Riding Rifts (Vampire's Elixir Series Book 2)

by Pippa Amberwine

  “Well, it still applies. Sorry. I’ll open a rift here, straight to Nindock’s place so we can travel quickly.”

  “Can you do that? I thought it was just through dimensions. That’s what you told me.”

  “Did I? I must have been mistaken.”

  “So, when you had me walk halfway across the city and drive the rest of the way, we could have just stepped into a rift and been there in seconds?”

  “We could,” I said, hesitating before saying more, “but imagine what we would have lost. All that time together in the car was nice. I liked it.”

  Katie glared at me for a few moments with angry eyes, but after a while, they softened and her lips curled at the corners.

  “I suppose it was okay,” she said, looking down shyly. “It would’ve been better if you had driven more though. I hate driving.”

  “Okay, okay,” I said, holding my hands up in mock surrender. “Next time I’ll do all the driving.”

  “Good. Now, where are you going to open the rift to?”

  “I can’t see the point of putting ourselves out too much. Hopefully, it’ll be a flying visit, and we can get back here quickly.”

  “You think what you have to tell him will be quick? Somehow, I doubt that. It will more likely be a case of having to stay there for hours, trying to get him to calm down and not kill you, but still, if you think it will be, then I’m happy to go along with it.”

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Katie. I didn’t think my diplomatic skills were that bad?”

  “Maybe not. I was thinking Nindock’s temper might be that bad.”

  She did have a point. I’d known Nindock for a long time, and he could never be described as anything but unpredictable.

  I just hoped with the other thing we had to talk about, the risk of infection, he might be less tempted to lose his unreliable temper this time.

  “You ready?” I asked, setting a rift into operation. I’d forgotten how much of a mess they made indoors, disturbing anything in the room that wasn’t solid or nailed down, but better that than be seen outside.

  “I’m ready,” Katie said, bumping her hand into mine. I took it, feeling the soft skin of her fingers intertwine with mine. The longer this went on, I just knew the harder it was going to be to say goodbye.

  We stepped into the rift and immediately out the other side.

  ***

  “What the hell are you doing here again?” Nindock yelled as we walked into his little saloon. “I thought I told you not to come here.” He pushed himself out of his seat and sauntered over with an exaggerated roll of his hips.

  “Don’t go getting all worked up, Nindock,” I said, pulling myself up to my full height so I could look down on him.

  “I warned you what would happen if you came back here.” Nindock growled out the words.

  “I know, and after our little chat the other day, I hoped you might have come to the realization that I’m not going to try and ship you all back to Dracos.”

  Nindock looked puzzled for a moment, as if I was about to spring some kind of trap on him, but I had to make him understand that I wasn’t. I’d accepted that I couldn’t make him or any of his people go back. The more I had thought about it, the more I realized that not only couldn’t I force them back, but that a big part of me admired them for what they were doing, and I wanted them to succeed. Having said that, they were still citizens of Dracos, and I wanted to do what I could to protect them from harm.

  “You’re not? But I thought you said—”

  “I did say that. Now, I’m saying you should stay.”

  “Why? What’s in it for you and your family?”

  “Look, Nindock, given dragon society and the way it works, I understand how this might be hard to believe, but there’s nothing in it for me and my family.”

  That wasn’t strictly true. Although I didn’t think it had occurred to my mother yet. The idea of having a few thousand dragons, some of them injured and all of them desperate, living on Dracos after being forcibly repatriated from Earth, might well constitute a substantial threat. I decided it best not to mention that to Nindock in case it gave him ideas.

  “So, why the sudden change of mind?”

  “Can we take a seat? I’m sure what we have to say to each other doesn’t need to be shared with everyone in here.” I looked around the saloon to see every person watching us and listening to every word we were saying.

  Nindock did the same, and then, seemingly reluctantly, he flicked his head toward his table. On his way over, he must have made some signal to his colleague who was drinking with him because he got up and moved to a table a little distance away but where he could reach his boss quickly. I made a quick check around to make sure any Srisfoot plants were a safe distance away from Katie and leaned up to open a window just in case.

  Nindock grimaced when the cool air from outside drifted across the table but said nothing, taking a sip from his beer instead.

  “So, what is it that brings you here, my prince?” Nindock asked.

  “Well, first of all, knock it off with the prince thing, Nindock. We know each other of old, and you know that doesn’t wind me up. Let’s talk man to man as two people whose own people need to be helped. Deal?”

  Nindock stared hard at me for a while, but eventually he looked down to his beer. “Deal. So, what do you have to tell me?”

  Katie was sitting at the table, looking around the room as if she was worried about something.

  “What is it, Katie?”

  “Probably nothing. I thought I heard something, but it was a long way away.”

  Nindock flicked his head to the door of the saloon, and his henchmen headed out to investigate.

  I flattened my hands on the tabletop. “Okay. I have a couple of things to talk about. Firstly, I had a little visit from Blandin when I was back on Dracos recently.”

  I saw Nindock shudder. “What did that slimy idiot want?”

  “You remember him, then?”

  “Only too well. Is he still wearing that ludicrous uniform that makes him look like a frog?”

