A Shade of Vampire 81 A Bringer of Night - Bella Forrest Page 0,41
It’s a nice break from the mess we’re about to go back to, don’t you think?”
I didn’t immediately register the subject change, but I gave him a smile nonetheless, his attention all mine. All I remembered was that he’d said he had my best interests at heart—was I a fool if I wanted to believe him?
“We should go to bed,” I murmured, worried I might get carried away if I stayed with Kalon even a minute longer. His scent had already invaded my mind, as I took deep breaths and inhaled the rich musk and spicy leather. “We’ve got an early start tomorrow, don’t we?”
“Yes, we promised Kalla we’d leave at dawn,” he said, a slight frown settling on his face. He stepped back and sighed, motioning for me to go up the stairs first.
Somewhere outside, a scream pierced the night, and my foot froze on the first wooden step. We heard Ember and Pavlos scrambling beyond the door, their boots thudding across the porch before they descended.
“What’s happening?” I asked.
Kalon rushed to the door, and I followed him a split second later. As soon as we reached the porch, we could see the feverish mobilization. Ember and Pavlos blended with the rest of the crowd—dozens of young Rimians, Naloreans, and Aeternae—who’d come out bearing various weapons and wearing hard looks on their faces.
They ran through the village alleys, headed northeast, toward the border. Kalla appeared next to us, and I nearly yelped at the sight of her. “Sheesh… you’re awfully stealthy,” I muttered. “What’s going on?”
Another scream rippled from the direction the villagers were going, armed and ready for battle.
“A saber tiger, most likely,” Kalla said, watching them all go. She was impressively calm, considering what was happening. “It’s a big and quiet one, too. Notice how it’s not even growling.”
Chills tickled my spine. Kalon’s arm came up around my shoulders as he pulled me close in a bid to protect and comfort me. I found it adorable, though I could easily take care of myself. “And the screams?” I asked.
“One of our own,” Kalla grumbled. “I doubt we’ll be able to save him.”
“So, a tiger infiltrated the village?” Kalon replied.
“Yes. They do that sometimes, especially this time of year, when their cubs are growing big enough to require fresh meat,” Kalla explained. “The summer season is usually calm, with fewer such events, as the tigers tend to go after the deer on the outskirts of the Nightmare Forest. But as the rains start coming in, the deer move back toward our area, the tiger cubs grow big enough to join their mothers on hunts… and Orvis seems like a good hunting ground.”
I imagined a cub sitting at the edge of the woods somewhere on the northeastern corner, watching from beneath a shrub as his mother jumped over the iron stone fence and snapped into the first villager she came across.
Someone shouted in the distance. A creature growled. Others yelled. The creature wailed in agony. Kalla smiled. “They got it,” she said. “It will be dead soon.”
“The cub will be left an orphan, then,” I mumbled.
“We don’t have any other choice. If we let a saber tiger come into our village once, only to chase it away, it will come again and again,” Kalla said. “We have to kill the intruders; otherwise, their cubs will hunt here, as well.”
“At least this way, the cub has learned a painful but valuable lesson,” Kalon replied. “It knows not to come here ever again.”
Life was cruel, especially in the wilderness. Orvis had lost a man, and a tiger cub had lost its mother. Death was a reality of life, and it was painful to be reminded of it sometimes. By the time I reached my bed, my heart was heavier than ever, grief seeping through my bones.
I doubted I’d be able to sleep, lying awake and hoping that tomorrow might bring better things. What were the odds of that happening, though, if I still could not find enough strength to confront Kalon about his lies?
Esme
By the time the sun rose the next morning, Kalon and I were already saddling up. Ansel was bound and gagged once more, and I had yet to find out more about their relationship or about Kalon’s knowledge of the Darklings—not for lack of trying, however. I’d eavesdropped throughout the night, only to encounter a grave-like silence. Maybe Kalon had known to be quiet, given that our rooms had been right next to each other.