Page 6 of Cruel Vampire King (Honeyblood Vampires #1)

Wickham Forest was not as large as one might think. Though the trees were wide around the trunk and taller than most buildings in the cities, they were relegated to a somewhat small parcel of land. The cedars, pines, and spruces that dominated the vegetation had spent so many centuries dropping their needles that it had turned the ground acidic, and this, along with the overlapping canopy, prevented a lot of undergrowth. The deeper we made our way into the forest, the less bushes we had to slog through.

The trees were big enough for a dragon to hide behind, but we came against nothing after that first fight. I could only imagine that our channels had low ratings.

We came to a lake unexpectedly. The terrain and vegetation hadn’t changed. There was no slope to indicate that we would be heading toward a bowl for water to collect, and no sign of the brush that was so thick on the edge of the forest where we started. I hadn’t even seen the lake through the trees. Just rounded a large oak and suddenly it was there.

“Whoa,” Thessa murmured, coming to a stop.

The six of us drew to a stop, staring out over the lake. It wasn’t mentioned on the map, but this was the heart of the forest. It was difficult to pinpoint exactly where the lake began and the ground started. It was all just a smooth transition. The light reflected off the still, smooth surface so perfectly that I at first thought it was a salt deposit, like the ones that were left in shallow pools near the ocean, after the water had all evaporated.

“You think it’s in there?” Ysara asked, frowning doubtfully.

“Unless we went in the wrong direction, and this isn’t the heart of the forest,” Kael answered. He picked up a stone and tossed it into the lake. The water swallowed it up with hardly a ripple.

Thessa backed away, shaking her head. “Still water. This is a dangerous place. We can’t go in there.”

“If the artifact is inside, what choice do we have?” Ysara snapped at her.

Greyson was watching me. I felt the prickle of his gaze, as though he was expecting me to do something. I ignored him as I studied the surface of the water. It wasn’t right. Even still, water would show more disturbance after a rock was thrown into it. I moved to the edge of the water and crouched near it. It seemed as though I was staring down into the deepest part of the lake. An illusion?

“Elara!” Thessa screamed.

My head jerked up, but it was too late. A flash of white crested over me as something sharp bit into my leg. Water hit my torso, and I gulped in a deep breath before I was under, being dragged away. The light from the surface grew dim, focusing into a tiny pinprick. I twisted, widening my eyes. The Selkie part of me allowed me to see as clearly under the water as I could above it. A mane of tangled seaweed flowed into my face, and I pushed it away.

A horse had my leg in its teeth, galloping on the water as though it was running on land as it dragged me deeper into the lake. Of course! A kelpie. That’s why the lake looked so still—it was an illusion. A spike of fear washed through me, begging me to take a breath. I sealed my nostrils, calling on my innate water abilities to keep myself still. The kelpie would keep dragging me until it thought I was dead.

Selkies have magic that allow them to breathe underwater. My distant selkie heritage didn’t allow that much resilience to the water, but it did give me extra lung capacity. I held my breath, letting the beast tire itself out. I wasn’t sure how long it was—five minutes, maybe—before it cantered to a stop, next to a large dome of sticks, bones, and mud.

Its lair.

The kelpie dropped my leg and stomped one heavy hoof onto my stomach, driving out half of my precious air. It hooked my clothes onto a branch and then sauntered off, probably to catch one of the others.

I waited until it disappeared into the gloom to make sure it wouldn’t come back. Twisting in the water, I groped along the branch until I found the spot where I’d been fastened to the lair. Fortunately, the kelpie hadn’t secured me with its slime or kelp. It was easy enough to free myself from the branch. From there, I pulled myself down the branch, closer to the pile of bones and sticks that was its lair. Kelpies weren’t hoarders by nature, not like a dragon, but if there was an artifact we had to recover, it would be here.

Had the vampires put the artifact in the lair, or had they given a sacrifice to the kelpie? Didn’t really matter. It was just like them to make us handle the dead to get their precious artifact, whatever it was.

My stomach ached from the kelpie’s kick, and my leg burned. Ribbons of blood started to seep out around me. My lungs grew uncomfortable as I shifted through the piles of bones. A glint of something caught my eye inside a skull as I tossed it away so I paddled closer. I turned the skull over to find a fist-sized pendant lodged in its brain cavity. Gotcha!

Tucking the skull beneath my shirt, I kicked for the surface. I cut through the water as my lungs started to burn. The sound of swirling water heralded a shadow passing over me. My heart stuttered. The kelpie!

