Over the din of chairs pushing back, Grandfather shouted, “How can they be gone?” The nurse stood frozen, her hands gripped the back of the chair that Grandfather had just shoved out of the way. Her eyes rolled back and her face seemed to contort. A deep growl started in her chest and erupted from her sneering lips as a man’s voice spoke. “I told you nothing would come between me and my mate. Did you think this puny nurse was enough to keep me away?” The laugh that followed sent shivers down Katalea’s spine. The nurse’s eyes, now black as coal, surveyed the room. “My mate and I will raise an army and defeat you. All the embryos are growing and need a mother. We will come back and destroy all of you and your pathetic Pride.” With that, the nurse fell bonelessly to the floor. The others stared at each other, not knowing which way to turn first. Grandfather stooped to pick up the nurse, while Grandmother ran to prepare a place on the nearest couch to lay her down. “Kata
They rose as a group and walked quickly to the book. The same intense blue eyes stared out at them. Eerie, as they seemed to look right through all of them at once. Inside her head Katalea heard the craggy voice whisper, “So you’ve made it back, well done.” Without thinking, Katalea blurted out, “Who are you?” Everyone except Zinnia turned and glared at her. Obviously, they didn’t feel her tone was respectful. Katalea was contemplating an apology when the voice inside her head chuckled. The others must have heard it too, for suddenly smiles replaced their frowns. Katalea, encouraged now, smirked. “Ah, the young werecat, always so impatient. It is a good question. I am surprised it took you this long to ask it.” Katalea noticed that the voice never actually answered the question. “I have received the first stone, the sunstone. A rare one at that. You were clever and wily to find it, but more important you learned to rely on one another. You bonded and now approach me a
They rushed after him, Dakari leading the charge. He wasn’t hard to find as the outer door to their little den had been sealed, magically, by Grandfather. “And thank the goddesses,” Katalea thought as she watched the big man pull and tug, trying to get the door open, “Can you imagine the local police getting a whiff of vampire in the middle of a homicide investigation?” “Luca, what is it?” Zinnia soothed. “We are all family now, whatever it is, we can help.”Luca finally gave up his worthless mission and turned to face the rest. His face looked weathered, somehow older, and far more sinister.“You guys don’t understand, you can’t.” He rubbed at his smooth scalp and lifted his chin as if praying for calm. With his eyes closed, he inhaled and held his breath. Opening his eyes, he released the air. His whole body seemed to slump as the breath left his body. “Let’s sit down then, I have a story to tell you,” he said, and made his way to the nearest little sofa. The bulk of him
“How could I be back here?” Luca thought as he watched the menacing shapes circle him. Strangely, when the hissing woman spoke he already knew what she was going to say. “This is the one I told you about. He thinks he is better than you, better than me. I want you to teach him that we are one and the same,” she snarled. The crowd of men surged closer but no one grabbed at him. He felt the words form in his mind and remembered the chain of events that he was about to spark. “I don’t want to be like you. Just kill me and put me out of my misery.” he spat, but got no reaction. He tried another tactic, leering at her. “Fine, I am better than you, what are you going to do about it?” He looked her up and down and purposely wrinkled his nose in disgust. Fury erupted and she lashed out, using long nails to scrape at his cheeks and down across his throat. “Was that supposed to hurt?” Luca antagonized. She reached for her sword, ready to remove his head and silence him forever.
Katalea choked on the sip of water she had just attempted to swallow. “You have visions too?” He looked at her quizzically, “I don’t know if it was a vision or what, but he came to me as a warrior. Young, bold, larger than life. He announced himself, and even in my sleep I knew enough to take a knee.”“What did he say?” Aquinas spoke in a whisper, totally caught up in the story.“I don’t have the puppy’s perfect recall,” Luca said, reaching across to slap Beecher on the knee, “But he let me know that I had been one of his chosen. Hearing him say that, just knowing it, had me reeling. Instead of feeling proud that he, a god no less, had noticed me, I just felt bitter and angry all over again. Even in my dream I raged and tore at my clothes.” Luca sighed and turned his head. His eyes filled, his emotions still raw. He took a calming breath, closed his eyes, and let the air flow out of him. “Funny,” he thought, “I don’t need to breathe, but a deep sigh still calms me. Nearly
“What do you mean go back, like, as in time?” Beecher asked, angling his head with interest.“No, he can’t mean that….” Dakari said quickly, too quickly. He stopped and thought for a moment, turned his head to Luca, “Please tell me you mean back to where Vikings come from, what Scandinavia?”“Yes, No, I mean, I have no idea how to time travel. I am from an area that is now called Norway. Most people in this area look a lot different from me.” He laughed, a deep dark laugh that sounded jaded. “After a Viking raid in Africa, apparently Odin found comfort in the arms of the warrior princess Zuri…generations later, I was born. “I guess I always pictured Vikings to be of fairer complexion,” Katalea offered, “and wearing the helmets with the two horns.” “Ah, yes, I have seen those. They were not worn by my comrades, but seemed to add to the lore of the Nomadic Vikings.” He turned to Katalea, noticed the teasing grin on her face, “In truth, the Vikings often took women wherever the
