Page 12 of Cruel Vampire King (Honeyblood Vampires #1)

Marissa left me at the spring and gave me instructions on how to get back to camp. I washed the smell of vampires and soap off my face and hands, then rubbed a bit of dirt in my hair to disguise the oils left in it. My body ached, exhausted from the long trek and the equally long night. I stumbled back to camp just as dawn’s rosy arms started to reach across the sky. Great. Another punishing day lay ahead of me.

Frustration clawed at my chest. I was frustrated that I was still disappointed, that there was this sharp pain in my chest when I thought of how Luken had looked at me when he told me I wasn’t worth changing the rules of the Blood Trials, just this once.

“Hey,” I called as I entered camp.

Thessa sprang to her feet. “Elara! Where were you? We were so worried.”

I gave her a stiff smile, then glanced at Greyson. So he’d returned during the night. “I woke up last night, and Greyson wasn’t around. I went looking for him and found a spring. Got turned around, though, and had to wait for the light to make my way back.”

Ysara turned to Greyson. “Where’d you go?”

His expression didn’t change, still looking vaguely amused. With a shrug, he tied his hair back behind his head. “Must have when I had to take that massive shit.”

“Gross!” Ysara wrinkled her nose. “I thought elves were supposed to be elegant and glamorous.”

“Guess that’s why they kicked me out,” he quipped.

Ysara laughed and the moment of suspicion passed. We had nothing left to pack, so we were all ready to get moving quickly. I led the way back toward the spring, hoping nobody would question me too deeply on the events of last night. I was so tired I might end up spilling more than I should. I doubted they’d look kindly on me if they knew I’d been at a party last night.

We emerged to the small clearing to find…

My heart seized. A half-dozen elves stood at the edges of the spring. They were all armed with swords, wearing black armor, though none of them wore helmets. My mind flashed to the mercenaries four years that burned down the inn. I hadn’t seen their faces that night but I knew this armor. Blood rushed in my ears. He’d sent them after me again. Why? Was he going to have them drag me back to the palace after sending me back here? Or were they here to kill me this time?

“What—?” Thess started, sounding bewildered.

The elves sprang at us without a word. Greyson grabbed my arm and dragged me back as a sword slashed through the air where I stood. Thessa was not so lucky. She screamed as a blade cut through her chest. Blood splattered through the air and she fell as though she was in slow motion. The elf laughed.

Laughed.

All sound cut out. I didn’t feel anger or fear. As I moved forward, the world seemed to stand utterly still, muffled and distant. I was hardly aware of what I was doing as I clubbed the elf over the head with my staff. His brains sprayed every which way. Ysara tore the throat out of another one as I whirled and smashed my staff into the face of a second elf. His bones cracked and broke as I drove the staff through his head. Another elf came at my other side, and I ripped the staff free, twisting myself away from the sword. I smashed his hand crushed his throat.

Greyson danced out of the clearing, dueling with another of the elves. I snatched up a fallen knife and plunged it through the eye of the elf I was fighting. Greyson caught a blow to the shoulder, but Ysara leaped on that elf’s back and snapped his neck.

Greyson had the left one. I spun on my heel in time to see him emerge again. My grip tightened on my staff as my gaze raked over his blood-stained clothes. Elf. Elves killed my family. I wanted to kill them all. Destroy them. But Greyson was innocent. Not one of the mercenaries. My muscles tensed all the same. My heart felt torn open, bleeding. Kill them all.

No. He’s innocent. I can’t kill innocent people.

I sucked in a noisy breath, and the sounds of the forest came rushing back. Kael groaned as he clutched his shoulder. My heart raced, blood rushing in my ears. Greyson stared at me with a startled expression. Did he realize the urge I’d had for that split second? The scent of blood filled my nostrils. For a second, I wished I was a vampire, so I could feed and get stronger and go after Luken. The real villain. The one who sent them after me—twice now.

A whimper caught my attention. I turned toward the first elf I’d killed, but he wasn’t the one making the noise. Thessa’s chest rose and fell rapidly as blood stained her shirt.

Alive.

She was alive!

“Thessa!” I screamed. I flung my staff aside and dove to her side. Her eyes were wide, her face bloodless as she stared up at me.

“Elara,” she whispered.

I ripped off my shirt and turned it to the cleanest part to press against the bleeding gash across her chest. I had to stop the bleeding. I couldn’t tell how deep it was or if it needed stitches. Right now, I just needed to put pressure on it, stop her from bleeding out right now.

“Is it…?” Kael murmured from somewhere behind me.

“These elves… they don’t look like other combatants,” Greyson said.

Greyson.

I twisted, finding him quickly. “You can heal her!”

Greyson jumped. His cool, dark gaze met mine, and his jaw tightened. My heart sped. No! No, he wasn’t going to tell me no.

“Heal her,” I begged. “Heal her.”

“I don’t have much left in my stores,” he said. “I won’t be able to do enough.”