It dove, a scream reverberating through the water. Its ears pinned back against its skull as it came for me. I twisted myself but wasn’t fast enough to avoid its thundering hooves. The sharp ends clipped my sides, and the kelpie lunged, biting for my neck. I grabbed hold of its ears, holding myself away from its ravenous, sharp teeth. It jerked me from side to side and rammed its head into my chest.

All the rest of my air exploded from me. One of my hands slipped free. It twisted itself from my other hand. It kicked me again, hard in the chest. I felt something crack. Then, its teeth clamped onto the side of my neck.

The surface seemed even more distant. Pain flashed over my vision, and I opened my mouth to scream. Water rushed into my lungs, and the flash came again, bright white against the darkness. Wasn’t I supposed to see my life in these flashes? The light switched from white to red, and the kelpie screamed. It wrapped itself around me and pulled me through the water. The light was getting brighter. Was this the tunnel of darkness that was death?

I wanted the light. So badly it hurt.

A rumbling sounded in the water next to me. I tore my eyes from the light to see an angel holding me. It must have stolen me from the kelpie at some point; I wasn’t sure when. A soft amber glow bathed his face. And with a ripple of shock, I realized who my angel was.

Luken.

My head broke the water. My lungs exploded, trying to expel the liquid in them. I choked, gasped, and clear air flooded into me. There was still too much water and I coughed, my whole body aching with the force of it. Luken’s arms were still around me as we floated toward the shore. No, not floated—he was swimming. I was clasped to his chest by strong arms as he kicked. I could feel his muscles moving through his torso and chest.

And despite the blood still seeping from my wounds and the deep ache in my chest that spoke to at least one broken rib, I was… safe. His body was warmer than the surrounding water. I held my face into the air and tried to kick, even though I couldn’t breathe. But the feeling that swept through me was safe and warm, and that was all that mattered.

I wasn’t sure if it was shock or if I blacked out a moment, but the next thing I knew, I was lying on the ground. My head tilted slightly as Luken pressed on my stomach and chest. I groaned and choked on the water as it spilled from me. He bent over me, pinching my nostrils shut, and sealed his mouth over mine. Warm breath eased into me, filling my lungs.

He started to pull away, and a spike of… something went through me. Don’t leave me . I reached out, catching his long, wet hair in my hands as I lifted my body to him. Pain made my vision go white, but I still found his mouth with mine. My lips moved with his as I slipped my tongue into his mouth, eager to taste him.

Some part of me wondered what the hell I was doing—but I didn’t care. This couldn’t be real. How could Luken have gotten to the lake? How could he have pulled me out?

So it wasn’t real. Which meant I didn’t have to act the way I knew I should.

Luken broke the kiss, cupping his head under my head. He chuckled, his amber eyes dark as he studied my face. “Easy, Elara. Not now. Not until you’re in your full mind.”

“Why did you do it?” I whispered. I was never going to ask him in reality—not about to give him the satisfaction of knowing how deeply he hurt me. But here and now, when he was just some figment of my dying brain? Why not ask? “Why did you kill them?”

“Kill who?” His brow quirked as he asked.

“My family.” I let out a shuddering, burning breath. “I was going to come to you. I’d decided to leave home. But before I could, you burned it to the ground.”

Luken’s eyes grew wide. His hand smoothed the hair from my face, his touch still warm in comparison to the air. The chill from the lake was setting deeper into me, my lungs aching and raw from their lack of air. Was being dead supposed to hurt this much? I didn’t think I was dead. If anything, I was caught in that moment between life and death. That must be why I was hallucinating Luken now. Because he’d been my obsession since the moment I saw him.

He was so beautiful. His skin glistened with water, emphasizing the golden tones. His amber eyes, so deep and expressive. He was stricken by my words. Figures that a hallucination would fall back into that golden king, that heroic figure I’d made him into when I first saw him.

“Is that really what you believe?” he asked, his voice low and pained. “You think I killed your family as vengeance because you told me no?”

I nodded, and the pain grew sharper in his eyes. His fingers brushed against my cheekbone, sending tingles in their wake.

“Why?” his voice remained low.

“Who else had a motive?” I answered. “Nobody had any reason to send those mercenaries after us. Only you. And they told me. They said you sent them.”

“They told you?” He frowned at me. “Did it not occur to you that they were lying?”

