Hungry Cowboy

by Charlize Starr

  "Going to kill yourself now?" Gloria panted. She dragged herself up, though she kept her weight from her still-bleeding hip. "Even I didn't think you were that weak."

  Sofia closed her eyes and slashed herself. White-hot pain flared through her and she screamed, dropping the knife. Hot blood poured over her skin. Tears blinded her, but Sofia found the thermos again and drained the rest into Aaron's mouth before she pressed her wrist to his lips, her blood pumping down his throat.

  Please let this work.

  The dark potion and her slick blood spilled over Aaron's face. His eyes snapped open. She felt his tongue run along the cut in her wrist, then the scrape of his fangs.

  A screech made Sofia jump. She whirled around to find Gloria glowing in the night. Her eyes glared a brilliant blue, her skin paling to a ghostly white shade. The sheer hatred on the witch's face made Sofia shrink back.

  "I warned you," Gloria growled, the sound guttural. "I offered you a chance to escape. Now you will suffer the consequences!"

  A flash of light blinded Sofia. She cried out, shielding her eyes. When the light was gone, so was Gloria. In her place was a monstrous beast.

  Skin white as a corpse glowed in the moonlight, her body long and sinuous. Arms and legs multiplied, claws instead of hands and feet. Huge, black, multifaceted eyes shone from the deathly pale face. A mouth full of layer upon layer of razor-sharp teeth opened wide. What looked like armor made from knives burst out along the creature's back. A low hissing filled the air. To Sofia's horror, dozens of snakes pushed their way out of the creature's head, blood-red red gleaming against green scales. Sofia drew back, heedless of her still-bleeding wrist as she stared at the creature that had once been her friend.

  "What are you?" she cried.

  "Your death." The voice was not Gloria's. It was guttural, hissing, the voice of a snake.

  The creature lunged for her, emitting a high-pitched rattling noise that shook Sofia's bones. She threw herself out of the way, screaming. The creature laughed. Pain erupted from her legs. Claws dug into her calves, pulling her closer.

  "Gloria, please," Sofia begged. "I thought you were my friend!"

  "Gloria is no longer here," the creature said.

  It lunged for Sofia's throat, mouth open wide. Sofia swung her knife blindly. It bit across the creature's face. But even as it swung back, screaming, the snakes protruding from its head struck. Sofia screamed as their mouth latched onto her wrist. A fiery, burning pain shot through her. Everything swirled.

  "Gloria wanted to save you," the creature hissed. "But it seems that she underestimated just how stupid you are."

  Chapter Nine – Aaron

  There was something bitter on his tongue. Aaron licked his lips, trying to get rid of the taste. It was like the skin of a grapefruit. Nasty flavor. But there was also a slightly pleasant taste beyond the bitterness. Something sweet. It reminded him of running through a garden in bare feet with the sprinklers on, feeling the warmth of the sun on the top of her head and cool earth between his toes. The taste was like holding Sofia in his arms, as they made love, a swell of love the only thing between them…

  Sofia.

  Aaron licked his lips again. That was Sofia's blood. What was her blood doing in his mouth with that bitter taste?

  He felt a sharp tug in his chest. Blinding, white-hot pain shot from his heart, bursting to all his extremities. His eyes snapped open. The moon shone hot above him, burning his skin with the sunlight it reflected. He threw an arm over his eyes, unable to suppress a whimper of pain.

  Sofia's scream pierced the air.

  A rough, hissing voice spoke. "Gloria wanted to save you. But it seems that she underestimated just how stupid you are. And here she tried so hard to save you. Was it worth it, Sofia? Your vampire king will die anyway. Your child will die anyway. There is nothing more anybody can do for you. You could have lived, but now you die."

  No.

  A roar built in Aaron's chest. His extremities were all pins and needles, but he forced himself up anyway. Sofia huddled on the ground several feet away, her hand clamped over her wrist. Aaron smelled her thick, sweet blood in the air. Standing over her was a creature he hadn't seen in years–decades. A centipede-like monster with snakes for hair.

  A gorgon. His stomach churned. If Sofia looked directly into its eyes she'd be turned to stone.

