Everwinter (Chronicles of Naelyra Book 1)

by R. J. Lloyd

  I lifted a shoulder and replied without looking back, “Fear is natural. It’s a chemical reaction to being out of your comfort zone. I am not immune to fear. It’s just not whether or not you fear. It’s not letting it rule you.” I turned to face him. “Do I fear you? Yes. Do I fear being lost on another planet or another dimension or something? Yes. But what will being a victim to it get me other than delayed?” I turned back toward our destination and started to walk once again. “Or dead.”

  Kane caught up to me, his smirk growing into a full smile. "I mean, I admit, it would be simpler to just snap your neck or drain you completely anywhere I please. Yet, that would not get me answers."

  I whipped around and folded my arms across my chest. “Are your intentions to scare me with that? Snap my neck? Drain me? Answers? Let’s just get this out of the way. What answers do you want? And do you intend to help me get home after you get your answers?”

  He didn’t respond. With his eyes full of hunger, he walked right up to me and picked me up, leaning in for a hard kiss. My breath stuttered as he moved swiftly, taking me off guard. I started to push and hit at him, acting reflexively. For a moment, I fought. But soon, my breathing deepened, and I gripped his shoulders, kissing him back, enjoying the taste of him on my lips.

  He moaned into my lips as he kissed me deeper, hard enough to broach on painful. Kane, lifted me further off the ground, carrying me several paces before leaning me against a nearby wall. I melted into him. His hands explored my chest, ripping away my fur jacket and bodice beneath it to gain access, his other arm still holding me up, tight against the brick behind me.

  When he had my bodice torn away enough that the chill of the cold air permeated the thrill of the moment, I gripped at his hands. “Wait. Wait.” I tried to pull back, blocked by the solid mass behind me.

  He growled loudly yet stopped. Letting out a deep, measured breath, his hand still gripping my top, he tried to respond calmly. "Something wrong?" He was clearly bothered by being interrupted.

  Furrowing my brows, my eyes searched his. “I’m not a toy. Nor am I a whore. I mean, if I were with a man for a while and comfortable with him I might do this. But you can’t just bring me here and treat me like a prostitute and fuck me in front of everyone.” I pulled my torn clothes tight around me, tugging the fabric from his grip so I could cover myself. “Besides, I really liked this outfit and don’t have anything to repair it now.”

  His expression pinched and voice stern, he spoke, "I had gotten the impression that you enjoy me as I do you. You certainly seemed to enjoy that scene back there. But no. I am not paying for your sex, and you are not a whore. That I already know. I thought we both wanted the release. It is my mistake if I calculated this wrong. Also,” He flicked at a drooping piece of fabric. “I can have this fixed."

  He put me down, running a hand through his own hair. After looking at me for what felt like a long moment, he scoffed and walked off into the entrance of his castle leaving me still standing there.

  I straightened my outfit the best I could, holding it closed, I shouted to him. “You’re used to getting whatever you want whenever, wherever and however, huh? You’d fit in on earth, you know that? Entitled.” I didn’t move from my spot once again.

  He shrugged my comment off and continued. "Come along or freeze in that spot. Or be dinner. It makes no difference to me.” He pushed open the large, ornate doors to his castle and walked in, one of the female servants rushed over to take his coat as he crossed the threshold.

  With his last suggestion, I looked around, seeing eyes on me still. I ran to catch up to him. “Good to know I’m disposable despite your assurances to the contrary.” I tried to keep up with him as we crossed the large room, but I wasn’t going to think I was anything less than offended.

  He glanced over at me and huffed. "If you think they would actually touch you without my consent, you have a lot to learn, Auri." He laughed, snapping his fingers, causing two more servants to scatter from the room.

  “Auriena.” I corrected him again.

  The door closed behind me, and I jumped. We moved into an adjoining room off to our right. A lavish fire roared to life in a massive, stone fireplace. The servants that had scattered returned and started setting the table with food and beverages, each stopping only to pull the chairs out for Kane and me.

