Once Upon a Quest

by Joanna Mazurkiewicz

My eyes widened. What did he just say to me? I’d could do with the threatening to kill me part, but name calling? No. That was simply uncalled for! Oh, he’d really just pissed off the wrong princess.

  “Will you now?” I unsheathed my sword and stepped toward him, pointing the tip toward his neck. “Call me a bitch again, vampire.” I narrowed my eyes dangerously, daring him to say another word.

  Bloodsucking arsehole! I realised that was a bit hypocritical of me, but I hadn’t said it aloud. Yet.

  He didn’t have a chance to say a word. Out of nowhere, three very large men tackled him from the right, knocking him to the floor, and commenced to pounding his face and body. Two others came running and began kicking him in the head. When one of the burly men was accidentally kicked in the face, he jumped up and punched the other man. Well, that was my cue to leave.

  I’d effectively started a brawl and more men were continuing to jump in and fight one another. A tavern certainly wasn’t a place for a lady. Wait. I wasn’t really a lady, but I was making an exception today. I cringed when I heard the crunch of broken bones. Eww, that had to hurt. I hoped it was the vampire.

  I backed away slowly, sheathing my sword, nodding toward the barman and then walked out of the door. Damn, that was close. I could have been killed before I even had a chance to rescue Lucy. I realised I had miscalculated and made a very poor decision.

  I put my head down and continued walking at a brisk pace down the way, hoping to find a bakery or somewhere else that wasn’t a tavern.

  “Ooof!” Damn, that hurt! It felt like I’d just run into a brick wall. I looked up to pardon myself when I saw Tobias looking back at me. “Thank God!”

  Tobias hugged me, and I let him. I was so happy to see his stupid handsome face. “Catherine! We’ve been looking everywhere for you. When we returned to camp, you were gone.”

  “You arseholes should have never left me!” I pushed at his chest. “I’ve have had a shit day; been attacked by a werewolf, may have been spellbound by a witch, all because I was looking for the three of you!” I blurted all that out extremely fast. “Oh, and I might have just pissed off a really nasty vampire and started a fight in the tavern.”

  I wanted to leave that last little tidbit out but seeing as how any of those men could come looking for me at any moment, I thought it best to be honest. It was the right thing to do under the circumstances. I would, however, keep my bout of jealously to myself.

  “All that in one day?” Tobias had the nerve to smile at me. He was laughing. I punched him in the gut. “Agh. Fuck, that hurt!”

  “It’s not funny and, yes. Now, where are your id—brothers?” I put my hands on my hips and looked around but couldn’t see them anywhere. I was ready to be done with this dreadful day and rescue Lucy tomorrow after I’d rested.

  “They’re searching for a place where we can spend the night. We’re only an hour or so away from Julius’s castle here.” Well, damn, and I’d left my horse, but this was good news.

  “All right. Let’s find them. I’m starving and in dire need of a shower. I smell.”

  I allowed him to laugh at that because it was quite funny after all. I did in fact smell, even more so now after having been in that horrendous tavern.

  I took off walking, passing the heavenly smell of freshly baked bread, reminding myself to remember where the bakery was in the morning, and found—No. It couldn’t be…

  “Tobias! You can’t be serious. This is a brothel!” I turned to look at him incredulously when I saw Eric and James walk out of the half-sized doubled doors. Damn the luck and my heart did that thing again. Shit!

  “Catherine! We’ve been looking—”

  “Save it,” I cut Eric off. “You arseholes left me and I found you. A brothel? Really?” The two-story dilapidated structure was—there were no words; even the balcony looked as if it may fall to the ground at any moment.

  Oh, if Lucy could see me now. I’d not only added a despicable word to my vocabulary, allowed a man to do unseemly things to me while I thought I was dreaming and now, I was going to sleep in a brothel. I glanced heavenward. Dear God. I was in quite the conundrum.

  “The hotel is full, and this is the only place with a room available.” Eric eyeballed me. Well, he could kiss my arse, too. “We can’t run the risk of going back to camp and then backtracking; we’ll lose too much time.” Damn. He was right. “That’s why we had to leave in such a rush this morning. We sensed Drakins nearby and had to get them off your trail.” He took a step toward me and I could feel James’s eyes on me. “We had a chat with Julius’s second in command and agreed to meet with them tomorrow night.”