“Try.”

Greyson’s expression hardened.

I snarled under my breath and grabbed a knife. “Try, or I swear by my blood, I will kill you right now.”

Ysara and Kael lingered nearby, but they didn’t say anything. Only watched. Greyson heaved out a sigh and came to kneel next to me. His eyes never left my face as he shoved aside my shirt and laid his hand on Thessa’s chest.

“Give me your hand,” he ordered roughly. “If you want this, I’ll be using your energy.”

My energy? I put my hand in his without question. I didn’t know how magic worked but if this was what he said he needed, I wasn’t going to argue. He closed his eyes and I gasped. Fire swept through my veins, followed by ice. My limbs grew heavy as I sagged over Thessa. Her eyes widened even further and her mouth opened in a silent scream as her back bowed.

“Stop it!” Ysara yelled, suddenly yanking Greyson away from both of us. “Stop!”

Greyson shrugged her off. “Tell Elara that. She’s the one that threatened to kill me.”

I ignored them, gasping as I checked Thessa’s injury. It was still oozing, but not bleeding so profusely. Her eyes had rolled to the back of her head and her jaw hung slack. She was breathing, though barely. I pressed my shirt back into place. It was so dirty. I was going to infect her wound. The bleeding had slowed—I needed to clean the wound now.

“It’s cruel,” Kael murmured.

I shuffled toward the spring but his heavy hand came onto my shoulder, stopping me.

“Elara. It’s better to let this kill her quickly. She’d rather die than have to kill any of us. You know that. You’ve seen the way she’s wept. It’s cruel to make her hold on when the colosseum is the only thing that’s waiting for her.” Kael’s voice was low, soothing, and full of hurt.

Unwillingly, I looked up to his face. Tears rolled down his cheeks. For all his hulking figure and heavy, boarish jaw, he looked small and vulnerable. Hurting as much as I was. He wasn’t a warrior. Like Thessa, he’d been forced into the Trials. Bitterly, I wondered how many of the people watching us were taking bets on what I was about to do. How hard was Luken laughing? Was he pleased with my torment or was he angry that his mercenaries hadn’t killed me?

“No,” I whispered. “No, I can’t accept that. There has to be another way. Those fucking vampires have caused enough pain… he has caused me enough pain.” I searched the forest, not even certain what I was looking for until my gaze fell on some flowering bushes nearby. “We need yarrow. I’ll build a fire and… and find a way to boil water. I’ll clean her wounds. We need yarrow and willow and… honey, if you can find it.”

My voice rasped with every word.

Ysara crept forward, eyeing me warily the way you would a wild animal. “It would be better to—”

“I’m not giving up. I’ll do anything. Do you understand me?” I threw my head back and screamed at the sky. “I hate you but I’ll do anything !”

“Fuck’s sake,” Kael yelped, pulling back from me. “You challenging the gods now?”

I laughed as tears burned my eyes. No. I wasn’t going to cry. I’d cried my last tear four years ago. Crying did nothing. Action. I had to keep busy. If they weren’t going to help me, I’d just do it myself. I’d survived on my own already. Nobody cared about me. I was alone in this, and that was fine. I could at least rely on myself.

I dunked my shirt in the spring and began frantically scrubbing the dirt off it. Then I left it in place and darted around the clearing and gathered the dry branches and tinder I needed to start a fire. Soon, the first flames started to lick against the brown grasses. I blew on it, urging the flames higher. I didn’t look up until a splash caught my attention.

Kael had finished scrubbing out my shirt and laid it on a rock to dry out. I gave him a tentative smile but he didn’t return it. His eyes were shadowed, as though he wasn’t sure we were doing the right thing.

“She’ll have to be kept warm,” he said as he removed his own shirt. “I’ll go look for that yarrow.”

“Honey will be more useful,” I interjected quickly.

He frowned at me.

“Honey has natural antibiotic properties. Greyson mostly stopped the bleeding already, and that’s what yarrow is good for,” I explained.

Greyson and Ysara, in the meantime, had ransacked the elf bodies.

“I’ll take these fuckers away so we don’t draw in predators,” Ysara said.

Greyson hefted one of the elf spears. “I’m going to go hunting. Who’s got the map?”

Kael nodded at Thessa.

Greyson grunted. “Good, then. Let’s leave it here.”

He turned, then paused as his gaze sought me out. I ignored him as I continued to build the fire. I didn’t want to look at any of them. Ysara started to drag the bodies out. Kael helped with the first one, but didn’t come back for the second. Greyson, after staring at me for too long, left, too. I tore my shirt into strips and hung them close to the fire before putting rocks in among the coals.

I kept one aside and used it to clean Thessa’s injury. It had stopped bleeding, thank the gods. Her face was still ashen, as pale as a corpse. She was still breathing, though.

