EVERYTHING WAS GRAY AND SQUISHY.
I couldn’t see very well at all. There were just vaguely darker shapes among the fuzzy gray.
I could hear shouting.
There was a lot of it.
My throat hurt.
Not swallowing-hurt, but actual pain.
My own eyes stared back at me.
The sound of a horse took over the shouting, and it felt like I was floating. But a moment after, there were strong arms around me.
“Hang on, Kimber, please…”
I didn’t know if there was anything to hold on to, but I didn’t want to let go.
Not yet.
Galloping. It was breakneck speed. I could feel the wind.
I passed out again.
Galloping. Jostling. Moving.
I guessed time had passed.
I opened my eyes, but the gray had become darker.
Was I dying or had the sun set?
There was so much pain that I didn’t even feel it this time.
My own eyes.
An echo in the blood he forced on me.
He shouldn’t have taken my blood. He shouldn’t have made me take his.
The sun was probably setting.
I refused to let go without seeing my men again. I wouldn’t leave them alone.
A scream ripped from me again. The pain must have cut through again, but I didn’t feel anything.
Time became as fluid as motion. I didn’t know if I was moving, if I was on a horse, if I was stuck in time. I knew the gray was getting dark, and it was harder to tell the difference between the shapes and the fading light.
“Kimber, please…”
“Aiko, she’s dying. It’s only her magic that’s keeping her alive right now.”
“What do we do?”
“Give her your blood.”
A scream filled the air, again.
My scream.
No blood.
I swore the wind itself whispered in my ear.
“You’ll die without it.”
The man who could have been my father.
“He ruined her for this. She’ll never take it. No matter how much she needs to.”
“Please, Kimber.”
Stay alive.
I had to stay alive. Roran told me so.
A shadow moved in my vision, moving closer. I was afraid for a moment.
Cool pine.
Not the man who was my father.
The man who saved me from him.
Aiko.
My lips were cracked. The air was thick and scraped my ruined throat as I tried to breathe. “Bloo…”
“Only from me, Kimber.” Aiko. Again.
“Alive…”
“Yes, it will keep you alive. Just like your man said. Stay alive.”
Roran. Rilen. Dorian.
“Aiko…”
“Kimber.”
“Save me.”
The distinct smell of copper and pine assailed me.
I didn’t know which smelled better.
The soft skin of a wrist pressed to my lips and a warm liquid coated my tongue. I pressed my tongue to the roof of my mouth and pushed the liquid down my throat.
Pure white lightning flashed through me.
This was more than sexual pleasure, climax. It was a binding, a sensation of finding right. Of being comforted.
After it flashed away, I wrapped my lips around the life-giving wound.
And I pulled.
The warm copper, oddly sweet, flooded my mouth and I swallowed, again, again, again…
Sheer, unadulterated pain ripped through my entire body—but it wasn’t a cruel pain. It was a pain that opened.
It opened doors I didn’t know were shut inside me. It tore down walls I didn’t know had been built. It ripped through diaphanous curtains that kept the light from the darkest corners.
It opened my magic.
I swallowed the blood, again, again…
This time, the pain was not as intense, but now it healed. My tired muscles, my straining lungs. It stitched my skin and knitted muscles. It closed wounds and smoothed the jagged edges of the scars.
I swallowed one last time and released the source of power for my magic.
Sweeping a tongue over the wound, taking a last taste, I immediately passed out.
* * *
I shot up in bed.
That was potentially one of the worst things I had done in a while.
Flopping back to the bed, I realized too late that was also potentially one of the worst things I had done in a while.
I groaned.
And then I remembered.
Everything.
My hand flew to my neck, only to find it completely healed. No mangled flesh, not even a hint of a scar.
I pushed myself up to sitting, slowly this time.
“Please, be careful.”
Turning to the voice, I found Odom sitting in the chair, book in lap. His eyes were fixed on me for the moment.
“Where…” I tried to speak. It was raw and painful.
Closing the book and standing from the chair, he poured me a glass of water. Offering it, he also gave me a benevolent smile. “We’re beyond the Burnt Woods, safely deep within our rock sanctuary.”
“Aiko…”
“He’s out on patrol. He’ll be back soon.”
I sipped the water. “What happened?”
