by Joey W. Hill
"So you blend."
Unless Keldwyn could conjure textiles out of the air, and maybe he could, he assumed the Fae had brought the clothes on the plane. Uthe donned the brown leggings and a linen tunic with a belt and a small pouch. The supple skin boots were like those Keldwyn often wore. Helga had asked the Fae Lord once from what animal they came, because she couldn't identify the origin. Keldwyn had deflected the question with an enigmatic smile, so it must be a trade secret of the artisans who made them.
It was probably vampire skin.
Uthe snorted at the thought and finished his preparations. Kneeling, he began his twilight prayers. He started with meditation, progressed from there to reciting paternosters, and then submitted himself to God's will, praying to act in His Name in all ways. He paused then, holding off on the Amen.
"While I know our quest is of the highest importance, I pray that Keldwyn will not become a casualty in it. As your use of me draws to a close, I ask your protection for him, Great Lord, so he may continue to serve your purposes long after my departure from this life. A believer is not defined by his words or religion, but in his deeds. I believe his heart is firmly in Your camp. Amen."
Rising, he clasped his fingers around the Templar seal pendant containing the sorceress's magic. He'd considered putting it in the pouch, but he always wore it, finding comfort in passing his fingertips over the worn imprint of the two knights, and had decided it would remain safest on his neck. He also remembered Keldwyn's fingers sliding beneath the chain, tugging on it, and didn't wish to relinquish the sensory memory. He could always put it in the pouch later.
Pausing by the bed once more, he ripped a square of the sheet stained with the jeweled drops of Keldwyn's blood, and tucked it into the pouch. Ignoring the whys of the compulsion, he opened the door and entered the main cabin of the airplane. Keldwyn was in one of the comfortable reclining chairs and reading a newspaper, legs crossed. A mimosa was at his elbow. It was such an unexpected picture, Uthe paused to take it in. The stewardess, a second mark named Reena, dimpled at his appearance. "My lord, I hope you rested well. Can I bring you anything?"
"One of what he's having looks fine."
"Certainly."
Keldwyn creased the paper into a half fold and set it aside, giving Uthe a penetrating look from head to toe. "The clothes suit you."
"It was good that you had them on hand." It was ridiculous to feel awkward, wasn't it? By the Cross, they were both well over a thousand years old. He sat down across from Keldwyn, but when he met Kel's eyes, he flushed like a maid. As Kel smiled slowly, Uthe sighed. "Shut up," he said. "Not a word."
"I think it is charming that you can still be shy."
"If I throw you out of the plane at this altitude, I'll discover if your wings are vestigial."
Keldwyn leaned forward, clasping his hands between his knees. His outfit was similar to Uthe's, only embellished with embroidery around the loosely laced neckline. It drew the eye to the tanned skin beneath and the fine, silky chest hair. He was wearing his hair loose today, so it spilled forward over his shoulders and shorter wisps of it drifted along his strong jaw and teased his slash of a cheekbone.
"I find it...stimulating, that you've not had a male lover in so long."
"Stimulating? How should I interpret that?" Uthe asked warily.
"I feel an overwhelming need to possess you in ways that are against the laws of nature. And a few ways that are every bit about the laws of nature." No subtlety in his expression now. Keldwyn's dark eyes practically glowed like embers, so piercing and intent, Uthe felt pinned in the chair by them.
He wanted to tell Keldwyn he was not a good long term investment. He wanted to reach out and touch his face, trace the absurdly well-defined cheekbones. He wanted to thank him for the journey they'd taken together in the night. But he'd just vowed he wasn't going to make this embarrassing for either of them. "It is good you are finding pleasure in the arrangement you demanded."
In a blink, Keldwyn's face was devoid of any emotion. Uthe met his stare without flinching, though his own words left a burn inside his chest. He'd said the wrong thing. But damn it all, it couldn't be sound wisdom to treat this as more than it could be, no matter how much more it felt like it was. Could it?
