Chapter 23
psychotic vampires
“Drat!” a thin, slightly effeminate male voice complained. “Why won’t it catch fire?” Annika rubbed her eyes and crawled out from the blanket where Talvi was still trying to sleep. The sun was still a long way off from setting on the horizon, and the rest of the world was quieting down. The samodivi and fairies were trying to light a fire to cook their first meal of the long day ahead of them, but Chivanni was having a hard time of it.
“I don’t want to use up all of our matches! At this rate, we won’t have any left,” he complained. Zaven and Finn were trying to help him, but with no luck.
“Go see if Nikola can help you,” Finn told Chivanni. “He ought to be good at this sort of thing.”
“He seems preoccupied,” the red-haired fairy retorted. Annika looked around the tree that Nikola had been sleeping under, but there was nobody there. All she saw were three wolves playing far off in the trees.
“Hey, where did that third wolf come from?” she asked no one in particular. Indeed there was a dark brown wolf with golden ears and legs, chasing the others and then being chased. He wasn’t as massive as the sentries, but he was leaner and faster.
“Nikola, come over and help us with the fire!” Finn called out to the wolves.
“Where is he?” Annika asked. “I don’t see him.”
“He’s right there,” Finn said, pointing in the direction of the wolves, but the only thing Annika could see was the third wolf loping over to them. He padded right up to the wood and leaned his nose down, staring intently on one spot. Within a few seconds there was a small flame crawling over the logs. The wolf stepped quite close to Annika and looked at her with his pale blue eyes, wagging his tail violently.
“Nikola, is that you?” she asked the animal. She recognized his pale eyes, so different from the other wolves’ normal shade of yellow. She reached out to scratch behind his ears against Talvi’s warning. He yawned and curled his long pink tongue, thumping his foot a little the harder she scratched. One of the other wolves gave a sharp bark and he ran back to join them in the trees.
“That was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen,” she said, feeling utterly mystified.
“You didn’t know that druids can shape-shift?” Finn laughed. “Oh, you modern people have so much to learn.”
The journey took exactly two weeks and two days, although it seemed much longer than Annika imagined it would. The novelty of traveling by horseback wore off after a few days, but she came to enjoy the slower pace. It allowed her to enjoy her surroundings, which were endless sweeping views of foothills and mountains, grassy valleys and rocky outcroppings. Every day they rose at sunrise, ate a hearty breakfast, and then rode along the old, well-worn trail that led to vampire territory. As for the vampires, sleeping during the night was next to impossible for them, and traveling during the day was taking its toll on their strength as well. Every night they disappeared into the woods while their wolves slept, and they didn’t return until after dawn.
It was the day before the group was to reach the Dark Horse that they stopped to camp not too far from a hot spring. All the girls woke up earlier than usual, and snuck off together to bathe in the pre-dawn darkness. After riding for over two weeks without a bath, the samodivi and Annika had no reservations about stripping down and sinking into the deliciously steamy water, but Yuri was acting unusually self-conscious.
“Come on, don’t be shy,” Runa urged as she ran a bar of soap under her breasts and then her arms. “It’s not as though there are any boys around! You’re missing out.”
“What are you waiting for?” Hilda asked, working suds into her scalp. “I’ll even wash your hair for you.”
“I’m fine, really,” Yuri insisted, turning her nose up at the enticing water.
“What if this is the last time we’re near a hot spring?” Runa asked her. “You’re going to regret it!” She splashed Yuri a little, but she refused to join them. All she did was put her hands in the water and wash her face.
“I just don’t feel like it,” she excused.
“Is there any place where he hasn’t bitten you?” Sariel asked. Yuri’s head snapped up and she glared at Sariel. “That’s the reason why you won’t let us see your skin, because you’re covered with bites, isn’t it?”
“No! That’s not it,” she scoffed, offended that Sariel would even mention that as the reason.
“Then why don’t you take a bath? We’ve seen you undressed plenty of times before,” Sariel insisted.
“I don’t have to justify my reasons to you!”
“Yuri, you’re starting to stink, so take a damn bath!” Sariel commanded. Yuri glared back at her before she walked silently to her grey mare, and rode back toward the campsite.
“She’s going to get herself into trouble,” Hilda sighed, shaking her head.
