A Taste for Blood (The Godhunter, Book 6) (31 page)

I stared at his shaking shoulders, the whitened hands, pressed too tightly to his face, and I huffed an angry breath. I paced in front of him, listening to his sobs and watching his body tense. I sat in a chair at the table and waited for it to stop. It didn't. He just kept crying like a fucking five-year-old. It was pathetic.

“Oh crap,” I groaned and went over to sit beside him. “Fine then, have it your way,” I put an arm around his shoulders and he instantly grabbed me, pulling me into his lap and laying his head in the nook my neck made where it met my collarbone.

“
Forgive me,” he moaned. “Forgive me, Vervain.”

“
Oh fuck,” I growled. “Alright, already. I forgive you, you idiot.”

“
Don't go,” he sniffed and nuzzled my neck and damn if it didn't feel good. “I promise I'll never hurt you again. I'll try to love you, whatever you want.”

“
There's one big problem though, tough guy,” I stroked the hair back from his face and he looked up at me. “I think I love someone else.”

“
No,” his eyes focused intently on mine and I felt something shimmer inside me, glossing over a little part of me. “There is no one but I. You and I, do you understand?”

“
Yep,” I blinked and swayed.

He caught me, laying me down in the bed beneath him. I stared up into his beautiful and frightening face, soaking in the affection that was growing there, wiping away the tears from his cheeks, and wondering how we'd ended up in bed.

Chapter Forty-Five

I was walking on stone floors the color of dried blood, the walls around me, the same stone with shiny pieces of metal embedded in it. I'd left behind the plush carpets of the main halls long ago and now found my path angling steadily downward. The further down I went, the more metal there seemed to be in the stone, and I stopped to run my hand over the smooth bits occasionally. I had a vague sense that I shouldn't be there, shouldn't be down so low in the belly of the castle, but I wanted to see the whole of this place I was living in. I couldn't be comfortable without knowing what I was sleeping above.

So I wandered further down, even though the torches in the wall brackets had thinned and I had finally been forced to take one down from the wall and continue on with it held in my hand aloft. The doorways had petered off as well, leaving me nothing else to explore but this lonely corridor, and I was intent on discovering where it led.

Finally, it opened into a cave. Not a cave like the one serving as the castle entrance, this was a true cave, wide and deep. One last wall bracket marked the end of the corridor wall and I placed my torch in it. The cave had its own light source and I wouldn't be needing the fairy fire. I stepped hesitantly forward.

There was a river of lava running sluggishly down one side of the huge cavern. It was bright red with little bits of yellow, no crusting of the surface, like on the moat of magma before the castle. It lit up the dark fairly well, though there were quite a few shadowed areas that  wouldn't give up their secrets.

What I could see was a wide expanse of space broken up only with bits of polished stalagmite. There were holes carved into those natural statues, and items were stuffed into them. I couldn't really see what they were, so I ventured forward.

The floor was uneven but smooth, my soft slippers crept over it easily, the train of my dress flowing without a single snag. I could feel the heat from the river but it was strangely comforting and I was drawn closer to its warmth.

The first stalagmite came within reach and I was able to see that the items stuffed in the crevices were odd little bits of things. A tuft of feather, a smooth white stone, a bit of cloth, a piece of shattered mirror. Treasures a child might stow away. I reached forward and brushed a fingertip against a pale feather in confusion. Whose treasures were these?

A soft sound startled me and drew my attention upwards, where I searched through the darkness warily. I could see up a ways by the light of the lava but the sheer walls continued further beyond and I had a sense that it coned upward for hundreds of feet. My attention was so focused on the ceiling, I'd forgotten all about the rest of the cave and I had little warning of the thing that was approaching me.

I did finally hear a scratching, which alerted me to its presence and pulled my head down to survey the ground level once more. I found it quickly, it was easy to spot, not because of its proximity to me but because of its girth.

I inhaled sharply but controlled my urge to run. I had a feeling that running would be a bad idea where this thing was concerned, an encouragement. It may be massive but all those tentacles looked as if they had quite a reach on them and it wouldn't have to move very far or very fast to catch me with one of them. An image flashed in my head, of it above me, riding a sparkling fog as it chased me through the forest. Yes, it liked to chase things.

So I held still and waited.

It spoke, said something in a language I didn't understand, with a voice like breaking rock.

“I don't speak your language,” I said with a remarkably steady voice. “I don't understand.”

“
Ennnnglisssh?” It rumbled, the stalks of its numerous eyes bobbing in what I took to be curiosity or maybe surprise. “You speak the language of men? What do you want, female human, and how did you get heerree??”

“
I live here,” I lifted my chin, instinct telling me this creature would respect courage. “I am a guest of King Arach.”

A grating sound started and then turned into a cacophony of tumbling stones. I think it was laughing at me. Its red skin bubbled, its mouth opening to expose rows of jagged teeth, and its body sort of expanded, tentacles reaching wide in an aggressive display that my eyes shied away from. There was something so nightmarish about this creature, I couldn't fully examine it without feeling my mind start to slip. I had to glimpse it in bits and pieces, focus on one aspect at a time to keep from screaming.

Then something brushed my shoulder and I flinched back, my head jerking up to take in the new threat from above. My throat constricted on a scream, not because I was in control but because I had none. My body was convulsing in denial, unable to make a sound beyond a small whimper of terror.

I backed slowly away, toward the entrance, but a scraping sound behind me warned that the way was already blocked. A quick glance showed me a third horror filling up the doorway. I stopped and began to shake, my eyes jumping from the front, to above, to behind, over and over again.