"It is good we are both finding pleasure in it. I would dislike to think you are merely enduring my attentions." There was a faint trace of mockery to Keldwyn's voice, and Uthe flashed back to that moment in the dark when Keldwyn had spoken of losing his faith. Which was just another way of saying his heart had been broken beyond repair.
"Kel..."
"I have changed my mind about our arrangement." Keldwyn picked up the paper again. "You are released from it. I will not demand anything from you again, Varick." His eyes locked with Uthe's. "From here forward, if there is something you need or desire from me, you will have to ask for it."
Chapter Ten
Be without desires, serve only the Lord's Will. Those words had always been a comfort to him. Right now, they were anything but. He might be a novice in newfound infatuation, enough to make him blush, but he had a thousand years of experience in understanding people. Keldwyn had opened Uthe to the pleasures of that infatuation, and now held its benefits out of reach, demanding that if he wanted more, he had to ask.
He wanted Uthe to beg for his favor. Such was his power, and the depth of the connection that had lingered from their night together, that Uthe felt the allure of it as soon as the words left his mouth. A sexual Dominant could exert considerable strength of will. Uthe had been surrounded by vampires all his life, watched them explore the deepest realms of the soul that existed between Dominant vampire and submissive servant. But he'd stood apart from that.
Uthe had been solitary, his relationships to other vampires at arm's length except for a handful of those he counted as respected allies and sometimes friends. He'd become a Templar to resolve the nightmares of his past, pushing himself to serve as the others did and even further. Those nightmares had woken him with cold sweats for decades, and he still occasionally had them. Hell had set up a permanent room inside him and, if he opened it up, the tormented souls there could tear apart his insides with yearning claws, trying to get away from their torture.
A vampire's nature wasn't wired toward service, which was perhaps why the Templar Order had been enough of a compromise to work for him. Obedient to God and eschewing all trappings of wealth or prestige, they also trained to be the very best at what they did, assuming leadership roles in military efforts and as armed escorts. They were in command on the battle field, and committed to obedient service off of it.
The routine of life with the Order had quieted those howling souls for a time. He was content within that structure. But discovery of the head had changed everything.
Initially, the blood link with it had been very disruptive. At the time it had occurred, Uthe had never had a third or even a second mark servant. He'd had no experience with someone sharing his mind by choice, let alone when compelled. The demon had increased his nightmares until Uthe wished never to sleep again.
Over time, he'd figured out ways to block him while asleep. During waking hours, he'd learned how to turn the volume down, such that the demon had stopped trying to antagonize him with random conversation. Some of those dialogues had been as stimulating as those he had with Keldwyn, except Uthe had quickly realized the demon always had nefarious purposes for engaging him. Even knowing that, the demon's methods were disturbingly effective, the creature using charm, threats and manipulations to weaken Uthe's resolve and commitment.
John the Baptist had always spoken to him far less. Uthe had been awed by any contact, but over time he'd accepted the prophet was a man. An extraordinary, erratic man whose communications could often be so cryptic, Uthe suspected they were the ravings of a mind tenuously tethered to reality. Yet at other times, John was particularly insightful, and calm as a lake. He could still foretell things of import. He'd predicted the plague in Europe and World War
II, but how could he not? He was trapped with a being fed off the evil spawned from the bowels of Hell or men's minds--if there was a difference.
So the discovery of the head and the mission he'd accepted had isolated him once again. But that road took him back to the vampire world. After the Territory Wars that ultimately led to the current Council formation, he'd been called to a leadership role where, once again, he led and served. And he found balance once more.
Service was not submission. Being submissive was also not the same as submitting to a greater force. The Dominant nature of vampires was far more like the dominance of the animal world than the known structure of a BDSM relationship. A vampire might submit to another vampire if one proved his psychological or physical strength over the other. The "something" inside that would relent to the proper pressure, did. An alpha pack member would become a beta, only to become alpha again if the leader faltered.