  The roar burst from his mouth. He threw himself forward, wishing he had a sword to drive through the creature's body. It whirled on him, striking him away at the last second. He hit a tree and crumpled at its base, the wind knocked from his lungs. The gorgon laughed as it advanced on him. A clicking, hissing noise filled the swamp. The snakes on its head bent towards him. One spat a glob of poison at his face. He rolled to avoid it, then jumped back to his feet.

  Aaron rose his fists and he glanced around quickly. Sofia lay on the ground, moaning, but she was still flesh. The gorgon hadn't been able to turn her to stone. Good. Whatever else had happened, he at least had time. Her knife lay on the ground several feet away, and next to that was the gun. The king glanced back at the gorgon. If he could shoot out its eyes…

  "How did you manage to infest the human?" he asked, backing away from Sofia. He had to keep the gorgon away from her.

  "Gloria? It was easy. She was easily swayed to believe that vampires were the cause of all the problems to witches like her. She volunteered to swallow the egg that I hatched from. I don't think she realized that it would destroy her, that I would claim her body and she would be left with nothing." The gorgon smirked. "And you. Such a coward you won't look at me directly?"

  "If you're trying to turn me into stone, it won't work. Gorgon magic doesn't work on vampires," Aaron said. He looked up, meeting the gorgons' eye.

  Both his legs seized. He cried out, stumbling backward. One leg worked, but the other was stiff. The pain was blinding and Aaron crashed down. When he grasped at his leg, it was hard and cold as marble.

  "You are not fully vampire again. But I don't need my magic to kill you. All I need is to bite your head off."

  The gun. Where was the gun? Aaron rose his head avoiding the gorgon's gaze. He'd have to go towards it to get the weapon. The flesh beneath his hands was softening again, the stone creeping out of him. The pain remained, though. Aaron sucked in a deep breath trying to push it aside. But when he tried to get to his feet, his leg wouldn't work. He needed more time.

  "Are you responsible for these radical witches?" he blurted, dragging himself back from the advancing gorgon.

  "No. They are the ones that found me and grew me." A grin stretched across the creature's face. "But they have done some fine work. Soon you will be dead and the vampires will dissolve, fighting each other to be the next king. The destruction will cause the humans to attack, fearing for their lives. And I will bring back my kind from the depths of Erebus and we will have the world again. The age of vampires is at its end, and the age of magic is returning."

  The gorgon jumped at him. Aaron rolled to dodge the claws that swiped at his face. He threw himself over his own head, somersaulting to land next to Sofia. He snatched the gun up off the ground and leveled it at the gorgon. It shrieked as he emptied the clip, finger pumping the trigger again and again.

  Blood poured from one of its eyes and one of its claws had been blown off, but that was it. Aaron cursed, dropping the empty gun as the creature attacked again. He barely escaped the blow; its claws tore through his shirt, exposing his skin to the chill air. Aaron grabbed the fallen knife and whirled, striking at the gorgon's other eye.

  It blocked him with one arm, two others striking at his stomach. Aaron jumped back, twisting his body as he did so. Claws caught on his arms and legs, but only scratched as he threw himself out of reach. A screech filled the air, arms slashing at him again. Aaron dodged the creature's blows, dancing just beyond its reach, drawing her little by little away from Sofia.

  Aaron took one more step back, preparing to spring over the gorgon's head, but his foot sank into
the ground. Water pooled into his shoes, the springy ground greedily sucking him in deeper. He teetered unsteadily, able to regain his footing just long enough to slash at an arm that came at him.

  The king was forced back another step–his leg sank through the ground to the knee. He pressed himself back against the arms clawing at him, glancing up once.

  His gaze met the black insect eye of the gorgon. A shot of pain went through his body, making every muscle in his body seize. Streaks of gray wound their way up his arms. The gorgon gave him another shove and he fell backward, sinking into the soggy swamp earth. He managed to close his eyes, and his muscles were freed from their spell.

  His enemy laughed. A waft of breath crawled over his skin. Aaron struck out blindly. His hand found the gorgon's face; taking a deep breath, he slid his eyes open a sliver and thrust the knife forward. The gorgon screamed at the blade sank into its last eye. It reared back, all its arms flailing.

