To Love a Vampire - A.K. Koonce
One
A Secret Society
My knees drop into the thick mud, sinking me closer into the bay water that my mother’s bloody and disfigured remains drifted out into all those months ago. The Emerald Ocean took her away from me on calm waters. A shuddering breath pushes past dry lips. My usually closed emotions come tumbling out of the door as soon as it cracks open.
It’s late. The normally clear water is a mass of inky black waves, hinting at the mystical creatures that lurk beneath the serene surface. The moon is nothing more than a sliver of color slashed across the dark sky. Minimal light scatters into the shadowy surroundings.
All my life, I had never seen a real mystic, but now, I know they’ve always been here. They’ve carefully hidden themselves away from the mortals, watching us from afar.
The unseen fae of the Emerald Ocean are a perfect example. Anyone could happen upon the beautiful water source, I’ve come here hundreds of times now, and yet, I’ve never once seen what lies on the other side of the eerie water. The world below the surface is a hidden cove, tucked quietly away from society. This sort of separation seems to work for the mortals and the mystics.
For now.
The world slips away from me in this moment, though. Closing my eyes, I force the surrounding noise from my head. Leaves begin to quiet in the wind, the restless owl in the tree is now unheard, the distant beating of drums dissolves until only my pounding heart is heard in its place. Reality silences to find a few moments of peace in my muddled mind.
Inhaling the cool night air, I can almost smell all those evenings we spent by the crackling fire. The memory of his silver gaze always sparkles within the starry sky. His smile is unclear in my memory, never quite right, but his beautifully sad eyes are always perfect.
I can’t remember how my mother’s voice sounded and that alone is enough to make me want to scream, my chest growing tight and constricted. It just isn’t fair. There are so many things I should have said to her. Unspoken and repentant filled words slice like broken glass through my thoughts.
The love and tragedy they left me with are always there, carried around with me every day, just under the deep layer of pain in my chest.
Behind me, a twig snaps in the forest and my hand instantly slides over the smooth hilt of the sword at my hip. His sword. Another thing he left me with, another reminder to physically carry around. I open my eyes but remain motionless. My sight is no longer watching and dreaming of the stars up above but is now searching the darkness for the source of the noise.
“Are you coming tonight, Princess?” a deep and sulking voice calls out to me.
I release the breath I was holding hostage within my lungs and let go of the hilt of the sword. It’s just Kaino. My eyes burn with unshed tears, all the unshed tears I’ve refused to release for months. Strangely my body feels stronger with the tension pressing in on my chest.
Next month will be one year. But it doesn’t matter. A day. A year. A lifetime. I’ll never see my mother or Asher or even Ky, again. The hole in my heart shudders but doesn’t quite close.
A slow sigh releases from my heavy lungs and I give myself one more second.
With reluctance, I stand. Thick mud and debris covers my jeans and boots. A sloshing sound accompanies my steps from the bay to the dry land where Kaino’s dark, animalistic eyes greet me. He’s taller than me by a few inches but something within him cringes away from me. Not physically, but I’m left at arm’s length no matter how much his father forces us together.
White tendrils of smoke waft into the night sky behind him, an unseen fire accompanies the beat of the drum deep within the woods.
“I didn’t think you’d join us tonight,” he drawls in a bored, even tone. His eyes pause on the glowing Crimson Sword, before taking my arm in his. Everyone here is careful not to touch the mystical blade that never leaves my hip.
We walk through the forest, the dry leaves crunching beneath our boots. The smell of burning wood sails through the cool night air.
Kaino’s hard eyes never stop scanning the shadows. He’s a mystic of few words and even fewer emotions but a mind that