The Reign of Darkness

by Britney Jackson

  Rose let out a breathless, disbelieving laugh. “You already know it does.”

  Kara leaned in, brushing her mouth over Rose’s ear. She inhaled Rose’s scent—the gentleness of vanilla and honey, the sweetness of power—feeling her own body respond to Rose’s scent. “You can have a taste…if you pass the test.”

  Rose shuddered. Whether that was because of the caress of Kara’s breath in her ear or the words she’d said, Rose didn’t know. “There’s a test?” Rose said.

  “Mmm-hmmm,” Kara murmured. With her hands over Rose’s eyes, she tilted Rose’s head back, smiling down at her. “I know how much you like those.”

  “I do!” Rose said. “I love tests! They’re like games. Except I always win.”

  Kara laughed at that. “Good,” she said, her smile deepening. “Breathe in again, and this time, I want you to describe all of the other scents. Ignore mine.”

  Rose’s smile faded. “I prefer written tests—about things I know.”

  “Just try,” Kara chuckled. Then, she breathed into Rose’s ear, “Please?”

  A warm flood of desire washed over Rose, raising her body temperature a few degrees. “I…yeah,” she stammered. Her head spun. “Whatever you want.”

  Kara snorted at her disoriented stammering. “Describe the scents, Rose.”

  “For the record,” Rose complained, “you’re not exactly making it easier to focus on anything other than you.” Her brows furrowed, as she concentrated on the scents, pushing past her hunger and desire. She inhaled slowly. “Saltwater.”

  “Obviously,” Kara purred in her ear. “Focus, love. You have no eyesight, nothing to distract you. Only your sense of smell. Search for something useful.”

  “Oh, yeah, nothing to distract me,” Rose muttered sarcastically. After all, it wasn’t like she had a gorgeous vampire who radiated sexuality itself, whispering in her ear. “Fish? Seaweed?” She froze, as she caught another scent. “Flowers.”

  “There you go,” Kara praised. “And what kind of flowers do you smell?”

  “How would I know?” Rose mumbled. “I studied history, not flowers.”

  Kara chuckled. “You’re a genius. And a vampire. Trust your instincts.”

  Rose rolled her eyes. Not that anyone saw it—since her strange girlfriend refused to move her dang hands. “I can’t just…” she argued, even as she made a second attempt at identifying the scent. She froze, as she realized, “It’s lavender.”

  “Yes,” Kara laughed. Her lips brushed against Rose’s ear. “What else?”

  Rose inhaled deeply. “Tulips. Daffodils. A few different types of trees…”

  Kara’s lips curved into a proud smile. “What do you think that means?”

  “That we’re close to land?” Rose said hesitantly. “Do you think we are?”

  “I think so,” Kara said. “Last question. Do you know what sea this is?”

  Rose lifted her shoulders in an exaggerated shrug. “How would I know?”

  Kara chuckled, thoroughly enjoying Rose’s snarky attitude. “Search your memory, Rose,” she suggested. “Scents are always entangled in our memories.”

  When Rose breathed in the scents, this time, a memory manifested in her mind. One of her study trips. She hadn’t been a vampire, then, but somehow, her mind still recognized the scent. She remembered falling behind her group, during one of the study tours, and Erastos appearing beside her, like some kind of ghost.

  Rose reached up, brushing her fingertips over the Stone of the Eklektos, the Stone that he had given her that night. “The Mediterranean,” she murmured.

  A delighted laugh escaped Kara’s lips. “Nice,” she said, as she spun Rose around to face her. She cupped her hands around Rose’s face, celebrating Rose’s success with a deep, hungry kiss. She grinned wickedly. “Impressive for a baby.”

  Rose rolled her eyes at the familiar phrase—the same thing Kara had said to her the night they met. Except, then, it had been about her lackluster fighting. Rose tugged at Kara’s shirt, pulling her in, for another kiss. “Don’t call me that.”

  Kara brushed her mouth against Rose’s, only briefly, before moving her mouth to Rose’s ear. “Baby,” she breathed, laughing as Rose shivered against her.

  Rose leaned against Kara’s shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut, as pulsing desire unfurled throughout her body. Without even thinking, her hand found the partially healed gash in Kara’s hip. Her hunger flared at the scent. “Does it hurt?”