  “Very well. Sounds like a fine plan.” I huffed out a sigh. “You’re still arseholes.” Hands on my hips, I nodded toward the place that I knew would cause me to break out in hives. “Lead the way, gentlemen.”

  They chuckled a bit, but I didn’t find it funny at all. At least we were one step closer to rescuing Lucy, but I wasn’t about to praise them. Not yet. I was still quite pissed.

  “Catherine.” James clutched my arm.

  “Do not touch me.” I eyed the hand on my harm with disdain. “In fact, never speak to me again unless it has something to do with saving my sister.” I yanked my arm away and followed Eric and Tobias into the brothel.

  Dear God. Into a brothel!

  Chapter 14

  The sounds and smells were just, well, if Lucy thought I was indecent, she’d faint if she saw this place. Holy hell! There was an immaculate wooden bar resting below a huge mirror along the far wall, and to my left a piano man played a catchy tune that I most certainly was not tapping my toes to. Nope. Not at all. Situated in the middle of the room and to the right, were at least a dozen round tables filled with patrons and ladies of the night dressed in what might have been dresses at one time, but good lord—their breasts! I couldn’t help but stare and be somewhat envious at the same time. Behind the piano were stairs I could only assume led to what I hoped were clean rooms.

  Please, God. Let there be showers and clean beds.

  Eric took my hand and led me toward the stairs. Why was he holding my hand? “I would like for you to meet someone.” When I glanced past him, I saw a very beautiful blond-haired woman in red. She was simply stunning, albeit a bit racy, but stunning all the same. Her blue eyes were perfectly framed by long thick lashes most women would die for, with high cheek bones and full red lips that made me want to reach out and touch them to see if they were real. I had to restrain myself because that would have simply been rude.

  And her hair. Sigh. It was gorgeous, and I just knew I looked a right mess. Standing next to this woman I didn’t feel much like a princess at all. Wait. When did I start caring about that shit? I needed to get a hold of myself. The stress of the past few days had certainly gone to my head. Or maybe it was the hit I took earlier on. Yes, yes, that had to be it.

  “Catherine, meet the madame of the house, Bertha.” She smiled beautifully and shook my hand. Her name was Bertha? Why, oh, why would her parents name her Bertha? Oh, my!

  I will not laugh. I will not laugh.

  “Pleased to meet you, Bertha.” I stared at her breasts to keep from laughing. They made me feel insecure about my own. I mean, mine were perfectly proportioned to my tall, thin frame, but hers were huge! When I’d sufficiently made myself feel terrible, I looked up and smiled.

  “You too, Princess.” Oh, no! Eric had told her who I was… And, I was staring at her breasts... She saw me staring at her breasts. Shit! I mentally slapped myself.

  Tobias and James joined us before I could humiliate myself further. Thank God! “Here are your keys.” Tobias handed Eric and I two separate keys. I looked at the room numbers and, dammit! Our rooms were right next door to each other. Damn the luck. I was locking my door.

  “Thank you. If you don’t mind, I’m off to my room to clean up and then have a bite to eat.”

  Bertha cut in. “I can have some food delivered to your room, if you’d like.”
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  “Oh, that would be splendid!” I nearly squealed with delight. “Thank you so much for your hospitality.” Maybe a brothel wasn’t so dreadful after all. “Gentlemen. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  I intentionally ignored James, although he continued to stare at me. Fine by me. Arsehole. I was not ‘Dream Catherine.’

  Shit. I was, but that was not happening again.

  God, what was wrong with me? This quest was changing me into someone I didn’t recognise and I wasn’t certain I liked her, either.

  I walked up the stairs and found room thirty-three on the left-hand side. Turning the key, the door swung open. Was my lock broken? Damn. I wanted to cry. Could I not have just one night? One? I wanted a shower. I stunk and wanted one damn night without a dhampir trying to get into my bed.

  Such a shit day. The heavens were not smiling kindly upon me, I decided. Maybe it was because of the offensive word I’d added to my vocabulary. No. That couldn’t be it. It had to be something else…

  The old woman from the forest’s words rang in my mind. No. I wasn’t hearing any of it. I needed a shower and was not going to think about fate or destiny or anything else of the sort.