“Savion lost his goddamn mind and gnawed through your throat like a dog through a bone.” Odom sat down in his chair again. “He made you take his blood, and he took yours. What he should have done was die, struck down by magic. He attacked the Breaker and nearly killed you.
“But Aiko tore out of there with you, and Billan distracted Savion.”
I frowned. “Billan is dead?”
Odom nodded. “Yes. Savion beheaded him.”
“He was going to take mine…” I took a deep breath and let it out as slowly as I could. “He is my father.”
Odom stared at the pitcher on the nightstand for a long moment. “I don’t know how it’s possible, but yes. You are the only known druid-vampire child.”
“In three thousand years.”
He nodded. “In longer than.”
“Go on, what else happened? It was all gray and foggy for me from the moment he decided to make an actual snack of my neck.”
“Aiko rushed out of the building with you, and your sword and his, and stole a horse—”
“We went through the…the Arch of Life.”
“You did.”
I pursed my lips. “Aiko was obscured by an iruki bird.”
Odom lifted his eyebrows. “Auspicious.”
“What did he see for me?”
He smirked. “I’ll let Aiko tell you later.” I harrumphed, but Odom chuckled and continued on. “He stole a horse, and hoisted you on and rode that poor beast all the way to the practice field, where he grabbed a fresh one and rode on again.” Odom grabbed my hand. “I don’t know how you didn’t die on that horse. I don’t know…”
“Because Roran told me to stay alive,” I answered. “Because I have people who love me, and I need to see them again.” I smirked. “It wouldn’t do for the Bright Sword to die on the back of the horse, would it?”
Shaking his head, Odom laughed lightly. “He rode all the way here in a day. He wouldn’t stop until he got you here. And it was only when he got you here that we figured out…” His voice trailed away.
I finished for him. “I’m half vampire.”
“And you needed blood.”
“I figured that out, too,” I whispered. “Somewhere in the mess that was my mind, I realized.” I stared at the sheets in front of me. “I asked Aiko…”
“And he was more than willing, child. More than. He treasures you. That you gave him your blood to preserve his strength the other day meant the world to him, and he was happy to help you.”
I looked up at him. “I didn’t hurt Aiko, did I?”
“Not even close,” Odom smiled. He took my hand. “There are things you should know, Kimber. You and Aiko—”
“General, I’ll explain it.” Aiko strode into the room, looking wild-eyed and wild-haired. He was not happy, and I shrank back on the bed, away from him.
My fault…
I felt so weak still, and unsure of what was going on. I didn’t like it. I had found a new side of me, a confident side, and this mousy naïve person who had just reared her ugly head was unwelcome.
Aiko turned to me. “I am not angry at you, siqinira. I just want to be the one to explain it to you.” He sat at the foot of the bed and waited.
Odom stared at Aiko, mouth open in shock. Aiko cocked his head and stared back.
A moment went by, and Odom suddenly stood. “Oh, right. Sorry.” He scurried out of the room and shut the door behind him.
Aiko forced a smile on his face. “How do you feel, Kimber?”
“Like I had my neck chewed away and nearly died.”
He tried not to give into the real smile, but it won in the end. “So you’re not upset?”
“I’m confused, Aiko. That’s all.” I scooted down the bed and put a hand on his knee. “Thank you for letting me have your blood. I don’t really understand what’s going on, but—”
“You are half vampire. The hideout’s doctor said so. He checked your blood, and you have all the markers of a vampire. He pulled out an old book and found that you have all the druid markers too.”
“I shouldn’t be here,” I said, twisting my lip. “I shouldn’t exist.”
“Technically, no, you shouldn’t.”
“But I do.”
“Assuredly, you do.”
I pulled at the covers. “Why did I suddenly sprout fangs?”
“As best we can figure, when Savion tasted you after forcing his blood down your throat, it… activated the vampire half of your biology.”
“So I need blood from now on.”
“Kimber, you’re a giant mystery. We have no idea. I’m going to assume yes, you will need blood from now on. But I don’t know how much, how often or from whom.”
“From…” I frowned. “Wait, there’s a limit on where it comes from?”
“Sometimes.” He folded and unfolded his hands a few times. “There are stories that in another place and another time, it was possible for us to make vampires out of those who weren’t. Those vampires always needed blood from their mate, their maker to keep them strong.”