  “No,” Kara murmured. “But you’re welcome to heal it…if you want.”

  Rose smiled. “I will,” she told her, “as soon as we’re back in our room.”

  Kara shuddered at the thought. “In that case, I hope we’re not too close.”

  “To land?” Rose laughed. She stepped back, peering curiously at Kara. “I wonder if we’re going to Greece. The Mediterranean Sea is close to Greece.”

  “You think there’s a vampire kingdom hiding in Greece?” Kara laughed.

  Rose frowned. “Well, no, but I didn’t think there was a vampire kingdom hiding anywhere,” she muttered. “It’s just that their language sounds so similar to Greek. Plus, they keep calling me the Eklektos, and Eklektos is a Greek word.”

  “It’s also a Skotalian word,” Princess Myrinne said—startling them.

  Rose and Kara turned toward her. The mysterious vampire stood just a few feet away, her sheer, white gown swaying in the breeze. Strands of pale blonde hair fell free from her braids, dancing around her face. She bowed slightly to Rose.

  Rose frowned at the princess. “You’re good at sneaking up on people.”

  “Which is an unusual skill,” Kara added, “for a princess to have.”

  Princess Myrinne straightened. “Ah, and you would know, wouldn’t you, Kara Unnarsdóttir? With all of the princesses you’ve become…acquainted with.”

  Kara raised an eyebrow. “And that…is a strange thing for you to know.”

  “Skotalian?” Rose repeated, her brows furrowing. “What is Skotalian?”

  “It’s an old, forgotten language,” the princess said, “and the one I speak.”

  “You also speak English,” Rose said, waving her hand, “apparently.”

  “I do,” Princess Myrinne told her. “I learned it for you. We all did.”

  Rose straightened, her brows twisting with confusion. “What? Why me?”

  “Because you’re the Eklektos,” Princess Myrinne said, “and we’ve had a lot of time to prepare for this.” She scowled. “Time to get our hopes up, as well.”

  “Oh, good. You’re still disappointed,” Rose muttered under her breath.

  “Time to prepare for what?” Kara asked. “For the war? Or Rose?”

  “It’s all linked,” Princess Myrinne said. “You’ll see that soon enough.”

  Rose frowned curiously. “What does Eklektos mean in your language?”

  “Chosen,” Princess Myrinne said with a solemn frown. Even though the word seemed harmless enough, the princess said it as if it were something terrible.

  “Oh,” Rose said with a surprised nod. “Well, that was simple enough.”

  But Kara didn’t seem as satisfied with that answer. “Chosen for what?”

  Princess Myrinne’s pale blue gaze darted toward Kara. “You’re not ready for that answer,” she said firmly, leaving no room for argument. She glanced again at Rose. “We’ll arrive at the kingdom before sunset tomorrow. Then, at nightfall, you’ll meet our army. They are all, without a doubt, eager to meet the Eklektos.”

  Rose frowned bewilderedly. “Why would an army be eager to meet me?”

  But, of course, the princess didn’t answer that question. “Goodnight, my Eklektos,” she said, bending at the waist. She straightened afterward, shooting a less reverent, more venomous look Kara’s way, before saying, “And to her Wolf.”

  Rose’s eyes widened. “She knows your spy name,” she hissed at Kara.

  “So it seems,” Kara said, her brows high. “This is getting…in
teresting.”

  Rose turned toward her with a scowl. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

  Kara grinned. “Well, we all like games that we always win. Don’t we?”

  6

  The Kingdom of Skotalia

  A vampire—that no one had bothered to introduce them to—rowed the small boat through the murky waters of the cave. The princess and Ligeia traveled ahead of them, leading the way, in a separate, small boat. Although they still didn’t know where they were, thanks to Kara’s…lessons, the night before, Rose figured it was safe to assume that this was an island in the Mediterranean Sea. She hadn’t been able to figure out much more than that, though. Just…that it was apparently an island with a very large cave. Large enough to accommodate several rowboats.