  Stepping further into the room, I heaved a sigh of relief. It wasn’t too awfully bad. The double bed seemed clean and it didn’t smell. There was a small dresser pushed against the far-right wall and, were my eyes deceiving me? A bathroom? The heavens were smiling down upon me after all. To hell with the rest of the room. I slammed my door shut and ran toward the bathroom on the left side near the window, dropping my pack near the entrance.

  When I walked in, I didn’t want to vomit. It wasn’t half bad. There was no shower but there was a tub. This I could work with—and soap! I wanted to kiss it. Dear God, there was soap. I could have cried. Okay, so I was a princess. Who knew? And the shampoo! I snatched it off the small wooden countertop, removed the lid and inhaled—jasmine and mint. Ah, God did love me! I nearly danced with excitement.

  The towels were clean and fresh, too! And there was a white robe hanging from a hook near the clawfoot tub. I was in heaven. I turned the knob and watched the clean water flow with glee and then stripped from my filthy clothes. Wait. How was my thigh already healed? No matter. I’d think about that tomorrow. I was taking a bath!

  Thank you, God. I promise never to say that dreadful word again and I’ll try really hard not to have naughty dreams, although I can’t control them. Do you control them? If you do… Well, then. I just stopped myself right there.

  Once the tub was full, I slipped inside the warm water and sighed. After I’d rested a bit, I washed and scrubbed until my skin was raw, wrinkled and pink. I was finally clean, and my hair smelled amazing. I unplugged and looked down. Eww. I hurried out of the water, grabbing my towels, drying myself off and then slipped on a very soft robe. It smelled like jasmine, too.

  I couldn’t wait to go to sleep. But first, food. I could smell it. Thank you, Bertha! Someone must have brought it in while I was in the bath. Wait. While I was in the bath? Shit! Whatever, I was starving! When I removed the silver lid from my plate, the aroma of roast beef, carrots, potatoes and fresh bread made my mouth water. I snatched my plate from the dresser and then sat in the chair next to the bed and ate my meal within minutes. Lucy would have certainly scolded me. I barely tasted my food, it went down so fast. Where was my drink? Oh, my. She’d brought me coffee! I looked heavenward. Thank you, God. I would not make fun of Bertha’s name again.

  And then I giggled. Well, at least I was alone.

  After finishing my meal and setting my plate outside of my door, I climbed into the bed I’d assumed would feel like the forest floor. Instead, it was warm and inviting; the sheets smelled fresh as well—like lavender.

  I decided a brothel truly wasn’t that bad. Not bad at all, especially in a pinch. Who knew a place such as this could be so relaxing? I did, however, place a knife beneath my pillow, just in case. One could never be too cautious.

  I was well and truly exhausted from the events of the day and drifted to sleep within minutes of my head touching the pillow.

  Chapter 15

  Was I dreaming again? No. I most certainly heard a floorboard creak. Dammit! It took me a moment to realise I wasn’t alone in my room and then I peeked one eye open. My breathing slowed, and I reached for the knife beneath my pillow. Just who the hell was in my room? I could hardly see a thing it was so damn dark.

  “It’s only me, darling. You can put the knife away.” I knew that voice and thankfully it wasn’t James. But why was Eric in my room?

  Dear God. Didn’t he need to sleep? First James and now this? No. This simply wouldn’t do. I was having none of it. These dhampirs had no sense of privacy and were riding on my last nerve. I’d had enough of their games, and I wanted to be well rested before we went in search for Lucy. I sat straight up in the in the bed.

  I switched the light on from my bedside table and rubbed my eyes. “Eric, get the hell out of my room.”

  Sweet Lord Almighty of the Seven Kingdoms! Where were his clothes? Oh, my! This wasn’t going to end well. Why did this keep happening to me? I wanted to slap myself.

  Eric’s trousers hung low on his hips, revealing a trail of black hair from his middle down to his—Oh! I was not going to think about where it led to. I needed sleep and he was distracting me. Again.

