Hannah's hand clenched on the door as she spotted the rope twisted around Calvin's hand. The rope dragged behind the horse and was tied around the hands of a boy about the age of ten. She didn't recognize the boy that stumbled and ran to keep up with the horse. Hannah took a step forward but stopped when someone grabbed hold of her hand.
"Hannah don't," Uncle Abe warned in a low voice.
She stared at her uncle's weathered face; his brown eyes were troubled as they took in the scene outside. His salt and pepper hair had been recently cut short, but it still curled around his ears. Her gaze drifted back to the young boy as Calvin arrived at the stage where the stocks were set up.
"He's just a boy Uncle Abe," she whispered.
"You're already on Calvin's radar Hannah; don't put yourself into the bulls-eye."
She knew that he was right but she couldn't stand the thought of the young boy being beaten and locked into those stocks for hours, if not days. Calvin may have been in charge here for the past four hundred years, his brutality may have even changed after the war last year, but she couldn't stand by and watch this happen. Even if it meant that she had to speak with him, even if it meant that he started to pay more attention to her.
She shuddered at the thought. The young boy released a frightened cry; he tripped over the step and fell to the ground as he was pulled up the steps of the stage. Even beneath the layer of dirt coating him, she could count every one of his ribs as they stood out beneath his skin. She couldn't simply stand here and watch the boy get beaten, nor could she close the door and pretend that nothing was wrong with this picture. She'd forced herself to turn a blind eye to this sort of thing when it involved adult men and women, but she couldn't do that to a child.
"It will be ok Uncle Abe; I'm just going to talk to him."
"Hannah…"
She squeezed the soft, wrinkled hand on her shoulder before stepping out the door. A small crowd had already gathered, but most of them were Calvin's men, eager for blood and despair. The disapproving mutters of a few of the people drifted over her but she knew they were all too terrified of incurring Calvin's wrath to say anything. Though she was apprehensive of drawing more of Calvin's attention to her, it wasn't his wrath she was worried about. He'd begun to make his romantic intentions toward her abundantly clear when she'd reached maturity last year at the age of twenty-two.
From the wooden stores and houses lining the road, she saw curtains parting as vampires and humans peered out. Hannah could feel her courage waning as she moved through the mass of Calvin's men gathered around the stocks. What am I doing? She pondered as she anxiously twisted her hands within the skirt of her faded blue dress. She was about to turn around and retreat to the relatively peaceful world of her family's tavern when the boy began to cry.
She'd never considered herself overly brave, she'd never been one for confrontation or one who tried to get noticed, but she'd never been a coward either. No matter how badly she would like to slink back into her world of relative obscurity, she knew she simply couldn't leave that child behind. Straightening her shoulders, she stopped at the edge of the stage.
She had no idea how Calvin was going to react to what she was about to say or do. He might just kill the boy. It may be an illegal action now, but aside from a few of the king's soldiers that had passed through town over the past year, there was no one to really enforce the new laws. She didn't know why Calvin had chosen to obey the new king's laws after the war, but she suspected it was because he feared he might be turned in if he continued his old ways. Hannah had witnessed far too many men and women put to death over the years for crimes that hadn't warranted such an action. Calvin wouldn't have been able to keep up that kind of punishment without the risk of someone finally taking a stand against him now that they had a fairer king ruling the land.
"Calvin." She was ashamed her voice barely carried past the men pressing against her.
Kane, Calvin's second in command, turned to scowl down at her. His nose was twisted to the side from breaks so numerous that even though he was a vampire, his nose had started to heal crooked. A jagged scar ran from his close cropped brown hairline, down to his right ear before reaching his chin and curling toward his thin lips.
He turned away from her to speak to his boss. "Calvin, there's a lady here that would like to speak with you!"
Hannah forced herself not to jump at Kane's bellow but she did move aside when he stepped closer to her. She had to fight the urge to rub at the place on her arm that Kane had brushed against. Calvin glowered at his friend over being interrupted; then his eyes slid to her and his handsome face split into a large grin that made her feel like turning around and running as fast as she could in the other direction.
Calvin's boots resounded on the wooden stage as he strode toward her. His hand was still wrapped in the collar of the boy's shirt as he hauled the child across the stage with him. The boy's rolling blue eyes met hers as his nostrils flared and tears streamed down his face. His straggly hair appeared to be brown but she suspected that a good bath would reveal it to be blonder. She'd suspected the boy was human before she'd reached the stage, but the scent of the blood coming from a cut on his forehead confirmed her suspicions. She may be dead center on Calvin's radar now but looking at the terrified boy she knew that she'd made the right choice.
"Hannah, what are you doing here?" Calvin asked jovially as he knelt before her.
She had to force her gaze away from the boy to meet Calvin's strange golden eyes. "I uh…" she had to ponder her words for a minute before continuing. "I came to talk to you about the child."
"This?" Calvin said and thrust the boy toward her.
This let out a muffled cry as his shirt cut into his throat and his eyes bulged from his head. "You're hurting him!" Hannah cried before she could stop herself. She reached toward the child but Calvin was already jerking him away again.