Next, I found a fallen cedar and hacked through the bark until I could feel a thick section off it. It was curved, not very deep, but would work well enough. I brought this back and rinsed it thoroughly, then filled the hollow with water and put the fire-rocks into the water, and placed new rocks in the fire.

By this time, the strips of cloth were dry so I dressed Thessa’s injury.

“You shouldn’t put river rocks into the fire. They have a higher chance to explode,” Thessa murmured, not opening her eyes.

My heart skipped a beat. I smoothed her hair from her face. “Hey. Are you waking up?”

Thessa cracked one eye open and gave me a feeble smile. “Wish I wasn’t.”

“You’re going to be okay. I promise, you’re going to be okay. Greyson healed you and—”

“Elara.” She reached out with a shaky hand and grabbed my sleeve.

My words died in my throat as I gazed at her solemn brown eyes. And it was then that I realized I was more innocent than I’d let myself realize. I talked myself into believing that being a virgin was the only pure thing left at me. But it wasn’t true. There was a part of my heart that was still innocent and kind. I hadn’t even known it existed until now.

“I don’t want you to die,” I whispered. A single tear ran down my cheek. I would never have been able to kill her in the colosseum.

I needed to protect her. I needed to look out for her, defend her. It wasn’t fair! I didn’t want to care about her. I wanted to be able to focus on a single-minded mission. But this stupid heart of mine had other ideas. My lips trembled, and I bit them hard. Please, Luken. Please don’t do this to me. I will be yours. I will let you possess me if you’ll just…

“I thought I heard them in the night,” Thessa whispered. “I heard someone talking. You were gone, and I thought… I thought…”

She trailed off as though it was too horrible to say. But in those clear brown eyes of hers, I saw something. She knew something. Something that sparked a deep betrayal. She stared at me as though she knew that when she needed me, I was off kissing Luken. Even now, there had to be something more I could do, but I wasn’t saying the words out loud.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

Her eyes fluttered shut. I leaned in, a sob catching in my throat. Her skin was icy to the touch. But she took a laborious breath. She was still holding on. And I needed to warm her up. She was right about the rocks I’d put in the fire—they might explode. So I plucked them out of the fire and rolled them away, then carefully moved Thessa closer to the flames.

She was still sleeping, so I hunted further from the spring for rocks that would be safer. These I brought back and continued to heat the water until it was lukewarm. I tipped a waterskin into her mouth, hoping the warmer water would help fight off any chills.

With that done, there wasn’t much left to do other than wait for the others to come back and keep heating the water. I searched close to the spring but found nothing that could help. There were no fish in the water, either.

Hours passed.

Ysara finished dragging the bodies away, then disappeared without explanation.

More hours passed. Dusk began to fall.

What if there were more elf mercenaries in the forest? What if the others had already been killed? What if Luken was just waiting for Thessa to die to name me the default winner?

Thessa remained cold, so I gathered vegetation from around the spring and built up a small wall against her, on the other side from the fire. Then, I hacked a few branches off the trees with the swords that the elves left. I used these to build a lean-to that would reflect the heat back at her. Thessa moaned a few times but didn’t wake up.

When it was well and truly dark, I checked her injuries. The bindings were wet with blood, but it hadn’t soaked too deeply. Good. The bleeding had stopped at last.

As I moved the scrap of cloth near her collar, a glint of metal flashed. I paused, brushing Thessa’s cut shirt just a little out of the way. A small pendant hung on a sturdy leather strap around her neck. The pendant was in the shape of a heart, with tiny seals edging the outside. The image of a piece of seaweed bent over itself in the middle of the heart, making the letter ‘D.’

***

Darcie’s fingers were cold in my hand as we stood with the rest of our siblings. We were dressed in somber colors. The wind brought the sharp scent of frost to mingle with the salt of the sea. We were lined up on the beach, facing the ocean. The waves rocked a small, closed boat that was tethered to the docks.

“Is Grandma going to come back after she’s finished her trip?” Darcie’s high, curious voice rang out.

“Hush,” Anna snapped at her, tears glistening in her eyes.

I put an arm around Darcie. All she was told was that we had to see Grandma off. Not that Grandma was gone. Dead. That the boat was her coffin, and once it was far from the shore, it would disappear into the water and return Grandma to the ocean where her selkie ancestors came from.

Darcie sighed as she fiddled with her necklace. It was the last thing Grandma gave to her. A heart-shaped pendant with the letter D on it. “It’s for both of us,” Grandma had told her. “My name is Darcie, too.”

“No, it’s not,” Darcie argued. “Your name is Grandma!”

I held my sister closer, pressing my face into her hair. I didn’t want to be the one to explain to her that Grandma wasn’t coming back. We watched the boat float from shore, magically born against the currents and waves to head back to the sea.

Darcie’s little hand closed over the pendant. Her eyes grew distant, and I thought, Maybe she does understand after all.

***

The small pendant was just bigger than my thumbnail. But it felt as though it weighed a hundred pounds as I stared at Thessa.