  “But you said...” I stopped as he chuckled. “You said that to scare me to come with you? Didn’t you? You wanted me to believe I’d end up someone’s meal if I didn’t come in with you!” I groaned loudly.

  "An Asshole? Yes possibly. Would not be the first time I have been called such a thing." He sat at the head of the table and pointed to a chair next to him, presumably for me to take. A young, busty blonde, clad in leather and metal armor, walked out and looked at me and Kane then wrinkled her nose.

  I made my way to the chair, standing next to it but not sitting. I wrinkled my nose back to the woman before turning to Kane, tilting my head. “I’m in torn clothes and dressed like an Eskimo. Do you have a suggestion to make myself presentable for a dinner table?” Feeling the woman’s eyes on me, I turned and frowned at her. “Can I help you?”

  The blonde rolled her eyes. "You must be the new pet." Not waiting for a reply, she strode right up to Kane, slapping him hard across the cheek. "You have some nerve showing up here again. I haven't forgotten about Connall. Nor have I forgotten your role and your disloyalty."

  She balled her hand into a fist and hit him again. This time, her blow lands on the edge of his jaw. But her rage turned to fear as Kane stood. She took a step back, her eyes wide.

  In one solid movement, he was in front of her, nose to nose as he bent down slightly. “You want to speak to me of loyalty? When you stop lying to yourself, we can talk loyalty. Until then, this will be your one pass at lashing out at me and only because of what you were to me.”

  “Were?” She practically breathed the word. Tears filled her eyes as she ran out of the room, her cries echoed into the room until one of the servants closed the door.

  Kane brushed himself off. "Forgive her, she is grieving a loss." He sat again. "You can undress if you like. Or dress however you like. It does not matter to me."

  I rolled my eyes almost as dramatically as the woman before, starting to take off a couple layers. Ripping a strip of cloth from one item, I fastened a makeshift belt to keep the top closed. “So, you have the nerve to show up in your own home? And your servant has the nerve to speak to you like that and to hit you? Or is that your wife? And Connall a lover she caught you with?”

  He roared with laughter. "Mika is family. I killed her lover in a war when he chose the wrong side. It's a long boring story. And she has not seen me since. That is all.”

  “That is all? Uhhh…” I looked over the spread on the table. “Doesn’t sound boring to me. Sounds tragic.”

  “Also, I am not one for men, sexually," he added, watching me.

  I blushed, finally sitting in the chair. “I’m sorry. It’s none of my business.” I smoothed out my tattered clothes.

  Another servant brought out more plates of freshly prepared food. She set them on the table, offering to dish up the guest of the house. I nodded, pointing to a couple of items that looked delicious. The young woman quickly dished the food onto my plate before leaving just as fast as she entered.

  "I hope the food is to your liking," Kane said, watching me, his plate empty.

  I eyed the food, licking my lips absentmindedly. “This looks fantastic. How many people like me are here? Any others from earth?” I found myself curious since there was an abundance of food in a vampire’s home.

  Kane shrugged. "There are humans here. They are like you, but none are from your planet that I know of. They are allowed to stay here for their blood.”

  “For their blood? Like blood dolls?” I stopped, mid bite.

  “Blood dolls?” His eyebrows pinched together. “If that is a term your kind uses for those that allow my kind to feed on them willingl
y? Then yes.”

  “Usually. Sometimes not willingly,” I added. “How many are here? In your kingdom.”

  “I’d say there are about two hundred, maybe three? Depending on accidents.” Kane held up his flask. One of the girls swiftly takes it, rushing out of the room. “There are over three thousand of my kind here within my city’s walls.”

  “Accidents,” I repeated quietly. “Two to three hundred humans feed that many vampires?”

  “No. We also have…” The servant returns with his flask refilled. She hands it to him and bows before leaving the tableside again. “This.”

  I looked to the flask. “And what is that?”

  “People were commissioned a few centuries ago to make a beverage that would sustain a human’s blood for longer periods of time and one that we could drink in public. This is the result,” he explains.

  “What is it mixed with?” I asked.

  He tipped the flask and took a long pull off it. “I believe a mixture of herbs. I have never asked. I only know that a group of priests and priestesses know the recipe and provide it to my kind in trade for our protection.”