I laughed weakly. “Who else had reason to attack us?”

His eyes darkened again, but his brows drew closer together this time. It was anger rather than lust. “Who, indeed?”

He muttered something about the gods, but I couldn’t hear him clearly. The pain in my ribs was getting worse. Darkness swirled at the edges of my vision, and I blinked rapidly, trying to fight it back. My lungs were heavy, too heavy. More water had gotten in. Ah, that must be proof that I was still dying beneath the surface of the lake. I choked on the liquid in my lungs.

Luken’s hands moved on my body. They were rough and quick as he moved me to my side. I coughed and spluttered but couldn’t get my breath.

“Pulmonary edema,” he muttered.

I’d heard the term before. Dry drowning. After near-drowning, sometimes the lungs decided to simply fill with liquid and kill the person after they were saved. It was rare. More common among selkie-kin. A trueborn selkie could breathe with a lungful of water, unlike both humans and seals. It was part of their magic. Even a half-selkie didn’t have that same adaptation, but if they nearly drowned, some part of that distant magic would try to breathe through the water.

And so the lungs would fill and drown them. It happened far more rapidly than in other species. But I was still beneath the surface, wasn’t I?

A spike of panic washed through me. What was happening to me?

Luken’s hands pressed to either side of my face, making me look at him. “Elara, hold on. This isn’t the end.”

I stared at him, unable to do anything but think, This isn’t the end, repeating it on loop in my mind. He bit his finger, slashing through the skin with one elongated tooth. Propping my head back, he dripped two drops of blood into my mouth.

“This will heal the worst of your injuries,” he told me. “You’re not so close to death as to become a vampire. Don’t worry, Elara. You’re going to be okay.”

And that was when I knew. It was all real. How he’d gotten here, why he was here, I didn’t know. But the tangy blood hit my tongue and I knew. Pain burned through me as my bones knit together. Luken’s hand was still cupped behind my head. I couldn’t let it end like this. I couldn’t…

I reached out and grabbed his collar. I dragged him closer, whimpering with pain as I did so. “Luken…”

“It’s okay,” he whispered.

I growled, fighting the darkness. “I will never forgive you.”

He said something, but I was too deep in the well of pain and darkness to hear him. Cold crept over my body and I welcomed the bliss of unconsciousness.

***

“Elara! Elara, please!” Darcie’s hands were on me, shaking me. She sobbed. “Come back, please!”

Pain burned through me, followed by panic. No! No, I had already lived through this. I couldn’t go through that again. The months of recovery, my body stitching itself back together after the fire had burned away parts of me that could never be replaced. I’d already grieved my family and moved on.

I can’t go through that again.

“Elara?” Darcie asked hopefully.

I forced my eyes open. A pair of brown eyes stared back at me. But they weren’t my sister’s eyes. Thessa. I blinked in surprise and opened my mouth, but only a groan came out.

“You’re bleeding,” she told me. “Your leg. The kelpie…”

Kelpie? I closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, relaxing my body. Pain ached through me, but not as strong as after the fire. The sharp sting on my legs and the roughness of my lungs told me that I hadn’t hallucinated the kelpie attack. But afterward? With Luken? It was hazy and indistinct. Had I imagined it all?

I tested myself, moving slowly. He’d fed me his blood. It should have healed up all my injuries, but I was still in rough shape here. I managed to sit upright, and my head swirled. Thessa grabbed my shoulders, holding me steady.

“Don’t try to move. I think your ribs are bruised,” she said worriedly.

Luken was a vampire, not a wizard. The lights I’d seen—thought I’d seen—had looked like spells. Maybe the kelpie had brought in someone from another team, from another part of the lake? It couldn’t have been Luken. He had no reason to save me.

Right?

“Where are the others?” I asked, my voice rasping.

“Cooking the kelpie,” Thessa answered. “They said you’d drowned, but I couldn’t give up. We’re quite a ways from camp.”

I rubbed my eyes. “The kelpie is dead?”

Thessa nodded. “It floated to the surface with its throat torn out. We thought you must have done something somehow.”

I shivered but refused to think about the implications of this turn. Instead, I smoothed my hand down my shirt. The bulge of the skull I’d pulled from the kelpie lair sat at my hip. I pulled it from under my shirt and held it up in the air.

“Let’s get back to the others,” I said, ignoring Thessa’s questioning look. “It won’t be long before the other teams are told we have the artifact.”