Her gorge rose. This womanthis Moraghwas a vampire. Dear God.
She swallowed again and again in an effort to keep herself from puking at the sight of the little mans body convulsing, his hands fluttering at his sides, as if he wanted to fight her off but couldnt. Just as he had wanted to run the other way before, but had held out his arm instead. Compulsion. Enthrallment. First the wolfyn and now this. Was every nonhuman creature in this realm capable of inflicting its will on others? I have to get out of here, she thought as the breath sobbed in her lungs. I just want everything to go back to normal.
She had to get through that vortex, and she had to do it now, while the vampire was occupied. But she couldnt move.
Not now, she begged her body. Please dont freeze up on me now! But she couldnt force herself to stand and make a run for the standing stones, couldnt so much as wiggle a toe. She was vapor locked again. Immobile. Useless. All she could do was watch as the vampire let go and the little man swayed on his feet, throat drenched with blood. His eyes were glassy and unfocused, his voice monotone when he said, I shall find the pack.
He stumbled off, headed on a tangent for the woods, seeming not to care that there was blood streaming down his front.
The vampire watched him go with a small smile playing over her bloodstained lips. I wouldnt worry. I suspect theyll find you very soon. Moonlight glinted off her fangs as she smiled fully, horribly. Then she turned away, snagged the monsters chain off the ground and led the creature into the stones.
The vortex roared and they disappeared.
The second they were gone, Redas paralysis snapped and she was on her feet and racing for the stones, her heart pounding as she called up the spell that had gotten her into this mess.
She was only a few steps away when Dayn burst from the trees, shouting, Reda, wait!
Hesitating, she glanced back. And as she did so, a cracking sound filled the air and the vortex collapsed in on itself and disappeared. Seconds later, there was a brilliant amber flash and the air went utterly dead. No! She flew through the stones and raced to the center. Wait, no! Take me!
Reda, stop. He grabbed her by the arms. Stop. Its over. Its gone.
No! Shes sealing it off. Dont let her seal it off! Even though she knew in her heart that it was already too late, she beat on his arms, struggling to get free, not just from him, but from this whole awful place, with its werewolves and vampires and three-headed monsters. Then, when that didnt work, she collapsed against him, grabbing his jacket to get in his face and cry, Did you see her? Did you see?
She broke off when his arms shifted, their bodies aligned, and she became suddenly aware that he was hard and aroused, his eyes glazing as they locked on hers. And although it was the entirely wrong time, the entirely wrong place, heat leaped up inside her, flaring through her veins. Breath thinning in her lungs, she pressed against him, arched into him as his lips came downparted
And moonlight glinted off the two long, curving canines that hadnt been there before.
CHAPTER FOUR
ONE SECOND DAYN was locked on Redas mouth with nothing in his head except: Need. Want. Now.
ONE SECOND DAYN was locked on Redas mouth with nothing in his head except: Need. Want. Now.
In the next, she screamed and jerked away from him, her face ashen with shock, her mouth a round O of horror as she whispered, No. Dear God, no. Youre
Startled, he reared back. Reda, what And he felt his lips slide over his secondary canines. His fully extended secondary canines. The ones that were a good bit bigger than the witchs, and made for the exact same purpose. Oh, shit. Wait. I can explain. He took a step toward her, reached for her. Its not
She broke and bolted, scattering like a wild hare into the nearest section of trees, which put her headed away from both the cabin and the cave.
He went after her, but let her get ahead and moved only fast enough to keep her in sight. Not just to give her some room, but to give himself some, too. Because he was suddenly very not okay with what had just happened.
Hed seen the female blood drinker feeding from the gnomes neck vein, and hed damn near lost his mind. Or maybe he had lost it there for a few seconds, because that was the only possible explanation for him trying to kiss Reda with his fangs up close and personal. Wait, he called, lengthening his strides to catch up to her. Please, just give me a minute to explain.
She threw a panicked look over her shoulder, then at the surrounding forest. And, seeing a lighter spot off to one side, swerved and bolted toward where the normal forest trees gave way to a roughly circular patch of scattered trunks whose roots overlapped and intertwined in intricate patterns.
Reda, no! he shouted, accelerating after her. Stop! Those are borers! The ground isnt safe!
But she just kept going. Either she didnt believe him, or she didnt think a tree could be worse than a vampire. She plunged into the grove, pounding across the root network, seeming not to notice how her footsteps suddenly echoed hollowly.