  “Smart.” I took another bite. “Well, I’m no doll. Or a toy. Or a food source. The only food source I’ve been is allowing my ex to feed on me when needed or…” I stopped. “Anyways... Just don’t get any ideas.”

  “Your ex? As in mate? Husband? You’ve been with vampire before?” He leaned on the arm of his throne-like chair and looked at me, obviously curious about what I had just said. “I was unaware that your planet was aware of my kind. Yet, you seem almost casual about all of this.”

  “Most are not,” I replied. “Aware that is. On Earth, vampires, werewolves, witches… any other race other than human? We are all prone to hiding what we are in fear of what the humans would do to us.”

  He roars with laughter. “You all fear humans despite your magic and other’s abilities? This is ridiculous!”

  “It is.” I nodded solemnly. “But it is how things have gone. Even our own kind will kill us if we try to reveal what we are. Our numbers have shrunk so much that we would be slaughtered in a war, especially considering that the races war with each other. The lack of trust makes coexisting impossible at times. So, it is not as if witches, vampires, werewolves and the others could come together to fight the humans.”

  “Yet, you claim that you have been with a vampire?”

  “I have.” I thought for a moment, not sure I wanted to touch on those memories. With a deep sigh, I explained, “I am disbanded from my family’s coven. I am not a threat as much by other races’ standards. This has allowed me to love freely as I see fit. Granted, not all see it that way. Many do not approve. But I am mostly solidary. So, I guess I don’t live by all the politics and beliefs.”

  He looks me over. “Why have you forsaken your own kind?”

  I pulled my lips in, biting softly, my eyes closing. I’m sure the pain was obvious on my face. “Which reason do you want?” I opened my eyes to see his peering at me intently.

  His head tilted, his large hand rubbed his chiseled chin. “All.”

  “That would be a long story. But the biggest reasons?” I slid away from the table slightly and rubbed my forehead. “My mother’s family, a band of dark gypsies, killed my parents for being together. My father, being a druid, was not welcomed. They wanted her to leave him, but she refused. They fled with me to the United States – another continent. Years later, we were found. My parents hid me in the closet, and I watched as they tried to force my mother to agree to come home and bring me. When she refused, they killed them both.”

  Confusion synched in his forehead. “And what are druids and gypsies? Races?”

  “Gypsies and druids are ummm… magic casters. Witches? Basically, just different names for the lifestyles and what kind of magic they focus on.”

  He nodded. “Ahhh… I see. But they did not take you with them, these… gypsies?”

  I stared off at the ground, remembering the events vividly. “They thought I would be in school and left to get me there. They were unaware that I was at home that day because my mother had had a dream of them coming. I was hidden by my father’s energy. At the time, I was thirteen and was on my own from there.”

  Kane leaned forward, clearly riveted by my story. “Surely you sought out others of your kind or your father’s family to aid in your survival.”

  “No. I felt it would risk their lives. I made connections and fended for myself. One of those connections ended up being a bad choice.”

  “How so?”

  I scoffed. “The one time I ever fell in love with another witch, I let my guard down and revealed my powers and my family history to him. He took advantage of this and kidnapped me. He and his coven kept me locked up for over a year and these…” I held my arms out, pulling my sleeves up then pulling the collar of my shirt down. “were tattooed all over my body. The tattoos you’ve seen… and many you haven’t? I was used as his living grimoire. They are his spells.”

  Kane looked angry at this. “Why would they do this?”

  “They believed that they could make a spell more powerful if it was printed on human flesh. And living human flesh is more potent since they could draw from my energy as they cast. Plus, since I come from two ancient families that are powerful, they tried to draw on my bloodline as well.”

  “Did they succeed?”

  “They would have.”

  “If not for what?”

  I pulled my chair back up to the table and lifted my fork once more. “My escape.”

  “I see why you are not hasty to return to Earth.” He leaned back once more, crossing his arms.

  “I would like to return.” Even as I said this, I felt doubt creeping in. “But while I am here, I just don’t want to become your meal source. I don’t need someone else using me for anything.”