  Katie, distracted as she was, found time to choke back a laugh at that.

  “He certainly is. He had some messages from my mother.”

  “Really?” That was the first time I’d seen Nindock not be the cocky leader since I’d found him on Earth.

  “Yes. She has become aware of your setup here. She’s also aware that certain materials and supplies are being somehow spirited away from Dracos and are reappearing down here. She asked Blandin to ask me to tell you in no uncertain terms that not only does the theft of materials need to stop, but that there cannot be any further transfer of dragons from Dracos to Earth or any more contact from Earth to Dracos. From what Blandin suggested, she is willing to take extreme measures to ensure you comply.”

  I added that last part for effect, and it certainly seemed to work. Nindock blanched a little and took another mouthful of beer.

  “He said that?”

  “He did.”

  “Sounds serious.”

  “I think so.”

  “Why? We haven’t been taking anything more than a few building supplies.”

  “I know. But it’s stealing, and you know that isn’t acceptable on Dracos.”

  “Unless you’re one of the elite families?” Nindock said with a degree of envy and anger I was surprised to hear from him.

  “You’re family is one of the elite families,” I said, which I thought was a reasonable point to make.

  “How do you think I know? Every time I tried to convince them that the way we have our society structured meant that ordinary people were suffering, they ignored me until I pissed them off so much they threw me out.” I had to admit he argued a good case. I’d never seen it before until this all started, but I was starting to think he might be right. Even as a small child, he had been rebellious, but looking at him at that moment, I didn’t think this was just some teenage angst—he was a little too old for t
hat—but a deeply held belief.

  “There is another reason though.”

  “Shh,” Katie said.

  “I’m sorry?” I wasn’t used to being shushed. Then, I saw the worry lines around her eyebrows. “What is it?”

  “I heard it again. A scream. Closer this time. Should we go out and take a look?”

  Nindock shook his head. “Nah. Otto will handle it.”

  “Who’s Otto?” she asked, glancing briefly at Nindock and then returning her eyes to the door.

  “He was the man I was sharing a drink with.”

  “The big guy?”

  “That’s him. So, what’s the other reason?”

  I checked to make sure Katie had settled again, but she hadn’t. Her hearing was way better than mine, and I was concerned about what she was having to listen to.

  “Jevyn?” Nindock said pointedly.

  “Sorry.” My attention was back on him and why I was there. “My mother is also concerned that the infection that’s raging on Earth will come back to Dracos, or even that the people who are controlling it might find a way of getting there through your people. I have my own private source that has ruled out a couple of ways of the infection traveling, but there are a couple that couldn’t be ruled out.”

  “Which were?”

  “Firstly, by a dragon consuming human blood.”

  “Not going to happen,” Nindock said with a grimace to back up his distaste at the idea.

  “I agree.”

  “What’s the second way?”

  “That’s a bit more delicate.”

  “How so? Come on, spit it out.”

  “It’s possible it could be spread by dragon and human interbreeding. Or at least part of the process.”

  Katie turned her head to join the conversation. “He means if humans and dragons have sex, Nindock. He’s just too polite to say it straight out.”

  I couldn’t help myself laughing at that too, but as soon as she said it, Katie’s head snapped back to the door.

  “Did you hear it again?” I asked.

  “Yes. Closer still, and someone running.”

  “Look, Jevyn. I’ll make sure I put it out there about what you said, and you can tell your mother that I won’t be going back for any more supplies. I can’t promise to stop people coming over though.”

  “I understand that, but—”

  My words were cut off by a red-faced Otto bursting through the door.

  “Boss, you need to get out here, now. One of the new arrivals has gone haywire.”

  “What do you mean?” Nindock asked, standing from his chair.

  “I mean . . . look, it’s better if you come and see for yourself.” Otto managed to get out between panting breaths.

  I followed Nindock to the door, once I’d told Katie to stay put.

  She swore at me and said there was no chance of her sitting there. Then, she followed after me. The scream from outside persuaded me that I’d best go and leave that argument until later.

  When I got outside, it seemed to me like some kind of civil war had broken out. A large crowd had gathered around, and Nindock and Otto were forcing their way through, so I just went through in their wake. When I got to the front, we were all confronted by a particularly gruesome sight and a fairly ordinary, if slightly mad-eyed, man standing with his back to the wall of the building he’d been backed up against by the crowd.

  The gruesome part was the long, blood-covered sword he held in one hand and the severed head he held by its hair in the other. He was in the middle of a rant I’d missed the beginning of, but it still made for a scary sight as he yelled and raged, flecks of spittle flying out of his mouth as he flicked his head from one side to the other to speak to his audience.

  “. . . so, if anyone thinks they can steal or cheat or hurt or maim people with impunity, I say to you now, you will end up like this thief who stole from a stallholder.” He looked around rapidly. “That man there.” He pointed at a shamefaced stallholder who had evidently followed the maniac up the market.

  “He didn’t steal, though. He just forgot to pay. He was getting his money out when you . . .” the man said in a pitifully quiet voice and then mimed swinging a sword. “He was my best customer.”