  Aaron threw himself forward. He grabbed the gorgon by the neck and scrambled around its body. It collapsed under his weight; he seized the head of snakes, their fangs sinking again and again into his arms, and forced it into the pool of water left by their thrashing. The gorgon's body bucked and writhed. Aaron grunted in pain, moving up its body until his whole weight was on its head, sinking his waist-deep in the water. His legs clenched around the gorgon's head as he held it under.

  When the snakes stopped biting him, he knew his enemy was dead. The gorgon's body lay utterly limp, but he still held it there for another few seconds to make sure.

  When he was satisfied, he stumbled away from the pool. Blood coursed down his torso and legs, but instead of the shiny red it had been moments ago, it was a dull, almost black color. His heart gave a mighty lurch and was still. Aaron closed his eyes briefly–he was a vampire again.

  Sofia was where he had left her, a hand clamped over her wrist. Her normal warm skin tones were almost as pale as the gorgon's had been, looking all the more pallid with the moonlight reflecting off the sheen of sweat on her face.

  Aaron dropped to his knees beside her. She had tied a tourniquet around her elbow, stopping the blood flow. She whimpered as he grabbed her arm and flipped it around. The cut on her wrist wasn't overly deep. The blood wasn't flowing from it anymore. But there was something else that made Aaron's body seized again, like he had just turned to stone.

  There were two small puncture wounds in her skin just below the cut. Already a greenish crust was forming around them. One of the gorgon's snakes had bitten her. She was poisoned.

  "Hold on," Aaron said, holding her tightly. "I'm going to suck the poison out of you."

  The fingers of Sofia's free hand curled around his bicep and she nodded. Aaron undid the tourniquet, letting her blood flow freely again. It would help get rid of the poison… at least, he hoped it would. He quickly latched his mouth over the puncture wounds and gave a mighty pull. The taste of her blood was bitter, choking him at once. He spat out the mouthful and gave another pull. This one was less bitter, but Sofia was paling further. He sucked in a third mouthful; this time he could hardly taste the poison at all.

  Aaron retied the tourniquet, pulling it as tightly as he could. His head spun as he gathered Sofia into his arms.

  "It's going to be okay," he mumbled, hugging her to his chest. "It's going to be okay."

  Chapter Ten – Sofia

  The thing she was most aware of was Aaron's arms around her. His strong body cradling her, easing the panic that threatened to overwhelm her. She had Aaron. She had saved him. Whatever happened next… it would work out. He was with her, and that was all that mattered.

  "Hold on," he whispered into her ear. "Hold on, my love. I love you. Stay with me."

  "I love you, too," Sofia murmured back. Her eyes felt heavy, too heavy. The darkness of the swamp swirled around her. There was an awful smell, and everything felt like she was wrapped in cotton batting. When she tried to move her arms, she couldn't.

  Her eyes drifted closed as she remembered the day that she introduced Aaron to her parents. Her father had actually got a gun and brandished it at the vampire, threatening him with (non-existent) silver bullets. Sofia had been so angry and frightened… but Aaron kept his cool.

  "Sir, I understand your desire to protect your daughter," he said. "Because from the moment I laid eyes on her, I wanted to do the same. I know that some people don't consider vampires to have lives, but that's not true. Sofia is my life now, and I will do whatever it takes to keep her safe and happy."

  It had taken a couple of months after that for her parents to come around, but in the end, they had been happy that Sofia had found someone who loved her as much as she loved him. Well, at least her father was. Her mother still wasn't thrilled that her daughter was going to be a vampire's wife.

  A bright light shone in her eyes. She flinched back from it, a small squeak coming from her throat. Was that the moon, or something else? Whatever it was, Sofia hated it. She batted at it, trying to make it go away. But before her hand could strike it, there was a soft poking in her stomach. She gasped.

  "Turn off the light, it's too bright," said a voice.