  "Why don't you wish to be my doll? I can assure you pleasure like you’ve never experienced. Any one of the women in my kingdom would not hesitate if offered." Kane pocketed the flask after taking another swig.

  I set my fork down and wiped my mouth with the linen napkin. “I feel I have more value than to be used. That I have more to offer than a snack for pleasure, even if I can give lots of that. And I seek more than carnal pleasure. I don’t want to be a possession and a meal. I want more.” I pulled my eyebrows in and tilted my head, wondering if he understood. “Haven’t you ever wanted someone to be a part of your life or be a part of theirs? Or is fighting, fucking and owning enough for you?” I picked my fork back up and stabbed a bite of the meat I had chosen, lifting it to my mouth. Before eating it, I asked, “Are you not lonely?”

  "It's been enough for me for a very long time. Carnal pleasure is enjoyable. Too bad you stopped me from really tasting you earlier," he sighed, letting his eyes roam.

  I pursed my lips. “Can’t say I might not have let you continue if you hadn’t tried to use me like trash.” I took the bite casually.

  "Use you like trash? Or celebrate you in front of others?" he countered.

  I set down my utensil again. “You don’t know me enough to celebrate me. Besides, why would you want to allow everyone to see me like that? Especially before you get to see it? That should be private and cherished. Not flaunted. Not everything is about pride and boasting. That’s shallow. Sometimes the best things are protected and guarded.”

  "You have no sense of adventure it seems. So, tell me more about the portal you fell through to get here, and I shall not bother you with such things that you obviously find disgusting." He watched me, as if waiting for a reaction.

  I sighed, frustrated with him and his apparent lack of connection. I wondered if he was so old he’d lost the flavor for life. From what I knew about vampires, some of the older ones became disconnected, losing their humanity to the hunger. The few I met had traveled that path, I felt bad for them. Something what missing in them… a hole in their souls almost.

  I leaned back, shaking my head. “I’m p
lenty fun. But if your interest is now solely on the portal? What do you want to know? I set down to work on a spell, and as I started to cast, the air looked like water before me. I touched it and before I knew it, here I was.”

  "Were you summoning a portal? What kind of spell were you trying to perform?" I now had his full attention once again, even more than my body had.

  The intensity of his voice made me worry that if I could call upon and make portals myself, then I might be seen as a threat to his kingdom. I couldn’t of course, but I didn’t want him thinking that I could. “No. I was actually just cleaning my crystals I had sitting out. I’d recently had some uninvited company, and I wanted their energy gone. It was a simple cleansing spell.”

  He growled quietly. "Okay that's helpful to know. You most likely fell into a rare offshoot portal. Possibly from the hub world that typically connects them all," he explained. “But I do not understand why or how considering the current situation.”

  I quirked an eyebrow, confused. “A what from where?” I chuckled. “So, a random accident? Of course. That’s just my luck. But what do you mean current situation?”

  The room had cooled. Despite the temperature not being a factor for him, he still took note and motioned for one of the women to add wood to the fireplace. "It's extremely rare but not unheard of." He stood and paced near the fire. "The power behind a portal is mostly the same whether you’re traveling from world to world or within a distance on the same planet. However, the origin of that portal is what varies. The portals that connect the worlds I have traveled between comes from a crystal that was bestowed with a magic from within the core of a world called Aejynys. I just call it a hub world. That crystal was spelled by a dragon there that was helping bridge the gaps between worlds to connect them and is extremely large, placed on a fault line near the planet’s capital city. He served Drevuvek, one of the seven elder gods. Together, they wanted to bring peace and prosperity to the races since Aejynis has been at war within itself for centuries.

  Recently, there was a god on that world who wanted to invade this one. Their goal was to wipe out everyone and expand their own empire, and they fooled Drevuvek into thinking he was on the same side. However, the dragon, Fubrik, discovered Brialjhorn’s intentions. In that war, the portals stopped working. So, the fact that you are here now throws a wrench in everyone thinking this is true… that they do not work at all." He rubbed his chin.