“Do you dream?” I asked while we waited for the hors d'œuvre.
The restaurant was overly fancy, just how Tanis liked them, and if I wouldn’t have changed into an ungodly expensive dress, thrall and a huge tip would have been involved to get a table.
Tanis smiled warmly at me. “Yes, I dream of you often. I dreamt of you the night we first met and every night since.”
For some reason, that made me feel giddy but upset at the same time.
“Do you dream of stuff other than me?” I clarified for his amusement.
“Yes,” he admitted. “The few human memories I have retained are merely those remembered from dreams. Me first horse,” he said and I chuckled so he tossed a dinner roll at me, and of course, I threw it back at him. “This is a nice restaurant, Duckie,” he scolded.
Hypocrite.
I pouted my bottom lip out and absently caressed the backs of my fingers along the plunging neckline of the dress and it effectively stole his attention.
“You truly are a demon,” he commented then licked his lips.
“But I’m your demon,” I teasingly reminded him.
He sighed. “Yes, I suppose you are.”
That wasn’t the response I was hoping for and my face dropped and I folded my hands together in my lap.
“I remember that me biological mum had silver eyes that were comparable to liquid silver, and me father’s eyes were the exact same color as d’Artagnan’s,” Tanis continued, his eyes moving over my face as he spoke. “Our youngest sibling was four when she died, her name was Daniela; she had freckles and used to snort when she laughed and had a missing front tooth from the time she fell climbing a tree with Georgiana when she was two. At least, that is what I remember from me dreams. Is it accurate? I do not know. I have never bothered to confirm any of it with me siblings. However, as of late, me dreams have been of you and only you…why the face?” he asked, turning serious.
Damn it! I hate not having a poker face.
“Well,” I said, then chewed on my lip.
“Talk to me, Duckie,” he pleaded, offering me his hand.
“Damn it,” I huffed, weaving my fingers through his. “Lately you’ve been having nightmares or something…you’ve been restless and talking in your sleep. And now that you said you only dream of me, I can’t even begin to imagine the nightmares I’ve been plaguing you with. That’s all.”
Tanis forced a smile. “You are a waking dream, one I never imaged I would hold in me arms when awake, however, losing you is me biggest fear, thus it is a nightmare.”
Nervous, I fiddled with my necklace. “I’m sorry,” I apologized.
“Do not ever apologize to me for anything,” he scolded. “What have you been dreaming of now?” he asked as the waitress covered the top of the table with plates of food.
If I wouldn’t have been so damn hungry, I would have asked him to take me home so I could talk to my mom; I missed my parents. Staying with Tanis and his family had been amusing, interesting, slightly awkward, and they were apparently stalking us, but I chalked it up to merely being a bored vampire thing.
“I miss my parents,” I admitted before shoving something that looked like bear shit my mouth. “What in the hell is this?” I asked with my mouth full.
Tanis cocked an eyebrow. “Goat cheese stuffed mushrooms with bread crumbs…do not dare spit that out in a napkin,” he warned.
I swallowed it and made a face at him before shoving another in my mouth; they were actually pretty damn good.
“I’m still trying to figure out the dreams,” I started to explain between bites of food; obviously my lack of table manners failed to impress the vampire watching me with a strange look on his face. “The first time it happened was when your brother pulled me off of the bottom of the Pacific. Then again after we had sex…you and I, not Douche bag and I,” I clarified when his mouth fell open with a popping sound. “And again when I phased and passed out before you broke in and found me. The waking one was at the fair…that was the only one that I was actually on my feet for.”
He nodded. “They started when I met you,” he surmised.
I shrugged and chugged my glass of wine—how he got me to drink wine again I would never know—and wiped my mouth off with a napkin. “They started when I first met you. I don’t know if that’s coincidental or not. I’m leaning towards not. I think, that possibly, it has to do with turning eighteen and something possibly, dying for twenty-minutes could have done it, triggered them. Honestly, Tanis,” I said, sounding ridiculously aspirated, “it feels as if I’m completely insane and that my mind is finally snapping now that I don’t want it to. I just got you and… Damn it. You’ve had to deal with enough crazy people, including your siblings and wife, for centuries. You don’t need another, this one a young werewolf, complicating your life even more with her apparent newly found insanity.”