  The bright light disappeared. Sofia blinked a few times as splotches of white danced before her eyes. As her surroundings came into focus, she saw that she was back in the palace, lying in the extra-large king bed that Aaron had custom made for the two of them. The rich red silk sheets clung to her body, though there wasn't anything else covering her except her old flannels.

  A woman sat at the side of her bed. Sofia blinked again. "Mama?"

  The bed shifted beside her and Aaron's arm wrapped around her shoulders. "You're awake?"

  Sofia cried out in delight, throwing her arms around her husband. She kissed him passionately, not stopping until her mother cleared her throat and shoved a hand between their faces. "There will be none of that, not until you are back to your full strength."

  Aaron chuckled, helping Sofia to sit. "Can you blame her for getting excited? She passed out while we were still in the swamp. Being attacked by a gorgon was one of the last things she saw."

  Sofia remembered Gloria transforming into that hideous creature and shuddered. More movement came from inside her and she put a hand on her belly, shoulders relaxing. "The baby is okay?"

  "Yes. You are very lucky, you know. With the amount of blood loss you suffered, not to mention the poison in your system!" Her mother narrowed her eyes at Sofia. "I don't want you to take any more of those unnecessary risks. You are to stay in the palace. Or better yet, come home where I can look after you."

  Sofia smothered a smile. "We can talk about that, Mama. But right now can I be alone with Aaron?"

  "I don't think so. You'll go back to kissing and you're still far too weak for that."

  "No kissing, I promise Mama. I just need to ask him about a few things."

  Her mother frowned suspiciously, but nodded and slipped from the room. Sofia noted that she left the door open and rolled her eyes before turning to Aaron. Anxiety spiked through her as she pressed a hand to his chest. His skin was cool and smooth as always.

  "Did it work? Are you a vampire again?"

  Aaron nodded. "Yes. I'm fully vampire once more. Your mother is right. We were very lucky. I nearly lost you."

  She shuddered. "That thing that Gloria turned into. What was it?"

  "A gorgon. It's an ancient magical creature. You've heard of Medusa, from Greek legend? She was a gorgon. Representations of her aren't exactly accurate, but they're close enough. Gorgons can take many different forms, but their eggs must be fostered inside human bodies. I'm sorry about your friend, but she was dead the moment she was infested. She took it willingly. That much is clear."

  Sofia ducked her head. Tears pricked her eyes. Gloria might not have been the best friend or even a good friend, but she had been a friend. And it made her so angry that she had made such a stupid, stupid mistake.

  "What about the rest of the radical witches?"

  "They
seem to have fled. Haven't heard anything from them. I doubt that they're done, but I'm certain that this was their big secret weapon. As long as we stay vigilant and work harder to improve relations between witches and everybody else, I don't expect that we'll end up in a similar situation again."

  Sofia nodded. She pressed a hand to her stomach and shivered. "Am I a horrible person? A terrible mother? I put our child at risk, I–"

  "Shhh." Aaron pressed his finger to her lips. "Don't. It's the past, and if you hadn't chosen the way you did, we may not be here together. I have no immune system, if I was human right now, a cold would wipe me out. Our child is safe, and you are safe. That's all that matters."

  "You took that thing on, even though you were still recovering from my stupid mistake. I nearly killed you for this child—"

  Aaron cut her off with a kiss. "Don't. I don't care what horrible things you're thinking, it was all worth it for the outcome. I love you, Sofia, and I love this child. I would gladly die for either one of you, let alone both together."

  "I don't want you to die at all." Sofia laid her head on his chest, shivering yet again. This incident had just been too close… but if there was something good that came from it, it reaffirmed how much they loved one another.

  "So I was thinking…" Aaron pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Now that we know how this works, and how to reverse the effects, we could have more children. I know we agreed to adopt, and I still want to, but maybe we can think about being pregnant again sometime in the future."

  Sofia smiled. "Well, it's something to talk about, anyway. I think in the future we should have more knowledge about how exactly it works. But I like the idea. I want lots and lots of children."

  "I know. I believe you said twelve when I first asked you."

  "No, you did." Sofia lightly pushed him, thought she relaxed against him quickly again. "I think I'm still a little too tired to discuss it right now. Everything that happened... Well, we can talk about it later."