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Daiyu leaned into me once again to whisper, “Mikhail met Ulrik a few years after his rebirth and looked up to him, kind of like a big brother. Ulrik would play pranks on him constantly, and one left him alone in Vienna on Good Friday as a pig.”
Huh?
“As a pig?” T
aelon also asked, confused.
“The damn bastard,” Mikhail cursed. “He can take other people’s gifts for a short time and give them to another. He stole a shapeshifting gift, gave it to me, and tricked me. He told me I was going was to fly, and I ended up as a pig for three days!”
I clamped my lips together, trying not to laugh at that or imagine the pig version of Mikhail, but Daiyu being her normal evil self said, “Oink, oink.”
And I lost it, breaking out into a fit of laughter alongside Taelon. Theseus had a small smile on his lips and nodded as if that was exactly what he was expecting.
“Not funny, I nearly became someone’s Easter dinner!” Mikhail yelled at us, which only made us laugh more.
“Is no one going to ask how a power you thought was going to make you fly made you a pig?” Theseus questioned, and he glanced over to Mikhail. “You should have become a bird, but why a pig?”
Mikhail looked away, his arms tightening. “He said the way to use the power was to think of the saying of when pigs fly because it was supposed to be impossible for people to fly, too.”
At that point, Taelon, Daiyu, and I were just balls of laughter. Theseus shook his head.
“Ulrik was the one who saved you from the butcher’s knife, right? No more hard feelings?” Daiyu teased.
“I hate him,” Mikhail shot back. And when we finally reached the ground floor, he came out first and pointed directly at Theseus. “Next time you see your brother, tell him that I am going to have my revenge—”
“You still haven’t gotten it?” I questioned and lifted my finger to point at him. “Not if I get you first, let’s see if I can make you a toad.”
At the end of my index finger, a tiny orb appeared, glowing a soft orange color. The moment he saw it, he vanished so quickly that Daiyu let me go and stuck her head out the elevator, grinning before turning back to me. “Very well done, young one. You act more like one of us by the hour.”
I flexed my hands and luckily that put an end to the glowing. “I haven’t forgotten that you threatened my life.”
“Very bad, young one.” Daiyu glowered, but amusement was still on her face. “Vampires do not hold grudges. Well, the mature ones don’t, at least not over words. If we did, we’d never have friends or places to go. You can’t be immortal and petty at the same time. Thank you for a very interesting morning. I’m going to take a nap and see what else you come up with before dinner.”
“We will not be here,” Theseus said, stepping up beside me. “We will be leaving for Ankeiros.”
Daiyu rolled her eyes at him and looked at me.
“In the 791 years I’ve been reborn, his reputation for being a destructive wonderer is the only thing that does not change. I suggest you learn to travel lightly. He’ll be dragging you all over the world, invoking chaos, terror, and fear.”
“I don’t mind traveling.” I’d lived my life in one place for so long that seeing the world was a bit exciting. “But I doubt I’ll invoke any of those things.”
“Oh, but you do, young one, you do.” Daiyu’s voice had lost all humor. Her eyes were sharp and clear. “Your existence, your gift for magic might be the most terrifying of them all, just look around you now.”
Feeling the mood shift, I did what she said and looked around, but everyone was busy going about their lives like we didn’t exist. Just a few hours ago, all of them were openly staring, judging, and talking about me. It was a complete one-eighty. It wasn’t that I wanted to be the center of attention, but it felt like they were forcing themselves not to stare.
“In the animal kingdom, when a predator enters the jungle or sea, all the other creatures run. They keep their distance, avoid eye contact, and they don’t engage—it’s the same for us.” She chuckled like a madwoman looking across the floor. “They were all like this when Theseus first came here, too, cowards.”
“The only ones who should live in terror and fear are the ones who come at me with ill will. No vampire has anything to worry should they be genuine,” Theseus said, and Daiyu ignored him, tapping her chin as she pretended to think.
“I wonder what tales shall be told of you two, Theseus Thorbørn, the Vampire Eternal, Prince of Night and his mate Druella, the Vampire Witch?” She shrugged as if she couldn’t be bothered to think on it anymore. “Whatever shall come of you two, I’m sure I’ll be entertained until you visit us again. Goodbye, young one; Theseus.”
She nodded to both of us and strutted to her elevator as if it were a catwalk. It was only when she stepped inside and the golden doors closed that I saw the engraving of her on them. In the image, she sat in front of a straw bed, a large body in the background, dressed in armor. Her helmet was to the side of her long hair that pooled behind her back. She held her own sword to her neck, and she was smiling. It was chilling, mocking even, and unafraid, completely like her.
“Why am I not surprised she was a warrior, too?” I said gently; with her personality, she probably was like the only female commander of her time. I could only imagine the stories, and the art she had of that time.
“Not just any warrior,” Taelon said. “The daughter and killer of Genghis Khan.”
What? What was with this family and killing their mortal families? And more importantly, why didn’t I ask her more about herself. Why had she killed him? What was her story?