The monster above me was clicking its chitinous legs together as it hung like a spider and regarded me with four large, goitrous eyes. Viscous fluid leaked out of the hole that must have been its mouth, dripping to the floor around me with hissing pops. My breathing was coming so fast, I could see the front of my dress fluttering.

Behind me, hissing sounds erupted from the numerous sphincters riddling the poisonous yellow head of the creature who guarded the exit. Out of the corner of my eye I could see its four ruminant limbs, out of place on an otherwise aquatic figure. Its hooves sparked when they hit the floor, eliciting gleeful responses from its friends.

Then a tentacle touched me and I lost my damn mind.

Fire erupted from my mouth as I screamed in rage. My fingernails had already shifted, though I'd been too terrified to notice earlier, and the flames reflected off their beautiful black lengths as they singed the cephalopod-like creature, chasing him back toward the shadows he'd emerged from.

“Cease!” Tittered the thing above my head, now quite a few feet further up from me. “You should have said you were one of us, sister. Why have you invaded our sanctuary to play these games with us?”

I shuddered a gasp, the fire abruptly dying, and stared about me in shock. I knew I had new abilities I needed to learn to control but I had no idea I could be so volatile without training. Or that I could be so cruel without knowledge.

I had wandered around a foreign place without doing my homework or even speaking to someone who knew the terrain first. I'd just nosed about, with a sense of entitlement and I'd stumbled into a dangerous situation that could have ended with death, either mine or one of those innocent beings.

Yes, innocent. I'd seen their visages and instantly labeled them monstrous, knowing full well that monsters came in every shape and size. Appearance had nothing to do with what lurked in the soul. I had barged into their domain and then had the nerve to judge them for trying to protect it.

“Please forgive me,” I said softly. “I was curious about the castle and invaded your home without meaning to. I wasn't trying to play games with you, this was just a misunderstanding. I'm new to my fey nature. I mean you no harm.”

“
New to nature?” The half land, half water creature near the door, tapped his way over to me warily. “You are of the dragon's blood, yes? How could your nature be new?”

“
It was hidden in my humanity,” I shrugged. “I'm unique I guess.”

“
Unique,” the thing above me lowered itself to the ground, balancing perfectly on the tips of its long, jointed, black legs. It had more legs than I could count and it made an echoing clicking when it moved forward, all the tips hitting the stone like an impatient diva drumming her nails. “We are all unique. You are truly one of us. Be welcome in our home, sister. All is forgiven.”

A warmth filled my chest, having nothing to do with fire breath and everything to do with acceptance. I had misjudged them, tried to harm them, and yet they forgave me with the ease of a four-year-old and with as little guile. They welcomed me and named me family.

I had a flash of a face, covered in scars. Someone who had also believed himself to be monstrous. Someone I loved. My heart made an instant connection between these beings and the elusive someone, my love magic flying up in response, and I lifted my hands again toward the creatures. This time with a completely different purpose. 

“
Thank you,” I smiled as I felt the butterflies of my magic leave my body and fly out to touch each of the beings. I was instantly comfortable, their appearances no longer threatening my sanity. “In return for your acceptance, I offer you a blessing.” I had no idea where the words came from but they weren't mine. Something spoke through me. “You are found worthy by Love and so love shall find you. May your hearts be filled with it and may you walk in happiness for all the days of your lives.”

“
My lady,” they whispered, all three of them lowering themselves to the ground.

I touched them without reservation, the slick exoskeleton, the slimy skin, and the dry rubbery hide all feeling normal to me somehow. Then the shadows came alive, as I knew they were already, and more of the creatures, my family, crept forward.

“Sister, give us your blessing too,” they called. “We who hide here in the dark, whom even our own kind look away from in disgust, can we truly be blessed by love?”

My magic blossomed within me and for the first time in days, I felt like I knew who I was. This was me, here was my purpose, to go into the dark and instead of being afraid of it, to embrace it, know it, accept it, and teach it to accept itself. The darkness may be full of teeth and claws but it also feels pain, knows loneliness, and bleeds just as I do.

“You have love within you already,” I went among them all, holding out my arms to them and welcoming their touch. “You love the feel of teeth in flesh, the taste of blood and death,” again the voice was speaking through me and I realized suddenly that it knew just what to say to these beings. Knew how to be what they needed, for love is different with each of us, especially the fey. “The rapid beating of a heart, the scent of fear on the breeze.”

They pressed in close to me, sighing and rubbing themselves against me like wolves. Wolves? Where had that thought come from? No matter, that's what they surrounded me like, a pack of animals, a family unit. I spread the magic over them, setting it free to do its job, and I felt my power multiplying, strengthening, because that's how love works. The more you give of it, the more you have.

“You love each other,” I continued, “you've shown me that love freely with your quick acceptance. It's already here, I simply awaken it, and open your eyes to it. Lift your heads, for you are magnificent, and know that you are deserving of this blessing.”

A hand crept over my shoulder, just a regular human shaped hand, and its normalcy shocked me out of my communion. I turned to look at the interloper and found Arach standing behind me, tears streaking his handsome face. His subjects pressed in around us, basking in the glow of my magic, as he took my face in his hands and kissed me gently.

He pulled away and looked around us with a shaky smile. “I didn't know you hid yourselves here out of shame. I'm the one who should feel ashamed, to have left you down here in darkness, thinking you were happy, when all the while you've felt the sting of rejection. You are fire fey!” He suddenly shouted, flinging his hands out to them. “You are wondrous, beautiful creatures of magic and you have no need to hide. This is your home, we are your people, and I am your King, do not hide from me or any of us any longer. Roam freely, knowing you are wanted here and respected as some of the most fearsome fey in all of Faerie!”