“Shh, don't say that too loudly. He's right here snoring away.”
“Aagh, you slept with him?”
“Well, I didn't get much sleep,” she giggled.
“You're going to giggle when he tried to kill me?”
“I tried to kill him too, hay.”
“You’re a fool.”
“I was doing ready for the world on him, backwards cow girl, getting my model fill. Girl, you just don't know.”
I could only laugh at her reaction. That was Claudine, not a serious bone in her body. Of course, I wouldn't want it any other way.
“You don't sound too concerned. I’m being serious.”
“You're alive, and okay?” I could hear the laughter leaving her voice as my words settled.
Claudine was a good older sister. She could pick and tease, knew how to have a good time too. But there were two things you don’t tell an Aries: that you ate all of their favorite foods, and of course, that you hurt their kin. Now, it wasn’t about them not being able to hurt kinfolks. That pleasure was for family members only. She could be a real meanie to me, for sure, but she didn’t like it when someone else did that.
“Can you hold on for a minute?” she asked.
I held the phone to my ear, and heard a sharp cry, then a thump. “Now get your crusty ass out of my bed, and stay there until I call ship security on you. No one hurts my sister, you fucking moron.”
“Please!” I heard him plea.
In my mind, Claudine had kicked him out of her bed, and probably poked him with something to wake him up—something sharp and pointy.
“What are you doing to him?” I asked.
“Making sure he doesn’t slither away. Snake.” She paused to yell at him. “I’m going to turn you into security and maybe they’ll throw you overboard.
“Hold on.”
I heard an alarm blaring. She must have pressed the emergency call button.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, he was cute and all, but no, that is just nasty, and stupid. He’s like moronic without reason.” Her voice lowered for a moment, and she leaned away from the phone. “And sex with you was not that good. Your body is a hot advertisement, but your moves are lacking. If I wanted something that would just lay there, well, there are toys for that. Damn. Attempted murdering psycho.”
“Are we really talking about this?”
“You go after men in suits instead of men who work those fast food jobs. They know how to make me meow.”
“You just like free fries.”
“I like free anything, and right now, I like free D—”
“Don't even. I didn't call to find out if your fantasy came true last night. I hope you get tested when you get back to shore. Don't know what that bag of fleas might have.”
“One thing I can say is that he was packing a potato or maybe a sock. Whatever it was, it thudded out, like a wham! He’s a lot sexier on those covers. Do you think they do Photoshop?”
“Thanks for asking, Claudine. I’m quite okay. Found a haunted billionaire to watch over me until I can figure out what I’m supposed to do.”
“Just sit on his face and your problems will be gone.”
“Bye, Claudine.”
I could only take so much of her shenanigans.
“Woah, but how am I going to reach you? Serious though, are you okay? I got this piece of shit, and I might just poke his eyes out with a fish fork. I’m so mad right now, and I don’t like being mad, Leslie. That’s what this cruise was supposed to be about—relaxation, no strings, and instead, I have to deal with this.”
Only my sister could make my being pushed overboard about her.
“I'll call you back once I figure it all out.”
“But where did you wash up at?”
“A town not far from Inbhir.” Since I didn’t speak Gaelic, my pronunciation didn’t actually sound like it should have, for sure.
“Sounds like paradise.” I heard her yawn, followed by a knock on the door.
“I'll let you know once I figure that part out, too.”
“They’re here. I’m going to make sure they lock him up.”
Placing the receiver back in the cradle, I knew Claudine was a true fool and probably had stabbed Donovan with a fish fork. He should be happy she didn’t grab the lobster cracker.
I turned and stepped back out into the street. The air around me twinkled and the cobblestone street, once empty, quickly filled with men and women carrying baskets with parcels. Some wore modern day clothes, while others were dressed in belted women's plaid.
“Are you the latest woman from the castle?” she asked, pointing to where I’d just been. “I'll never understand why he doesn't have a telephone after all of this time.”
“You sound like you know him.”
“I know him and I also know women like you. But you will just be like all of the others. I barely escaped from his grasp. He would have killed me.”
I called bullshit on that one. She might have been his type. She might even have visited the castle, but he wasn't a killer. I'd visited enough jails and prisons to know the truth of it all.
“Does this warning work with all of the other girls?”
“Some heed my warning, but you’re not going to be one of them I take it.”
I could feel the jealousy. “You have history with him? Or is it that you want to have history with him?”
“You don't understand what you're doing. He will never give you what you need because you are not his ex-wife. She's marked him as her territory.”
“I don't need to listen to this.”
“Watch. He'll try to make you into her—the clothes, the hair, the perfume. You'll smell like expensive lavender on a summer day. It will be her scent, because unlike you, he can't have her.”
I yanked my arm out of her grasp, yet she continued. “Don't you want to hear about the bodies that he's buried due to his delicacies? All of the ex-girlfriends, those who couldn't get away? That place is haunted and there are numerous dead bodies piling up around him.”