“She’s already in trouble,” Sariel denounced. “If she won’t even take a bath, it’s got to be bad.”
“Well you didn’t have to keep pressuring her,” Annika said to Sariel. “Maybe if you hadn’t put her on the defensive, she would’ve at least washed her greasy hair.”
Sariel seemed shocked that anyone might be so bold as to contradict anything she ever said. The other two nymphs listened in uncomfortable silence.
“You know Annika, you have been exceptionally full of yourself ever since Dragana gave you that thing,” she said. Annika’s hand reached up and protectively covered the amulet that lay on her chest. “Maybe it would do you some good to take it off for a while.”
“Nikola told me not to. He said it was meant for me.”
“Oh, well if Nikola said so…I wonder what else he has for you?” Sariel taunted. For a moment Annika was speechless. She kept waiting for the joke to reach its punch line, but none of the girls were smiling. “Oh don’t give me that look. I saw the way you acted around him that very first night of our trip. You were hanging on his every word. That silly look on your face completely gave you away. And right in front of Talvi. How can you treat him like that, after everything he’s done for you?” Sariel shook her head in disapproval.
“How can you even say that?” Annika cried out in disbelief. “Nikola was just explaining what my amulet meant, and it was interesting!”
“I’m certain it was fascinating,” Sariel smirked.
“I can’t believe I’m even hearing this! Runa, tell her she’s nuts!” But Runa and Hilda didn’t have any response. She and Hilda only looked down into the water. Annika felt something mean and ugly rise up from her gut and exit her mouth before she had time to think it through.
“You know Sariel, you can be a real bitch sometimes! I guess it didn’t bother me because you pretty much left me alone until just now. What’s your problem? You never have anything nice to say, and you wouldn’t know a good time if it sat on your face! What has the world done to you that makes you hate everything?” Annika was trembling with adrenaline as Sariel’s eyes flashed with rage.
“Girls, I believe we are done bathing,” Sariel announced, and immediately Hilda and Runa started to get out of the water. They looked ill.
“You don’t realize what you said,” Hilda whispered, getting out of the water and wringing out her hair.
“Oh, I know exactly what I said! And I don’t know what sort of rumors you’ve heard about American chicks or modern girls in general, but we’re actually capable of having friends with dicks without trying to get in their pants. Do you all think that if I talk to a guy for more than five minutes that I must want him to bone me?”
Hilda gave an unconvincing, skeptical shrug, and Runa twirled her hair absentmindedly, which only made Annika even more angry.
“Why didn’t you stick up for me when I asked you to?” she demanded. “I thought you were my friend, Runa. You know I’m not into Nikola…or anyone else for that matter,” she added, glaring at Hilda. Runa shrugged, but wouldn’t look her in the eye.
“I really don’t know what to think,??
? said the little nymph while Hilda crept out of the pool. “He seems to fancy you quite a bit, and you certainly don’t seem to mind.”
“Well then, fuck off!” Annika shouted. Runa waded to the edge of the pool and hoisted herself out of the water. She turned towards Annika as if to say something, but changed her mind and left with Hilda and Sariel, leaving Annika and the last horse all alone under the dim sky.
She sat for a long time, trying to understand what had caused the samodivi to turn their backs on her. Was it just a difference in the local customs, or were they unfamiliar with her American style of brash confidence and being a little too friendly? She’d lived enough places around the world to know how Americans were perceived; if every country were made up of dogs, they were the Golden Retrievers…some of them were smart and sweet, but there were an awful lot that were overbred and obnoxious. Annika sighed and looked at her fingers. They’d passed the puny stage and were almost beginning to hurt. She wasn’t looking forward to going back to camp, but it would be time for breakfast soon, so she slipped under the surface of the water for one last moment of warm and weightless serenity.