  I swallowed hard, attempting to remind myself that I was in control, not my hormones. However, those damnable things had decided my insides were melting and I didn’t like it one bit. Well, parts of me did, unfortunately. I kept staring. Oh, this couldn’t be good.

  God, give me strength.

  He was bloody gorgeous, and I hated that damn dimple in his left cheek. He was smiling at me now, most certainly knowing the effect he was having on me, if the smirk on his face was any indication. Damn the luck.

  My stomach did that thing again, and I knew from the tingling in my nether regions this wasn’t a good sign. His body was perfectly ripped, just as I’d imagined and, his arms, dear God, his arms; the dim lighting reflected each and every delectable—Oh, my! So muscular and inviting; I wanted to get lost in them.

  Catherine! Get a hold of yourself! Ensure he stays on the other side of the room and you won’t be tempted to touch him. Yes, that was a fine plan.

  Eric smiled devilishly and approached the bed. Oh, no! This was not the plan. I realised I was still only wearing a robe and nothing else at all beneath it. I was in so much trouble. He must have noticed, so I pulled the covers up to my chin.

  “It’s best if you stay by the door, or just leave. We need to be well rested, Eric. This is highly inappropriate.” Then images of what James had done to me flashed through my mind and I felt blazing heat rush to my cheeks when I thought about where his mouth had been. I hated that I’d enjoyed it. It didn’t matter if I’d thought myself to be asleep. I was a horrible person. Hussy!

  I was so embarrassed, wondering why I hadn’t stopped him and why I’d thought it only a bloody dream. I was truly a right mess.

  Ignoring me, of course, Eric sat on the bed. “I wanted to make sure you were all right and apologise for leaving you.” He brushed a strand of hair away from my face, and I opened my mouth to tell him not to touch me but closed it instead. Obviously, I had serious issues I would need to examine later.

  “Tobias placed you under a sleeping spell in order for you to get some rest. We had no idea it would fade so quickly.” The look in his eyes told me he was about to kiss me. I had nowhere to hide; I was caged in by his arms. Damn the luck.

  “Fine, fine. It’s all in the past now. What’s most important is getting inside that castle and rescuing Lucy. I need you to make this a priority, Eric.” I folded my arms across my chest, still keeping the thin blanket wrapped tightly around me.

  I was so worried about my sister and the more time wasted, the higher the possibility of her being harmed escalated. He was making it extremely hard to think with his hands resting on my hips. Did he not hear a
word I’d just said?

  “Catherine, we will rescue Lucy, but tonight, I want you. I can smell your desire and I know you want me, too. Why must you continue to deny yourself?” He moved his hand up, attempting to pull my blanket down and I yanked it back.

  “While some of that may be true”—my hands were itching to touch his chest but I needed to control myself—“now is not the right time.”

  The growl emanating from Eric’s chest told me he didn’t agree. Shit. He inched closer to me on the bed and was breathing my air again. I needed to escape, or this situation was going to get out of control.

  I could feel that my body needed some sort of release; an ache in my nether regions was becoming increasingly uncomfortable with steady beats of pressure. I squeezed my legs together, attempting to make it stop. It didn’t. Dammit.

  I knew I wasn’t being fair to Eric if I didn’t tell him what had happened with James. I looked heavenward, asking for strength.

  “Stop lying to yourself, Catherine, and allow me to pleasure you.” He leaned in to kiss me and I turned my head.

  “This has to stop. There’s something I need to tell you, and I’m certain you’re going to be pissed. So, sit back and keep your hands to yourself until I’m done.”

  This was not going to be an easy conversation. The boys were all in agreement yet were still so competitive, and I hated to think of what Eric’s reaction was going to be, but he had a right to know. I was supposed to “choose” one of them, although I hadn’t actually decided if I would choose any of them at this point. Sort of.

  We still hadn’t rescued Lucy, and they seemed more interested in getting into my knickers or getting them off of me, rather. I didn’t want to think about having to choose, anyway. It wasn’t on my list of priorities. These damn dhampirs were infuriating!

  Eric gently brushed his lips across my cheek and began kissing my neck. “We can talk later, Catherine.”

  “No. Stop. I don’t want this, not right now and you need to listen to me, all right? I’m done with these silly games you and your brothers are playing. I am no one’s prize to be won.”