He continued to give me that strange look which I had been getting a lot from him since I sentenced three werewolves to death.
“Okay then, thanks,” I mumbled and started to get up.
“Sit,” Tanis said, motioning back towards my seat so I slumped down in it and pouted. “Nutter or not, Duckie, I will still love you. I have waited centuries to hold you, love you, to be loved by you, and I simply will not allow anything, not even severe lunacy, to take that away from me.”
I hated it when he was morbidly romantic.
“Then why the weird look?” I mumbled, pushing my plate away.
“It is nothing,” he assured me. “What does it feel like when you have these dreams?”
I was sure he was trying to pacify me, or size me up for a straightjacket, but I really needed to talk to someone about it, and since I couldn’t talk to my parents at the moment because they were trying to smooth over my handed down death sentence with the southwestern Washington pack that was demanding my head on a spit, and Jarvis had class and I was stressing him out more and more with each late night call, Yahto was being a dick to me for some reason, Cain was always dancing...Tanis was all I had left.
“It’s like I’m there but I’m not,” I admitted while I examining one of the unappealing stuffed mushrooms. “I’m watching everything as it happens, and I can seemingly feel what everyone else is feeling, I know what they are thinking, and I know the background story, to a point, if that makes sense. It’s almost like watching a movie that I’m emotionally tied to…” I looked up at him. “I sound completely insane, don’t I?”
“Not at all, Duckie.”
For some reason, I wasn’t believing him.
“Tanis, why do you keep dreaming of me dying?” I asked pointblank, changing the subject, and his eyes widened. “Please don’t insult my intelligence by denying it,” I whispered when he opened his mouth so he quickly closed it; I was right. “Why is your family always watching me? Why is my pack keeping a perimeter when I hunt? Why did you steal that hidden photo from my house...I found it between the couch cushions when you were showering.”
Tanis sighed. “This is not the place to discuss it.”
I motioned for the waitress. “Check,” I said, never taking my eyes off of the vampire across from me.
Once we were on the road, nearly to his house, Tanis broke the silence.
“Duckie, you are not having dreams, you are remembering your past.”
I snorted. “Whatever,” I scoffed. “If you aren’t going to take this seriously, you can just take me home.”
“I am not joshing,” he assured me.
“Dude, I’m dreaming of a goddamn war,” I argued. “I mean, it feels like it happened recently, but the way that the events go down it feels as if it happened hundreds of years ago. There were swords and silver armor and kings and queens and…Toran,” I mumbled the latter with a shrug. “The queen knew him and he knew her. There was a silent emotional bond between them, she trusted him unequivocally, and turned her child over to him to keep safe before an army could kill her and her guards…I think the queen died after giving birth, before a sword could be driven through her. It’s really weird, I tried looking up on the internet about the area from the placement of the stars that I could remember, but the smoke was so thick that I couldn’t see more than two or three. I even tried looking up their names, trying to figure out where they would be from, but all I got was...”
“Norwegian,” Tanis whispered and struggled to swallow the lump in his throat.
“How did you know that?” I mouthed.
“They are memories, not dreams,” he repeated, then licked his dry lips and put the SUV in park outside of his house. “Duckie, I took the picture because those unfamiliar people were, indeed, familiar. I did not remember their names or faces, however, when looking at their faces, I saw yours. Me mum, she knew who they were right away, and tears stained her cheeks when she gazed upon them… Me mum never cries, and yet she has been doing much of that as of late.”
I swallowed hard. “Because of me,” I surmised.
“Because of many things, Duckie,” he assured me. “Mainly because she never knew you existed.”
Wait, what?
“Why would she…I mean, is she my mother?” I choked; Sabirella and I looked nothing alike.