"You have such a tender heart Hannah, that's one of the things I like best about you."
She would have thought it was what he disliked most about her. The fact that he'd said those words made her as distrustful as a mouse standing before a snake. It took all she had not to take a step away from him but the last thing she wanted was for him to know that she was scared of him. "He's just a child Calvin."
"He was caught stealing bread from the bakery."
Looking at him Hannah could understand why as the child pleadingly stared at her with eyes made larger by his thin face. "He's starving; he just needs a good meal."
"And you'd be willing to give him one?"
"Of course I would."
"And what of me Hannah?" he said in a tone of voice that made her realize the snake had just cornered the mouse. "If I was to say…" he thoughtfully tapped his finger against his chin but she suspected he already knew what he was going to say. "Lower his sentence to only a night in the stocks, instead of two, would you be willing to spend some time with me?"
She'd rather run naked through the center of town but she wasn't about to voice that little detail. "Yes," she managed to choke out though her body and mind protested the simple word.
"Tomorrow night?"
"I have to work," she blurted before she could think.
"I know you're a hard worker but if I were to stop by I'm sure you could find some time to spend with me."
The boy's fingers grabbed at the collar of his shirt as he dangled within Calvin's grasp. "I'm sure I could too." She felt as if she was sliding down the snake's throat but it was too late to stop it.
"It's a date then." His smile revealed perfect white teeth and extended fangs that seemed to be a permanent fixture on him, though most other vampires kept them retracted until they had to be used. "You should say thank you boy. This beautiful lady just spared you some discomfort."
He thrust the boy toward her again. His tears had left clean tracks through the dirt covering his face but he managed a smile that revealed a missing side baby tooth. He'd been through a lot in his young life and she felt
tears burning in her eyes as she met his frightened blue ones again.
"Thank you miss," he choked out.
"You're very welcome," she told him honestly. "Can I bring him some food?" she asked Calvin.
He pulled the boy away as a sly smile spread across Calvin's face. "That might require more than a date." A chill spread into her belly but she kept hold of his gaze as he leaned forward and tapped his boney finger against his cheek. It took all she had not to sneer in disgust. She was fairly certain he would kill the boy and throw her in the stocks if she did allow her revulsion to show though. "That would actually require a kiss."
Her gaze slid to the boy, whose eyes had filled with joy at the mere mention of food. She could do this, she knew she could. Steeling herself, she leaned forward to press a kiss on Calvin's cheek. It was cool beneath her lips; the stubble lining it was rough, it should have felt like any other cheek she'd kissed but she felt like she was kissing a cockroach. She quickly pulled away from him and just barely stopped herself from wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.
"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Calvin asked in a taunting voice.
"No," she whispered.
His hawk-like eyes studied her, he leaned so close that his lips brushed against hers when he spoke. A clammy feeling came over her skin; her stomach did a strange flip flop the likes of which she'd never experienced before. She was half afraid she was going to vomit. "Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to get a real kiss out of you."
There is no coming back from this, she realized. There was no returning to obscurity, no more hiding within the shadows whenever he entered the tavern. She'd just launched herself straight into the line of fire. "Go on now Hannah, get this poor boy some food."
She glanced at the boy before turning and hurrying into the crowd. Instead of having to shove her way through it, they all stepped aside to let her pass now. She was acutely aware of their stares following her to the tavern. Uncle Abe was waiting for her by the door as she practically tripped up the steps in her rush to get out of sight, if only for a minute.
The familiar scents of wood burning in the fireplace, pipe smoke, ale, and meat cooking in the kitchen washed over her. Some may have found the mix of these scents unpleasant, but to her they were the comforting scents of home. "What happened?" Uncle Abe demanded.
Hannah shook her head; she could barely meet his soulful brown eyes as she hurried through the tavern. She spotted her friend Ellen on the stage in the corner, Ellen's flute was in hand but her attention was riveted upon Hannah. Her cousin Lucas was in the kitchen serving up bowls of stew when Hannah entered. His hand dropped as he turned his russet brown eyes on her. Luckily he hadn't inherited Uncle Abe's aging defect and had stopped aging when he'd attained maturity three years ago. Uncle Abe had been sixty-two before he had finally stopped aging, her father hadn't stopped until he was fifty-five. At twenty-five Lucas still looked as if he was twenty-two, but though he had been spared his father's defect he was still as defective as she was.
"What did you do Hannah?" he demanded.
She shook her head at him. They'd been inseparable since children, but right now she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. It wasn't only her that Calvin might come after in order to get his way. "I did what I had to do Lucas."
She grabbed one of the bowls of stew and a loaf of bread. Steam drifted up from the bowl, but she was used to carrying them, and barely felt the heat of it against her hand. Lucas seized hold of her arm before she could turn away. A strand of brown hair fell into one of his eyes as he leaned toward her. The bridge of his nose was thin and well defined; his full lips were compressed into a thin line. Though his broad shoulders blocked out the rest of the kitchen, he was slender due to the fact that he never stood still. Even now, one of his feet was tapping against the wooden floor. The only time he ever stopped moving was when he was sleeping and she suspected that even then he never stayed still for more than a minute at a time.