  When the low, narrow cave opened into a much larger cavern, all four of them gasped. Moonlight shone through the cracks above, reflecting off the water, casting shimmering light onto the walls of the cavern. In the far corner of the cavern, water fell from above, creating a small waterfall. The water itself moved faster in this part of the cavern, and it was a beautiful, shimmering shade of blue.

  Elise covered her mouth with her hands, fascination shining in her blue-gray eyes. “That,” she said, behind her hands, “would make a beautiful picture!”

  “Too bad Miss Spymaster threw away our phones,” Rose said playfully.

  Kara—who was sitting across from Rose, in their small rowboat—lifted her eyebrows at Rose’s teasing. A mischievous grin tilted at her lips, as she leaned back and pressed the bottom of her boot against the other side. She kicked it hard enough to rock the boat. “Keep it up, and I might just dump you in the water.”

  The vampire, who was rowing their boat, cast a worried look Kara’s way.

  Rose laughed in surprise, as the boat rocked. “And what if I can’t swim?”

  Erik—who was sitting next to Kara—said, “But you’re from Florida.”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “I do know how to swim,” she admitted, “but not because I’m from Florida. My brother used to take me to the park. And he pushed me into the creek. A lot. Because he was a typical, annoying, older brother.” She squinted a little. “Well, except for the part where he sold drugs and joined a gang.”

  Erik and Elise watched her warily—as if they were worried she’d sprout horns, at any moment. Or, more likely, Rose realized, it was the color of her eyes they were worried about. But Rose felt calm, actually—even as she told this story about her brother. Sadness pulled at her chest, of course, but she wasn’t about to burst into tears or anything. Kara, at least, must’ve realized that—because, unlike everyone else, she listened to Rose’s story with a smile. A casual, reassuring smile.

  “We weren’t really the hang-out-at-the-beach kind of family,” Rose said.

  Erik and Elise exchanged a nervous look, clearly not sure what to think.

  Rose hated that people saw her that way—like a bomb, about to explode.

  But Kara just smiled at her. “I wouldn’t let anything happen to you,” she said, “if you couldn’t swim. I’d have you in my arms before anything happened.”

  Rose felt a smile curve at her lips. She tilted her head toward the boat in front of them. “I can just imagine how the princess would react,” she whispered.

  “Oh, no!” Elise started to giggle, too. “She’d hate Kara more than ever!”

  A slow smile spread across Kara’s face. “That…would be so much fun.”

  “Oh, for Odin’s sake,” Erik said, his eyes wide. “Stop encouraging her!”

  “Contrary to popular belief…apparently,” Princess Myrinne said, taking them by surprise, “I, like all vampires, have sensitive hearing and can hear you.”

  Rose sank lower in the boat, smiling sheepishly, as Kara laughed loudly. “We’re sorry, Princess Myrinne!” she called out—to the boat in front of theirs.

  “No apologies necessary,” Princess Myrinne assured her, “my Eklektos.”

  Rose shook her head at Kara and mouthed, “You’re a bad influence.”

  Kara read her lips easily. “So bad,” she mouthed back, grinning wickedly.

  Rose rolled her eyes, unable to hide her smile. She listened to the rush of the waterfall, and the slosh of the water around them, as they traveled deeper and deeper into the caverns. She turned a little, dipping her hand into the water beside her, letting the cool water pour through her fingers. She leaned over the side of the boat, fascinated by the water, curious about how deep it went. An eerie shiver traveled through her, and she suddenly felt as if she were in one of her nightmares.

  She wasn’t even sure why. But something about the water reminded her of her nightmares. She curled her fingers, cupping a little bit of water in her hand.

  Kara kicked the side of their boat again, nearly sending a very distracted Rose into the water. Rose caught her balance, just in time, spinning toward Kara with an amused smile. She splashed Kara with the water in her hand—accidentally splashing Erik, too. Kara burst into hysterical laughter, while Erik cursed at them.

  “Sorry, Erik!” Rose said, but she was giggling too hard to sound sincere.

  “Yeah, she only meant to make me wet,” Kara said, grinning. “Not you.”

  Rose’s eyes widened at the double-entendre, and her face reddened.

  “Dirty jokes in front of the princess,” Elise said, her brows high, “again.”