Tanis gave me a look. “No, though you are her niece through love. Aesa was like a sister to me mum. It was Aesa whom taught Mum to control her shadow walking when she was first turned...the Varulv were called Shadow Wolves because they had the ability to shadow walk like Mum can.”
“Shut up!” I gasped; I had never heard of such a thing.
He nodded. “You shadow walked the night of me biggest clanger,” he whispered. “One moment you were shaking your head, disappointed in all of us for our childish actions, and the next you were gone and had a blade in your stomach.”
My eyes widened.
I didn’t remember moving from the moment I saw the blade and called out to Jarvis to being stabbed, but suddenly I was there between my brother and the wolf who was going to kill him.
“It was Aesa who showed Mum that there was more to being an immortal than simply drinking blood and stalking the night,” he continued. “And it was Aesa would taught me mum to be the beautiful creature she is. And it was Aesa who planted a seed of hope and acceptance in her heart…”
I shook my head. “No.”
“Eighteen years ago,” he said quietly, his attention out windshield at nothing in particular, “a severe depression took me mum over. Never had I seen anything like it, especially from her. I stayed with her for nearly six months while Toran was away—I suppose he could not fathom to see Mum in such distress, when he, himself, was riddled with guilt and depression—and tried to console her, however, it was futile. Mum would not speak, would not get out of bed, and more than once I had to beg her to feed because I could not handle it without her… I am her favorite for a reason,” he reminded me with a small smile. “The depression that took her was because of the death of her immortal sister and friends. I never understood that, however, I am starting to regret many things when it pertained to werewolves.”
Is he saying what I think he’s saying?
“You regret falling in love with me?” I whispered.
Tanis looked over at me. “Never. I regret not paying better attention when werewolf matters presented themselves, came knocking at our door, when Toran was pulled away to accords and gatherings which involved werewolves. If I would have gotten off me arse, I would have been better prepared to protect you.”
My eyes widened.
“Protect me from what?” I choked.
Tanis looked away and shook his head. “Did your parents ever tell you of the rules of engagement?” he asked instead of answering me.
I shook my head.
“They are very specific rules which govern the mythical world. When the accords between the werewolves and vampires were drafted, the werewolves demanded that the established rules of engagement remain intact. Think of it as a way to prevent those of superior physical abilities or powers from using them in order to annihilate their adversaries…even playing field, if you will. There is no modern warfare; no guns, bombs, etcetera, only swords, mêlée weapons, pole arms, and bows and arrows are allowed to be used for combat. That goes for armor as well; only silver, leather, stone, wood, or metal armor is permitted. They felt that it would maintain the integrity of our species, and prevent anyone from trying a massive takeover or abolition of one side or the other. Werewolves, to my understanding, have their own way of dealing with inner species issues, as do vampires, but when it comes to war between the species it is old world.”
That means…holy shit.
Tanis sighed, seemingly understanding that I seemingly understood. “Travel over land would be by horseback, as long as it was active war.”
“Horseback?” I choked.
“If you think about it,” he continued, “travel by horseback would be rather redundant since vampires can run faster than a bloody horse, as can werewolves.”
I absently nodded. “But of course.”
I think I’m going to be sick.
“Say you were trying to go from one continent to another, perhaps Ireland to New York for example, you would go by schooner.”
“Schooner…like a boat?” I reluctantly asked.
He nodded. “Think of the‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ boat without Johnny Depp or pirates,” he said; his attempt at humor was lost on me. “The last war, which I am aware of, happened nearly two decades ago. I thought it had nothing to do with vampires, however, it would coincide with your birth and me mum’s bout of depression.”
I had been dreaming of…my own past. But the most I discovered, the less I wanted to remember.
“Shh, calm down, Duckie,” Tanis said when I started hyperventilating, and he tenderly rubbed my shoulders.
“I….I killed them,” I stammered and tears stained my cheeks.
“You did no such thing,” he snapped at me and I jumped, startled. “Monsters killed them, just as they tried to kill you…” his words trailed off.
My eyes widened. “Who tried to…you mean the Spottedhorses?” I choked.