As Luca clawed at his eyes writhing on the floor, Beecher stopped, stupified, and looked down at his nemesis. All thoughts of food gone, he ran back to help in any way he could. Zinnia approached just as quickly, more than concern showing on her face. But as she stood over him, she tilted her head to the side in confusion. “I feel no pain, Luca. How can I help if I can’t feel it?” she cried, panicked. She had never come across an ache she couldn’t soothe. “Help me get him out of the sun,” Beecher spoke softly as if his mere words would cause more pain. As he reached down to move him, Luca’s hand shot out and grabbed Beecher by the forearm. Shocked, repulsed, Beecher jumped and recoiled. His face showed the fear of someone who knew they were about to be attacked by a vampire. Luca lay there grinning, all signs of pain gone. Madness lay in his eyes, but not a feral desire for canine blood. He pulled Beecher to the floor where he rolled and landed flat on his back. He loo
Luca chuckled at the speed of Beecher’s thoughts. “I was thinking about the prophecy on the drive over. Last time we were looking for where the sun met the earth. It sounded crazy to us at the time, but after discovering Salar de Uyuni, it all made sense. This time we are to hunt down the Hall of the Slain.” “But that’s a mythical place,” Aquina reasoned, “How do you go about finding that?” “That was my first thought,” Luca agreed, winking at Katalea as she picked up her phone. “But everything is on Google.” Katalea was busy swiping and tapping at her phone.Katalea was again surprised at what she found. There were numerous tourist destinations by that name. One could find t-shirts and other trinkets, and Katalea vowed to get Luca his own two-horned helmet at her first chance. The place that struck her as a viable option was a museum, supposedly on the ancient burial grounds of thousands of slain warriors, many of who had reportedly gone on to Valhalla. “There is a shrine, if yo
The cairn now glowed blue. It pulsed and throbbed as if it had a heartbeat. Kaya stood, just like Katalea’s premonition, pacing, but this time she was not intently focused on the stones, she was focused on Katalea. As if waiting for her. “Can you guys see her? Am I having another vision?” Katalea questioned.“Oh, we can see her, and frankly she is terrifying….” Aquina answered, awe in her voice. The big cat kept pacing, her soft pads making no noise in the silent chamber. Her eyes never left Katatea’s.“She means you no harm,” Katalea whispered, feeling the joy of her panther overtake her. “She is me…” Katalea continued, confidence radiating in her voice, understanding now. “She never left me.”Katalea felt the longing to be one with Kaya rise up. She hadn’t realized how abandoned she had felt by her own self.Kaya’s eyes filled with anguish now. Her proud head bowed, almost in shame. “It was not my wish either,” she said, obviously hearing the cries of Katalea's heart. “It w
As they made their way into the higher elevation, the mountain walls became craggier, and small cave formations began. The trees here weren’t as thick, this new harder soil obviously struggled to sustain life. Ahead, a rounded archway formed, looking more like an arbor than a cave. Katalea walked through expecting to come out on the other side of the hill but instead found herself in a large open space resembling the lobby of the ice hotel. Instead of beautiful ice sculptures though, it was just rough walls. A small stack of rocks to the left looked like a cairn left behind by someone else. There were the remnants of bones, small animal bones, she presumed, that had long since stopped having a body. Still, she felt no presence of evil or danger. They heard the deep dark laugh come from behind them. Katalea stepped forward as if to shield her friends against whatever was coming. ”So valiant, young Katalea.” They could hear Hassan, but there was no one there. He laughed aga
“Ah Elskan,” he pulled back with such sorrow. “I want nothing more than the next millennium in your arms but I feel our friends call.” He pushed a stray lock of purple hair behind her ears, nibbled her neck, and inhaled deeply.“That word, Elskan, you have said it before. What does it mean?”“What?” He looked at her quizzically now. “I have said a word you don’t know?” Tilting his head in wonder, he added, “Out loud?”She smiled coyly now, “Yes, a few times. Elskan. Once when I was hurt, and I think another time when we learned of the sharks,”Visibly flustered, he put his hands at his sides. Tense now, he turned to go, but she grabbed his elbows, “Not so fast buster, you didn't answer.” The smile she gave him was playful, teasing, almost a challenge. He sighed and closed his eyes. Remembering. Oh, why couldn’t some things just stay buried? It had been so very long. Finally, he spoke, “It is the name a man calls a woman he loves. In your tongue, it would be equivalent to dar