There were few times in her life that she could recall him actually looking displeased with her. This was one of those times as he glared at her. "Calvin is not someone to mess with Hannah. You can't handle a man like him. He's not one of us, what he can do to us…"
"I know what he can do to us Lucas. I also know that boy probably wouldn't have survived two nights in the stocks."
He shook his head as he released her arm. "Maybe not, but you're not prepared for what Calvin is looking for from you either, and there's nowhere for us to run, not us."
She was struggling to find words as he handed her a spoon. "I know that."
The annoyance faded from his face as he leaned away from her. "If Calvin becomes too overbearing with you we'll figure something out."
"I don't want you to get involved Lucas."
He glanced at her as he stirred the massive pot of stew before him and tapped his fingers on the counter. "I didn't want you getting involved either, but it's too late for that now." He placed his hand on her back and nudged her toward the door. "Take that boy some stew."
Hannah nodded numbly; she left the tavern again and returned to the stage. Most of the crowd had dispersed but Calvin was still holding the boy by the back of his neck as he spoke with Kane. Calvin's eyes followed her as she stepped onto the stage and walked over to them. "Don't touch her," he ordered the boy gruffly.
Hannah glanced at Calvin as she handed the bowl and bread to the child. He showed no concern for the roof of his mouth, or his tongue, as he dropped the spoon and drank the stew directly from the bowl.
"Easy, you'll make yourself sick." He glanced at her over the top of the bowl and reluctantly pulled it away from his mouth. "What's your name?"
"Heath," he answered around a mouthful of bread.
"Did you see where I just came from Heath?" He nodded as he crammed another bite of bread into his mouth. "Tomorrow, when you get out of the stocks, go to that building. If you're willing to work we'll give you some food and a place to stay."
"Oh yes ma'am, I'll work very hard for you ma'am," he said eagerly.
Hannah smiled at him and squeezed his upper arm. Sadness crept through her as her hand completely enveloped his bicep. She'd seen stray dogs with more meat on their bones than this boy. The boy stopped chewing, his mouth parted on a breath as his gaze fell to her hand. She quickly removed her hand when Calvin approached them.
"Tomorrow then," she said.
"Time is up." Calvin jerked the boy back by his shirt. Hannah snagged the bowl out of the air as Heath's startled fingers released it. "You're lucky that didn't break," Calvin barked at the boy before focusing on her. A smug smile spread over his face. "I look forward to tomorrow Hannah."
She dreaded it more than she would dread going without blood for a week, but she still forced a smile to her face that felt false even to her. "Tomorrow," she said and retreated to the safety of the tavern.
- CHAPTER 2 -
Jack stomped his feet on the wooden porch before opening the screen door and then the heavy wooden door. He was really hoping this tavern had rooms for the night, his ass was sore from being in the saddle for hours on end and he could use a good night of sleep. They'd traveled longer than he had planned today, but the few towns in between this mountain area, and the coast they had left, had already had his brother's men in them and were well under control.
They'd come across the last occupied town a little before noon today. He hadn't expected it to take hours before they would find another town, but the farther they had gone the more mountainous and less populated the rocky terrain had become. The sun had set over an hour ago, he'd been about to call an end to their ride and camp outside for the night, when they'd finally come across this remote town. They'd dropped the horses off at a stable down the road and walked to the tavern. He could hear William's stomach rumbling, and all he really craved were a few drinks and a chance to relax for awhile before retreating to a bed.
Servers rushed about the room, patrons were engrossed in their drinks and games of chance. The
comforting sounds of laughter, teasing and groans washed over him, along with the pulse of blood through human veins, and the familiar hushed stillness that accompanied those he recognized as vampire. At least this town is mingling well together, he thought as he searched for somewhere to sit. He spotted a couple of chairs at a table near the back of the large, open room. He began to weave his way through the crowd toward them with William on his heels.
From somewhere near the wooden stairs that led to the second story, an enticing song being played on a flute began to drift through the smoky room. He shrugged out of the bow and quiver on his back and placed them on the floor before settling on the empty seat. Jack cocked his head to the side as he closed his eyes and savored in the enchanting melody filling the room. It had been almost a year since he'd heard the haunting notes of a flute; he hadn't realized how much he'd missed it. William's dark auburn hair gleamed in the flickering candlelight as his sky colored eyes searched for the source of the sound. Jack picked up on the subtle slowing of heartbeats as the song calmed those gathered around him.
The sweet music drifted away, the spell it had woven over the crowd broke as everyone seemed to shake themselves before returning to their activities. A pretty blond woman came by to take their order. Jack leaned back in his chair; he stretched his long legs before him. He rubbed at his thighs as he tried to loosen up his muscles. It felt good to be out of the saddle and even if things did appear relatively calm in this town, he thought they might spend a few days here just to take a break.
He nodded a thank you to the woman when she returned with their drinks. A loud shout from his right drew his attention to the large fireplace with a fire smoldering low in the hearth. Six men had been playing a game of cards; there was a fair sized pot gathered within the center of the table. One of the men slammed his hand onto the table and rose up out of his chair. Spittle flew from his mouth as his face turned beet red.