
He nodded. “I remember the agreement. I am not certain how your Maker will take it, or his annoying brother, but it shall be interesting either way.”
Not the way I’d word it, but we’d go with that for now.
Looking up at the church, angry dark rainclouds overhead illuminated with purple lightning that made me smile, and the sheets of rain that accompanied each I knew matched the mood of the pouting vampire within.
Andrei hadn’t been able to hear me because of the warding in the Goddess’ safe house, of sorts, and then there was silence from him once I left its protective confines. I figured he would have voiced his opinion of my absence and disobeying his directive to be home before sunrise, but there was eerie silence from him.
That scared me more than being considered the ruiner of worlds, destroyer of life…
Those were my words, Do Yoon simply shook his head at my choice of wording and suggested I get a library card.
I didn’t know what that meant since I had a library card at home, and he snorted and said I needed the exclusive kind. That translated to a mythical world library card, and that actually made me giddy at the thought of finally getting my hands on some books that would tell me everything that Andrei refused to tell me.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Will they be able to see you?” I asked.
Do Yoon shrugged. “Only if I allow them to, which is-”
“Against the rules,” I finished for him.
He nodded. “Yes and no, you know that. When working, they cannot see me. When I am not working, I will look like everyone else. It is not breaking the rule in the traditional or normal Shawn sense.”
I giggled; it was now an ongoing joke between us. “But you’ll break the rules to protect me,” I teased with a smile and batted my lashes, resting my head on his shoulder.
Do Yoon gave me a look. “Yes, I suppose I would,” he dryly agreed. “You are evil in its purest and most adorable form, plus you have not given me a key yet so I am stuck relying on you,” he pointed out.