Tanis shook his head, a look of aspiration and hopelessness washing across his face. His lips moved and I struggled to hear him but all I could hear was the violent pounding of water in my ears….
….“Toran!” Kaia called out as her head broke the surface of the water.
The young girl struggled to keep her head above the violent water, using a piece of the hull to stay afloat. Each time the waves violently crashing upon her rose, pushing the young girl up into the air, all she could see in the darkness was the point of burning light hundreds of yards away.
“Toran,” she whispered; the stinging in her eyes was from more than the burning salt water.
For more than three hours the young girl floated away from the burning remains of the schooner which was to take her to where she’d be safe. But obviously, the young girl surmised, she would never be safe from those that wished to kill her. For her entire life, all she knew was Toran and those that he paid to guard her. The reason why she was under lock and key was never explained, she had asked, but Toran was the king of secrets and he refused to maintain eye contact with her when she demanded answers. All he’d tell her was it was written in the stars.
The last time, the Aslak nearly succeeded in killing her in the country estate in Ireland Toran had arranged to house the young girl for the summer. It was close, but apparently death at sea was even closer.
“You cannot give up,” Kaia stammered through violently chattering teeth. “Toran raised you better than this…better than to simply give up. You are meant to rule and to end their reign of hatred. We cannot give up!”
As if the Gods answered her, the sound of crashing waves in the distance pulled her attention and her tinted blue lips pulled up into a smirk.
“Atonement I shall have,” she snarled and focused all of her fleeting energy into kicking her numb legs in order to push her and the floating wood towards the rocky shore. “Push!” she yelled, trying to coach herself but it was of little use. Her body was so numb that she couldn’t actually feel it, all of her energy was being used to keep her arms wrapped around the wood keeping her afloat, and each breath she took was a struggle to exhale.
“Just a little further,” she whispered then something substantial grabbed her leg and she screamed before being pulled under the water.
It suddenly went from icy water rushing down her throat with a clawed hand around her leg to hard, painfully rocky ground. Kaia choked and coughed, struggling to expel the salty liquid from her lungs, but growling pulled her attention to the man circling her on the shore, moving like a long legged predator as he went.
Kaia’s eyes narrowed and she crouched down, mimicking his movements, refusing to show fear and to go down without a fight. “Killing me will not stop what has been written,” she snarled.
“Yes, it will,” he countered and sprang.
The man soared through the air, his body phasing into a lean, black wolf as he went, and Kaia prepared herself for the most likely painful death. However, the darkness was suddenly eclipsed by a gray Celtic cross tattooed back that pushed her away from the wolf; her tiny body flew through the air the opposite direction before slamming into the base of the cliff she had inadvertently shadow walked them to.
“Aye, I always knew you was a cute hoor,” the interloped snarled, effortlessly slamming the wolf to his back. “Pretending to be on protection detail. But ya’ didn’t quite sit right with me, ya’ see? Slithering in under the darkness of night, givin’ away our position like that, aye. Ya made a terrible hames of that. Betty is alive and well,” he taunted, his thick Irish accent wrapping around each word so heavily that Kaia could barely understand them as the darkness of unconsciousness started to cloud her senses. “She will fulfill her destiny.”
The werewolf snarled and snapped at the taunting vampire, but it was answered with a dozen lighting fast punches which broke through the wolf’s ribcage.
“On top of that, ya destroyed me favorite boat,” he growled, snapping the wolf’s head to the side with so much force that he ripped it from its body, painting him and the area in blood. “F*ckin’ Feb,” he snarled. “Betty, hawareya?” he called out, getting to his feet.
When there was no answer, he spun around and saw that the young girl was bleeding profusely from the gash in her head thanks to him, and her leg from the razor sharp claws of the wolf at sea.
“Shite,” he hissed and hurried over to her. “Betty, can ya’ hear me?” he asked, tenderly brushing her hair away from the wound. “Aye, Toran is gonna kick me arse for this,” he complained, running his hand through his wet, shaggy black hair. “Can ya’ hear me, Betty?” he asked again.
Kaia’s eyes rolled around in her head.