Uthe frowned, staring out the window into the darkness. He wasn't sure why he was cogitating so heavily about this when he had far more important things to resolve. Catching a movement out of the corner of his eye, he snagged the projectile before it bounced off his head. Opening his hand, he saw the maraschino cherry from Keldwyn's mimosa. "We're landing," the Fae said. "You were thinking so much, I thought you might not notice."
Uthe set the cherry on a napkin and used another to wipe the slight stickiness off his palm. "You could have stained my tunic."
"I put it in my mouth and sucked it clean before I tossed it," Keldwyn said casually. "But I've rarely seen a vampire caught off guard by a thrown object. You're like cats, the lot of you. The slightest movement draws your attention." Keldwyn gestured to the window. "Looks like we have a storm brewing. It's not far to the nearest portal. There's one inside the forest around the airstrip, and it shares the energy line with the portal at Council headquarters. We can cross here instead."
"Sounds good," Uthe said.
"I took the liberty of going through the pack you brought," Keldwyn said brusquely. "While most things fashioned from this world won't pass through the portal into the Fae world, because the Queen does not permit it, the sword is acceptable. I spelled them, compacting their matter much as I did the sorceress's weapon. They're contained in the pouch at your waist. When we reach the other side, if you have need of them, think your intent, and they can be drawn out fully restored."
"Useful." And impressive, though Keldwyn didn't act as if it were of any more consequence than packing a suitcase. "So I won't find an empty Diet Coke can lying in the grass on the Fae side."
"Only the occasional stray golf ball. Sometimes the Veil can be thinner when it comes to innocuous inanimate objects. A slice at the right moment, on the right calendar day..." Keldwyn shrugged. "The small Fae enjoy playing with them."
Keldwyn returned to contemplating his newspaper. Or brooding. It was hard to tell. Uthe shifted.
"My lord Keldwyn."
The Fae Lord lifted his cool gaze to him again. Uthe met it without flinching. "It has been a long time since I've had an intimate connection with anyone. I spoke out of haste, and it was cruelly and awkwardly done. It was not meant as it sounded. I ask your forgiveness."
Keldwyn's mouth eased, his eyes warmed. Remarkably, Uthe's tension, held in his lower belly, relaxed almost instantly. A sincere apology was its own magic, though it took some effort to work up to it on the front end. "Well said, my lord," the Fae said. "But my condition still stands, if you thought diplomacy could get you out of it."
Uthe grinned. "I never contemplated otherwise, my lord. A Fae changing his mind based on a vampire's apology might be too much for the fabric of the universe to handle."
Keldwyn snorted, spoke a phrase that Uthe was fairly certain translated to "smartass" in the Fae tongue. Then he returned to his paper.
Uthe brought his attention back to the window. Soon he would be in the Fae world, the true start to his quest. He had little idea where he was going or what he was doing. He only knew the head was in the Shattered World and he had a weapon intended to destroy the demon. But that was more than most quests had at the beginning, with very little to accomplish them but faith. He had all that, plus a Fae Lord as a companion. While disquieting in many ways, Kel would have his back in case of a threat. No matter how surprising that was, Uthe didn't doubt it.
He picked up the cherry and tasted the sweetness of it, recalling the sweet heat of Keldwyn's mouth. When he glanced over, only thinking in hindsight how what he'd done must appear, putting the same cherry in his mouth that Keldwyn had tasted, the look in Keldwyn's gaze made it impossible for him to regret the impulse. The coolness caused by Uthe's earlier stumble had definitely thawed.
"I would ask a favor, Lord Uthe."
It was an unusual request coming from Keldwyn. "If it is mine to give, it is yours, my lord."
"Your courtesy is a genuine pleasure, Lord Uthe, probably because it is never artifice. I know your quest is urgent, but going into the Shattered World...it is typical for those who enter to never emerge again."
Uthe leaned forward, brow creasing in concern. "Then you will only accompany me to that threshold, my lord. If such loss is a certainty, I will not risk anyone's life other than my own."
"You misunderstand the favor, Lord Uthe. You will not be rid of me. I fully intend to go with you, for I serve not only your interests, but that of two Queens, and I will not disappoint either of them."