I raced away as fast as my feet could carry me. I didn't know anything about him. Maybe I should have just been relieved that I was able to leave the castle grounds without him being aware. I’d been sent there to find out the truth. Was the truth that women who got involved with him died? Or worse, were murdered?
Paranoia scratched until it clawed me.
He had been too perfect.
And perfection could be deadly.
“A serial killer is loose, I tell you, and he is connected to that abominable castle.”
25
Leslie
“You did what?” Alistair yelled.
I’d returned to find him in a less content mood than before, but I did disobey his orders. Seemed like I had an issue with assholes being in positions of authority.
Sure, I didn’t expect for him to be happy that I left, but when I’d arrived back at the castle, the guards had escorted me straight to his office. I couldn’t expect him to figure out this mess for me, but I could provide him with the answers that he didn’t have.
“I will not be blamed for something that I didn’t do. With the gods as my witness, if I am going to go down, I will set this entire Order on fire and make it crumble along with me.”
“You are threatening this Order?”
I didn’t know what I wanted from him, from them, but I knew that I wasn’t going to allow myself to be framed.
My thoughts were a muddled mess. A toss of the coin could mean hate or love; pleasure or undeniable pain. My teeth descended. I felt that magnetic pull between us, and I pulled back against it. I stopped myself from pulling on his shirt, but just barely.
“This has nothing to do with me, but with you. Being here will put me in more danger than I was when you rescued me.”
“Leave us,” he ordered the guards.
“What do you mean?”
“Bridget used to live on your lands. She used to interact with the castle and its tenants. If you expect
me to choose you over me, it’ll never happen. You’re my sire, but I’m still me. No matter how magnetic you may be, I will not be silenced by your brooding.”
“I am the master of this Order, and you are my subject to do as I compel you to,” he practically growled.
He was so focused on ruling that he didn’t see what was standing before him. I’d just told him that someone killed one of his prior tenants, but instead of asking questions, he was butt hurt about my disobeying him, as if it was okay to kill people, drain them, and then have tons of evidence of foul play stacked up against him.
Men could be such idiots sometimes.
“Shush, we shall discuss this later, as now I must try to clean up what you’ve done,” he said. “What you did was against the rules, and this treaty. You left without knowing them, but still, you left.”
“What do you mean?” I caught my rage before it could snowball into something that could annihilate the entire room.
“Simply put, you have given them an in to have me ousted by proving that I have no control over you. A loud tap on the door, and in walked Rose as if on cue. She didn’t even throw me a glance.
“If you wish to rule,” she began, “then you need to learn how. It is more than just your being the largest beast.”
“Taking sides?” Alistair countered.
“No, not this time. Maybe I should take over since evidently, I have a better understanding of the threat against us. You are too busy worrying about your reputation, and sniffing your latest recruit, than the actual murder of innocents.”
“I have been appointed by the gods, and there is nothing that you can do about it.”
“And I can take it all away, Alistair. I could make you bend and bow.” She produced a magical orb and in that orb, it showed me walking around Bridget’s house from room to room.
“She was there.”
“Yes, but only today,” I began. Alistair’s scathing glance shut me up.
“Impossible. Our wards are too strong for a mewler to overcome. Only the true killer could have returned, and I think I know the truth even better than you do, Alistair. The question is: What will it cost you for me to remain mum about it?”
Blackmail, that’s what it meant for Alistair now, and I watched it play out.
You are not to say a word, as she is power hungry, you will only make things worse.
I nodded my head.
“You never should have brought her here and now she will pay the price for breaking the rules.”
“I don’t have to say anything,” I said, as if prompted from the beyond. “I’ll show you.” Tossing down the henbane, the incorporeal figure of Bridget appeared.
“You again?” she asked. “Are you not going to let me rest?”
“First, you just need to let us know something.”
“You are all quite foolish. He is currently doing to someone else what he did to me, and you argue about rules, treaties, and politics. Instead, why not use all of that energy to potentially save another from my same fate.”
“What heresy is this?” Rose demanded. “I’m going to call the guards back in and then this will all be over, Alistair. Do the right thing, and turn her over.”
Alistair nodded his head. “Guards, take Leslie away.”
26
Leslie
I hadn’t felt this awful since I’d had the flu, complicated by pneumonia. I’d been put into the adult version of time out—locked in my room and unable to leave.
Come to me. The voice I didn’t want to hear seemed to awaken me. But it wasn’t clearly Alistair.
Why should I be expected to carry this burden? My body warred with me. Death might have been better. It wasn't that I had so much to do here that my life couldn't have just ended. Dreams destroyed, loneliness, what did I have to live for besides my gran? I guess she might have felt the same way. She reached out to me and touched my hand.
She squeezed it tightly. “Baby girl, I'd do anything to make it so that you didn't have to walk away, walk into the light. I needed you to stay. To imagine being here with you, well, I just couldn't. You can call me selfish—hell, I can't imagine what this is going to cause. But I'll be there with you every step of the way.”