In an instant, a pair of hands strong and cold as steel grabbed her arms and held her underwater. She opened her eyes and they immediately began to burn. She pulled at the hands, at the arms, but they dug into her body too hard to wrench herself out of their grip. She kicked and thrashed, choking and losing what precious little air she had left. All she heard was her underwater screams. The cool hands yanked her out of the spring and dragged her over the jagged rocks and slippery grass. She sputtered and choked and kicked, trying to force the water out of her lungs so she could scream. Her back felt on fire as she realized it had been cut by the rocks near the pool. She felt her attacker position himself over her body, between her legs. She kicked against his hip bones the same way that she’d pushed Talvi off of her so easily, but this man would not budge. A gargled scream finally escaped as a searing hot pain punctured her neck close to her jaw, and she knew now that it was Vaj, coming back for her with a vengeance. It was a completely different experience this time; there was no soft swooning, no gradual fade to black. She was aware of everything around her; of the fear, the pain.
Annika was still gasping for air in the freezing cold when the body holding her down was abruptly thrown off of her. There was a swish of clothing and the sound of a boot making impact with a body, and then shouting in another language. Still choking, she rolled over to see that the pool of water she had just bathed in was now glowing bright orange with molten lava shooting up through the center. She saw a horned man slit Vaj’s throat with a large white knife and hurl him into the spring. The vampire flailed, his hair on fire, his hands and wrists had slowly burned off, but it looked like melting wax, not searing flesh. Blood dripped down what was left of his body before it was swallowed by the liquid fire. Within seconds, he was gone. All that remained was the sickening stink of burnt hair and flesh. The remaining figure raised his hand and slowly lowered it, and the pool returned to its dark color as the lava receded back into the belly of the earth.
Nikola was kneeling by her side before she could try to sit up. He rolled her onto her side and let her cough out the rest of the water.
“Are you alright?” he asked calmly, even though his face and shirt were sprayed with both Annika’s and Vaj’s blood. “Where does it hurt?”
“My neck…my back…” she sputtered between coughs. He put his hands on her hips and turned her over. She saw the spiraled horns bow down for a closer look. His warm breath falling on her skin in the cold morning air made her ache and tremble even more.
“It’s a bad scrape, but it could be worse,” he said and pulled her into his lap against his chest. He wrapped his cloak around them both, warming her cold wet skin with his body heat. He tore off a sleeve from his tunic and pressed it firmly against her neck to stop the bleeding. “You’re lucky that you didn’t lose much more blood.”
His voice had no anger or irritation, but she could feel his heart thumping in his chest through his damp shirt.
“Is he dead?” she whispered.
“Yes. That’s the last we’ll see of Vaj. Madrook never liked him much anyway.”
“Who’s Madrook?”
“Vaj’s sentry. The dark wolf with the red ears,” Nikola answered. “He was hoping that Konstantin was going to kill Vaj. Wait until he learns that it was me who did it instead. I suppose either way, he’ll be pleased.”
“How would you know what he…oh, I guess you talk to him in wolf, huh?”
“Something like that,” Nikola chuckled a little to himself. “It’s a good thing that you had this on. It could have been much worse,” he said, tapping the amulet that lay on her wet chest. He held her close, and they sat quietly for a while, until she had stopped shivering. She was soggy and bloody and didn’t want to expose herself to the cold air. He moved his hand to look at her neck, and wiped away the blood with his other crimson shirt sleeve.
“You’re going to be fine. We’ll have Hilda look at it when we get back to camp.”
“I don’t think she’s going to talk to me.”
“Why not? Isn’t she a healer?” His goatee tickled her when he spoke.
“We said some crappy things to each other,” she muttered.
“About what?”
“Sariel accused me of…something. And Hilda wouldn’t deny it.” Annika looked into his unnerving eyes and thought over the conversation she’d had only moments ago with the nymphs, and felt as if Nikola understood her thoughts like written words on a page. Rather than belittle their squabble, he only remained silent for a few moments before he spoke.
“Well you know, samodivi are just wood nymphs,” he said matter-of-factly. “They’re known to be quite fickle. Whatever was said, I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Besides, a healer is supposed to do no harm. It wouldn’t make much sense for her to not speak to you.” He took off his helmet and wiggled out of the cloak, retrieving her clothes that had lain on the ground untouched. He pulled the shirt over her head and put her arms through the sleeves carefully.
“Do you think you can stand? Do you have the strength?”
“I think so,” Annika said and let him help her up. He knelt in front of her, helping her step into the legs of her pants. She was dizzier than she realized, and shivering so violently that she fell, catching herself on his broad shoulders.
