Page 57

KIAN

“…just rearrange the air here, I can…”

I stopped, now noticing the eyes of close to fifty vampyrs focused on me, and they did not look happy.

Surrounding them were their servaglios, who outnumbered the vampyrs at least three to one. Adding in the young boys scampering through the crowds, giggling and pointing behind me, there were probably close to two hundred people here.

I turned around to see what the children were laughing at, and saw the shifters standing at the entrance of their small village, glowering at what would be nothing to them.

They really did look like big, naked idiots.

The vampyr who’d shown himself grabbed my arm and led me away, hissing. “We haven’t decided yet, and you weren’t invited.”

“I’m sorry, I was just curious about the magic. I didn’t mean to break in.”

His brows furrowed and he huffed. “Well, perhaps it’s good you’ve managed to make it past the shield. We have some questions we’d like to ask without the shifters present.”

“Kian?”

Camden yelled. “Everything okay?”

“How can I let him hear me?” I asked.

The older vampyr held his hand loosely around his throat and spoke. “Your companion is safe.”

“Yeah, he better be,”

Camden grunted before settling down next to a tree. “You lay a single fang on his creepy-ass pale skin, and I’m killing everyone.”

His protectiveness struck a cord with me, and I poorly suppressed the small smile that sprouted on my lips. “Please ask me any questions you’d like.”

The vampyr gestured for me to follow him and led me through the crowd towards a town square. There was a long community table, roughly hewn from one large tree, in the center. Vampyrs with their servaglios and sons sat on benches, drinking and laughing. The teenager we’d followed, Paxe, sat with who I assumed must be his father, his face red from the stern scolding he was receiving. But the father then pat the boy on the cheek and gave him a smile.

A young boy, maybe around two or three, ran around the table and tripped, falling flat on his face and bursting into tears. A nearby fae female picked him up without a thought, cradling him while she continued her conversation with a male across from her, until another vampyr took him and wiped his tears.

Two vampyrs jokingly argued with a female, her laughter growing louder as she tried to prove her point, the females near her joining the discussion and backing her up until the whole group was gesticulating wildly and smiling.

Everyone looked so happy. Comfortable. Loving.

Several of the older, more important looking vampyrs ushered me towards the end of the table, where a few other females already sat. I expected they would likely get up for us but instead the males just moved around them, and then pointed to where I should take my spot.

“You look bewildered,”

said the female next to me.

I turned to her and shrugged. “I suppose I am. The vampyrs in our world don’t socialize like this, we tend to keep to ourselves.”

The vampyr across from me frowned. “That sounds quite lonely.”

“There are people in our world, humans, who don’t understand magic or vampyrs. They’ve made us out to be monsters, so we had to hide and blend in to protect ourselves,”

I explained.

The vampyr at the head of the table, the one who’d led me here, took a bite of a fruit and sighed. “Well, I think we can understand the need for that. I believe introductions are in order, then? I am Cavelli, the town’s leader. This is Elyndra, my Lunessa…”

The fae woman to my right with green-tinged skin and deer antlers nodded and smiled. Cavelli went down a few seats on each side, and then I cleared my throat. “And my name is Kian. As I explained to Cavelli earlier, I came here with a pack of alpha shifters from our world in order to take back their omega, the one from the prophecy. She is bonded to them.”

A vampyr named Zareilka spoke next. “We are all aware of the exodus of our two peoples to the other realm over the years. The king has hunted us both relentlessly, one for power and one for revenge. There are a number of refuges like this, hidden away in the mountains, but we don’t dare leave the safety of our shields for long.”

Small orbs of light like fireflies drifted lazily in the air around us, and a young boy set a bowl of a hot stew in front of me before scampering off.

I hadn’t wanted to admit how hungry I’d been, but I couldn’t stop myself from scooping hot spoonfuls in my mouth, burning my tongue in the process.

“Whoa, slow down there,”

Elyndra laughed. “There’s plenty more where that came from.”

I nodded sheepishly and took a sip of the wine that had been poured for me. “I’m sorry, it’s been a long journey, and we don’t know what foods are safe to eat here.”

A female across the table, Ravena, gave me a pitying, motherly look. “You poor thing, and traveling with a shifter pack as well. I’ve heard alphas are a difficult type, so I’m sure it hasn’t been pleasant.”

They had been at first, and I supposed it was for good reason considering what my people had tried to do to them. But now? “They’re all right. Smell a bit, though.”

