Eternal Day

by Kerrion, Jade;

  Not a goddess. Only a demon.

  Only my muse.

  Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. He dug his nails deeper. Blood trickled down the side of his head, streaking his dirty blond hair. He squeezed his eyes shut and rocked back and forth. Go away.

  Goddess. Demon. Muse.

  Shut up. Shut up. Erich moaned low in his throat to drown out the endless voices in his head. He rocked and whimpered—the repetitive motion and the sound rebuilding the thin walls in his head that saved him from utter distraction and complete dysfunction.

  Even so, long moments passed before he was ready to stand. Erich sagged against the cave wall, his breath hitching with each shudder of his shoulders. Can’t fall apart now. Not until I kill her. Or paint her.

  He stiffened suddenly at the unexpected scent of night-blooming flowers. Why couldn’t he stop thinking of Tera? Why did his mind always trick his senses into believing she was near?

  Not again. Not now. Not when he had just mentally put himself back together. Nothing to do but run as he had that first night on Earth, in hell. Don’t look back. Just run forward.

  Tera’s fragrance—the subtle scent of night-blooming flowers—chased him. Through twists in the tunnels, past tiny crannies and vast caverns, along underground rivers, it pursued him all the way up the shaft that led to Haven.

  It caught up with him mere moments after the granite rock beneath his feet gave way to dirt-streaked steel. It slammed into his shoulders, sending him tumbling forward. Stunned, exhausted, he slid, sprawling over the floor. Lights danced across his vision.

  He couldn’t think, couldn’t focus past the scent that evoked memories he could not name. The noise in his mind screamed a mindless babble. Tera. Tera. Tera.

  Damn it. Why wouldn’t it stop?

  Erich wobbled to his feet and turned around.

  His mind blanked.

  Tera?

  She stood straight, her wings partially flared. The studs on her leather armor glittered beneath the glare of the florescent lights. Her silver braid shone.

  Breath slipped, unnoticed, from his lungs.

  He had never before seen her in full light. Their encounters had always been in moonlight or in the shaded darkness of underground caverns. In full light, reality crushed all romantic notions of a fey creature, half-demon, half-angel. Her wings scarcely mattered. In the end, all that remained was Tera herself—wistful gray eyes that sought beauty in all things, and the unrevealing expression of a warrior princess. She was as mysterious in the day as she was at night.

  Her talons extended with the slither of bone against flesh. Her wings flared to their full length; a banner raised.

  Erich smiled faintly as she leaped for the kill. His death would exceed all his expectations.

  Chapter 8

  I began this. I will end this.

  Tera slashed out, her talons tearing through Erich’s forearms.

  He screamed, stumbling back. Blood the color of a golden sunset welled up, staining his ragged clothes. He stared at his sleeves as if mesmerized by the spread of color. He did not seem to realize that he was reeling slowly, his body gripped by exhaustion or the onset of a concussion.

  Her upper lip pulled back in a snarl. Tera grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall.

  Only then did their eyes met.

  Her breath caught.

  For an instant, devoid of insane anger and pent-up hatred, Erich’s beautiful, startling blue eyes saw everything and judged nothing.

  They were once again the eyes of the man she had fallen in love with.

  Surely, he must have felt the razor-sharp edges of her claws pressing against his jugular, but he did nothing. He stared at her as if he could not take his eyes off her, as if he could not see enough of her.

  As if there were not two hundred and fifty years of everything going wrong between them.

  As if they could, together, still make things come out right.

  Tera’s breath trembled but her grip did not loosen.

  No! She had this one chance to set it right—for him, for her, and for Aeternae Noctis. She drew her other hand back, her pearlescent claws gleaming beneath the florescent lights.

  A single slash would rip through his jugular. A second blow would slash through his stomach.

  Time to end what I began.

  Time to end her foolish infatuation.

  Her fingers curved into talons, taut and poised for a precise strike.