“Go east she said,” Katalea whispered in her mind and chuckled, thinking of an American term she learned years ago in school in San Diego.”As I remember it, the phrase was, ‘Go West, young man, Go West.” Dakari countered.Katalea blushed, she forgot her mate could always hear her thoughts. “‘Ya, well, I was never very good in American history,” she giggled. It was an age-old joke between them. Dakari had excelled in school, but Katalea had been too busy dodging Dalya and doing gymnastics to pay much attention in high school.With the vampires gone for the moment, and the Hassan family of dragons keeping their distance there was nothing left to do but say goodbye. They thanked Freja for her help and Dakari made light of the situation by conjuring roses for her out of thin air. “We did not come away without losses,” Freja said heavily, “and they will not be forgotten for their bravery in battle.” All heads lowered. A few hands wiped eyes that found themselves moist. “We will ma
To their amazement, they saw what looked like wolves wrestling people. These were not ordinary people, as Katalea watched one short dark man pick up a wolf and hurl it into a tree. They were close enough that Katalea could hear the curses from the man. They were not in any language Katalea had ever heard before. Two more wolves pounced on the man and made quick work of him. Another wolf came at a sprint, two pairs of feral red-eyed vampires at his heels. They recognized him at once. Beecher was in trouble.Dakari roared, and the scene stilled momentarily. All heads turned and in that instant Katalea called lightning to pummel the bloodsuckers. The wolves stood dumbfounded as all their foe just vanished into ash. As a pack, they turned to look at Beecher who was obviously sending them a message that these newcomers were allies. A few wolves shifted, while others remained on guard in wolf form.Never one to hide, Katalea shifted, while Dakari remained. “I have heard myths a
Perched high up in her tree, Katalea swayed, the fog swirling around her. Above her, the muted greens and pinks of the northern lights seemed to fight for control of the pre-morning sky. It wouldn’t be long before any vampire trapped outside would have to flee or risk being turned to dust without any help from their adversaries. The sun still had a few minutes to go before it began its assent into the sky but the sky had visibly lightened. It was coming. Katalea wondered if the sun was filtered through the fog if the vampires would be able to stay out longer. She imagined they could. It might be time to dial back on the mist.Light bursts could be seen from just past the crop of trees they were currently resting in. Katalea wasn’t sure if it was from lightning or a dragon blast, but they were drawing closer to their hideout. They would have to move soon.Dakari must have had the same thoughts, for as he touched her arm, she read the alarm in his eyes. It wouldn’t do to be so hig
As he entered the clearing, the gray and black streaked wolf caught his attention first. He was the size of a Mac truck and looked as fierce with his teeth bared at the newcomer. He could see the moment his scent reached them. He had been upwind and had taken them by surprise. Muzzles dropped slightly as they afforded him the respect of a traveling alpha. Her scent permeated the area and had all heads turning. The beautiful lady in white from the ice hotel now stood before him in her true form. The vision of majesty as a pure white wolf and tawny eyes. He lowered his head in the traditional greeting to the alpha of the current territory. One that had already saved him twice.“Rise my cousin,” she chuckled. Beecher rose and went to her in the more familiar greeting of his kind. They nuzzled heads, his under hers. The subtle action was noticed by all in the clearing, and approved. They had accepted him. Without one word spoken, they all nodded in agreement, they would figh
With Luca's enormous frame passed out across her, and snow almost covering the entire mouth of the cave Zinnia had no choice but to wait it out. She felt like a sitting duck knowing that Genevieve was out there. Worse yet, the bitch knew approximately where they were. “But what choice do I have?” she thought as she took in her situation. The cave was about the size of his body. Not much of a cave, more of a cavette. She giggled at her own lame joke.She watched with an increasing unease as the sky grew darker and the tiny cave was almost completely devoid of light. The eerie silence was almost worse than the deafening thunder from before. It seemed so finite. Would they ever be able to leave this place? and if they did, would it be to the waiting arms of a vengeful vampire? She curled up next to Luca for body heat. There was a little space just in front of him once he had stretched out and her tiny frame just fit. It might be better to sleep than to think.From this angle, s
She must have recognized the sound or felt the mountain shift for she was off him in an instant. She would not be more weight for him to have to climb with. In his mind he fought with her. He reasoned with her, he begged her, but she would not relent. She would not bring him down. She may be a third of his size, but she would climb as his equal. Again, she wished for her powers back, she could have just fluttered right up and found them a cave.Finally giving up on carrying her, he pointed the way and then hoisted her up., if she was going to climb she would damn sure go ahead of him. He prayed to whoever might be listening for a bit of luck.When she was no more than five feet up, he smashed his enormous body against the snowy mountain and started up the rockface, She moved slowly, cautiously. He fought the urge to rush her, trying not to think about their lack of equipment. He didn’t know if she realized they were fighting time as well.A sound like an explosion ripped thro