A chorus of laughter broke out down the table, and a small hand patted me from behind. I turned around to see a young boy holding out a wooden elk in one hand and a small leather saddle in the other. “Can you fix my alderbeast?”

I felt the others’ eyes on me and I nodded, taking the items from the child. He then crawled up and sat on my lap, watching me as I worked.

He reminded me of my little brothers, and a wave of homesickness washed over me. I’d only been gone a day and a half at most, but it was starting to feel like much longer.

“Do you have any young ones of your own?”

Elyndra asked.

“No,”

I replied, with a shake of my head. “Aisha and Jasmin want to wait a bit.”

“And the rest of your servaglio?”

asked another vampyr, Jorvane.

“It’s just them. My father has a servaglio of six, but I can’t imagine dividing up my attention further than it already is. I love them both so much.”

I told them about how Aisha and I had met in college, and after feeling safe enough to reveal what I truly was and to introduce her to my world, I said I would be monogamous for her sake if that was what she wanted. I loved Aisha too much to risk losing her for the sake of my culture.

But when we graduated, she got a job that required a lot of travel, and I started becoming sick without regular feedings. So, she’d decided it was worth it to share me for my own health, especially since she was gone half the time anyway and would still have me all to herself when she was home.

We had a few disappointing rounds on all the apps, and then we finally found my second in Jasmin, a bartender at our favorite brewery.

Aisha and Jasmin weren’t interested in each other sexually, but they soon became best friends, to the point where I felt like the third wheel more often than not. I wouldn’t have it any other way, though. Their happiness meant everything to me.

Ravena put her hand on her chest and sighed. “That’s very touching. They sound like lucky females to have such a caring male.”

A vampyr named Druviano snorted. “Are you saying I don’t care for you, Valoretta, and Aldorina?”

She rolled her eyes. “I think the servaglio and I would agree you care so much we need a fourth to share the burden.”

Another burst of raucous laughter made its way down the table, with Druviano receiving lots of hearty back pats.

It was quite refreshing to see vampyrs interacting so casually with their servaglios. Most of the males I’d grown up with, like my father, kept their women on a tight leash, treating them more like slaves or pets than equals. I wondered if vampyrs had always been like this, and we’d simply lost this aspect of our culture after moving to Earth. Or had these vampyrs changed due to their need to live in secrecy?

In either case, I knew which society I preferred.

Cavelli held out his hands to calm the group and turned back towards me.

“Going back to your travel companions. How did you find them and decide to embark on this journey together? And what can you tell us of the omega?”

The child whose toy I’d fixed remained on my lap, galloping the creature along the table and imitating its noises quietly. “Well, it started when the omega was actually engaged to a vampyr…”

Shocked gasps sounded around me, and I launched into the story of how our two groups had become connected, ending with our current predicament.

“I see,”

Cavelli responded quietly, swirling his wine in his glass. “And what you seek from us is…?”

“Information. We don’t know anything about this world, despite it being our homeland. Its politics, culture, history, geography—nothing. Trying to get the omega back will require knowledge of those subjects and more. We also need shelter, some place safe to hide while we plan her extraction.”

Jorvane sucked in a quick breath between his teeth. “I’m sorry, but I believe this is a fool’s errand. Any attempt against the king is going to end in a brutal, merciless death. He’s more powerful than you realize, and with the twin wolves…”

“But Marlowe doesn’t want to fight with him,”

I interrupted.

Cavelli reached out and placed his hand on my arm, squeezing it gently. “The alpha brother does, though, and he is the strong one. The omega’s heart may be in the right place, but the king can find ways to subdue her and force her to do his bidding.”

Our group fell silent, and I tried to find the words to convince them to help us, to understand our cause. “If the king succeeds, though…”

“It is a risk for you and the pack to stay here, as there are other alphas who can follow their scents. What we can do is teach you our cloaking magic. Bring it back to your realm and protect your people. That is all we are willing to offer.”

Anger and disappointment boiled in my chest. I took out my phone and opened up a game my brothers liked, handing it to the child. “Why don’t you show this to your friends?”

His eyes lit up in wonder and he quickly hopped off, squealing in delight as his pudgy little fingers began pounding on the screen.

Then I stood up, leaning against the table with my hands as I addressed the group.

“Please. I’m not asking you to fight our battle, just to let us rest here for the night and answer our questions, maybe give or draw us a map if possible. Let us learn as much as we can about what we’re up against. Because we’re still going to try, no matter what.”

Elyndra tilted her head towards Cavelli. “One night couldn’t hurt, right?”

He looked down the table, at all the vampyrs and their families, and sighed. “One night.”