Page 47 of Shadows and Flames
The yells became louder as we got closer, even with the woman trying to console the source of the noise. Hand trembling and running over the man’s shoulders, she tried uselessly to shush and soothe him, but he squirmed and resisted.
The corridor was filled with the well-intentioned and nosy alike, but we were easily able to cut through enough to see. She was about my height, young and pretty, and by scent, the other was her brother. His coloring mirrored hers, as did the wide, flustered look in his eyes.
“What in the name of God have you done?”
The woman cast quick glances at all of us. Some older woman tried offering a robe to compensate for the torn front of her chemise undergarment. “Viktor,please. Come back inside, and we will talk about this inprivate.”
“No! No,” he pointed a shaky finger, “the one who did that is on this fucking ship!” His chest heaved, and the scent of fear turned quickly to anger.
There was no mistaking the sweet scent of her blood, or the crimson drops staining the slippery white fabric she wore. Even with the poor attempt at a bandage she held to her throat.
Fuck.
I glanced at Elián, only to find his jaw clenched. The ship held mostly humans, and a misguided hunt for the culprit would prove annoying at best. Dangerous at worst.
I started slowly pulling away first, and Elián’s presence remained beside me. We melted back into the crowd as more humans started asking questions, wondering if someone had seen something, if she’d been attacked.
We stalked on silent steps, but as we approached the section containing our cabins, Elián turned away. “I will go find Tom, and we will meet you back in our cabin.”
His absence from my arms was harder to bear this time, but I pushed past it to the cabin I’d rented with Tana. At our knocking pattern of two slow, three quick, and one more, Tana opened the door with a bewildered pout.
“Did you hear that screaming?” she asked after I quickly shut us inside and pinched the bridge of my nose. We were sailing the waters of Nalya and far away from our home continent of Eryva.
In Morova, we’d encountered many who approached us with lust, but there were also many humans who feared our need to drink mortal blood. Here, on this side of the world, there was also trepidation. Hatred, in some cases.
Luckily, Tana and I had not experienced the latter, but the contempt in the man’s words was raising my hackles and agitating my powers.
Slaughtering any that came for us would be an effective yet unhelpful solution, but would we be able to staunch the risings of a mob?
By the time Tana and I were pacing in the cabin Elián and I shared, he brought in a frustrated Tomás who kept glancing toward the corridor. “Bloodyawfultiming,” he grumbled, and El rolled his eyes. Judging by the half-dressed state of him, Tomás had been makingveryquick work of the ship captain before Elián brought him here.
“They are beginning to search for the one who drank from her.”
I cursed under my breath, and Tana froze. There was no hiding our fangs, and we hadn’t embarked on the boat with lips closed or hiding in the cargo hold. It had only been a few hours, but if no one calmed them, the humans would eventually make their way to us.
“Well, it must’ve been that Vyrkos male,” Tana mused, echoing my previous thoughts. I’d only caught a glimpse of him, but other than slight surprise, I’d thought nothing of his presence. “Unless you made a stop in her cabin before wherever it was you went.” She gestured to Tomás’s bare chest.
He crossed his arms, one of which had the same snake tattoo as Elián. “Please. The bloke is over there screaming about the loss of his sister’s precious virtue. What would I want with a virginal rube with an overprotectivebruteof a brother prone to hysterics?”
Tana mirrored his posture and shrugged. “You don’t seem to be all that discerning, so it was a fair possibility.”
“Why, you—” he started but threw his hands up. “What are we worrying about? I’ve been with the captain all evening, thesetwo,” he waved a hand at Elián and me, “have been fucking, judging by the smell in here, so all we need to concern ourselves with is accounting foryourwhereabouts.”
“Mywhereabouts?” Tana’s voice raised to an uncharacteristic pitch, jolting me out of the possibilities running through my mind. “I had supper in my room, took a bath, and have been reading by myself.”
I rubbed at my temples, more dread creeping in. “So, people certainly saw you eating,” I deduced. We had at least seven days on the water, provided the weather remained forgiving. Holing up in a cabin for the entirety of the journey was not impossible but certainly uncomfortable. Would the commotion die down? “What did the captain say?” I asked Tomás.
“Not much of anything since we were otherwise occupied when Nogón bursted in.” He swept a mass of locs over his shoulder, and I frowned at the name he directed toward Elián. What did it mean? “One would hope that since he was begging for my own bite, he won’t lead the charge brewing, but I have little faith in humans.”
“I did not see this Vyrkos, but he must know by now they are looking for him.”
We all nodded, quieted to listen for what was happening on the level below us. There were too many to focus long on any one conversation, and the absence of the previous shouting wasn’t at all encouraging. There was a definite cluster still convened on the corridor where the human and her brother were located. Were they calming the siblings? Conspiring with him to hunt for blood?
“They hardly know the difference between a Lylithan and a Vyrkos here,” Tomás grumbled and sank into the desk chair.
“But really, that does not matter.” We all turned to Elián as he spoke. “Even if they were to rightfully name the Vyrkos as the culprit, they will likely not stop at him.”
Tana and I silently agreed, foreboding groaning along with the settling of the ship. “So, should we find him? The Vyrkos?”