  Feet pattered against steel, growing louder, and abruptly stopping. A sharp, new scent entered the room—a distinctly human scent.

  Tera stared wordlessly at the young child staring agape at her—a human child, his skin almost as pale as hers. His homespun, undyed clothes hung loosely on his thin frame.

  Erich choked out words in a language she did not understand, but it jolted the little boy out of his shock. The child fled, stumbling and screaming. A door slammed; his shouts faded into silence.

  Tera released Erich and stepped back. Her claws did not recede. “Who was that?”

  Erich pressed his hand against his throat. “That was Anders.”

  “What did you say to him?”

  “To run. To not come back.”

  Tera’s brow furrowed. “You’re protecting him?”

  Erich shrugged. The wave of his hand was equally indifferent, but his quiet tone betrayed him. “Why not? I was here when he was born.” A tired smile touched his lips. “His parents wouldn’t want anything to happen to him.”

  “There are humans outside Aeternae Noctis…” Tera allowed her gaze to drift over the clearly man-made space. It was little more than an alcove—an entryway into a larger building—but it was well-maintained. “Where is this place?”

  “It’s called Haven.”

  Tera stared at Erich. He slumped against the wall, his shoulders hunched against the pain of his injuries. He did not look at her. In fact, he hardly seemed to care if she kept talking or if she attacked and killed him.

  Erich was an immortali. He was insane. She had witnessed the throes of his madness in the caverns—how he rocked and moaned. He had hurt himself—digging his claws into his scalp, smearing blood into his hair—yet he knew the people in this place. He protected them.

  What were the chances of him attacking her the moment she lowered her guard? Absurdly high, and yet—

  Compassion, even empathy, was not a ward against insanity, but it humanized him.

  She straightened—a defense against the flutter of relief in the pit of her stomach—and drew a deep breath. “Erich.”

  A long, silent moment passed before he raised his gaze to hers.

  Weariness stained his eyes; despair darkened them.

  Did she dare trust him?

  She cleared her throat and stumbled through two false starts before saying, “Will you show me Haven?”

  Erich’s throat worked. His shoulders stiffened, but he nodded. Slowly, he walked to the steel door and swung it open.

  A gaggle of people tumbled forward into an ungraceful heap.

  Erich chuckled, the sound infused with mild irony and good humor. He said something to the humans as they rose and brushed themselves off with what little dignity they could salvage after eavesdropping at the door. “Tera,” he said, directing the people’s wide-eyed gazes to her. “And this is Jorgen, Anders’s father.” He introduced each of the others by name.

  In turn, the humans inclined their head to Tera, their politeness stilted by wary caution.

  “They’ve seen daevas,” Erich added. “Winged creatures with fangs and claws aren’t out of their range of normal, but they’ve never encountered an icrathari. Forgive their stares.”

  “The daevas have been here?”

  He nodded. “The daevas are their saviors and protectors, but until I found the underground path into Haven, the daevas could only visit Haven in the winter.”

  “Why?” Tera murmured. She followed the humans into a vast space, and paused to trace the faded letters on
the steel wall. “Svalbard Global Seed Vault.” She sucked in her breath. “In the winter, it’s dark enough, even during the day, for the daevas to safely travel above ground, but in the summer, in the land of the midnight sun, the seed vault is unreachable.” She looked at Jorgen. “Have you always been here?”

  Erich translated her words, and then Jorgen’s halting reply. “Their old stories say that angels with dark wings came to their ancestors and warned of a planet-wide apocalypse. The angels helped them prepare Haven, and sealed the doors when the apocalypse approached.”

  “So, they’ve never been outside?”

  “They do, in the winter. Not now, when the sun shines all day and night. Haven is built deep in a mountain. Flat panels on the side of the mountain collect the sun’s energy to cool the vaults.”

  “Vaults?”

  “Seeds.” Erich pointed toward three large doors. “Two of those store seeds; the third was adapted as living spaces for the people.” A sharp cracking sound cut him off. He frowned and barked a question at Jorgen.