Cursing, Dayn followed her in, staying close to the skin-smooth trunks and leaping among the sturdier roots. The surface gave like a mattress beneath his boots and the stink of sulfur wafted up, warning that the grove was fully mature. The roots of the carnivorous trees had pushed aside the earth, creating a hollow to collect their digestive acids.
Too late, she understood. She stopped abruptly near a large parental tree, hands outstretched for balance, and looked back at him with new horror written on her face.
And she fell through.
No! He lunged for the ragged hole, stopping on the last sturdy root and coughing against the sulfurous stench that rose up from the torn spot. His gut wrenched. Reda!
Thenthank the godsa wrist-thick root near the edge of the hole shuddered and he heard a low cry of, Help me!
Im coming. Yanking off his sword belt, he jammed the leather-sheathed short sword into the huge trunk of the main borer, fisting it so hard that the blade sank in, leather and all. Then, hanging on to that anchor, he leaned out as far as he could without falling in himself. Which put him close enough to catch a glimpse of her wide, frightened eyes, but not close enough to grab her. Stretching out his hand, he strained to close the gap. Move slowly and dont shift your weight when you reach for my hand, he ordered, his voice rasping with the burn of the sulfur vapors. He couldnt see her face anymore, couldnt see anything but her hand reaching up for his. Slowly. Slowly.
The ground sagged and collapsed as the smaller roots gave way, tearing, tearing And then she screamed, lunged upward and grabbed his wrist as the rootwork around her fell away.
Dayn yanked her up and against him and propelled them both to the main trunk; then he spun them and pinned her against the tree with his body, in case she was still thinking about trying to run. Instead, she burrowed both hands beneath his jacket to wrap her arms around him and grab fistfuls of his sweater as she buried her face in his chest and clung, shaking.
And if things had been entirely wrong in his universe only a few moments earlier, now they suddenly seemed very, very right. She fit seamlessly against him and warmed him where he had been so cold. She was safe. She was unhurt. And she was in his arms.
Shes your guide, dumbass, snarled a very humansounding voice of reason. And youre supposed to be remembering your damn priorities.
But wasnt his guide a priority? He didnt know what role she was supposed to play in his journey, but was beginning to suspect it wasnt nearly as simple as merely showing him where to go. For now, though, it was enough that she hadnt left him stranded in the wolfyn realm, hadnt fallen to her death.
Shh, he said against her temple, letting the subtle flowers-and-spice scent of her curly hair fill him with a touch of the feminine whimsy he had gone so long without. Ive got you. Youre okay.
She sucked in a shuddering breath. But youre, youre
Not a threat to you, I promise. He pulled back far enough to give her an exaggerated smile that included only normal teeth. See? The spares are all tucked away. Im not going to bite you, and I cant turn you. The human legends have it wrong, Reda. I swear. Im just another kind of man.
She shrank back against the tree, though she didnt let go of his sweater. The woman. Moragh. She She shuddered, face plastered with revulsion. He couldnt pull away. He wanted to, but he couldnt. She was controlling him. And then, afterit was like she was inside his mind.
Damn it. He hesitated, trying to find the right words, because he suddenly wantedneededher to understand this part of him. He cursed the bad luck that shed seen the witch feeding from the throat in a brutal, invasive attack of mind and body rather than the way it should be, as an expression ofwell, love, really.
He blew out a breath. Blood drinking is an inherited trait like any other, but its magic, too, so it comes with various other, um, characteristics. Most of us are stronger and quicker than average. I can heal fast, especially when Im in fang mode. Some of us can move things without touching them, and lots of us can mindspeak to one degree or another.
Mindspeak, she repeated, eyes going white-rimmed. Brainwashing, you mean. Thats what she did to him.
What you saw just now was something that shouldnt have happened. A blood drinker normally feeds from the wrist or elsewhere, not the throat. There should only be throat action between consenting lovers, usually mates, because it creates a bond between them, makes them aware of each other on a different level. He paused. Yes, its possible for a mindspeaker to put a compulsion on someone when they drink from the throat, like you just saw. But its justnot done. There are codes. Ethics.
It galled him to find one of his kind allied with the Blood Sorcerer, and it disturbed him deeply that seeing her feed had brought out his fangs. That was partly due to how badly Reda had inflamed his senses, but that was no better. He shouldnt be thinking of her in those terms; he couldnt be. Hadnt he learned anything from his past mistakes?