Softly he patted her cheek. “Stay with me, Betty.”
She struggled to focus on his intense green eyes but they quickly started to blur as did the rest of his face. “It’s too late, Declan,” she murmured and her head lolled to the side.
“No,” Declan said and shook her. “Not like this…ya promised,” he hissed, then his head snapped down shore and he softly snarled.
“Don’t you smell that, Yahto?” Chayton asked from the distance.
“No, and I’m cold,” he whined.
“I think…maybe it’s a vampire!” Chayton teased, helping his brother over a large boulder.
“Jaysus,” Declan grumbled under his breath, eying the two young bronze skinned boys heading towards them. “I’ll be back, Betty,” he whispered and tenderly laid her down behind a small bolder, then grabbed the headless body and disappeared in a blur of movement.
Chayton and Yahto wandered around area looking for the source of the unusual smell.
“Damn, that sucks,” Chayton complained after fifteen minutes. “I thought for sure we’d see our first suckhead.”
Yahto rolled his eyes. “The elders would kick our asses if they knew we were out here. This area is forbidden this time of year, come on,” he pleaded.
“You are such a girl,” Chayton complained. “I should have hunted with Cain, at least she has a sense of adventure.”
Yahto pouted. “Shut up, I’m adventurous. Just because I can’t phase yet doesn’t mean that I’m not as much of a werewolf as you are.”
The amused thirteen year old chuckled at his little brother. “Really? Prove it.”
Yahto’s eyes widened. “Um...” he stammered.
“Just as I thought. Come on, let’s get back before the pack starts looking for us. They’re already on edge for some reason.”
Longing for his brother’s approval, Yahto shook his head and continued across the alcove. “I’m not scared,” he informed his brother, unaware that above him, scaling the side of the cliff, was a vampire that was preparing to snap his neck. “See!” he called out. “I’m not scared of any…” he stopped and his eyes widened.
“What’d you find? A washed up baby whale?” Chayton teased. “We aren’t Quileute, we are the Lhaq'temish.”
Yahto shook his head. “I…I think it’s a white person.”
“Huh?” Chayton hurried over to his brother and his mouth fell open with a popping sound. “Is it dead?” he whispered, and Declan crept closer to them.
Kaia coughed, startling the young werewolves, and they jumped back, and Declan readied to attack.
“We need to get the Lightfoots right away,” Yahto stammered, stopping the vampire in mid-crawl.
The Lightfoots were who Kaia was to be delivered to, so obviously they washed up in Washington and not Oregon or Canada. The Gods, once again, were watching out for the crown.
“You stay with her and I’ll get the others,” Chayton said. “I’m a faster runner,” he reminded his brother.
Yahto nodded and sat next to the bloody girl and pulled her into his arms. “Run,” he pleaded and tried to warm Kaia up with his body heat.
Chayton nodded and ran back the way they had come, phasing as he went and hurried to find help.
Declan stayed hidden in the shadows as the sun rose and kept an eye out for danger, his attention always returning to the bloody girl who would be his only hope….
…“Duckie, snap out of it,” Tanis said, softly shaking me.
“Oh god,” I choked, covering my mouth with my hands.
“What is it, what did you see?” he asked.
I shook my head. “Being attacked…washing up on shore. I remember that we were attacked at sea. I…the Emerald of the Sea-”
“What did you just say?” he demanded, interrupting me.
I looked at him. “The piece of the hull I was using to keep my head above water…I could barely see anything but the moon seemingly reflected off of the silver and metallic green paint used to mark her name. The ship was called the Emerald of the Sea.”
Tanis nodded once and looked away from me. “Bloody Pikey,” he snarled. “I knew it.”
“Why are my parents here,” I mumbled, noticing Dad’s truck parked under a tree.
Tanis shook his head. “War I am guessing,” he said in a clipped tone so I punched him in the arm. “Ow,” he complained. “I do not know,” he admitted and got out of the SUV and got the door for me. “However, I have a feeling that neither of us are going to be thrilled with whatever they have to announce.”