  His brow deeply furrowed, Jorgen led Erich and Tera into the vault. A deep, thick crack marred the smooth concrete floor. Smaller cracks radiated like roots extending across the length of the room.

  Erich knelt and ran his hand along the crevice. He grimaced. “It’s far worse than last year. Jorgen says it cuts across the other two rooms too.”

  Something screeched—an ear-splitting scream of metal snapping—and the ground tilted beneath their feet. Boxes tumbled off shelves, spilling sealed containers on the floor.

  “What’s happening?” Tera demanded.

  “It happens every year when the mountain warms or cools.”

  “Water…” she murmured. “The water seeps into the mountain, and when it freezes into ice, it pushes the earth apart, cracking stone, destroying man-made structures, not immediately, but over time.”

  The earth groaned, rumbling, convulsing.

  And we’re out of time.

  Tera stood back as humans gathered around Erich. Were they unaware that he was an immortali? Whatever they knew or did not, they were unafraid, debating fiercely with Erich with words as well as gestures. The worried glances at the ever-widening crack on the wall confirmed the topic.

  What did they expect Erich to do? He was an artist, not an engineer.

  Siri, however—

  The conversation between Erich and the humans continued. Heads nodded. Equally as often, heads shook. Apparently, no one knew the best way forward, but they arrived at a consensus. Erich, far stronger than the humans, shoved the metal shelves into a support structure for the slanted ceiling.

  Tera assessed the ad-hoc fix with narrowed eyes. At best, it would slow the collapse, not halt it.

  The people managed thin smiles, their anxiety assuaged by a dash of relief. The little boy, Anders, ran up to Erich and jabbered a question at the immortali. Erich shook his head and stroked Ander’s pale hair. His maimed fingers looked even more distorted in the unforgiving light of the room.

  An immortali stood among humans, and no one cared.

  Anders continued speaking. Tera did not understand any words, but the boy’s worried expression and the lilting plea in his voice needed no translation. She had seen and heard the same from the children of Aeternae Noctis. Are we going to die?

  Erich shook his head with even greater fervor.

  At that moment, the earth groaned and wobbled.

  Tera’s eyes narrowed. “Tell the people to prepare for evacuation.”

  Erich frowned. “There is no escape. They cannot carry enough food to sustain them in the caverns, and in the summer, outside is death.”

  “Do it.” Tera’s wings swept down, carrying her to the top of the ceiling. She pressed her hand against the implant in her ear. Come on. Trigger. Do something.

  It did not buzz. Her jaw tensed. The seed vault was buried deep in a mountain. Her signal could not penetrate the thick rock. The only way to send the distress call was from outside the vault.

  Outside is death.

  And life. “I need to get out of the mountain. Where is the exit?”

  “What?” Erich strode up to her. “You can’t go out there. The sun does not set. You’ll die.”

  “Where is the exit?”

  He set himself in front of her. “No.”

  Something cracked with a sharp retort. The floor tilted.

  “These people will die unless I help them, and I cannot do it from within the mountain. Where is the door?”

  He stared at her, his eyebrows drawn together. A muscle twitched in his cheek. “This way.”

  Erich led her down a long corridor. The temperature warmed noticeably, and the double doors at the end of the corridor were hot to the touch. She reached out to open them but he did so instead, stepping back as a ray of sunlight beamed into the corridor, separating them in individual cocoons of shadows.

  “Don’t take too long,” he said.

  Tera managed a faint smile and darted out into the light. Her wings flared to their full length as she swooped around the dark side of the mountain. Sunlight blazed all around her as she stood in the shade. The land, once locked in perpetual snow, was barren, yet lacked the desiccated appearance of the equator. The reprieve offered by its six-month winters had protected it from utter devastation.

  Tera tapped the tender spot where her jawbone met her ear, but the implanted chip did not emit a subtle buzz to indicate it was transmitting her location. She bit back a curse as she stared up at the mountain. If Aeternae Noctis was on the other side of the mountain, her signal would not reach the domed city. She and Erich would easily survive underground, but the humans would not. Their only hope lay in Aeternae Noctis.