  The man holding the head stared at the stallholder for a moment or two and then started on another rant. “I promise to the good people of Nindock’s town that I, Kam, will protect you from thieves and vagabonds and the deserters and the madmen and the . . .”

  While he raved, I saw Nindock nod to Otto who started to work his way around the crowd to one side, while Nindock approached Kam from the other.

  Nindock yelled at Kam to try and get his attention. “Hey, Kam. It’s me, Nindock. Do you remember me?”

  Kam’s eyes went wide, and he dropped his arms to his side, splattering dripping blood across both legs of his pants.

  “Yes, yes, I do. Nindock, yes, you’re the one that brought me here and set me free. You’re a great man.” He turned to the crowd. “This man is great. He freed me from myself and let me be myself. Now I am myself, and my other self is elsewhere, I know not where, but not here, and I’m glad because he was weak, and I am strong and will serve the people—”

  Otto swung in from behind the man, clattered a huge fist against Kam’s jaw, and knocked the ranting maniac clean out and lying completely still where he landed while people muttered and screamed in the crowd.

  “Bloody hell, Otto. I said to punch him, not knock him completely out. Pick him up and put him in the saloon, but make sure you tie him to a chair or something. Don’t want him going crazy when he wakes up. Somebody get rid of that too,” Nindock yelled into the crowd who had scuttled forward to look at the head on the ground. Nindock picked up the sword Kam had been wielding, and the people crowding around backed off a bit as Nindock swung it out to tuck it under his arm.

  “Come on,” he said to me, turning me around by the arm. “I suppose you’re going to want an explanation for this?”

  “Damn right I am,” I said, following Nindock and Otto back into the saloon where Otto proceeded to tie Kam to a chair so tightly I thought he might end up cutting off all the blood supply to his hands and feet completely, but having seen him in action, I decided that was probably the least of my worries.

  Nindock headed back to his table, took a sip from his drink, and then waved Katie and me back to take our seats.

  “What the hell happened to him, Nindock?” I knew it was something to do with the jump through Nindock’s unreliable rifts. There was no other explanation needed there, but I wanted to know exactly what happened to try to work out what was to be done about it . . . if I got a say.

  “I set up a rift for him a couple days ago. His brother is already here, and he wanted to join him. Something went slightly wrong while he was in the rift.”

  “The master of understatement as ever, Nindock. So what went wrong?”

  “I’m not sure exactly, but . . .”

  “Come on, out with it. The sooner I know, the sooner we can clear it up.”

  “Well, when he got here, he wasn’t just one person. Somehow his body and soul were split in two. I don’t mean he only had half a body either,” Nindock said with a sneer for any smartass comment I might have been preparing. I wasn’t. I was looking at Kam, so I could see he had a complete body, unlike a large number of the crowd who had been watching when Kam was ranting in the marketplace.

  “How did you know?”

  “Well, I didn’t at first. I panicked and shoved one of them back through the rift and closed it. When I spoke to the one who was here, Kam over there, he said his other half’s name was Myn, but when they were together, he was called Kammyn on Dracos. Apparently, he was one of the warrior class, so he’s trained to fight anyway, weapons, hand to hand, everything. We just ended up with the part of Kammyn that loves the fighting but doesn’t really give it much thought or have much control. I left him to it once he’d settled in, but ever since then, he’s been on wha
t you might call a bit of a rampage. He gets worked up easily if he sees anything he thinks is not right, and then he gets handy with his sword. We managed to keep it quiet until today, but now everyone will know.”

  As soon as Nindock had mentioned Myn, I could see an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Myn was the prophet man back on Dracos that Blandin had talked about, and it was evident what had happened. Body and soul had been split in two, leaving one half seemingly good and one half seemingly evil. Nindock had gotten what was probably the short straw in that respect, but if I could get Kam and Myn whole again, it would neutralize the threat in both dimensions.

  “Can you put them back together again?” Katie asked. I guessed she had come to the same conclusion I had, but I was glad she had kept the information about my mother wanting Myn taken out to herself.

  “Possibly. It would just be a case of getting them both in the rift together again and reversing the process, but there is one problem.” Nindock grimaced.

  “And that is?” I asked, wondering what was coming next.

  “Myn got in touch. He wants to bond with Kam again.”

  “Why?” Katie asked even though it had been her suggestion.

  “He says he feels out of balance and thinks the ruling family might start to see him as a threat if he keeps doing what he’s doing. You heard anything about that?” Nindock glared at me.

  “Nope.” I shrugged and cast a quick glance to Katie, which I hoped told her to keep quiet. “Anyway, how is that a problem? I would’ve thought that was a good thing.”

  “Well, it is, I suppose, but the real problem is that Kam doesn’t want to bond. I told him that he was hurting people, but he just laughed and said how much he was enjoying it. He said he was having the time of his life and nothing would make him go back to how he was because Myn was the weak side and Kam hates weakness.”

  I looked at Katie.

  She looked back at me, her eyes questioning.

  Like some kind of message passed between us, I knew what she was thinking. “Let Katie have a word with the nutjob, Nindock. She might get through to him.”

  Nindock looked at Katie.

  She looked back at him.