  Kara just winked—clearly not concerned with what the princess thought of her. She noticed the pink flush of Rose’s cheeks, out of the corner of her eye, and grinned at her. “This isn’t over,” she teased Rose. “You’ll get wet, too. Later.”

  Rose sank lower in the boat, folding her arms over her head, so that only Kara could see her reddened face. “Shut up,” she mouthed, holding back laughter.

  In the boat ahead, Princess Myrinne glanced at Ligeia, her eyebrows high. “These are the people we’ve been waiting for? The people we’re depending on?”

  Ligeia tried to hide her smile. “They’re just flirting, Your Highness,” she told her quietly. “I’m sure we’ll see a totally different side of the Eklektos soon.”

  Princess Myrinne frowned at that. She looked away, worry flashing in her pale blue eyes. “If the prophecies are right,” she said with a sigh, “let’s hope not.”

  —

  Eventually, the water grew shallow enough for them to get out of their boats and walk. The princess—and the vampires who had traveled with her—led them through the dark cavern. They’d yet to tell them where the kingdom was or how far it was into the caves, but when Rose noticed the sound of rushing water up ahead—another waterfall, perhaps—she began to wonder how much further it could possibly be. She didn’t see anything resembling a kingdom. She didn’t see anything at all, actually. Just a wall. And more ankle-deep water to trudge through.

  But where else could they go? Vampires had a lot of weird abilities, sure, but walking through walls wasn’t one of them. Well, Rose didn’t think it was one, anyway. She cringed, hoping that no one expected them to jump over a waterfall.

  Her sloshy, water-filled shoes definitely wouldn’t withstand that impact.

  “What are you afraid of?” Erik teased, as he sensed her emotions. “Bats?”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “No, Erik. Everyone knows vampires love bats.”

  “We do?” Erik said with a frown. “I didn’t know that. No one told me.”

  “You didn’t get Dracula’s memo?” Rose said. “He sent it out last week.”

  “You are the saddest, most hopeless dork I’ve ever met,” Erik muttered.

  “Oh, cool,” Rose said to herself. “I’m actually succeeding at something.”

  Kara fell into step beside Rose, her hands buried deep in the pockets of her thin, leather jacket. She bumped her hip against Rose’s, grinning, when Rose looked her way. “Well,” she teased, “I think you’re an adorable, hopeless dork.”

  “Ah, well,” Rose laughed, blushing a little. “As long as I’m
still hopeless.”

  Elise followed several feet behind them, taking careful steps across the slick rocks. “How much farther is it? This has to be the largest cave in the world.”

  “If you’re measuring by length,” Rose said, glancing at Elise, “the largest cave system is in America. In Kentucky, actually. If you’re measuring by depth…”

  “Rose,” Erik interrupted, “what makes you think we want to know this?”

  Rose frowned at him. “Uh,” she stammered, blinking, “well, she said…”

  “Ignore Erik,” Kara said, leaning toward Rose. She flashed a sly smirk at him. “He’s just sensitive because you started talking about measuring by length.”

  Erik’s mouth fell open. “You’re going there? Really? I happen to have…”

  “Eww, no, Erik!” Rose cut him off, grimacing. “No one wants to know!”

  Kara laughed, shaking her head at him. “You are so easy to manipulate.”

  Erik stared at her, his lips twitching. “And you’re a fucking asshole.”

  “Were all Viking friendships this wholesome,” Rose said, “or just yours?”

  “Guys,” Elise said. She tapped Erik’s arm to get his attention—even after he looked her way. She tilted her head toward the edge up ahead, her blonde curls bouncing a little with the movement. “Someone just climbed over the edge.”

  They looked up ahead, watching, as someone appeared in the distance.

  A human wouldn’t have been able to see her in such a dark, damp cavern. A human wouldn’t have been able to see anything, for that matter. But with their nocturnal eyesight, they could see the faint, curvy outline of a vampire, up ahead.

  Princess Myrinne and Ligeia reached the vampire, first. Ligeia seemed to recognize the vampire, first—freezing in place, and then, taking a small step back.

  “Zosime!” Princess Myrinne said, rushing forward. “What are you doing up here?” She seemed to remember tradition, just before she reached the vampire, and pulled up short—waiting, as the vampire performed a somewhat playful bow.