  Their only hope lay in her alerting the city.

  And it meant flying out into the sun.

  Her wings unfurled. She drew a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and launched herself into the air.

  Tera burst from behind the cover of the mountain and shot up into the open sky. The sun blazed down, full and merciless. Smoke wafted in smoky gray tendrils off her wings. Her pale skin darkened and sizzled. She leaned into the curve as she circled the mountain, darting from light into the welcome respite of shadow. She glanced at her wings; small holes pockmarked the previously smooth surface.

  The transmitter near her ear still did not buzz.

  Once more.

  She soared from darkness to light. Heat enveloped her, so thick it clogged her lungs, almost suffocating her. Willpower drove her forward as she swooped around the light side of the mountain. Damn it, Siri. Find me!

  Light melted into shadow as she darted into the shade cast by the mountain. Hovering in the air, she beat her left wing against the rock to extinguish the tiny river of flames sizzling along the edges.

  There was still no signal from Aeternae Noctis, no confirmation that her presence had been detected.

  Tera could not spare the energy to curse aloud. She needed all of it for her desperate flight. She could not just circle the mountain. She needed more time out in the open, more time for the signal to trigger, more time for the signal to be picked up.

  More time to burn.

  Her wings beat down, carrying her to the top of the mountain. Tera tore over the peak and in tight loops, circled down the side of mountain, staying only within the light. Acrid smoke assaulted her. Bright red flame spread across her wings.

  Faster. Higher. Don’t stop.

  She swooped up, but her wings, large patches burned through, could no longer carry her. They flapped desperately, the wind rushing through them, as she plummeted to the ground. The jagged rocks at the base of the mountain aimed at her heart.

  Seconds from impact, Erich leaped off the lower rocks like a gazelle, throwing himself into the air to catch her. Momentum rolled them forward, beyond the pointed, hungry teeth of the mountain.

  They hit the ground, the impact slamming the air out of her lungs. Before she could move, Erich snatched her up and raced through
the open steel doors of Haven.

  Light passed into darkness. The doors slammed shut behind them, but Tera was aware only of Erich rolling her over the ground, his hands slapping out the flames on her clothes, wings, and hair.

  Scurrying feet raced up to her; something heavy draped over her body, extinguishing the fire.

  Erich’s voice emerged amid the low babble of voices. “What the hell was that?”

  She sat up slowly, the remnants of her armor chaffing against her raw skin. She touched her right ear, but the buzzing sensation had vanished. Had she imagined it?

  Erich stared at her. “You need to… Here.” He ripped a gash in his wrist and offered it to her.

  His blood spilled in rivulets, red-gold, the scent rich and deep.

  Her head spun, her vision glazing. She needed it, but not badly enough—

  “It’s all right,” he murmured. His chuckle was tinged with irony. “It’s not poisoned with aconite.”

  Not poisoned. Besides, the blood was almost hers. She had infused the gold of immortality into the crimson transience of his blood. Tera brought his bleeding wrist to her lips and drew deeply from his slashed vein.

  Erich tensed and shuddered; his eyes closed. He leaned his head against the wall, his neck bared. An expression equally of agony and ecstasy suffused his face. She stared at him for several moments before ancient memories jarred her, of winged lovers entwined in moonlight, bodies intimately joined physically and simultaneously, in the exchange of blood.

  In the thousand years of Aeternae Noctis, survival had trumped love. The exchange of blood was a pragmatic process required to create and heal vampires. Blood was transfused through machines, and Tera had forgotten how primal, how intimate the experience could be, or how much the intent and emotions of the blood donor and recipient shaped the exchange.

  The vivid display on Erich’s face transfixed her. Agony and ecstasy. Hate and love. Hell and heaven.

  What would she feel if she allowed his blood to draw her in?