“The idea of feeding on someone repulses me,” I sobbed. “I've watched enough vampire movies to know how this ends—no more sunlight without some kind of cover, or true love. What sort of existence will this be?”
“That is what we shall find out. You're not in this alone. Just a baby, a mewler.”
I nodded my head as if understanding, but I couldn't grasp this change so easily. There wasn't just heaven and hell after that final heartbeat, but a space in between, and this seemed to be it.
“I think I just need to rest some, Gran. This is taking a lot out of me.” I shimmied back down under the covers. Alone, I needed to be alone.
Gran had never left me, and I wasn't sure if she knew how to just walk away now that her body had substance again.
She patted me on the head, and I heard the door close.
With my eyes closed, a scene formed in my mind that made little to no sense to me.
I walked on dirt floors in a long narrow building; exposed timbers, and walls that appeared to be made of sod. Looking up, I stared at the thatched roof. Minimum light shone through, but there was a fire which burnt in the stone hearth. Built-in benches rested along the walls, and around the fire; those I recognized as family stood. I moved through the scene following that of the young man before me.
His mother tended to her cooking, a smile on her face, while his father, a burly man built like a boulder, bounced a young baby on his knee.
“Alistair.” His father raised his hand and waved him over.
“Yes father,” he said and took a seat. His father clapped his hand down on his shoulder.
“You are no longer a child, and one day this will all belong to you. You might become Jarl one day, and you will be great, for those before you have done the same.”
“Yes father,” Alistair said. He pushed his mushed hair out of his face, and stared down at his feet.
“You were a surprise for this family, but a good one. Now, you must continue to practice with your sword, and till the land to grow your harvest. The gods will smile down upon you. Even now, Thor fights the giants on our behalf, keeping us safe.”
Thunder rolled in the background.
“We must prepare the party to head east, for I have heard of a great booty there.”
The door quickly opened, and therein rushed his older brother, Bjorn. His eyes wide with fear. “Father, we're under attack,” he said.
“Alistair, take your brother and head to the hills.”
“I will not leave your side,” he squeaked. I could feel his fear as he knees knocked.
“You must watch over your kin—your mother, your brother.” His father rose, and rushed forward with his sword drawn.
“Remember, the gods will watch over you.” The door slammed shut after Bjorn and his father.
“Mother, we must go to safety as father has said.”
Instead, she reached down and cupped his cheek. “Love will not abandon.” She handed him his sister. “You are to head to the caves with Evie, and not return until you receive the sign.” She leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on his forehead. “You are braver than you know, Alistair, my soft-hearted child.”
She quickly picked up her shield and sword, then headed out the door where the sounds of the battle seeped through.
Alistair gathered his baby sister to him in the cloth swaddle, strapped a sword to his side, and inched out of the door towards the caves to whence his mother had ordered him.
He raced away, leaving the sounds of the screams and metal hitting metal behind him, but he didn’t get far. Upon turning a corner, he came face-to-face with the largest Viking he’d ever seen. His chest was bare, and black makeup covered his thick neck, and scarred face. He clenched a bloodied sword in his hand, and stalked forward.
Alistair looked around. No one could come to his aid. He’d never been tested.
“Are you the village idiot or only its weakling?” the Viking asked.
Alistair remained quiet.
“You are the Jarl’s son, and this place should belong to you since he is dead, just like your mother.” He wiped the blood from his sword onto his pants leg. “So, let us make this easy for the both of us. Give me the baby so it can find its place among the rocks, and you my boy, will serve as my servant—a castrated one—then not even the weakest of women will want you.”
I felt a heat bubbling within, as if scalding liquid had been poured over my hands and began to move upwards.
The Viking then ripped the baby from Alistair’s arms and tossed it to the side. It cried out!
The heat grew all consuming. The rumble I thought was distant thunder was me. A deadly scream rose from Alistair’s mouth, and he began to shift. His skin turned from its usual rosiness to that of an icy blue. Scales began to take shape, and within seconds, he transformed into a large dragon.
The Viking started to back up, sword still pointed upwards. “What in the name of Odin is this?”
“I’ve not been sent by Odin,” Alistair’s beast roared, and stepped forward. The earth shook beneath him.
The Viking raised his sword and struck, yet it did not pierce Alistair’s thick dragon skin. It did nothing but anger him more.
With one terrifying roar, Alistair flapped his giant wings rising in the air, and released a stream of blue fire, burning the Viking down to his boots.
The sound of the baby’s cries brought him back down to the ground. He could either save his village, and risk the life of his sibling, or abandon his sister in hopes of saving their father.
He took flight. Save the Jarl. Save his mother.
He flew overhead, burning those beneath him, but the bodies of his kin had already grown cold, just as the Viking had said. When he returned to get his sister, the baby was already gone.
He’d risked it all, and the gods had gifted him nothing.
I quickly kicked off the covers.
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