He stopped still, his head turning very slowly to look up at her face. She wasn’t sure if he knew how much emotional pain she was in, but every warm breath that fell to her thighs made it that much more unbearable. It was like fuel to the fire that burned inside, a fire that wanted nothing but to physically consume and be consumed by him at that very moment. Sariel’s teasing voice entered her head as she felt the blood rushing in her body.
“I wonder what else he said he had for you?”
“You have to finish getting dressed,” he told her in a low rumble. His pale blue eyes did not move from hers.
“I…I can’t move,” she shuddered. “Please, Nikola…” She gripped his shoulders a little tighter, wishing he would pull her just a little closer.
“Annika, you must get dressed,” he repeated. She quivered as he turned his face away from her and towards the source of her frustration. His warm hand slid up her calves and coaxed her knees apart before he resumed that exhilarating gaze into her eyes. She saw him take her by waist and turn her around, and then push her onto her hands and knees right there in the grass. She felt his hands grab onto both her hipbones and pull her backwards onto that white-hot spire of his, diving deeper and deeper into her body. Then she blinked, and realized she was still standing in front of him, clutching his shoulders. He parted his lips as if he were about to say something, but instead bit his lip and pulled her pants up the rest of the way, knotting the cord tight. He rose slowly and looked into her imploring eyes in silence. He led her over to where his elk had been standing, and stuck his warm helmet on her cold, wet hea
d. The great animal knelt down, and Nikola straddled him, pulling Annika to sit in front of him without a word. He held onto her carefully as the elk stood up and began walking back to the campsite. They rode for a long time in silence. Although her upper body was damp and warm under the furs, her damp toes felt frozen inside her shoes.
The physical handicap she had experienced had subsided enough that her thoughts began to make more sense. She had wanted Nikola at that moment more than anything else with an unparalleled hunger, but she didn’t understand why it was so overwhelming. She honestly had no interest in him until that instant.
“Nikola, I don’t know what came over me. I’m so sorry. I totally embarrassed myself back there,” Annika said, beginning to feel tremendous guilt.
“Don’t feel embarrassed. It will wear off after a while,” he reassured her.
“What will wear off?”
“The amulet…it’s just getting used to your energy levels. I didn’t think it would increase your…appetite quite that much,” he explained, stifled a laugh.
“What? Is that what you wouldn’t tell me the other night? That this thing turns you into a nymphomaniac?” she asked, wondering why Dragana would give her such a thing.
“It doesn’t make you experience any qualities that you don’t already possess,” he breathed quietly. “It intensifies your life force and other related traits. I thought that you might notice a slight change in that area in particular. Sex is the source of life, after all.”
“I don’t think I need to be wearing this thing,” Annika said with a skeptical frown. “It’s getting me into more trouble than I can handle.”
“No, it’s almost acclimated to your energy levels,” he observed. “I think the worst is over. The amulet only amplifies what’s there to begin with, utilizing all of your qualities to their fullest potential. For example, I’ve noticed that you’re already more sure of yourself, and it’s just a matter of time before you can see bits of the future or even read a few thoughts from those among the group. You’ll become more level-headed as well.”
“Are you saying I’m not?” she asked, raising an eyebrow at him.
“Now don’t go putting words into my mouth,” he said, but he couldn’t help smiling softly. “What I’m saying is that the yin and yang of it will make you feel more balanced. Just give it time.”
Annika took a few minutes to digest all of what he had told her, realizing that under normal circumstances she never would have been so forward with him. She waited a moment before concluding her interrogation.
“Can I ask you something else?”
“What is it?”
“Why didn’t you, you know, even though I wanted to?”
“Mmm…” He offered no words, as if he were thinking of a reason. Or perhaps there were too many reasons for him to choose just one.
“Is it because of Talvi?” she asked soberly. “Because I won’t tell him what happened.”
“Nothing happened to tell him about.”
“Something almost did.”
“But nothing did,” he asserted. “Nothing that’s worth mentioning.” They rode on for a while longer.
“Nikola, how did you know where I was?” she asked. “I should be dead.”
“No, you shouldn’t. It’s not your time. My grandmother said you are meant for bigger things, and I truly believe it.”
“But how did you know where to find me? How did you know I needed help?”
“I just knew. I have my ways,” was all he would reveal.