Uthe didn't think Keldwyn could be inspired by regal authority to do anything he didn't want to do for his own reasons, but Kel pressed onward.
"If you feel we can sacrifice a few hours in our journey, I would spend it with my ward, Catriona. She knows we are coming and is waiting for us. She would like you to join us for the afternoon. If we cannot dally that long, I can make it a shorter visit, but I would like the opportunity to see her before we enter the Shattered World."
"Have you told her where you're going?"
"No. It is not the first hazardous trip I've made. Catriona is aware of the risks my role carries. It is senseless to overdramatize every perilous task I'm assigned."
Which meant this one was significantly more risky than others. Uthe nodded. "Of course we have time."
In truth, his urgency could have more to do with his uncertain state of mind than anything else. The head had been in its current state for centuries and, all things being equal, could remain that way centuries more. But the ability to release two innocent souls to the heavens was finally now possible. And it seemed the demon sensed things were about to change, and was coming up with unexpected ways to throw obstacles in their path. However, the possibilities Keldwyn spoke of were far more certain, and Uthe would not deny him the chance to see a family member.
"I'm grateful." Keldwyn settled back into a meditative silence. At least Uthe assumed he was meditating on other things, because the alternative was that he truly was reading about NFL draft picks. Uthe wondered if the Fae had sports. Most cultures did, but he couldn't imagine what that would look like in the Fae world. Dragon races? Whose magic could hurl a boulder the farthest? He supposed he was about to find out about that and many other things.
His most indelible memory of the Fae world had been waking in the silver tower with Lord Reghan. Any other impressions were overshadowed by the tragedy of losing his fellow Templars in battle, and wrestling with the guilt of not being with them.
Lyssa had spoken of some of the things she'd experienced during her time there, but like most things outside one's understanding, Uthe was sure it had to be seen firsthand for full appreciation. He discovered he was eager and curious to do so, especially now that he'd have an afternoon to simply absorb impressions of the Fae world. Another gift that Keldwyn's stipulations had given him, though this one had been couched as a favor instead of a demand.
He felt a tickle of amusement, thinking of Evan's reaction. Ever since the vampire Uthe had sired had found out that he and Keldwyn were spending more informal time together outside of Council, the y
oung artist had been dropping not-so-subtle hints about getting into the Fae world for further inspiration. If Uthe returned, he'd be grilled endlessly for every detail.
It was a shame he'd likely never see Evan again, let alone be able to make that happen. But perhaps, if Keldwyn survived--and Uthe was going to do his best to make sure of that--Keldwyn would agree to give Evan a short tour as a last favor to Uthe.
The plane bounced down on the airstrip. The stewardess and pilot wished them good journey, and then they were off the plane, headed into the terminal. Keldwyn's glamor among humans was always a seamless transition. While Uthe could still see his exceptionally beautiful appearance, the pointed ears and Fae clothing, the humans passing them in the terminal didn't give either of them a second glance. He figured Keldwyn had cloaked them as nothing more than a pair of businessmen headed for the next meeting. Uthe was more fortunate than most vampires his age. Thanks to the permanent sun damage to his skin, and his dark eyes that masked the crimson flickers which could appear with blood lust, he didn't have the preternatural look far more difficult for older vampires to hide. Lord Mason's amber eyes were more tiger than human, and the aura of power around Lyssa couldn't be disguised by a tsunami.
Once in front of the airport, they headed into the parking lot. Keldwyn indicated the tree line beyond the air strip, separated from them by a series of fences. Though the area was well lit, there were enough shadows for a swiftly moving Fae and vampire. "I expect we can both make it there without being seen. Shall we?"
Uthe made a noise of assent, then Keldwyn was gone, nothing to note his passing but a slight ruffle of wind across Uthe's face. Uthe counted down like he did before his morning challenge to the sun, and then he, too, was gone. If any humans had been watching, which he'd made sure they hadn't been, it would seem as if he'd vanished, but he'd simply moved as a vampire moved, faster than they could follow.
