Page 92 of Vow of the Undead
Though I’d rendered control of my mind, my body didn’t follow. My chest heaved in gasping breaths as the chill of the Polar Nocturne sliced through the fabric of my dress. Kayn slipped out of his coat and draped it over my shoulders. Before I could thank him, he was gone, disappearing into the shadows.
I opened my mouth to call out for him but he’d returned just as quickly, a snapped branch in his hand. With his free hand, he gripped my arm and lifted it, pushing the branch into my palm. “You’re ready,” he repeated.
He tapped the center of his chest where my head had just taken rest. I wanted to lean into him again, and he must have sensed it, because he stepped closer.
I struggled to swallow through the thick emotion gathered in my throat. “If I start this, don’t I have to end it?” My eyes scanned every curve and scar across his face.
“Yes, you will have to destroy me too. I will not let you descend into madness.”
A sob caught in my throat and I swallowed again. I opened my mouth but said nothing.
What could I say to that? We’d only just become close. He trusted me to wake him, and I trusted him to hold me.
He’s a monster, Silver. He’s a monster. He’s a monster.
Despite the words cycling through my mind, I tilted my head back, my fingers grasping the stake tighter at my side. He raised his hand and cupped my chin, gently, nothing like the way King Drakkar had grabbed my throat and forced me closer to him. I followed the slight tug of Kayn’s hand and angled my mouth toward his.
Our lips met in a language more intimate than words.
I couldn’t deny that the Call of the Gods demanded I kill him, too, but I could show him I didn’t want to. I never wanted this Call, and though I needed to wipe the plague of monsters from this realm, he wasn’t like the others.
Need I destroy him when he didn’t even feed on humans?
I’d receive that answer when I came to it. I’d commune with all of the Gods next time, cutting my hand over the altar where I could watch the blood fill multiple runes.
When we parted, breathless, he wrapped his hand over mine. Tightening his hold on my hand that held the stake, he showed his support of my fate—of who I was—even if it meant I had to kill him.
“You’re not like King Drakkar and Ylva and Darius... I can’t kill you.”
“But Iama monster, Silver, and you are my huntress.”
Itouched my lips, recalling the ghost of Kayn’s kiss from last night. We’d trained together, discussed this plan together, lived together for the past few days that felt like months with the long hours and intense training. But now I was completely alone on the trek back to Mara’s Keep.
After pushing myself last night for a vision about how to approach the king, Freya made it clear Kayn could not accompany me. It was too dangerous. If I relied on the vampire who trained me to step in when I needed it, it would be that hesitation that killed me.
The vision showed only me entering through a tunnel on the left side of the castle as I tracked the trail of roses growing along the outside. I approached the king’s throne from behind with the stake in my hand. Then King Drakkar at my feet, begging for my blood before cursing Freya’s tears.
I trailed the path Stasia and I had taken to escape. This tracked a wide berth around the central village and led me behind Mara’s Keep.
Every step back to the castle was fraught with pain. Each time my foot struck the path, the throbbing in my head pulsed and spread to my temples. I rubbed at my skull with the heelof my palm but it was no use, my head was at war with my heart and I suspected it was Loki’s doing.
Of course he didn’t want me to track and kill one of the creatures—the most powerful of them—that caused chaos for Odin’s people. Perhaps he’d hoped I would wake more vampires before Freya reached me. Loki likely wanted our realm overrun with monsters so he could strike trauma in the heart of Odin as he watched his people suffer. But as it occurred in the sagas, Loki’s plan often went astray. Freya and Odin and the other Gods saw through his tricks.
“I am the huntress,” I said, trying to distract myself from my throbbing temples. The sound of my own voice holding steady soothed me. “I am the huntress who will protect Odin’s people.”
The more I said it, the more I’d accept it, believe it, become it.
This late in the Polar Nocturne, the sky above Skaldir would glow the blue of the fjords in the spring, lavender, and the orange-red of a sunset. This contrast of color in the all-black night was the Gods’ gift to those of us who lived in the northern villages. The northern lights lifted the spirits of the hungry and those who’d lost loved ones during the long winter.
Darkness coated Mara, deep and impenetrable. The only light to guide my path were the candles glowing in the windows along the village.
A restless silence had settled over Mara. The people were no longer celebrating in the streets because King Drakkar’s betrothal was postponed. Without this change, their lives would continue as always, with people going missing, a monster for a king, and royals who could behave as they pleased while the villagers were under the executioners’ thumbs.
I positioned my thumb and forefinger at the opposite sides of my head and squeezed. The pressure didn’t ease the throbbing,and with another step, the striking pain radiated across my forehead.
“I am the huntress, Loki. Whether you like it or not.”
My heart skipped as if in an argument with my thoughts.Damnit.