“Dear Sweet Mother of the Savior of S’Kir, do not tell me that I need Savion’s blood for the rest of my life.” I felt my stomach lurch.
“No, no. You were still dying even after you had his blood.”
“So yours?”
He lowered his eyes.
“But I wasn’t made.”
“But you were awakened, so we don’t know the rules.” He glanced up. “No one does. You’re unique.”
I laughed. “I grew up as the daughter of the Keepers of the Rest, with no high aspirations, no crazy adventures, and no lofty goals. Now…”
There was a small silence, and I couldn’t keep my hand from my miraculously scar-free neck.
“How are you feeling?”
“Alive.”
He tipped his head. “You’re taking this awfully well.”
“I’m…not. It hasn’t set in yet. Give me a few days; I’m sure I’ll break down in hysterics.” I pulled the sheet close and looked at him. “Also helping is that we’re not in the damn stronghold anymore, and I assume I can actually walk around without running into one of his pet torture projects?”
Nodding, he answered with a smile. “Of course.”
“Good, go. I have to pee.”
* * *
More than anything else, I wanted to go back to the temple.
I wanted to go home.
At the very same time, I was terrified. For three thousand years, the vampires were an unknown. Then, for the two weeks after the Spine fell, we thought them our enemy.
The truth was somewhere in between, and I had to make sure that the druids knew that.
More important, it was vital they knew that Savion was completely mad.
I wanted the twins to hold me. Then make love to me. Then hold me again.
I wanted…
No. I needed Dorian to throw me on all fours again and take me from behind.
I wanted my druid life back.
There was little chance of that anymore.
“We have to get you out of here,” Odom explained at the strategy meeting two nights later. “Holding you here just makes the rebels a target, and Savion has already killed one of our allies.”
“Billan,” I said.
“The most recent only,” said one of the rebel leaders. Somehow, I thought his name was Valius. “Don’t heap this on the Breaker’s shoulders. She’s just his latest victim.”
“Be that as it may,” Odom continued, “we need to get her away.”
“What are the options?” I asked, leaning forward.
Valius leaned forward. “The last of the ideas is the Southern Gate. It’s a smooth sail around now that the Spine is gone, but it’s also a full four days ride from here. Maybe more, and the trains aren’t an option.
“Another idea is you can go back over the scar. But the whole thing is lit up with patrols on this side now. It would be a challenge.
“The last is to sail around the Northern Tail. It’s the safest and the closest. We could get you back to West S’Kir in just a few days. We have allies in Winter Keep that will get you on a boat to… well, our maps call it Cold Bay Port.”
“North Landing,” I corrected. “What’s wrong with that route?”
Odom looked at Aiko and Valius and sighed. “There are only small boats with sails. No one we can afford to send with you in Winter Keep knows how to sail anymore. We don’t have time to get someone up from the south.”
Valius unrolled a map and picked up a pointer. “So, we think we’re going to have to go over the Scar—”
I held up a hand. “I sail.”
Every head in the room turned to me, most agape at my pronouncement.
“You… sail?” Valius was openly shocked.
“I sailed with my parents for nearly forty years. I started learning when I was seven. I still have a boat.”
“Why… would you sail?”
“It was recreational. We did it for fun. They taught me everything about crewing it and sailing solo.” I paused. “My parents died in the water, because of a rogue wave and discarded fishing nets.”
“You…really know how to sail?” Aiko cocked his head.
“Absolutely.”
Valius rolled up his map. “You’ll leave tomorrow morning for Winter Keep. I will send a message tonight to have a sturdy boat ready and stocked for you.” He narrowed his eyes. “You’re sure about this?”
“Forty years, Commander,” I smiled. “Through some of the most treacherous straits in the Western Sea. I’m sure. And capable.”
Odom turned to Aiko. “You’ll go with her?”
He nodded. “I have to. And maybe she can teach me to sail? We can use that skill.”
I pulled Aiko to the side after we figured out all the plans to get to North Landing. “Aiko, I don’t want you to feel obligated to go with me.”
Shaking his head. “We don’t know if you can just have anyone’s blood. I’d rather the Breaker not die on my watch. You also don’t know how to judge how long you can go without. Every vampire is different, and we all learn from birth to figure out our interval.” He grinned. “If you think being angry-hungry is bad, wait until that first blood need hits you.”
I didn’t like the sound of that.